"ACW Movie Productions and Uniform Realism" Topic

"One complaint about ACW films is that the soldiers' uniforms are too clean and new-looking.
A question for reenactors: if a production came to you and said they had documentation that, at the battle they were filming, the soldiers' uniforms were torn and dusty, how much would you have to be paid for your uniform to be torn, patched, or dirtied?…"

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Armand

The soldiers were issued new uniforms and equipment from time to time. The Union more often, but even the Confederates got them. So depending on how long ago the troops got new stuff they might have looked clean and new, or they could have looked old, torn, and dusty. For instance just prior to the 1864 Overland Campaign the Army of the Potomac got fresh uniforms, so they would have look pretty snazzy for a few days. :)

Was an extra in two of these. In "North and South 2" we shot 1st Bull Run and 5 Forks on the same day. We shot all battles in a one week period, with only Petersburg the last 2 days.

Sort of rough for those uniforms to age 4 years in a week. 😂

We wore what we had. Since good quality uniforms were in their infancy back then. Most were only 5 or so years old. There were some units, like the 1st MN who came down with an early version as well.

Some Confederates had 2 coats, Gray and Butternut. But most used what we had. Expensive to have more uniforms.

Lot of people got hurt. Safety was not a huge concern with the film makers. I had a ground charge go off underneath me at the 5 forks shooting. Spent an hour at the ambulance getting all that debris out of my eyes. Also had a bayonet go into my sack coat. Fortunately straight up and out. Still have "L" stitch job left side of that coat where my heart is. It was not intentional, an accident, but close none the less.

Saw many others hurt. Saw two guys knocked out cold by musket butts while men crossed boards at the Petersburg entrenchments. One by a Enfield one a Springfield. A man have his musket go off while he was leaning on those same entrenchments after a shoot. Did not know his musket had misfired multiple times during shooting and it heat fired multiple rounds up the side of his face.
Another badly hurt when he fell into the entrenchment at Petersburg. The entrenchments were to full scale. Impressive.

While shooting Bull Run and while lying around as casualties, the filmers ended it with the charge of the Black Horse cavalry. They did not tell us this would happen. Didn't know it until a hoof came down about 2 feet from my head. The horses missed men, but destroyed equipment on the ground.

That's just a few.

Shot "Blue and the Gray", horrible mini series. But they treated us better the N&S 2. We did get make up there. Dusted down. Also fake blood when a casualty. Food was great.

N&S paid us 50 dollars a day. We were on set from 4:30 am until it was too dark to shoot. We paid our own way down and ate up vacation time.

Same money in Blue and Gray.

Made a couple of smaller shows as well.

After those experiences, I passed on "Glory" and "Gettysburg". Some of my group did glory and you see them at the beginning of "Antietam", one even dead beside Matthew Broderick when he gets up from his wound.

I regret not doing Glory, as it was the only decent CW movie. Did not regret GBurg. The movie was not as good as Glory, but ok. But Ted Turner treated the reenactors badly. Especially as concerns money and promises.

But most historical movies have bright new uniforms. Really sit back and think about it.

Fading comes with time and weather. My artillery jacket faded after years as did my sack coat for infantry. Pants wore out. Brogans fell apart. All equipment aged as I did… unless I replaced them.