07.08.98

Just thought I would write and tell you about some of my best friend, Alex, and my experiences on the set of Dogma. First of all, Alex was telling me about these crazy Ben Affleck and Matt Damon dreams she was having starting around May 25th. So we decided to jump on the web and see if we could find them. While searching through their names and finding nothing, Alex remembered Kevin Smith's production company, View Askew. Right there in front of us we saw this big sign about being extras. Alex had already been in Steven King's movie Thinner so she was totally pumped about the possible upcoming adventure. So, we decided to drive out to Pittsburgh and see what we would find. We knew we weren't getting paid so we expected nothing more than a quick glance and a thrill. After a few hours of waiting in a church and humoring Whino, we inadvertently were chosen to play nuns (which were only to be roles for the paid extras). Now we both know why the nuns in our Catholic high school were so BITTER!! Those were 13 of the most uncomfortable hours we had ever spent together. Once on the set we began to realize the work that goes into creating a movie. We were fortunate enough be able to sit behind Kevin and watch the monitors over his shoulder. It was amazing. It was so amazing that we wanted to come back and shoot another day. And so we did. The second day was of the scenes in the airport. This time we were flight attendants and passengers. Alex was placed as the stand in for the nun and got to hang out with the Matt Damon stand-in, Bill McAdams. She would like to thank you for mentioning her in your bearclaw journal. We think we will definitely been seen in at least three scenes and are excited to see the film on the big screen. Overall, our experiences were, to say the least, unforgettable. The celebrities we had the chance to speak with were most amusing. [Natalie & Alex]

06.12.98

Well, the crew has left Pittsburgh. Everyone except the locals, that is. Alan Rickman wrapped on Friday, 29 May, after shooting from sunset to sunrise, but he stayed until Monday so that he could attend that wrap party. I tell you, that man is one fine dancer!

Linda and Jay wrapped on Tuesday, 2 June. It was also the last day all the crew was together. We did some pickup shots all day, and into the next morning. In between scenes we stood outside and watched the tornado. I swear, it must have been a sign. What kind, no one was really sure, but Pittsburgh is most definitely not a tornado type of town, but none-the-less at least three of them touched in various areas inside and near the city, one of which landed only 10 miles from where we were shooting. At one point we could see the cloud funnelling and heading toward us. Fortunately it disbursed before it reached us, but Linda and Vinnie, one of the creature effects guys were outside filming the whole thing on their camcorders. But once the hail started coming down we all ran inside.

We finally got some lights, and continued to shoot. The scene we were shooting actually takes place outside, but it was all done in closeups, so you couldn't even tell. It was quite amazing. We did a few more pickup scenes with the Golgothan, and, after the weather cleared, outside. Then it was off to Jersey for Kevin and most of the crew.

The next day, those of us who were left went back to the studio where Kevin had his own train. Except it wasn't there anymore. We shot some, uh, fecal effects, and some other closeup effects-type stuph. It was all second unit, so it was pretty laid back. Afterwards, we had a small wrap gathering-type shindig. Which didn't last very long, since we'd just had a wrap party, and Scott had to be back to his hotel so he could get about an hour of sleep before leaving for his 5:30 flight to get him back to Jersey for the shoot on Thursday. What a guy.

And thus ends my report on Bearclaw/Dogma, cause, frankly, there really isn't any more for me to say. [SANDRENE]

05.24.98

Hello. I just wanted to say that I met Matt and Ben on take your daughter to work day. I went to the William Penn Hotel and saw the crew of "Dogma" sitting at a table. I went up to them and asked a woman if she knew Matt Damon. She said yes. Next to her, was a man who sort of looked like Matt Damon. I asked him if he was Matt's double. He said yah. I told them that was so cool. Then I got one of my mom's business cards and a pen and went back to their table. I asked the woman if when Matt came down could I get his autograph. She said yes and she pulled out of her bag a glossy black and white photo of Matt. Then a crew member gave me a magic marker. They said I could get his autograph on that. I said thank you. To make a long story short, I listened to the woman call Matt to wake up,(she said,"Good morning handsome Matt!")I met Ben Affleck and sat with him for 10 minutes, and I met Matt. I got his autograph and then I asked him if I could shake his hand. He said yah and we shook. Then I told him I was never going to wash my hand again! He laughed. I then said bye to Matt and he waved and said," Bye Eve!" I was sooo happy! When Matt left I cried for joy! [EVE]

05.22.98

Emily Thomas (aka Veil Of Tears) has set up a really cool webpage dedicated to her recent trip out to Pittsburgh and the set of "Dogma". Check the page out and learn all about her run-ins with the ViewAskew team.

05.21.98

Sorry I haven't written in awhile, but it's been really tiring these last couple of weeks. Let's see, where to start? The cast is slowly getting smaller. Matt Damon wrapped three weekends ago, and Ben Affleck left the following Wednesday. The seemingly never ending final scene is almost finished. I'm not really sure what Kevin's going to do with it at this point. It's his call. I do know we're going back there for a day. What we're going to do, I have no idea.

Jason Lee returned on Thursday. and left Sunday :( I can see why Kevin wants this cat in all his flicks. He was such an awesome guy to work with, I only wish he could have stayed longer. But, alas, that is how it is in the film industry.

We filmed some of the golgothan today and do even more tomorrow. It was weird seeing Yoko running with a plate of shit. For those who haven't had the pleasure of seeing it, let me tell you, it looks really good. For a huge pile of human excrement, anyway :) Mad props go out to Vinnie and the other creature effects guys.

While we're at it, I give mad props to the View Askew community as well. Brian Lynch and Brian Quinn were here for the latter part of last week. They're a cool couple of guys to hang out with. I found out today that the VA webmaster himself, Ming, will make an appearance in Salma Hayek's first scene. I hope all you fanboys aren't too jealous :)

Well, they're quickly running out of stuph to shoot. There's about four scenes left, including some more triplet fighting scenes. Like Cassiel said, these guys are awesome! And they're a great bunch of kids to hang out with (I can say that, cause they're the only people of the cast and crew who are younger than me!). Then it's back to Jersey for some additional footage, and the film goes into post. Which just brings it closer to being released! [SANDRENE]

05.20.98

Well, this is it...DOGMA wrapped up it's Dormont shoot tonight. Finally got to chat with Vhris a bit, asked about his role of Jimmy Olsen in Supes, he said "I don't know...It's all up in the air"

Got to see the Golgothan puppets...The Golgothan is the um..."poop" creature mentioned that Ethan is going to voice. He is also known as NO MAN...not NORMAN, by the way. Anyway, they look really neat...Very um...Unattractive...but in a good way.

This is a special message for you all to pay attention to the Triplets in the film...Barrett, Jared, and Kitao..They don't have any lines due to SAG rules, but they play an important part...Shout-out to Barrett, the MAN...good kid.

ALSO, I would like to mention Sandrene...Without her help I wouls have never have gotten as close as I did...Props to her.

Dwight got in tonight, he was on the set and we chatted...Very cool guy. The one thing that TRULY floored me about "Chasing Amy" was the performance of Jason Lee and Dwight Ewell...I told him as such...

All in all it was a fantastic experience . [Cassiel]

05.17.98

No luck with photos...the folks on the set would rather I NOT take photos..However, a cool member of the crew (can't recall his name right now) DID give me a copy of the call sheet for Monday, meaning they are running over on their Dormont shoot.

Jason Lee finished today about 15 minutes ago (about 4:50 am) finally got to talk to Kevin for about 5 seconds. He signed a sketch I did of Jay and Silent Bob...It's just too cool. [Cassiel]

05.15.98

Spent about 6 hours on the set today. Let me give you a rundown on what the scene is:

It's in a local bar here called the "Dormont Cafe'"...It's a scene involving Kevin, Jay, Chris Rock, Jason Lee, Selma, and Linda, and the triplets. Sorry for the local teeny boppers, but Matt Damon is gone, goodbye. Somewhere in the scene, Jason Lee's part (Azrael) guns down someone with a machine gun...You could hear the shots from outside.

Met Linda, Selma, Jason, Jay and had a great talk with one of the triplets, Barrett..everyone was very cool and the set was pretty relaxed. As of now (it's 12:15 am) Kevin is STILL shooting.

And a quick shout-out to William the security guy. Great guy, friendly, and helpful.

Everyone involved are treating the locals (I E myself) quite well, especially the effects kiddies. Special Hello to them. [Cassiel]

05.05.98

Well guess who I just met, Linda Fiorntino. Let me just say that she was one of the nicest people I have ever met. She was so sweet and down to earth and a great warming smile. She really is a beautiful woman, looks even prettier in person than in movies. I have to say that her demeaner made her even more beautiful. Seemed like just a really great person. [TRICIA]

05.04.98

Neil from the board spent a few grueling days as an extra on the Dogma set and posted a HUGE report on his experiences, which follows. Sounds like he had a great time! Some very minor spoilers here, but he signed one of those confidentiality agreement things, so don't expect TOO many surprises:

After a seven hour drive to Pittsburgh (including a stop-over Sat. night in State College, which included a killer game of Zonk with my old college roommates), I got to Best Western on Sunday night at about 10:30 pm, just in time to not get enough sleep for a 6:30am call time.

The scene I was in was filmed in East Liberty, which is a VERY shady area. I'm talkin' hard-core projects. The scene took place outside of a church, and the set looked like hell. Just a total mess. The first impression I got was that I couldn't believe that this was a Kevin Smith film. Never in a million years would a scene like this appear in any of his other flicks. 'Dogma' is going to be a serious departure for him. While one can argue "If it ain't broke, don't fix it", I am personally thrilled at the prospect of Kevin spreading his cinematic wings. Unfortunately, that's about all I'm allowed to say about the set, so use your imagination. The scene was essentially the climax of the film, which definitely made things exciting, and featured Ben Affleck (sporting his wings, which were breathtaking!), Matt Damon, Salma Hayek, Linda Fiorentino, Chris Rock, and of course Jay and Silent Bob. There were about 50 extras, made up of two groups of people, 1) random folks from Pittsburgh who do this type of work regularly and wouldn't know the difference between Kevin Smith, Rob Weiss or Jerry Bruckheimer, and 2) Kevin Smith fans, or just overall film fans who were totally psyched to be on the set of a major film. I was a bit bummed about going through this by myself. A friend of mine was set to join me, but he is about to graduate law school, and finals were last week. Hence, I was flying solo. Luckily, the folks in group 2 were very friendly, which made it a much more enjoyable experience. Anyhoo...

Once we got there at 6:30am, we had to fill out data sheets for the casting agency, as well as confidentiality waivers. My friends keep on saying to me, "Come on... tell me everything you saw." In addition to respecting the confidentiality agreement, I don't want to ruin the film for anyone. After seeing only one scene, I can tell that this flick will be full of surprises. Trust me... you want to be surprised.

So once we signed in, they whisked us away to wardrobe and makeup. The lady who did makeup (I think her name is Nancy) did Burt's hair for 'Boogie Nights'. Even more interesting is that she did his hair through the mail. I got a kick out of that.

The day went like this... if they were shooting in your direction, you play dead. If you are not in the scene, you are supposed to wait in the church until you're needed. There was no way in hell I was going to sit in an uncomfortable pew while Kevin is filming right outside. So we just hung around and observed. For the most part, the people had no problem with the bloody extras hanging around, as long as we stayed out of the way. I for one have never been on a major movie set before, so I was like a kid in a candy store. I tried to talk to as many people as possible (special effects, makeup, random fuckers who looked important). The most interesting factoid I picked up... Ben's wings took over two months and about $15,000 to make. And let me tell you... it was worth the money. I caught a glimpse of how he looked on one of the monitors, and his wings took up the whole frame. It looked supurb.

You know, it is tough to talk about what I saw when I'm not allowed to talk about what I saw, if you know what I'm saying. What I can say is that everyone on the set, from the actors to the assistants, were very friendly and approacable. Linda seemed particularly energetic. She was always dancing around, snapping her fingers and shit. Before every take, she did some sort of yoga exercise. In between shooting scenes, I heard her make such comments as, "When I read the screenplay, how come it seemed so wordy? What happened?" or "I thought I signed on for a dialogue film!" That, and I also heard her say that Tommy Lee Jones smokes a lot of bud. Speaking of which, we found some weed growing on the side of the church. It wasn't smokable, but funny nonetheless.

The other feeling I got from the set was that EVERYBODY there totally dug Kevin's script. Some of the makeup people were telling me how they've never seen any of his films, but the screenplay for 'Dogma' had them laughing out loud.

On Tuesday, I luckily caught Kevin alone for about 10 minutes. Man, what a nice guy he is. I introduced myself, and we talked for quite some time about the casting agency, web board, the cast, the set, etc... I couldn't believe that I was sitting there talking to the guy that was running the show. All these people were running around doing various shit for him, and he took the time to talk to me. Most cool....

What else.... oh, I had a ton of fun with my makeup. I didn't wash it off when I left (my face was covered in blood!!), just to have fun with people. I went into a Rite Aid and bought Advil. I walked into my hotel and asked for soap. I went CD shopping. I went to Burger King. A few folks looked at me and laughed, but most people were saying, "Do you need any help?", "Are you ok?" or "What happened?" When I was walking though the 'hood to the parking lot, all these little black kids were saying to me, "Damn!! You'ze an ugly motherfucker!" "What happened to your ugly ass??" One little kid, probably about 7 years old, shook our hands as we walked by him. It was really cute.

The only downside was that the weather fucked everything up. We shot on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, but the rain screwed up the next few days of shooting. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to stick around longer than a week. My boss was totally cool about me cutting out of work for a week on one day's notice, but any longer would have been a problem. When I was talking to Kevin, he asked me where I was situated in the scene. I pointed out the location, and followed with a sincere, "You know, I hope that I can be seen, since I'm under a tree and behind a fence." His response was, "Don't worry, you'll be seen." It killed me to leave, but thunderstorms and showers were predicted for Monday and Tuesday (I checked Weather Channel, CNN, local papers, etc. and they all predicted the same thing). I have a Nick At Nite Upfront Presentation on Wednesday that I have to go to (for all you non-advertising folks, it is when they announce the new shows in the next season... and the entire Brady Bunch cast is going to be there!!), so I just banked in on no more filming getting done Monday and Tuesday, which is the absolute latest I would have been able to stay. I guess that the casting agency needs to find somebody that looks similar to me to fill in for me, which cuts down my chances of getting screen time. Oh well. But you know what? That wasn't what this was about. While of course I'll be disappointed if I can't be seen, the whole reason I wanted to visit the set was to do just that... visit the set. Most people were in awe of Kevin, Ben and Matt... visably starstruck. I was much more starstruck by the behind-the-scenes action. One of the best moments for me was sitting behind Scott (the producer) as he was watching a scene on the monitor. I truly loved watching it being acted and simultaneously seeing what it looks like in Cinemascope (this is gonna be one helluva visual film!). I'm so jealous of the folks that get to be around films and the film industry 24-7.

Although... at one point I walked by Alan Rickman. The guy is larger than life. I couldn't look him in the eye. I was as starstruck as a little girl at a Tommy Paige concert.

On Wednesday, Kevin's parents and sister (who manually masturbates caged animals for artificial insemination) visited the set. They sat quietly out of the way and observed. From time to time, Kevin would swing by and talk to his folks for a few minutes. That showed class, if you ask me. I caught Kevin as I was leaving the set that day to ask him about a rumor of him writing a 'Hate' screenplay with Jason Lee as Buddy Bradley (of which he said is 100% UNTRUE!!), and his sister took a photo of the two of us talking. I was pretty psyched about that, although I wish I had a copy of it :(

Overall, it was a fantastic time... something I'll never forget. We got paid $50 a day ($50 + $10 for blood!), so I made $150. That is great and all, but I spent $550 on a hotel for the week. Was it worth it? Would I pay $133 a day for 12 hours of hanging out on a Kevin Smith movie set? Damn straight!!!!!! Best money I ever spent!! [NEIL MARKS]

05.01.98

This on set report comes to us much after the fact, but we thought you might still like to read it.

WARNING!!! SOME MINOR SPOILERS IN THIS SET REPORT:

I was in New Kensington and witnessed some of the taping on April 4th. I saw them film a scene where Linda Fiorentino gets hit by hockey playing kids. They also filmed one of the kids swinging a hockey stick at a glass? about 20 times. It was really some interesting stuff. Jason Mewes was on the scene. He came into the crowd and talked with us. He was really a great guy. He talked to everyone as if he already knew us. All the girls there wre trying to get on him. He practically had to beat them away, but he was cool with them too. A friend of mine interviewed Jason for the school newspaper and he took him to Shandyside to shop.

After they finished in New Kensington, they filmed down in Oakland (Pitt Campus). Some girls I know met Kevin and Matt Damon there. They said they were really friendly and talked to them for a while.

Jason has been seen at a local dance club on Pitt campus (Laga) numerous times.

Jason went to the Monroeville Mall with some people and he was recognized there by some kids and they started to bow at his feet. He was pretty embarrassed by this.

In New Kensington the film was big news. Jeneane Garofaolo (sic) was on the front page of the paper in the scene outside of the abortion clinic. [MJB]

04.30.98

Well, these past few days (27 April-29 April) have been really hectic. And interesting. We're currently in the midst of a week long shoot in which we film a really important scene. The extras have been great, dispite all the makeup they have to wear, and they really uncomfortable positions they have to get in. There's pretty much a full cast. 7 of the main actors/actresses are there.

Kevin's family showed up today (Wednesday). His parents came, as well as his sister, her husband, and her brother-in-law. Unfortunately they won't have any cameos, since the scene they're shooting now doesn't really allow for them. But they're going to be on the set until Monday.

Half the cast and crew will get a break tomorrow (including me!). It had been threatening to rain for the latter half of the day, and rain was predicted for Thursday and Friday. We figured we were safe, though, since we had God with us. Unfortunately that wasn't enough for the weather, and we got a sudden shower in between shooting shots. It only lasted about a minute or two (that's Pittsburgh weather for you) but they decided to cancel the outdoor shots for tomorrow. We're not sure about Friday's shoot yet. Fortunately there is always something scheduled in case of rain, but it may be a problem getting the extras back this weekend, or next Monday and/or Tuesday. Especially for those out of towners (all those board posters who just had to be in the film :) But we'll see what happens. [SANDRENE]

04.27.98

Hey! You probably don't remember me, but I emailed you about a month ago asking if you had any info on how I could get an internship on Dogma. Well, I finally did it. Not directly, though. I got an internship through Nancy Mosser Casting. But I get to be there and learn about filmmaking from one of my favorite directors, so it's all good.

I noticed there wasn't an update on what happened on Friday (4/24) (or maybe there was, I'm really tired right now) so I thought I'd tell you something. I actually spent most of the day (from 10 am until 3:45 pm) sitting in the extras holding room, while they shot some of the ...DELETED... scenes at ...DELETED.... They also shot Ben's ...DELETED..., but I didn't get to see the shoot. I saw the ...DELETED... when they were putting them away, though, and they looked really neat. Vincent was on the set, he'd been there since his screening at CMU on the 21st. They shot a scene with him, which, I unfortunately didn't get to see, either. I talked to Kevin for a few minutes before I had to leave. He seemed really tired, but he said things were going pretty well as far as shooting and the schedule went. [SANDRENE]

04.26.98

Just wanted to say I was an extra the same day you were (4/21). You did a great job capturing the day, and why most of us were there. You may have missed it but, after shooting the moving walkway scene about four times, we were walking in the opposite direction as Matt/Ben, one of the extras got chewed out because he ruined a shoot by wearing a SPAWN baseball hat. The poor guy said the hat he was given was too small so he wore his own, and had it on the previous 3 shoots! [DALE ELDER]

04.22.98

You probably have already received some email about the filming of the new Kevin Smith film, Dogma in Pittsburgh. Well, they happen to be filming in my building as I type. They are here today and tomorrow. And I'm doing as much spying as I can - between working and trying to look like I'm important when I'm on the Fifth floor (where they are filming). Here is what I know (from one of the Extras - who keep calling themselves, stuntmen - which they probably are, but I know they are only trying to impress the women with the word, "stuntman") ...DELETED...

I've caught a few glimpses of Matt and Ben - most recently in the lobby as they were coming in from lunch. They looked exhausted and either shy or aloof. Matt said hello and smiled, but Ben kind gave me the "freak" look (I being the freak). Maybe it was because I was in the lobby and about 20 other women were standing around gawking. I saw Kevin Smith enter the building this morning. Coincidentally, the local arts paper came out today with a huge characature of Smith on the front page and the words, "Silent Bob speaks." There are many copies of this paper lying around on the Fifth Floor (where they are shooting - literally). Hope this is of some interest to you. They are back tomorrow - I'll see what I can do in the interest of spying some more. [AICN]

04.20.98

Our scooper reports that Matt & Ben were spotted shooting a scene near a bus station in his hometown of McKeesport. Traffic was at a standstill for about 15 minutes as filming went on. We hear that a ton of female fans managed to move in on the guys and snag some autographs, as well. [MIKE SCALISE]

04.19.98

Last Tuesday, April 14th, seemed to be the day that a great deal of the folks who applied to be Dogma extras were called in to be on set. We received quite a few reports with varying degrees of information, nothing TOO detailed (since confidentiality agreements were signed), but of course we've still got some nice inside info for ya, direct from the set! Read on if you like, but there may be a few very minor SPOILERS here...So beware!

Filming on this date took place at the often talked about church, the location of which was not revealed (other than it's in a "questionable" part of town). A great deal of the cast was on set, including Kevin, Jay, Chris Rock, George Carlin, Linda Fiorentino, Ben Affleck and Matt Damon. Jay was roaming around the set with a video camera taping behind the scenes stuff, including a lot of what the extras (about 150-180 of them total) were going through.

The scene was a 3 minute one that took a good part of the day to get perfect. A whole day for 3 minutes. Pretty typical for a movie shoot, actually. We don't know much, but apparently the extras were sat down in several rows of folding chairs, which led up to Affleck and Damon, & Carlin. The extras were dressed as nuns, priests, and police offiers. In the scene, Carlin spoke some dialogue in front of the church to the crowd, but the party was soon broken up by Damon and Affleck's characters. Affleck breaks a cop's neck while the poor guy attempts to apprehend him. The extras all had to flee the set screaming while knocking over chairs and such.

Filming on the scene lasted about a total of 6 hours. One extra reports that Carlin turned out to be quite a nice guy, who remarked, "Just another day at church" as he walked by in his blood-soaked clothing.

A great deal of camera angles were reportedly used, which should make for a very interesting look in the final product.

Look for more on-set Dogma reports as we hear about them! [KIM, ANDY, ELIHU, & JOHNY]

04.13.98

This isn't really major scoop, more of a tidbit of info. We had a couple of nice days in Pgh last week, and I guess Alan Rickman decided to take the opportunity for a jog. Afterwards, he stopped in an upscale men's clothing store in the building where I work. He purchased a pair of Sale Prada pants that were, let's just say, Way too tight!! But I guess he could have them let out a bit! Rumor has it that he was a little smelly!! Hee Hee! Oh well just wanted to fill you in. [TRICIA]

04.03.98

Hey, saw Kevin at the set today. Almost got to talking, but some idiots who didn't even know who he was got in the way. Did take some good pics though. Also, Janeane Garofalo is in the flick. Matt was there this morning and he left. Linda did some filming today also. They are in ...DELETED... tomorrow from 10am. till 10pm, and Saturday from 2pm. till 2am. I'll be there probably the whole time trying to get some good pictures. [HEATHER]

04.01.98

Extras are being asked to sign a contract to not divulge any film-related info they discover from visiting the set. [GRAMP]

04.01.98

Filming has been done using several different camera angles and types, most likely to allow a broader choice when hitting the editing room and watching the dailies. [GRAMP]

04.01.98

Brian O'Halloran has a speaking part in the film. [GRAMP]

04.01.98

Kevin's got a digital camera on set, and has been taking many pictures, which he will most likely put on the VA website when he's permitted. [GRAMP]

04.01.98

30 to 35 extras were used on the first day of shooting alone. [GRAMP]