Here is the trailer from Aftershock: Beyond the Civil War.

I play one of the ex-Slaves/ Field Hands in it.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0818080/

Aftershock Beyong the Civil War Film

The Documentary film, 'Aftershock: Beyond the Civil War ' will Premiere on the History Channel on Tuesday, December 19, 2006 at 8:00PM Eastern. It will be shown again at Midnight (12:00am) on Wednesday December 20th, 2006.

The film is a documentary filmed mainly in Massachusetts. I play a field hand in it. You can find more details about the film on imdb.com.

Aftershock: Beyond The Civil War:
Despite common belief, the Civil War does not end in 1865, and the blood of many Americans continues to flow freely. It is a period known as "Reconstruction." America is supposed to be reuniting and healing its wounds, but what emerges is a picture of murder, terrorism and chaos as "free" black men and women remain enslaved by a South that does not completely surrender. Insurgencies led by ex-Confederate soldiers rip through every southern state. America's first terrorist group, the Ku Klux Klan, is formed. Hundreds are butchered in citywide race riots, like the infamous New Orleans Massacre of 1866. Counter-insurgency groups form, like the Lowry Gang, who fights a guerilla-style battle against Confederates and northern carpetbaggers like D.P. Upham, who battles the Klan in Arkansas. All Americans feel the Civil War's aftershocks for years, while some believe its tremors are felt even today.
TVPG

You can read my Previous Blogs on my experience making the film Here:

http://chemiche.blogspot.com/2006/06/filming-aftershock-i-just-acted-in.html

http://chemiche.blogspot.com/2006/06/me-and-tim-weske-after-shooting-our.html

http://chemiche.blogspot.com/2006/06/aftershock-post-civil-war-documentary.html

Aftershock Behind the Scenes

photo by Scott Lefton

This a shot of all the actors who played Field Hands in Aftershock. The guy hanging is actually Stephen LeClaire, a local musician and also the owner of the ranch where this segment was shot. he gets hanged for killing someone in the film. In real life he's a great guy! Note this was definitely between breaks, we're wearing shoes and smiling!

Aftershock is now listed on imdb.com. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0818080/

Making Aftershock

Me and Tim Weske after shooting our scene.

Tim played Amos Black a mean old bast*d working his farm hands to death! He even killed one guy, for not working hard enough! Sad thing is it's a true story! One of the guys joked lets get together and kill him! After we finished shooting the scene Tim was more than a gentleman and came over and apologized to each of us and gave us a hug, dirty as we were! Of course there are no grudges as we were just acting! Plus it helped knowing before hand what the script was about.

I sure am glad I wasn't living back then! Even though I was just acting, working out in that field had me imagining what the real slaves and ex-slaves endured! God made humans resilient!

The Union soldier guy is one of the actors who came from Los Angeles. I'm not sure what his name is.

Aftershock will be shown on the History Channel. I'll let you know when or you an check the website: http://www.limulusproductions.com

You can read more about the Aftershock filming at http://www.the-valves.net/ Click on 'Steve LeClaire Movie Star'. There are also more great photos.

I haven't got any pics with me in them yet. But here are some pics from the filming of AFTERSHOCK.

FILMING AFTERSHOCK

I just acted in a Documentary film being shot for the History Channel. The name of the film is ‘Aftershock’. It’s about the chaos of the post Civil War period. I’m calling it more of the untold stories of that time. Aftershock is being made by Limulus Productions of Arlington, Massachusetts and directed by David Padrusch.

I landed the part of a lowly field hand …backstory -ex slave still living almost in slavery. In the scene Amos Black played by Tim Weske kills one of the farm hands and then threatens the others. Sadly, it’s a true story.

So I went out Sutton, Massachusetts which is about fifty miles from Boston. I arrived on the set, signed in, and went straight to wardrobe. I was dressed in a long black skirt, apron and man’s shirt! I then headed to make-up and this was no glam job. They actually put dirt make-up on me! I then headed to the set where they were filming which turned out to be a soggy field. Once there actors were assigned various farm implements. I ended up with a pitchfork, which turned out to be quite good for tilling the soggy land. The soil was dark and full of bugs and huge earthworms.

There a huge horse called Barney, he looked like a Clydesdale. He was being controlled by a white guy dressed in period clothing. Yeah we were back in 1866 alright. So the scene was blocked and we started filming. We all had to take off our shoes. The soil was soggy and I’m sure I sank at least six inches in it. Thank God I had put some bug spray on my feet before I went to the set.

David moved us around several times. I had to control my farming skills picked up from my days in Tanzania. We would spend the whole day farming with just a hoe. No tractor, no nothing. So the farming part was quite easy, in fact the other cast were teasing me that I was capable of farming the whole farm.

During one of the takes, something stung my foot and I couldn’t look back till David said, Cut. By then I had to ask for first aid. A paramedic on the set came and assisted me. First he had to wash the mud off with bottled spring water. Then he applied ice to help reduce swelling. Luckily it wasn’t too bad and I was able to continue although as I write this my foot is still irritated.
So we shot and an actor named Claude, kept having to fall after being hit by Amos Black. Amos then shoots him in the chest and the rest of us are so intimidated that we keep on working. I guess you would too if the boss cocked his shotgun at you. Amos shoots, spits, stands over the body like he just killed an animal! I think I turned numb with the thought that this really happened.

After shooting all that we moved to another angle and then Amos Black had to recite his nasty lines which included the n-word! When he was saying that all I could say was thank god we were just acting. But I thought of our ancestors who had to endure that harsh life, in the days of slavery. We were dirty all over and I imagined how awful it must have been back then without modern day conveniences. I felt awful, I felt dirty and filthy! But I kept saying to myself at the end of the day I can go home and soak in the tub, wash my clothes in a washing machine etc. What did those poor people have back then? Human beings are truly resilient.

After we finished shooting that scene we broke for lunch. I swear we did 100 takes. Tim came over and shook hands and hugged everyone one off us and apologized. We told him, that we knew he was just acting and had no grudges. We also told him the line wasn’t really a shock to us because it was used in the auditions. He said, he was wondering why people didn’t look surprised.

I felt terrible and quickly took off my costume I was going to leave until another actor told me we were still needed. So I waited until the next scene and put the dirty costume back on. This time, we got bloodied up because we were massacred. Some of the costumes were borrowed from re-enactors and they had to be careful with them. I had the luck of wearing a costume that could be dirtied and had a lot of fake blood poured on me. For this scene we had to lie on the soggy forest floor. They gave us lots of Bug Spray (OFF could use that for a commercial) and the EMT’s checked for poison ivy. We had to hold our breath and play dead.

After we were done and all the African American actors were released. I changed back to my 2006 clothes and tried to take as much of the dirt make up and fake blood off. One of the actors, Frank Shefton, told me that the other day he did a scene with the fake blood. He didn’t get it all off his face and on the way home he stopped at 7-11 and the clerk almost freaked out! Yeah that fake blood looked real and felt real. In fact, when the same EMT who assisted me earlier saw me with it he gasped.

Overall, what an experience! I’ll inform you when the film will be playing in the History Channel.

Aftershock Beyond The Civil War

AFTERSHOCK - A Post Civil War Documentary for the History Channel

This film is about the post-civil war period known as 'Reconstruction'. Production started June 1st, in Massachsuetts. I have a role in it. The scene I'm in will film next week. I'll definitely brief you on the shoot.

The script is based on true incidences and its atrocious how blacks were murdered and mistreated. White would hire blacks to work their land then refuse to pay them resultng in some blacks starving to death.

Black men, women and children were murdered for sport! A black woman who spoke up against the Klan was stripped naked and whipped in front of her family, then the Klan whipped her daughters!

It was an awful time for blacks and whites who felt the pain of losing their old way of life because of the Civil War. I think films like Gone With the Wind have shaped a lot of peoples thoughts on Reconstruction. Aftershock will definitely be an eye opener.

Meanwhile here is an article on the interest that the film is generating:


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Crackle of rifle fire, smell of gunpowder to fill Air

By Ariel Z. Burch/ Staff Writer Thursday, June 1, 2006

Westford Police Dispatchers may receive a higher number of strange calls the weekend of June 8, but the gunshots, flames and suspicious-looking men in Civil War era-garb will all be part of a History Channel documentary.

"Aftershock," a two-hour special about the post-Civil War South, will be filmed in Sutton and in Westford on town-owned land at the end of Vine Brook Road along Nashoba Pond, also known as Kennedy Pond.

Conservation Commissioner William Turner and the Board of Selectmen have given Producer-Director David Padrusch of Limulus Productions permission to film on Thursday, June 8, Friday, June 9 and Saturday, June 10.

Padrusch said some scenes will be violent and very dramatic due to the nature of the film.

"During a period known as 'Reconstruction,' a time many consider to be one of the darkest in American history, America is supposed to be reuniting, healing its wounds and moving past civil discord. But in the post-Civil War South, one can see snapshots of a larger, more menacing picture. A picture shadowed by insurgency terrorism and chaos as 'free' black men and women remain enslaved by a South that does not completely surrender," Padrusch said.

"The truth about this era is about to become shockingly clear," Padrusch said.

Kate Hollister of the homeowners association on Vine Brook Road said the neighborhood supports the production.

"I have only talked to the women, but they all say it's great and 'can the kids go watch?'" said Hollister.

Residents are welcome to watch filming, Padrusch said, and the Police and Fire Departments will be on hand to maintain order.

There will also be opportunities for extras to appear in the production and members of the Westford Academy Theater Arts program, under the direction of Michael Towers, may also have roles.

"This is a very serious matter that is being handled with the utmost delicateness," Padrusch said.

Padrusch's last film, entitled "Bible Battles," premiered on the History Channel in December, 2005.