2008 Woodie Awards
Richard Gere film 'Hachiko' turns Kingston campus into movie set
Lindsay Lorenz
Issue date: 2/27/08 Section: News
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About 100 students and Richard Gere arrived in the early morning to film scenes for "Hachiko: a Dog's Story." The movie, a remake of a 1987 Japanese film, stars Gere, and chronicles the bond between a college music professor and a stray dog.
Gere, known for roles in "Pretty Woman," "An Officer and a Gentleman" and "Runaway Bride," is also one of the movie's producers.
The URI students cast as extras to play Gere's students began filing into the lobby around 7 a.m. After signing release forms, students waited in the auditorium's balcony as the crew put finishing touches on the set and Gere ran lines.
Sophomore Stefanie Catanzano, who read about the opportunity to be an extra in an e-mail, said she responded a few weeks ago and got word that she was selected Monday night around 7:30.
"The first person I called was my mom, but I was speechless. She probably thought something was wrong," Catanzano said with a laugh.
Twelve hours later, she found herself in Edwards along with Gere, preparing for her film debut.
"I've known Richard Gere since I first saw 'Pretty Woman' with my family," she said. "I've been a fan ever since."
She said playing a student might seem second nature to most of the university's population, but the role comes with challenges. Catanzano said crewmembers instructed the cast when to laugh and how to react so the finished product would appear natural.
Because the main character is a music professor, the stage was set to look like something from a combined theater and music department. A forest-like backdrop and stone-looking walls played host to a baby grand piano and one talented Gere.
After a quick solo on the piano, Gere sat casually on the stage's edge and began to lecture students.
Auriane Koster, a fifth-year senior cast as an extra, said filming the short scene was not a quick job.
"We probably did [one scene] like 20 or 30 times," she said.
Tom Luse, one of the producers, said it's essential to film the scene several times using different camera angles. Throughout the almost six-hour shoot, some cameras filmed the master shot, a very broad shot, while others shot what's called coverage, or close-up. Yesterday, crewmembers in the lobby monitored footage from two cameras in the auditorium.
But to get the perfect shot, the lighting must be just right.
"The human eye sees much more selectively, more subtly than the camera," Luse said.
To combat this problem, a few large lights were set up on the stage to shed light onto Gere. Outside two jenny lifts equipped with beaming bulbs that shown through the windows provided the appearance of a sunny day on an overcast Tuesday.
"It's very hand crafted," Luse said. "We spend 80 percent of the time setting up the shot and only 20 percent filming it," he said.
But for students, the set up time provided an opportunity to catch a more glimpses of Gere.
Koster said seeing Gere was her first celebrity sighting.
"I grew up in South Kingstown and [being in the movie] was really exciting," she said. "We don't have these things happen around here very often."
She added that Gere seemed very focused during filming, and between takes he would sit quietly to the side of the auditorium.
"You could definitely tell he was trying to stay in character," she said. "The students were respectful of his privacy, and were being professional."
It was a busy day on the Kingston campus as crews began preparations for filming long before the sun came up. Some crewmembers arrived as early as 3 a.m. and several large trucks parked along Ranger Road were filled with equipment.
Working on the set was one familiar face. Ron Augustus, a URI film studies student taking a semester off to work in the field, was working as a location assistant.
"It's exciting because this is my first real gig," he said.
Augustus started his day around 5:30 a.m. and expected to continue until at least 6 p.m. He said being on campus as an employee rather than a student was a strange feeling.
"Coming back, you feel like more of an observer," he said. "But at the same time you've still got roots."
In fact, the fifth year senior ran into several of his former classmates while doing maintenance around campus. As a location assistant, it's part of his job to make sure the grounds are safe.
Yesterday one of his tasks was to shovel snow near the entrance of Green Hall for a scene to be shot there later.
Others who work on location, like Eoin Walsh, a crewmember from Jamestown, R.I., said he helped hunt down a good spot for filming.
Earlier this year, Walsh and others toured the campus, taking pictures and passing them on to the director and the producers, who eventually decided the campus' classic architecture would make a nice setting. He was on set yesterday to make sure things were running smoothly.
"The film business is a business of problem solving," he said. "Things are constantly changing."
With a crew of more than 150, a lot could go wrong.
"We're a three-ring circus," Walsh said. "And to be able to accommodate that kind of thing while you have an operating campus, it's a really positive thing."
He added that the school has been very accommodating to the chaos a movie set can bring.
"URI has been unbelievably helpful," Walsh said.
Within the last two weeks, "Hachiko" is the second movie to be filmed on the Kingston campus. Last week, URI played host to the movie "The Clique" for two days.
Both movies have paid the university only for the cost of incidental expenses like electricity and security personnel. The administration hopes the movies will attract positive publicity for the university.
Within the last year, several feature films have been shot within Rhode Island after the state passed a law allowing motion pictures companies to receive a 25 percent transferable tax break on all Rhode Island expenditures.