The sequel to Bruce Almighty, which is called Evan Almighty,  was filmed in this area in the spring of 2006.  We heard about this in the paper and on the news a few months before filming began.   A handful of our friends answered the open casting call in Charlottesville, VA.  Over 2000 people showed up and signed up to be extras.

The first brush we had with this movie was when some people we know in Crozet told us in April that  they had been by the set.  It was only a couple miles from their house, and it was a sight to behold.  They commented on the graciousness of the crew and  the immense size of the ark that was under construction. They even said that the grass and buildings were fake. That's it -- we knew we had to visit for ourselves.

 When we had some company in town, we drove by the set.   On the outskirts of a real under-construction housing development, an array of trailers and tents welcomed us.  The sign at the front said, "Motion Picture Set Ahead" and warned to be respectful and obey the speed limit.  We saw three houses which were mere shells -- the stones were plastic and they had no guts or back walls.  Looming on the horizon, we saw a full-sized ark being built. 

We saw trainers teaching baboons to walk around and on the ark. The crew didn't mind us being there, and the security guard simply asked that we stay far back from the animals.  We were allowed to take pictures, ask questions, explore the set.

A few weeks later, they transformed local town Waynesboro into the fictional Huntsville featured in the movie.  The main intersection in downtown was cordoned off and decorated with fake trees and awnings to make it look like more like a thriving, quaint town.   The city hall was transformed into a church with a message to Evan on its display board.  The local theater also had a tongue-in-cheek movie title on its marquee: "The Forty-Year-Old Virgin Mary."  The banners over the street proclaimed it was the "Huntsville Arts Festival."

Morgan Freeman (as God) was spotted as a motorcycle cop.  Steve Carell (as Evan)  drove his SUV down the street again and again.  

As filming progressed, we started hearing rumblings that the extras list was growing smaller, while the need for extras was growing exponentially.  I signed up to be an extra for one day.  It was so cool to see how a movie crew works.  I was amazed that with all the moving parts, they kept everything under control and organized.  We always had food, water and sunblock.  Everyone I asked for assistance was knowledgeble and had a good answer.  We had hundreds of people roaming around, but everyone knew just what to do.

While on set, I saw Steve Carell, John Goodman, Lauren Graham, and a handful of other actors.  Elephants and alpacas would roam in the field when not on screen.  I was filmed in a scene with other onlookers ("neighbors") behind news reporters commenting on the scene.   The sequence went kind of like this:

"Cue animals!"

A line of giraffes, elphants and baboons started moving in front of the ark.

"Cue cars!" 

A line of slow-moving cars began driving.

"Cue background action!"

That's us -- the extras started moving and mouthing words (but no dramatic gestures).

"Rolling! Quiet, we're rolling!"

That meant that everyone who wasn't on camera should stop talking now.

"And . . . action!"

That's when the primary actors started doing their lines.

The actors might do their parts 3-4 times with the cars, animals and extras continously moving.  We only stopped if the cars ran out or the animals made it all the way across the set and had to move back to the starting position.

Filming has wrapped up now and the movie will be released in 2007.

Screen shots from the trailer 

Here are a couple of screen shots showing Staunton:

 
Evan Baxter (Steve Carell) on the campaign trail in Gypsy Hill Park in Staunton.

 
A crowd of onlookers cheers on Johnson Street.  You can see my friend Barb's head in this shot.