CABARRUS COUNTY, N.C. — Cabarrus County played a starring role in a red-carpet event Friday night celebrating the release of the blockbuster film “The Hunger Games.”
Michelle Hintz, of Harrisburg, was one of the more than 300 extras “Hunger Games” extras to attend the event at AMC Concord Mills theater 24.
Hintz, who played an extra in the Capitol scenes, dressed very much like her character from the movie, wearing a blue dress, black vest and blue feathers in her hair.
“It was amazing,” Hintz said of the production. “So many people together at the same time getting their hair and makeup done. It was just so fantastic and otherworldly. It’s really indescribable the magnitude that goes into the movie, all the hair and makeup people involved and getting all these 500 people ready at the same time with fabulous costumes.”
Hintz, a stay-at-home mom, was among the extras who filmed at the old Philip Morris location in Concord, where several Capitol sequences were shot. One sequence involving the main characters, Katniss Everdeen and Peeta Mellark, riding in a chariot was shot at Philip Morris, several people said.
“You drive by there all the time, and you never get to go inside, and to finally get to go in there, it was strange,” Hintz said. “It was great to see it inside. I never knew it was such a big space, but it’s actually perfect as a soundstage. It’s secluded. It’s a perfect spot.”
Emily Miner, a Harrisburg Middle School student, wore a red dress similar the one Katniss wears in the movie. She was among those who attended Friday’s red carpet event and acted as an extra in the movie.
She was in the District 12 sequences, including the “Reaping” scene, where Katniss and Peeta are picked for the Hunger Games.
“I saw the movie earlier today, and you can see me walking to the Reaping scene, so that was fun,” Miner said. “It’s very exciting and I love the attention. A lot of kids from school recognize me and it was just great to see myself on the big screen.”
Grant Conversano, of Concord, traveled to Shelby to shoot the District 12 sequences used in the movie.
Filmed entirely in North Carolina, the locations used for “The Hunger Games” include Asheville, Black Mountain, Cedar Mountain, Shelby, Charlotte, Hildebran and Concord and other spots in North Carolina.
“The Hunger Games” is set in a future in which the government selects a boy and girl from each of the 12 districts to fight to the death on live television. Katniss, played by Jennifer Lawrence, volunteers to compete for District 12 after her younger sister is initially chosen for the latest match.
“It was really cool to be a part of this movie,” Conversano said, wearing older clothes similar to his wardrobe as a resident of District 12. “It was hot during the summertime. I was wearing something like this. It was more of a poor, Depression-style look. We had just four shirts and really raggy kind of clothes. We were dirty. They wanted to give us kind of a low-down, grungy kind of look. So with us sweating and everything and the environment, it kind of helped with that.”
Conversano said he was surprised at what a cultural sensation the movie has become.
“It’s just amazing how many fans it already has, and the movie came out today,” he said. “I’m really looking forward to seeing how big this really gets.”
At the red carpet event at Concord Mills, which was actually organized by many of the extras, many people were dressed in the clothes of the Capitol, including blue lipstick, pink hair and crazy coif hairdos. Also, many people wore black and red, the colors that symbolize District 12, and many women wore flowing red gowns, similar to the one Katniss wears during an interview at the Capitol.
Mini movie posters were given out to people who came to the show, and there was a photograph area where extras could have their photo taken in front of a movie poster.
Tona Dahlquist, who was the extras casting person for “The Hunger Games,” also attended the screening.
We had a very specific look we needed for every aspect of this movie, so I was given pretty strict guidelines,” Dahlquist said.
For instance, a lot of people who filmed the Capitol sequences at Philip Morris had to be willing to bleach their eyebrows.
“And willing to let us do whatever to their hair and wearing some really elaborate costumes,” Dahlquist said.
Tim Olcott, of Charlotte, was also an extra, playing a stagehand for the television crew at the Capitol and also appearing in a District 12 sequence. He was also an organizer of the red-carpet event. More than 400 people RSVP’d for the event, he said.
“This is the closest that some of us will ever come to something like this,” he said. “So it’s exciting to make this experience memorable for ourselves.”
WSOC
