Filming moves on, but local people have parts as 'extras'

Henry River Road was open on Thursday and filming for “The Hunger Games” at Henry River Mill Village in Hildebran was over.

Props that were apparently used for the movie remained, including clothes that were still hanging on a clothesline and rusted bed springs, car parts and animal pens remained. A set of wooden stairs that leads to a second floor built on the outside of one of the homes remain. The stairs are a new addition to the house.

According to locals residents, during filming actors and others were transported to the village from an old trucking company in Hildebran that was used as a parking and staging area.

A woman who lives near the old trucking company property said security was tight around the property but things remained relatively quiet in spite of all the people and vehicles coming in and out.

The woman, who didn’t want to give her name, said she tried to look for the actors as they were going in and out of the location but never saw anyone. She said some of the vehicles would go to the end of the old truck terminal lot before unloading.

And she missed her chance to get an up-close-and-personal look. She said people at the location invited her to join them for dinner on Monday evening — reportedly the first day of filming — but she had a medical appointment and couldn’t attend.

Filming for the movie was expected to move on to Shelby on Thursday.

And it’s taking some local people with it.

Several Catawba County residents have jobs as extras in the movie.

Kae Treadway, a teacher at River Bend Middle School in Claremont, and her daughter, Abbi, will likely head down to Shelby on Friday to play the role of townspeople in the movie.

Marcus Grum, an eighth grader at River Bend Middle, will be an extra playing one of the kids at the reaping.

The reaping is when “tributes” are chosen. In the book, what’s left of America after fire, flooding and famine have caused a collapse of society, and North America is divided into 12 districts. Each year, a young boy and girl — tributes — are chosen from each district to go to the capitol to compete in the Hunger Games. The 24 participants battle each other, nature and game makers for survival, with only one winner. And it’s all televised for the entertainment of the capitol. According to information posted on fan sites, the reaping was expected to be filmed Thursday.

Treadway and Marcus said there is some information about filming they were warned not to reveal.

Security during filming in Hildebran was tight and Lionsgate, the company producing the movie, contacted one woman along Henry River Road and told her not to take or post photos to the Internet while filming was going on in the area. The woman had posted a couple of photos taken of Henry River Mill Village before filming started.

As extras, Treadway and Marcus were told they can’t have any electronic equipment, including cameras and cell phones, during filming.

“They told us that three times,” Treadway said.

They also aren’t supposed to reveal the locations for costume fittings. Treadway did say that the dress she was fitted for was so threadbare that it ripped during the fitting. Marcus said he was told the clothing in his scenes would look like clothes from the 1930s.

Extras also received haircuts, and the way Treadway described them, some of the haircuts were purposefully made to appear as if they were done at home. Treadway also was told not to wash her hair for two days before filming and to lose the highlights in her hair.

The set for the capitol will be built indoors, Treadway said she was told.

While filming for “The Hunger Games” ended at Henry River Mill Village on Wednesday, the site could be used again in the future for sequels.

“The Hunger Games” is the first in a trilogy of books from author Suzanne Collins. “Catching Fire” and “Mockingjay” are the other two books in the trilogy.

Treadway said when she was contacted by the film production company about being an extra she asked whether the current filming would combine the three books or would a movie be made for each one. She was told three separate films will be made and filming will be done in North Carolina for all three.

Treadway, whose school has used “The Hunger Games” to improve literacy, has read the trilogy. She read them before the movie was announced and before she knew filming would occur in the area.

“We had no idea it would be this big and that it would be filmed here,” Treadway said.