Motion picture filming takes over UNCG gym

Haley Joel Osment, best known for his ability to see dead people in the 1999 horror classic, "Sixth Sense," has gotten acquainted with the UNCG campus. Filming for the movie "Home of the Giants," starring Osment, was shot in Fleming Gym this past weekend.

"Home of the Giants" is a drama set in an Indiana town that lives for basketball. The story centers around two teenage friends, Osment, who will portray Robert "Gar" Gartland, a school journalist covering the basketball team on its way to the state championship. Robert idolizes the school's star basketball player, Matt Dunbar, played by Ryan Merriman.

During the team's pursuit of the championship, the two catch up. Befriended by Matt's brother, a former Giants team player, the boys are taken in by the older boy, but he ends up being anything but the hero they thought he was.

Merriman has the lead role in the upcoming "Final Destination 3." Another headliner is Danielle Panabaker, who might be known from TV's "Summerland" or "Empire Falls." Sports commentators Dick Vitale and Jay Bilas of ESPN were also included in several basketball game scenes that were shot in Fleming Gym.

Hundreds of Greensboro and Winston-Salem residents were used as extras in the film. Before filming on campus, scenes were done at Carver High School, in Winston-Salem, as well as at Wendy's on Wendover Avenue and a neighborhood in Northwest Greensboro.

Other locations included High Point and they will soon be filming at the LJVM Coliseum in Winston-Salem, where thousands of extras will be needed. Filming at the LJVM will run Sept. 23 through the 25th.

The Giant's colors are blue and gold, which is the reason for UNCG and Carver High being used. Greensboro's Page High School provided their band and cheerleaders to be used as extras for the movie too.

Being an extra in "Home of the Giants" is unpaid, but it provides a chance to see how full-scale movies are produced, to have fun and the production staff also raffled off memorabilia and autographed set pieces.

A day as an extra could be regarded as somewhat boring - waiting for the director to tell them what they need to do - but many see it as an exciting opportunity. Spending a day hanging around with Haley Joel Osment and eating free pizza can't be too bad, however, very few UNCG students showed up.

No experience or skills are required and though most extras will play spectators, several other small roles are available.

Extras are still needed for the latter locations. Anyone interested should call the extras casting hotline at (336) 232-5913.