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Costner, Kutcher train, film ‘Guardian’ in LSUS pool.

Cheryl Crain
The Health & Physical Education Building’s Natatorium was recently used as one of the sites to film the motion picture, “The Guardian,” staring Kevin Costner and Ashton Kutcher, due to hit theaters this fall.

The production team began scouting for indoor swimming pools last August after they were forced from New Orleans by Hurricane Katrina. They visited LSUS several times before finally deciding to choose this location.
The movie’s general theme is about U.S. Coast Guard rescue swimmers. Kevin Costner is a hotshot rescue swimmer who returns to the training center as an instructor. Ashton Kutcher is the new hotshot who is going through the rescue swimmer training.

So, the LSUS Natatorium was dressed to resemble the actual Coast Guard training center for rescue swimmers in Elizabeth City, N.C. For five days in mid-November, the actors took part in “boot camp” training in the LSUS Natatorium conducted by actual rescue swimmer instructors from the Elizabeth City training center. The actors were put through some of the actual training rituals that are a part of the training program for rescue swimmers.

When the actors first began the “boot camp’, they were totally out of sync and had trouble putting on their gear. By the time the last day rolled around, they actually looked like they were part of a Coast Guard rescue swimmer training school. Both Kutcher and Costner took the training very seriously and worked as hard as or harder than the rest of the actors to perfect the look.

The actual filming did not begin until Jan. 4 and lasted for six days. The HPE Building’s parking lot was full of camping trailers for the stars and crew and 18-wheelers were parked all along the north side of the building. Huge lights, made to portray sunlight, were set on the west side of the pool just outside the windows. Inside the Natatorium, two large lighted helium balloons were floating above the pool. An 18-foot tall platform was installed on the east side of the pool to simulate jumping out of a helicopter and training with the rescue baskets.

About 200 crew members were busy setting up each scene for filming, moving cameras, changing lights and directing the actors to their correct positions. It looks like chaos to the general public, but each person knows his or her job and they make it all come together.

I never realized how hard they work and how much goes into making a movie. Since I am the HPE Facilities Manager, I was able to see all of the filming and was able to meet some of the actors. My job was to be on-site during the filming as the campus representative for any problems that might arise. Everything had to be just right before they would actually shoot a scene. Thirty minutes of scene preparation would produce a few seconds of actual printable film. One of the crew members told me that it takes, on average, 12 hours of filming to produce 1 minute of printable film. Now I know why it cost so much to make a movie.

The actors and crew worked an average of 12 hours a day during the filming. For lunch, which might be Noon or 4:30 p.m., depending on how things were going, the actors and crew would break and walk over to the University Center to eat a catered buffet meal. The Port was set up with tables and chairs for their dining area. On some occasions, during this time, LSUS staff would get to mingle with the actors, talk to them and get autographs. The last day of filming ended at 2 a.m. the morning of Jan. 11. The crew packed up everything and moved on to the next site.

Less than a week later, the producers asked to come back for an extra day of filming after they viewed their footage and realized that they needed more action shots. The Natatorium had to be “set-dressed” again and on Jan. 18 the actors and crew came back for another day of filming. As it turned out, that was Kevin Costner’s birthday and at the end of the day the cast and crew sang happy birthday to him while a gentleman played the bagpipes. Afterward, the cast took pictures together and signed autographs. Costner also signed autographs and took pictures with some of the LSUS staff. I was very fortunate to have my picture made with him and later was able to get an autographed picture for my office.

It was an experience of a lifetime that I will never forget. I hope Shreveport continues to attract the movie industry to our area. And maybe, LSUS can be another site for a film.

(Cheryl Crain is the facility manager for the LSUS Health & Physical Education Building.)

[Note: Since the close of on-campus filming for “The Guardian,” Costner’s production company has scouted LSUS for its next film, “Mr. Brooks,” and location scouts have visited the campus for another motion picture and a film for TV.]