Lawnmower Man - From The Inside
For many Virtual Reality fans, the 1992 movie, "Lawnmower Man" set their imaginations on fire; and still gets mentioned on most of the web sites that discuss Virtual reality, as being one of the first of such movies that got them hoping for this type of future to become possible a.s.a.p..
Just do a quick search here in the Forums or over on /r/Oculus, and you'll see what I mean.
But unlike most of the VR fans here, "Lawnmower Man" holds an even deeper fascination, and stronger memories for me...
Back in the early 1990's, after losing my job in a massive layoff at Hughes Aircraft in Fullerton, California, I decided to just do something for fun for awhile; and that's when I became a full-time television and movie extra.
And among the many projects I worked on during that time, was, of course, "Lawnmower Man."
You can't tell how many hours I worked on the film from the few seconds of me left on the screen; but the memories of filming in the Ambassador Hotel (which is now gone), including visiting the area by the kitchens where Bobby Kennedy was assassinated in June of 1968, are still very strong; and they add an incredible edge to watching the film now, using MaxVR with the DK2, 23 years after it was released.
You can see a few frames of me from the hotel lobby sequence at the imgur link below:
http://imgur.com/a/tYZpq
What also makes working on "Lawnmower Man" special for me too, is the fact that during the filming I got a page from my Calling Service (which did bookings for me), to let me know I was booked to play a Police Officer on Beverly Hills 90210 (for the first of three times) the very next morning; which meant that when we finished filming "Lawnmower Man" around 1:00 a.m., I had to rush back to Fullerton (about 35 miles away), to get a shower and pick up my Police uniform and gear, so I could rush back to the far-side of Los Angeles; with no time for rest or sleep.
And that was the first time I had to shoot that many hours on two different productions, without any sleep in-between.
If you want a peek at few frames from one of my scenes in that 90210 episode, where I'm a Police Officer stuffing his face with a Breakfast Danish right when the Police Station is first shown 31 minutes and 21 seconds into the episode, click on the imgur link below.
http://imgur.com/a/jpGNR
From Beverly Hills 90210
Season 2 Episode 4
"Anaconda"
Broadcast 1-Aug-1991
And, if you are crazy enough to want to see a few more images from my acting days, click on the link below, and scroll down to where you start to see some of my black & white headshots and beyond.
http://tinyurl.com/qxublhd
Still Crazy in Fullerton,
Will Hart
ps
The older woman I was "talking" too in the lobby sequence for "Lawnmower Man" had fallen asleep, but I had to keep gesturing as if we were carrying on a conversation...
Just do a quick search here in the Forums or over on /r/Oculus, and you'll see what I mean.
But unlike most of the VR fans here, "Lawnmower Man" holds an even deeper fascination, and stronger memories for me...
Back in the early 1990's, after losing my job in a massive layoff at Hughes Aircraft in Fullerton, California, I decided to just do something for fun for awhile; and that's when I became a full-time television and movie extra.
And among the many projects I worked on during that time, was, of course, "Lawnmower Man."
You can't tell how many hours I worked on the film from the few seconds of me left on the screen; but the memories of filming in the Ambassador Hotel (which is now gone), including visiting the area by the kitchens where Bobby Kennedy was assassinated in June of 1968, are still very strong; and they add an incredible edge to watching the film now, using MaxVR with the DK2, 23 years after it was released.
You can see a few frames of me from the hotel lobby sequence at the imgur link below:
http://imgur.com/a/tYZpq
What also makes working on "Lawnmower Man" special for me too, is the fact that during the filming I got a page from my Calling Service (which did bookings for me), to let me know I was booked to play a Police Officer on Beverly Hills 90210 (for the first of three times) the very next morning; which meant that when we finished filming "Lawnmower Man" around 1:00 a.m., I had to rush back to Fullerton (about 35 miles away), to get a shower and pick up my Police uniform and gear, so I could rush back to the far-side of Los Angeles; with no time for rest or sleep.
And that was the first time I had to shoot that many hours on two different productions, without any sleep in-between.
If you want a peek at few frames from one of my scenes in that 90210 episode, where I'm a Police Officer stuffing his face with a Breakfast Danish right when the Police Station is first shown 31 minutes and 21 seconds into the episode, click on the imgur link below.
http://imgur.com/a/jpGNR
From Beverly Hills 90210
Season 2 Episode 4
"Anaconda"
Broadcast 1-Aug-1991
And, if you are crazy enough to want to see a few more images from my acting days, click on the link below, and scroll down to where you start to see some of my black & white headshots and beyond.
http://tinyurl.com/qxublhd
Still Crazy in Fullerton,
Will Hart
ps
The older woman I was "talking" too in the lobby sequence for "Lawnmower Man" had fallen asleep, but I had to keep gesturing as if we were carrying on a conversation...
