American History X- The Walla Group
American History X
and the Walla Group
In film and television, walla is the background murmur of a crowd. In this case, we did it live — shaved heads, storm-trooper energy, and a day at Venice High School in the badlands of Los Angeles.
American History X is a 1998 American drama film directed by Tony Kaye and starring Edward Norton and Edward Furlong — and, as I like to put it, (Ed)ward Reif.
The Sound of the Scene
In film and TV, walla is a sound effect imitating the murmur of a crowd in the background. A lot of actors do not like to shave their heads. Since I already do it, I ended up getting a lot of prosthetic work on Galaxy Quest, did a mockumentary for the Sci Fi network, and worked as a series regular as a Cro-Mag soldier on Jerry O’Connell’s Sliders.
A group of actors is usually brought together in the post-production stage of film production to create that murmur, and that group is known as a walla group. We did it live.
Here I am as Nazi Buddy Storm Trooper #4. Check out the video below for some walla — down at Venice High School in the badlands of Los Angeles.
The Walla Group Scene
Further Background
Archive Image
American History X is a 1998 American drama film directed by Tony Kaye and starring Edward Norton and Edward Furlong and (Ed)ward Reif.
Production Still
Here I am as Nazi Buddy Storm Trooper #4 — the visual companion to the live walla story.
Production Reality
That is what I liked about film work at the edges: the details were never abstract. Haircuts mattered. Presence mattered. Showing up mattered. Sometimes you were not the star of the frame. You were the heat behind it, the pressure in the room, the human murmur that made the scene feel real.