http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/09/04/cbsnews_investigates/main4415886.shtml Fake Soldiers Used In RNC Video Patriotic Montage Shown At RNC Featured Actors Hired For One Day Shoot, Not Military It was a video that was supposed to elicit soaring patriotism and real emotions about the Pledge of Allegiance. But to do that, it used fake soldiers and a staged military funeral instead of the real thing. On Tuesday night, 15-year-old Victoria Blackstone, a sophomore at the St. Agnes School in St. Paul, led the crowd at the Xcel Energy Center in the Pledge of Allegiance. The audience heard her 434-word essay, âPledging myself to the Flag of the United States of America,â an essay sheâd entered it in the âWave the Stars & Stripesâ essay contest and won. The RNC turned that essay into a three and a half minute video, a visually stirring montage rolling over Victoriaâs words about sharing the Pledge with Americans who have stood at important moments in history. Thereâs the Continental Congressâ¦A real WWII vetâ¦Photos of workers at Ground Zero. A close-up of a folded flag presented to a grieving widow at a military funeral⦠profiles of soldiers swelling with pride in slo-motion. But CBS News found that the footage of the âfuneralâ and soldiers is what is called âstockâ footage. The soldiers were actors and the funeral scene was from a one-day film shoot, produced in June. No real soldiers were used during production. The footage, sold by stock-film house Getty Images was produced by a commercial filmmaker in Chicago. Both Getty and the production company, Mr. Big Films, confirmed that the footage was shot on spec and sold to the Republican National Committee. One of the actors, Perry Denton of Chicago, IL also confirmed that he was hired on a day-rate as an actor for the shoot and told CBS News he was surprised to learn the footage was shown at the convention.