Mystery as Biden spends hours in his hometown Wilmington filming a 'campaign video' with 'extras' and very few details released by staff

President Joe Biden traveled with a squadron of helicopters to his home state Tuesday to cut a highly secretive campaign video.

The White House and the Biden campaign released scant details about the effort, on a day when the president was mostly out of sight. 

Biden spent several hours inside Alexis DuPont high school, around the corner from his Wilmington home, to undertake the project. There were no signs of large crowds, but tell-tale signs of high-end video production.

'I'm just an extra,' one participant, a woman in a long dress, told DailyMail.com when asked if she had a spoken line. Asked if she held a sign, she said no. 'I play by the rules,' she responded.

Staff members in black t-shirts had ID badges that said 'crew,' in another clue to his doings. 

Inside the school near the auditorium where students are staging a production of Sweeney Todd, a sign told visitors that by entering 'you consent to be photographed, filmed and/or otherwise recorded.'

President Joe Biden flew to Wilmington, Delaware to shoot a campaign ad, although his campaign released few details about his activities Tuesday

It came on a day when Biden was mostly out of sight

The president took top aides with him on the trip

'Your entry constitutes your consent to such photography, filming and/or recording and to any use, in any and all media in perpetuity, of your appearance, voice and name for any purpose whatsoever, without compensation, in connection with the production for the Biden for President 2024 campaign and affiliated entities.'

If you don't agree to the terms, 'please do not enter the area,' said the large legal release, printed on a billboard.

(In the auditorium itself, stage props included signs from the production of the Stephen Sondhein musical, advertising 'Mrs. Lovett's World Famous Meat Pies'). 

The Biden/Harris campaign was tight lipped about the details about the work on digital and ad content.

'President Biden is participating in a campaign event,' the campaign said to a pool of reporters who traveled with the president from Washington.

Even the local TV stations reported only that he would be in town at the school.

Biden appeared with Kamala Harris back in 2020 at the same school just a day after naming her as his running mate. That came during his 'basement' campaign amid the coronavirus pandemic, when the party's Milwaukee convention got cancelled and Biden often spoke in deserted rooms before reporters who sat in circles demarcated by tape.

A blowup legal release says people who entered the school give their consent to be photographed

Crew members in black t-shirts moved AV equipment

The high school near Biden's Wilmington home is putting on a production of Sweeney Todd

Biden spent hours at the school located a few hundred yards from his house. But his campaign would say only that it was for a 'campaign event'

'I have no doubt that I picked the right person to join me as the next vice president of the United States,' Biden said at the time. 'She's smart, she's tough, she's experienced, she's a proven fighter for the backbone of this country, the middle class and all those who are struggling to get into the middle class.'

Now, four years later, Biden, 81, he is preparing for an angry rematch with Donald Trump, 71. Both men suffer from high negative ratings and Trump is spending weeks stuck in a Manhattan courthouse for his 'hush' money Stormy Daniels trial.

'Stormy weather,' Biden joked at the White House Correspondents Dinner.

Biden has been hitting the campaign trail, while Trump has been tied down. Trump has been clamouring for debates from the courthouse. Biden has said he would be 'happy' to engage, but it may be through TV ads that the campaigns draw the sharpest contrasts. 

Biden had a big cash advantage over Trump at the end of March, raising more than $90 million with about $192 million in cash on hand. That compared to the $66 million Trump raised, with $93 million in cash, although Trump stepped up his fundraising with a big event at Mar-a-Lago.

Biden landed in Delaware at 2:30 pm, and spent his time at the high school just minutes from his house, which he visits regularly. He brought along senior advisors including Anita Dunn and Mike Donilon for the trip.