Extra Credit

Some time spent (barely) on movie sets in my life

Hey, folks. Happy August! Welcome to my Substack. There will always be some free content, but there’s a Pay wall in this one because I spent a good deal of time and effort on it. I know we are living in crazy times where prices of everything are going up, but please support starving creators here on Substack or anywhere and in any way you can. Thanks and enjoy the post!

This is a thing I see people do on Substack a lot, but I figured it was only for more important (or famous) people. Now I realize that no one is important, not even famous people. We all watch and do the same mundane stuff. So here goes:

“What should we watch?” - This is the question I ask my wife almost every night we eat dinner at home. It is literally the most difficult decision we have to make all day. Here’s what we have been deciding lately:

What We Do in the Shadows - This is a show in season 4, so if you’re not aware or not interested, you’re probably not going to start now, but if you are a fan like myself, you’ll enjoy this season as much as any of them. They are in that era that some shows are lucky enough to get to where they have established the characters and can now play around and have some fun with them. Lazlo is playing father figure to the child that crawled out of Colin Robinson, Nadja has opened a vampire nightclub, and Nandor has found the person who will become his wife… maybe. And Guillermo seems to have found someone, as well, but it’s being kept under wraps. If you are into the show, and want a little more, check out our Vampire Council podcast here.

Read “em and Weep: .I read stuff sometimes. And you should too:

Parker Girls - I will admit that my comic book reading has gotten a little mainstream lately, but I still read some indie books, and Terry Moore is one of my favorites, and no doubt one of the all-time greats. His latest series is a spin-off from his award-winning series Strangers in Paradise, which began in 1993 and is still begetting amazing stories. If you’re looking for some intrigue in comic form, this is the one.

(Click on those links to buy something and I get a little kickback. #alwaysbeplugging)

Various Other Stuff: If you’re still here, I’ve done a lot of podcasts, a few comics, and I have a Teepublic store, so check all that out, if you please. And now, on to the ramblings…

This month, we’re taking a little trip back into my past as a movie extra. Let me know if you have had similar experiences (or better ones) in the comments below. Thanks for reading and keep on keepin’ on.

*****

As someone who has worked in a movie theater, then a video store, then a college where I  facilitated weekly film screenings, and also having a Film degree from Emerson, I always sort of considered myself to be on the fringes of the film industry. I know even that is being generous, because a lot of people worked in movie theaters and video stores and never considered themselves anywhere near the film industry. Maybe I was just trying to justify four years of college?

Other than seeing a lot of movies and pressing play a lot of times, I’ve even been in a couple movies. Not what I would call real acting gigs, but I did work on an independent movie many years ago (which I never saw) and made it in front of the camera, and I have also done a little bit of extra work in my time. They might even call it background now, although I’m not sure. That’s how much on the fringes I am. It’s been awhile since I did it, but I thought I would share my experiences.

The first time I ever got paid to be an extra was during my undergrad film school days. I was in class, and the professor and several students were talking about a movie that was filming at Fenway Park. The movie was A Civil Action, starring John Travolta and Robert Duvall, and it was a big deal because not a lot of movies were filmed in Boston back then. Apparently, some students had gotten to the set in the wee hours of the morning and waited in line for hours to get the chance to be on-screen in this movie. Thinking this mildly amusing, I turned to one of my classmates and asked, “What would happen if I went down there now?” He shrugged and said, “Probably nothing.” So I took my quiz and told the professor that I was leaving and going to Fenway, and walked out of class. Cool guy that he was, he said, “Ok. Have fun.”

When I got to the set, it turned out that they were breaking for lunch, so all the gates were open, and several hundred people were wandering outside, some for cigarette breaks and some to hobnob (Almost all extras think that being in the background of a movie is their ticket to stardom.) So, I walked in, stole a couple of the free sodas, and made my way to a grandstand seat. As the extras started to return from lunch, I struck up a conversation with a fellow “background artist” and told him that I had just got there, and he suggested that I ask one of the actual workers that I had been there all day but had lost my pay voucher, so I would then get paid to be there all day.

Paid? I was really there because I love Fenway Park and would take advantage of any opportunity to be there. These people are getting paid to sit around here? So, I took his advice and was given a pay voucher. I also learned a valuable lesson that day, as the actual crew member I spoke to said that if they found out that I had submitted two vouchers, I wouldn't get paid at all, which I figured was total crap, but it didn’t really matter because getting paid twice wasn’t the scam I was running.

So, I sat for a couple hours, even “buying” a bag of popcorn, and reacting to fake foul balls that were hit into the stands. It was tedious, but also kind of interesting. As the sun started getting low, we were told that filming was wrapping for the day, and all us extras could turn in our pay vouchers. Which I did, playing it totally cool. A few weeks later, I received a check in the mail for a full day's work, and I was only there for a couple hours. Not only did I gain valuable movie set experience as a budding filmmaker, or so I thought, but I learned that sometimes, you can beat the system. Incidentally, I never saw the movie, but I heard that the scene they were shooting that day got cut. All in a day’s work.

A few years after that, I was broke and saw an opportunity for more easy money on the set of the Denzel Washington-directed period drama The Great Debaters, filming in an old lecture hall on the Harvard campus. Since it was a period piece, we were encouraged to look the part. They gave the men tweed jackets and, if necessary, haircuts. Fortunately(?) I'm already half-bald by this point, so they didn’t have to cut my hair, but I struck up a conversation with a young student who went in with long, flowing locks, and came out looking like a clean-cut 1935 Harvard nerd. I asked him why he would let them cut his hair for something so frivolous, and he basically considered the free haircut part of his paycheck.

The scene was a pivotal one; the first all-black debate team was coming to Harvard, so us background schlubs were there to watch the proceedings. It’s basically one, long establishing shot to convey what a big deal this debate was, so they obviously needed multiple takes. The funny thing was that we were told to pretend we were talking to each other, but not actually speak, because a roomful of people all talking would have made it hard for the crew members to hear each other. It’s actually very awkward, and since we were not professionals, we were not very good at pretending to talk without talking, and they kept having to shush us. I can only speak for myself, but I felt incredibly silly pretending to talk to my now short-haired friend, but I guess that’s why I’m not an actor.

After several takes of this, we were told that we could return to “Extras Holding,” which is the area of the set where the extras all hang out and get paid to do nothing between shots. In my experience, and before phones were tiny laptops, it was best to bring a book for those periods that you were sequestered to Extras Holding, but I remember a lot of people bringing their headshots and portfolios, just in case they happened to strike up a conversation with someone important. Personally, I don’t know of too many big-name Hollywood actors who got their break because they were smart enough to bring their headshot to set while being an extra, but maybe it’s happened. (Side note: It hasn’t.)

As we began to exit the lecture hall, Denzel made his appearance, and asked that several of us be kept back to serve as “ambiance” while the actors rehearsed the next scene. I was lucky enough to be selected for ambiance. Despite the fact that no cameras were running during this rehearsal, it was actually the best, and least boring, part of the day. It was fascinating to see Denzel Washington actually direct his actors, despite the fact that the one-time “Sexiest Man Alive” was dressed in a rumpled t-shirt and sweatpants. I know it’s a long day, so go ahead and be comfortable, but Alfred Hitchcock directed all his movies in a full suit, and he’s one of the greatest of all time. Dress for the job you want, is all I’m saying.

After the rehearsal, it was time for us extras to have lunch. Meals are a big deal in this line of work, because there are labor laws that require employers to give meal breaks to employees every eight hours. A lot of these portfolio-and-headshot-wielding extras try to use this time to be seen, but I just like to eat. The good thing is that the meals are usually pretty good. The bad news is that it sort of breaks the momentum of the day, and so after lunch, we sat in Holding for several more hours until we were called back to set to shoot that same scene a couple more times, and then we were eventually sent home before they had to feed us again.

As we lined up to get our pay vouchers signed, we were asked to please return the next day, which was a Sunday, and we were told to bring a friend if we knew one who would be interested. Not only did I not know anyone who would be interested, but I myself decided I wasn’t interested, and did not go back the next day. Sure, it’s easy money, but spending a whole August weekend sitting around in a tweed jacket is not the best use of my time. Still, months later, it was kind of exciting when I rented the movie on Netflix (when they only had DVD’s) and skipped to my scene, and there I was, pretending to talk to the guy next to me. Not life-changing, but a good conversation piece.

That’s me pretending to talk to my newly-shorn friend

Maybe it was that split-second of excitement that caused me to go back to the well and agree to try out for another movie filming in Boston a few years later called The Surrogates. I say “agree to” because I had a friend, Brom, who had recently been very visible in the background behind Ricky Gervais in The Invention of Lying, so he was feeling the acting bug. I also say “try out” because there was a little more to this one than just showing up early in the morning and sitting around for 16 hours or so. In order to fully illustrate the whole experience, I’ll take you through the events step-by-step:

* - Sometime in the Spring of 2009, Brom suggested we go on a casting call for this Bruce Willis movie  that will be filming in Boston that summer. While there, we were told the premise of the film; in the future, everyone has a robot surrogate, which we will be playing, who does everything for them, while the actual people sit around, presumably getting fat. At one point, all of the robots get abruptly turned off, so our job as extras was to pretend to fall down as if someone had hit the power button. It was actually kind of fun, especially when one of the female surrogates who was wearing a rather short dress was turned off, and we all learned that in the future, surrogates don't need undergarments. Anyway, Brom and I were told that we “fell well,” and we would be contacted before the shoot, which was scheduled for June 29th.

* - On June 26th, we received an email saying that filming was on. Nothing like giving us some notice. Brom texted me to say that I needed to respond quickly because it is first come, first served. However, knowing a little bit about the film business, I interpreted the email more like this: "PLEASE COME! PLEASE HELP US! PLEASE!" After responding, we were told that we would receive another email on Saturday evening with the call time and location. Yeah, because I live for this and have nothing better to do. We were also told to wear business-casual dress.

* - The ungodly call time was 6:30 a.m. and the location was Boston’s South End. Brom picked me up down there and then we drove to what we thought was the set. We were given knee and elbow pads and (when necessary, since people can’t follow directions) business attire. Apparently, this time we would be falling on actual cement, so I was glad I wore my nice jacket. We were also given a number according to their notes on how good we fell at the casting call. Brom and I received "1's," which was apparently only second to an "X," which is not a number, but still, I thought that boded well for us.

* - We then stood in line for a while for hair & make-up. As is usually the case, the longer this line is, the more they weed out people who really don't need hair & make-up done. A lady walked through the line and on her second pass, told me I look good and to go sit in (you guessed it) Extras Holding. Damn straight I look good I thought. We were then bussed to the actual set in Liberty Square, and told to wait in another holding, unattended, in a bar. Holding was in a bar. I found this quite interesting. I mean, it was still about 8:00 in the morning and I'm not that much of an alcoholic, but I figured we’d be around for most of the day, so it might come in handy later.

* - Around 9:00 or so, they called us together to give us very little information. We were then given completely different designations (A, B or C) according to where we happened to be standing at the time and the 1's and X's suddenly meant nothing. Also, I realized that the reason I was told I didn’t need hair and make-up was because I would be standing about 250 miles away from the camera. Oh, no. My dreams of stardom dashed. 

* - Finally, around 9:30, we were brought to set. Brom and I were given empty briefcases so we could look like we were heading to work, and told to stand against a wall while they place everyone. While there, we were both actually crapped on by a bird. I jokingly overreacted as I screamed to the heavens, "You sons-of-bitches!" However, I was honestly kind of afraid that nobody would bother doing anything about it because we were just extras. I don't think the crew got the joke, because they were trying to calm me down while we waited for some help, or basically a wet towel. Eventually, a nice wardrobe guy came over to wipe the shit off. He was very pleasant and when I remarked at what a crappy job this must be, he said he's seen worse, having washed extras' underwear. The glamorous world of Hollywood movie-making. 

* - For the next several hours, until lunch, we squatted for rehearsals and fell for actual shots. I really wished I had stolen a beer at that point. During one fall, Brom fell backwards and landed on my briefcase, and we started laughing uncontrollably. I wonder if in the final cut you can see two dots in the background laughing.

That’s us wwwwwaaaaaayyyyyy back there!

* - After lunch (which, again, wasn't bad), we sat around Holding and socialized with several fellow extras. I even did sneak a quick nip of Bass into a coffee cup before the actual employees of the bar showed up and made sure people weren't doing that. I found this part of the day quite interesting, actually. As I said, while on a movie set, you meet so many people who are aspiring actors, models, filmmakers, and other creative wannabes. You rarely meet people like me, who just need a little easy cash. I know if you really try you may meet someone who can introduce you to someone who knows someone who might actually give you a break one day, but I can't help thinking that being an extra in a movie is about as far away from actual film making as you can get. I suppose there's something sort of inspiring about it, to see these young-ins trying to make it in the fucked-up Hollywood system, despite living 3,000 miles from Hollywood.

* - As the hours wore on, my interest started to wane. Around 6:00 p.m., the skies opened, and I thought that would finally be it. Surely they won't film in the rain. Well, in fact, the production waited it out, and after the downpour stopped, they asked anyone who was completely in clothes that belonged to the production company, or were wearing clothes they didn’t mind getting wet, to hang out and fall some more. Since Brom was my ride, and he wanted to keep falling down on wet pavement, I had to stick around. At this point, however, I had lost all interest, and even when the ground pretty much dried and they called out my group, I declined. Instead, I ventured to the bar across the street (still wearing knee and elbow pads) and paid for a beer. As I walked outside and passed some fellow extras, I  announced my destination and a few of them who were out there smoking asked, "Is that allowed?" I told them I didn't care, and a few minutes after I got to the bar, the smokers followed. Seriously, for these production people to assume that they can keep 200 people standing around for 15 hours with bars all around us and we would never leave for a quick libation is just ridiculous. I actually have heard that this is a problem in LA with extras, where they apparently show up, sign in, go to the easily accessible beach and sleep for a while, and then go back and sign-out at the end and get paid for a day's work. I believe they call it The Dursin.

* - Finally, sometime after 8:00 p.m., we wrapped and were very slowly bussed back to Wardrobe to turn in our crap and sign out. This, of course, takes forever, because while they stagger the call times in the morning, they let everyone go at the same time at night, so 200 people are all trying to get their pay vouchers signed at once. Also, they apparently are required by law to feed us every 8 hours, so they broke for the day at around the 7:45 mark and let us go so they wouldn’t have to feed us, but then it took well over an hour to actually get out of there. Other than a few crackers, basically nobody ate from the 1:00 lunch break until they let us go. My voucher read that I signed in at 6:30 and signed out at 9:30, with an hour taken out for lunch. And people aspire to do this.

After all of these experiences, I’m still not sure how I feel about all this. I want to hate it and say that I'll never do it again, but “never” is a long time. As a would-be filmmaker, however, it makes me a little sad. I look back on almost every movie experience I've ever had, and some of them make great stories, but what does it amount to except a pile of unhappy memories? Hours, even days, of sitting around, waiting for something to happen, and then when something happens, usually nothing happens. If you're on the crew, you might have some idea when something may actually happen and when you can sit back and relax (although, most of them seem like the least relaxed people I've ever seen.) I guess it's the realization that filmmaking is not nearly as cool as I thought it would be as a young-in that ruins the whole experience. I can’t help but get a little depressed that this is what I wanted to do with my life and I always find it incredibly disorganized and boring. I wish it were different, but it's not and so now I turn laptops off and on all day long.

Honestly, I think Dursin came out ahead on this one.