Boomtown

The following is from an email sent shortly after the shoot:

The other day, I was on Boomtown. I guess I wore the right outfit. (thank you very much, Jason, for buying me that shawl thingie in Chinatown) I had on a simple dark green velvet cocktail dress with a velvety reddish/burgundy shawl that they absolutely loved.

In fact, I was seated at a side table and the 2nd AD switched me to one of the hero tables because the DP (Director of Photography {cameraman}) wanted to shoot over my shoulder. So, when you see the reporter girl and there’s a reddish looking shoulder in the corner of the shot, that’s me! I can also be seen directly in front of District Attourney Fisher while he makes his speech and DDA McNorris when he makes his speech as well. I’m at the same table as the reporter girl whose name I can’t remember. She was a hoot. Between takes, she was knitting a scarf for one of her friends. Too funny.

Of course, after all of that, I wasn’t even in the show for a split second! I couldn’t believe it. I was directly between all three principals and DDA McNorris (Neal McDonough) delivered his lines while looking right at me, but nary a frame of me landed anywhere but the cutting room floor. Oh well. I’m not an extra for the camera time. I do it for the stories, the adventures. I never know who I’m gonna meet or what I’m gonna do.

UPDATE: I was in the show afterall! Twice in wide shots: DA Fisher’s point of view and DDA McNorris’s. And, on freeze frame, in the scene immediately following.

Surviving Christmas

We were all wearing winter coats and despite California weather, didn’t completely fry in the sun. For once, it was cool enough to wear gloves, ear muffs, and super-heavy coats.

It stars Ben Affleck and Christina Applegate. And James Gandolfini and I can’t remember the lady’s name, but she played Winona Ryder’s mom in Beetlejuice.

Anyhow, that shoot was mainly what I now affectionately call Background Pinball. The scene is outside between Ben and Christina and us extras are Christmas shopping/bustling in Chicago. So, there are stores we can walk into and stuff, well, what happens at these kinds of shoots is that you walk over to one side, they send you over to another and then from there, you go to a store perhaps and then back out to where you came from and keep trying to not get in the way or look like the same person bouncing from one side of the screen to the other.

In the scene with Ben, Christina, James, and the lady whose name escapes me, I walked so close to Ben and James that they nearly ran me over–talk about a heart attack for a background player. Getting in the way of principle actors is very, very bad, but the director didn’t get all pissed off and myself and the guy I walked with did the same move exactly the same each time so I guess it looked okay.

We were just following orders from the 2nd AD (assistant director) and we managed to get ourselves right there in front. I’m wearing a tacky patchwork leather coat that they gave me. It must have cost a fortune because the tag said Saks Fifth Avenue. I just thought it looked kinda silly, but oh well… I’ll probably go see this movie when it comes out. Or at least rent it.

I rented it and good golly, the movie is awful… But the screen captures I got of myself aren’t half bad.

Notice how my scarf is normal in the first one, then falling off in the second. I was secretly mortified as it was falling off and hoping that the camera hadn’t seen it…and hoping that it wouldn’t be in the finished product, but, well…there I am. Thankfully, it didn’t blow all the way off and wrap around Ben’s head!

This was also the bit where I had to dodge Ben. On the rehearsal, he didn’t gesture and he didn’t go as far up. But on the first take, he swung his arm out to gesture at something and nearly clothes-lined me. Luckily, either he saw me or I ducked or both and there was no collision. Whew!

Also, another silly thing about this shoot. Notice in the pic above my scarf falling off that the guy following me is carrying a red gas can? We had no idea why props gave him a gas can except that perhaps it was red and shaped like a shopping bag. However, it inspired us. Notice the keys in my hand? We pretended that I’d gone shopping and ran out of gas and he was a good samaritan helping me out. I was showing him where I’d parked and we joked that once my car was gassed up, I was just gonna leave him standing there.

Ah well. We had to keep ourselves entertained somehow between takes!

After the movie released, I heard that it bombed pretty hard. I suppose it doesn’t help that it was released in time for Halloween rather than Christmas, but hey, what do I know about this stuff?

Crossing Jordan

The following is an excerpt from an email I’d sent the day after this shoot:

They required us to bring cars and we were essentially chosen by what car we had. It didn’t really matter what we looked like. Anyway, they wanted me to bring my ’83 Trans Am.

The scene was a funeral for a Sheriff in Wisconsin (apparently that’s where the lead guy is from). They used me in nearly every take. Well, me and the guy who was playing my husband.

I actually had four husbands yesterday. First and foremost, Jason (my soulmate!!!!) but that was all before I got there! The AD (Assistant Director) first put me next to another sheriff, then a country bumkin, then finally next to a British fellow by the name of Andrew. Then, as they were shuffling people, they moved me and my “husband” closer to the priest (and casket). And they kept us there for every take so I assume we were in every shot.

Jerry O’Connell and his brother Charlie are very, very tall- like 6’3″ or so. I was really surprised. Also, their personalities are totally different. Jerry is a comedian and his brother is very low key. Both are very, very nice, though. In fact, we were kinda getting mad at Jerry because there we were, prepared to be near or in tears over the dead guy and when cameras were rolling (before the director said, “Action.”) he would crack a one-liner joke and nearly mess us up. It was fun and all, but gol’ darn it, it wasn’t easy!

I had a wonderful time, though. Like I said, me and Andrew were in nearly every take all because the AD didn’t really give us much direction so we just did our own thing and landed in the background for the next couple scenes as we walked to our cars. It was totally unintentional, but it got us a lot of camera time.

Unfortunately, I never actually saw this episode, so I have no idea if I was seen at all. I probably ended up on the cutting room floor, but at least the day was fun.

Frasier

The following is an excerpt from an email I’d sent shortly after this shoot:

It was definitely obvious that it was a long running show that was highly successful… The snack table wasn’t just one table, it was 6. (no joke!) And lunch was like a buffet version of the Wolfgang Puck Cafe.

We got there around 9:30, but didn’t work until after lunch around 1:00. Kelsey Grammer was a hoot plus it was also obvious once more that he’d been doing the show forever. His patience was kind of slim- but then again, if you were an actor that has to crash into a mailbox while riding a bicycle and still make it look fresh, you’d probably be impatient if the camera guys didn’t get the shot on the first time, too!

I was roughly 10 feet away from him when he was telling one of his co-stars that he had an absolutely wonderful time at the Golden Globe awards. And, he also said that he really likes Colin Farrell. There’s more to that little quip, but I didn’t hear exactly every word so it’d look stupid for me to try to write it all out in this email.

The entire cast was there. And I must say that Kelsey is in remarkable condition. He must work out everyday. The lady who plays Roz is an absolute sweetie and the girl who plays her cute daughter really is that cute!!! The rest of the cast was on the opposite side of the street from me so I really didn’t get to interact with them. Kelsey did say, “Hi” to me, though. I’m not sure why, I guess he just felt he should say something! I was right next to the mailbox after all.

It’s the episode with the Bike-A-Thon. I don’t know the exact title. I’m the closest extra to the mailbox that Frasier runs into. I didn’t intentionally put myself there, but that’s where I landed. I’m right there in front.

And so it went… My parents even saw me on that episode! Jen recorded it for me and I must say my acting was stunning. Yes, rather than trying to warn the poor fellow that he’s about to run into the mailbox, or even help him once he’s fallen, I just put my hands in front of my face. I can’t watch. Yeah, welcome to Hollywood, where the most likely reactions become the least desirable.

Update: Even though I’d already heard I was in frame, the following pic was more like what I expected. That one and the big wide shot. The others were a bit surprising.

This last one is one of very few gems I’ve gotten. There are only extras in it! Just like in Spiderman II, but it never ceases to surprise me when I’m one of those extras.

Miracles

Over a year later, this shoot was still one of the longest, most boring shoots I’ve ever been on!

I was in the far back corner of a studio audience for a scene on a now-cancelled show called Miracles… Don’t bother watching for me. Even if the show actually airs, you won’t see me. The scene was a psychic talk show called ‘Into The Light with Jason Herlock’. I was in the upper upper upper right hand corner of the audience risers and it was a royal pain to get out of my seat even during the few ten minute breaks we got.

We spent twelve hours working on that two minute scene because the director needed to get it from every conceivable angle and with every lens ever invented…on video, on film, left, right, over the shoulder, establishing, mid, inserts, crane, every angle imaginable…Except one…And I swore I wasn’t going to be surprised if they’d dug a hole and shot the scene from directly below the actors, getting that up-the-nostril shot. I honestly swear that was the only angle they didn’t shoot it from. Needless to say, I was truly bored until I grabbed my book and hid it when cameras were rolling.

Since then, I’ve learned that it’s always good to bring a book. It can be sat upon, stashed in a pocket or hidden within the set when cameras are rolling. Along with a pocket-size notebook and folding pen for writing scenes and notes, I’ve also discovered using my handheld with ebooks loaded in it because depending on the scene, it can also double as an intellectual prop and I can get more notes and scenes typed in it even during the shot.

Miracles, so far, has been the only show where a single scene lasted the whole shoot. I’ve had longer days, but they had several scenes instead of just the one. And to think that after twelve hours, there was still a group of extras who hadn’t even been used yet. Jeepers creepers! I’d thought I’d been bored!

Bonus: I actually did make it into the finished product…

The Guardian

This was my first official gig as an extra. I had no idea what to expect.

I reported to Sony Studios in Culver City almost an hour early in order to pass security and then find the correct soundstage. From there, I met a guy who must have somehow known I was a newbie. He was working as a stand-in as well as an extra. I was one of maybe 3 non-union extras. Everyone else was in SAG and I felt a little intimidated.

It was on this set that I learned that it’s very necessary to bring a book as the hours can be quite long and boring. Luckily, I did have a small notebook and pen with me and I scribbled until I could no longer see straight. For a first gig, it actually wasn’t half bad–a fair smattering of the best and worst scenarios. I was there for fifteen hours.

The following is an excerpt from an email I’d written the day after the gig: [Note: I watched the episode and didn’t see myself at all.]

I play a bum-like client of the legal firm on the show. You’ll recognize me in the background in that big beige jacket that my dad tried to discourage me from getting and my favorite ratty teal/navy blue/green plaid flannel shirt. Yeah, the costumer loved me–I didn’t quite look homeless and I had the right wardrobe for Philadelphia winter weather. Most of the extras on that show were union so I pumped them for as much information as possible. Actually, all the union players on that show were regulars on it as well.

There’s a scene in one lawyer’s office where the door is open and I’m standing there for nearly the whole time. I was trying not to laugh because the guy who was working with me kept drawing pictures, writing funny notes and saying some of the most off the wall stuff as well as bringing me this wad of fake hair. It was really a lot of fun and I hope that they were doing a close-up the one time that I actually did smile and nearly crack up. It was a hoot!

Thankfully, I never did completely crack up and during that one shot where even biting my lip couldn’t stop my smile, they were doing a close-up, and I couldn’t be seen at all.

Whew! As far as antics, this was also one of my favorite gigs. Between the tic-tac-toe game, smiley faces and that silly wad of fake hair, I have yet to have another experience that nearly had me laughing out loud.