Author Topic: Anyone ever been a TV/Film Extra?  (Read 8346 times)

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Offline Her3tiK

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Anyone ever been a TV/Film Extra?
« on: March 10, 2012, 05:42:25 pm »
I'm asking because I have an interview to be an extra in a "TV crime" pilot on Monday, and would like some advice from anyone who can offer some. What to expect, how to act/dress (despite my limited wardrobe), that kind of thing.

Strangely, I've been doing a lot of work as an extra lately, though this is this first one that will be paid; the other two have been for friends' music videos, which I'll probably post elsewhere if I can find myself in the footage. If I keep this up, I may be able to turn it in to some sort of semi-stable job.
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Offline sandman

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Re: Anyone ever been a TV/Film Extra?
« Reply #1 on: March 10, 2012, 06:56:02 pm »
If you don't blink.....you can spot the sandman in a crowd scene in the new "Avengers" movie coming out this summer.....
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us disassemble you. We're not banging rocks together here. We know how to put a man back together. So that's a complete reassembly. New vitals. Spit-shine on the old ones. Plus we're scooping out tumors. Frankly, you oughtta be paying us." -Cave Johnson

Offline N. De Plume

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Re: Anyone ever been a TV/Film Extra?
« Reply #2 on: March 10, 2012, 07:13:02 pm »
When I was really little, my family got to be used as part a background/voiceover shot in a commercial for a local pizza place. I don’t think the place lasted more than a year, though.

But they would have talked to my parents about setting that up. I don’t know how they got that. So I really don’t have much practical advice from that.

I did get a role as a supporting character for a web series once, but that tanked when half the footage for the first episode was lost. But for that, I auditioned personally.

Anyway, did they give you any instructions? They should tell you if they want to see you “in character.” Otherwise, I would just say just dress nice-casual, and be prepared to improvise
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Offline gyeonghwa

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Re: Anyone ever been a TV/Film Extra?
« Reply #3 on: March 10, 2012, 07:46:01 pm »
You can see me in the audience for game shows. Our fraternity did them for fundraising. My sister was in Lupe Fiasco's music video. She was trying to get out of the apartment and into her car but they were blocking her.
That may be the single gayest thing I have ever read on this board. Or the old one. ;)

Offline Her3tiK

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Re: Anyone ever been a TV/Film Extra?
« Reply #4 on: March 10, 2012, 08:05:08 pm »
When I was really little, my family got to be used as part a background/voiceover shot in a commercial for a local pizza place. I don’t think the place lasted more than a year, though.

But they would have talked to my parents about setting that up. I don’t know how they got that. So I really don’t have much practical advice from that.

I did get a role as a supporting character for a web series once, but that tanked when half the footage for the first episode was lost. But for that, I auditioned personally.

Anyway, did they give you any instructions? They should tell you if they want to see you “in character.” Otherwise, I would just say just dress nice-casual, and be prepared to improvise
That sucks. Losing footage like that is never any fun.

So far, it's just an interview on Monday, so I'm assuming they'll give me instructions if/when I get the part, though the ad said that they're looking for background roles, probably not much more than what Sandman described.
You can see me in the audience for game shows. Our fraternity did them for fundraising. My sister was in Lupe Fiasco's music video. She was trying to get out of the apartment and into her car but they were blocking her.
That shit is the worst. Was there at least warning beforehand, or did they just unpack and yell "surprise!" as people showed up?
Her3tik, you have groupies.
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There are a number of ways, though my favourite is simply to take them by surprise. They're just walking down the street, minding their own business when suddenly, WHACK! Penis to the face.

Offline gyeonghwa

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Re: Anyone ever been a TV/Film Extra?
« Reply #5 on: March 10, 2012, 08:09:20 pm »
You can see me in the audience for game shows. Our fraternity did them for fundraising. My sister was in Lupe Fiasco's music video. She was trying to get out of the apartment and into her car but they were blocking her.
That shit is the worst. Was there at least warning beforehand, or did they just unpack and yell "surprise!" as people showed up?

She woke, open the door to her apartment, and *BAM* film crew was there impeding her commute to work.
That may be the single gayest thing I have ever read on this board. Or the old one. ;)

Offline N. De Plume

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Re: Anyone ever been a TV/Film Extra?
« Reply #6 on: March 10, 2012, 08:46:31 pm »
That sucks. Losing footage like that is never any fun.
Yeah. I would have been willing to re-shoot the whole damn thing, too. Even though that would have meant downing almost an entire plate of chocolate brownies all over again.

Plus, I was embarrassed that I accidentally filmed one background shot wearing sandals when my character had been wearing sneakers throughout the rest of the show. I was always worried that that would be visible, even though the director didn’t think it would be.

Quote
So far, it's just an interview on Monday, so I'm assuming they'll give me instructions if/when I get the part, though the ad said that they're looking for background roles, probably not much more than what Sandman described.

Well, then I suppose it may not be so much an issue of if you get the part so much as them telling you when you need to show up. I have never heard of filmmakers being that picky about crowd and group shot extras. Closest I got is when they were shooting Public Enemies in my neck of the woods, and they were recruiting locals. In this case, they only wanted people who already had period-appropriate hairstyles and preferably also had their own period clothing. I didn’t have the clothing and didn’t want to bother with the grooming, so I didn’t bother with that.

You can see me in the audience for game shows. Our fraternity did them for fundraising. My sister was in Lupe Fiasco's music video. She was trying to get out of the apartment and into her car but they were blocking her.
That shit is the worst. Was there at least warning beforehand, or did they just unpack and yell "surprise!" as people showed up?

She woke, open the door to her apartment, and *BAM* film crew was there impeding her commute to work.

How thoughtful.

Now, I would expect they had permission from her landlord. In which case, I think it would be appropriate to have words with said landlord.
« Last Edit: March 10, 2012, 08:48:08 pm by N. De Plume »
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Offline nickiknack

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Re: Anyone ever been a TV/Film Extra?
« Reply #7 on: March 10, 2012, 09:45:48 pm »
Not personally, but my sister, and her husband have been the audience of the new version of "Let's Make A Deal". Also on a side note part of Nobody's Fool (1994) was filmed like a block away from my house.

Offline chad sexington

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Re: Anyone ever been a TV/Film Extra?
« Reply #8 on: March 10, 2012, 11:10:52 pm »
Yeah. I would have been willing to re-shoot the whole damn thing, too. Even though that would have meant downing almost an entire plate of chocolate brownies all over again.

Oh, the sacrifices one must make... :(

Offline N. De Plume

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Re: Anyone ever been a TV/Film Extra?
« Reply #9 on: March 10, 2012, 11:24:12 pm »
You do begin to get sick of them after a while.

Actually, the most annoying part was having to occasionally cram two half-eaten brownies together to make them look like one so that they would be approximately the same size as the previous take. And also: the character was a slob, so I had to keep a mess of chocolate on my face pretty much all night.
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Re: Anyone ever been a TV/Film Extra?
« Reply #10 on: March 10, 2012, 11:37:35 pm »
I went along with a friend to be filmed in a crowd scene for some movie or show (can't remember the details) when I was a kid. All I remember is that there was a lot of waiting around, and that it got boring fairly quickly.
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Offline N. De Plume

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Re: Anyone ever been a TV/Film Extra?
« Reply #11 on: March 10, 2012, 11:40:18 pm »
I went along with a friend to be filmed in a crowd scene for some movie or show (can't remember the details) when I was a kid. All I remember is that there was a lot of waiting around, and that it got boring fairly quickly.
Yeah, that’ll happen when the director is more interested in the actual stars of the show. ;)
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Offline chad sexington

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Re: Anyone ever been a TV/Film Extra?
« Reply #12 on: March 10, 2012, 11:59:42 pm »
You do begin to get sick of them after a while.

Actually, the most annoying part was having to occasionally cram two half-eaten brownies together to make them look like one so that they would be approximately the same size as the previous take. And also: the character was a slob, so I had to keep a mess of chocolate on my face pretty much all night.

Yeah, I know; I've been there myself.  It was a joke along the lines of, "You had to sit around eating chocolate all night?  Oh, poor you!"

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Offline Star Cluster

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Re: Anyone ever been a TV/Film Extra?
« Reply #13 on: March 11, 2012, 12:45:23 am »
I went along with a friend to be filmed in a crowd scene for some movie or show (can't remember the details) when I was a kid. All I remember is that there was a lot of waiting around, and that it got boring fairly quickly.

I was a "background artist" in the made for ESPN move 3, The Dale Earnhardt Story, which starred Barry Pepper as Dale Earnhardt and JK Simmons as Ralph Earnhardt and was filmed back in 2004.  And I am recognizable in a few scenes.  The part of the movie I was in was filmed at a dirt track over a period of 3 days, but the timeline of those parts covered about 15 years.  Of course, there was a lot of other footage that was filmed elsewhere that was edited in.

Other than the whole bunch of sitting and standing around, the one thing that was hard to get used to was nothing was filmed in sequence.  The first scene we shot on the first day took place the day Dale won his first race.  The very last scene we shot (at around 1:30 AM no less) was one of the first race sequences in the movie and was about Dales father, Ralph, racing when Dale was around 10 years old.  If you're hired for general background work, you'll have to be there ready to go at any time.  If you get a specific part, then you may be able to get away somewhere so you can relax between the scenes you'll be in.

It was an interesting experience.  I found out a lot about the movie making industry I did not know or had even thought about.
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Offline Osama bin Bambi

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Re: Anyone ever been a TV/Film Extra?
« Reply #14 on: March 11, 2012, 12:53:29 am »
Once I was in New York City when they closed down one of the streets because they were filming something. It might have been Law & Order, I don't remember.
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