Extra, Extra, la troisième partie

        If your are bored with this narrative, please see the Archive of previous Blogs, there are some good things there. This commentary does have a point,and is in keeping with the theme of this Blog- a 60'ish Man working in a world inhabited primarily by people half his age- Political, Social, economic issues were discussed on set, and it is a heck of an environment.

     Well below the "Production Assistants" , the people with the cattle prods, come we lowly extras (background talent). I and many other extras I have meet have varied backgrounds and life experiences, I am not alone in having managed people (Military, business, parent etc) , I have a fair education and I may never have been "A Pillar of Society"but I have propped up a few walls.Regardless of ones background, being a movie extra is a truly humbling experience. For those young people not inclined to go into the military, or for those who want a taste of what basic training or Ranger School might be like, come out to a movie set. I actually think some PA'S may be my old Drill Instructors reincarnated.
        On one movie there were over 300 extras for several days and in those situations good "People skills" are an absolute necessity. Certainly order must be established and some extras, not being as reasonably as myself, did make the job difficult. I hope that our Southern Manners will blend with the skills of our new Movie friends and everyone can benefit. My mama taught that more flies can be caught with honey than with vinegar. I do acknowledge that it is a difficult job, but I saw many situations which good have benefited from good manners and tact.
  
      Respect is given to the fact that ALL the production people are on set when we arrive and so not leave until we are done.They do earn their pay, which is probably pretty good.
      I have had some work on one TV series currently in production, TV work moves faster as episodes are shot on a tighter schedule than a movie, (average 6-9 weeks). A lot of this work is done on a sound stage which is an awesome thing, rooms from buildings, whole buildings, inside made to look out side, lighting mimicking dawn to dusk. On this TV production was where I got a real feel for the costs associated with the magic of Hollywood. In one scene we were patrons at a community theater production, in fact we had "Tickets" in our hands and were given printed "programs" with a cast listed, phony paid adds inside, and the three acts of the "play" described. We came in and out of the theater and took our seats at least ten times and when the episode was shown it lasted maybe 2 minutes and consisted of a crane shot of us entering the the theater , taking our seats, then the camera focused on a close-up of the Actors as they exchanged lines, the "tickets" nor the "programs" were ever shown on camera..
       A few days later we shot a scene, where we were customers at a market,- brand new grocery carts had been purchased, we had REAL food items including fresh produce, meat and cheese.The front of the building ,which contains the sound stage, and the parking lot were appropriately signed to reflect the scene. For several hours we came in and out of the market ,pushed grocery carts with sacks of food out to our cars, while two actors exchanged a few minutes of dialogue in front of a car trunk as the female pretended to load her grocers.On TV no customers were ever seen.
 During the several hours the shoot took, my expensive Gouda cheeses melted into a squishy soft ball.

MORE TO COME !