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A night out with a movie extra
CAPE COD — Being an extra in a movie is not always as glamorous and exciting as one might think. It can be a long and tiring process as Georgianna Leonard of Mashpee found out when she was called to the set of the Adam Sandler comedy “I Hate You, Dad.”
Leonard was one of the nearly 9,000 aspiring actors who lined up at Barnstable High School on Memorial Day weekend to put in their applications as extras in the movie being filmed on Cape Cod this summer. “The casting call was the easiest part,” and very organized, Leonard said.
Despite the long line, it took less than an hour to submit her three photos and application to the Sande Alessi Casting of Los Angeles. The company’s staff told the applicants to “friend” its Facebook page to see what parts they were looking to fill...
Within a half hour of submitting her bid, she got a call to be the waitress in the scene and was asked to report to a bowling alley in Lynn at 9:30 the next night. Part of the film was still being shot in the Boston area in June.
The costumers immediately replaced the clothes she was told to bring with some gaudy clothes and jewelry and “they did something weird to my hair,” she said. Despite all the urgency to get ready, she and the other extras sat around and waited. To fill the time, she started recording the experience as a blog on her I-phone.
At 11 p.m., lunch break was announced, and they were all directed to a big tent where “the most fabulous buffet was set up,” Leonard said. “They really took care of us.”
Finally, into the early morning hours, the extras for the diner scene were called and transported in a van to a Lynn diner. At the small diner, the patrons were seated and Leonard and a chef from Sandwich were put behind the counter to practice their scene.
The scene involved three of the film’s stars, Sandler, Andy Samberg and Vanilla Ice, urinating together onto the side of the diner. The extras inside were instructed to look disgusted as they observed them. They mouthed the words, but had no real speaking parts, Leonard said, while the cameras shot the scene from outside through the diner window. She is right in the middle of the scene. The extras also had to fall to the ground and look shocked for another scene that will be added during editing, Leonard said.
“What was really neat,” she said, was looking out the window and seeing a sea of trucks, lights, actors and film crew, plus a big crowd watching the whole take. The scene was set up to take place in daytime, even though it was 3 a.m.
The short scene was shot six or seven times. The directors and film editors would go into a tent to view it, then come out and make adjustments, she said.
Leonard said most movie viewers don’t realize how perfect everything has to be for each take. For example, the directors kept adjusting the risers for a short patron to make sure she was at the right height for the camera.
“You don’t realize what goes into it,” Leonard said, but it helps to understand why movies cost so much to make.
Leonard and the other diner extras did get to see the three lead actors in action (though not actually urinating), but were told not to talk to them and the actors couldn’t talk to the extras because they were all working. However, she noticed that Sandler was talking to the crowd and signing autographs between takes.
The extras had other rules also. They weren’t allowed to have a phone or camera on the set or post anything on Facebook. One young man had his phone taken away, Leonard said.
The filming of Leonard’s scene ended about 4:30 a.m., and she headed back home to get a couple of hours of sleep before going into work...
Even though being an extra was a long and tedious process, Leonard said, “It was kind of neat to be a part of something that big. It was fun,” and she would go again if called...
She even got paid $168 for her first role and became a member of the Screen Actors Guild. She clearly has caught the acting bug.
Read the rest: A night out with a movie extra - - Bourne Courier http://www.wickedlocal.com/mashpee/archive/x643163662/A-night-out-with-a-movie-extra#ixzz1VeM2RKUL
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So it's interesting what the extras get paid, that they shot the day scene at 3AM, and that the actors aren't supposed to talk to the extras (or vice versa), but they do talk to the crowd/fans. It's probably because that's more easily contained, but still, you'd think they'd have a time/place for the actors to go mingle with the extras for a few minutes at a time.
What do you think? Are you interested in watching Andy urinate with Adam and Vanilla Ice?
Enjoy!
1 comment:
Jimmy Fallon is going to be hosting SNL! maybe he and andy will do a digital short? here's the article... he predicts the future!!!
(p.s. i love jimmy fallon & i think he's hilarious so im sooo excited he is going to host!)
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/08/25/jimmy-fallon-predicts-the_n_936290.html?icid=main%7Chp-desktop%7Cdl12%7Csec1_lnk2%7C222859
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