Need thoughts: ever been an extra on movie?

[Alicia64]

There's a group in town from Lifetime doing a movie that will air at Thanksgiving. They're looking for a ton of extras.

Some will be paid, some not.

 

It looks legit. and fun. But I'm wondering if it's too much for 7 year olds.

 

Have you had any experience being an extra for a movie? Was it a good experience? Bad?

 

Thanks,

 

Alley

[BikeBookBread]

I was! I was a Congresswoman in Legally Blonde 2 (a pretty dumb movie) but it was a lot of fun. And VERY tiring. Got there at 6:00 am (all dressed and ready to go) and left at 11:30 pm. Pay scale was minimum wage plus overtime. Food was supplied. Got to see Reese W. She is one tiny girl. Lots of standing around and doing nothing. Bring a book or two or an iPod with movies or something to do....!

 

I met some interesting people, though. One retired guy did it a lot and had been in a lot of period movies as he was a horseman.

 

I did have some screen time when it was all said and done -- about 3 seconds total.

[Alicia64]

I'm assuming they won't let 7 year olds work from early a.m. to late p.m.

 

Am I right?

 

Alley

[gingersmom]

Boring boring boring.

 

I have been to many many commercial shoots. You arrive early in the morning then the union people need a mandatory break, then lunch, then it takes them 2 hours to set up the shop, then a break, then dinner, on and on and on.

 

I was at a commercial shoot for Cup of Noodles (I landed on the cutting room floor :confused:) and these poor kids sit there for about 10-11 hours basically doing nothing.

[mamapjama]

I've done it twice and ds has done it a couple of times. Like the pp said, it can be a lot of sitting around. The two times ds took part it was for a childrens' art/science program, so he got to have a lot of hands on fun. I wouldn't do it regularly, but once in a while it is interesting to see how things work.

[Jann in TX]

My pastor and his family were some of the 'main' extras... the first time I saw the movie I remembered nothing about the plot because it was fun just naming the friends who made it to the final cut.

 

They needed children for the 'extras' and they advertised with the local homeschool groups! I was not a homeschooler yet (I had just had my first child) but I was tutoring and teaching in homeschool groups way back then!

 

According to my friends there is a LOT of sitting around... they averaged $70 per day each (I guess theater movies pay more)--so good money and they homeschooled on the set!

[Chris in VA]

Ds was an extra. He emailed me--"I'm a minion."

I emailed back, "An evil minion?" :D

 

He said they sometimes use extras more than one day, but only if you don't show your face.

[edithcrawley]

I was an unpaid one a few years ago for some fairly low budget film about a couple kids and a train (never did see it, wasn't sure what the whole plot was, don't even remember the name of it).

 

Got to the local train station at about 6 pm and stood around for about an hour while they passed around consent forms and explained what was going on and what we were supposed to do (we just wore whatever we had on, it wasn't a period piece, they didn't bother with makeup or anything for the extras either). We rehearsed a few times before they brought the train down the track with the actors on it (all we had to do was cheer at a certain point and then be quiet during the talking). We did about 5 or 6 takes, took about 2 hours, mainly because they had to take the train backwards a few miles and then bring it back for every take. I think I'd do it again if the opportunity presented itself

[Cricket]

My sister and I went to an ice hockey arena when they needed extras for the crowd shots for The Mighty Ducks. Emilio Estevez is very short and needed a box to stand on during some of the shots. Like others said, it was pretty boring and a very long day. We got a free lunch out of the deal. The funny thing is that now whenever I see a crowd cheering in a movie or commercial I think of that day. We only filled a couple of sections in the arena. A guy was standing out on the ice holding a hockey stick and saying, "Now when I drop the stick, someone scored a goal so you have to cheer really loud." :lol: It sort of took the magic out of it.

[tofuscramble]

DS11 is an actor and has done extra work. He was an extra on Friday Night Lights and a few other things before he went into acting more seriously. If its union, they will not be allowed to keep young kids longer than a few hours. If its non-union (and they are a good production team), they wont expect them to be there too long.

 

Remember sunscreen if your child will be outside a lot. Bug spray if they are in a brushy area and tend to get bitten. They should have water and food on set. Its a fun thing for kids (and adults) to do to see the inner workings of everything but like a pp said there is always lots of waiting around. DS11 has been a budding film maker for years since his first on set experience. :)

[Sweetbeebie]

I had a friend of mine do it once and never again. She said it was very boring and long...lots of standing around waiting.