15.5 hours barely any sleep

Oh background work.  I hate you!  We all do.  I have railed against it in the past and still do.  It is essentially pointless work.  Aside from the fact that there is always an abundance of food, and good food at that, there is no point to it.  It is a huge waste of time and something that should NEVER go on your resume.  Ever.  We'll talk about that in a few.  Sure it pays, peanuts. And if you've never been on a film shoot it is the best way to get an idea of what goes on.  But its still the worst aspect of film that I can think of.

I have this agreement with myself, and its shared with a dear friend of mine.  No background work except for a few exceptions.  1) I like the show.  And I like 30-Rock, so this past weekend I agreed to do some BG work when they called.  and 2) only if they call me in for SAG credit. (Think I'm going to devote an entire post to this soon so look for that.  There are sooooo many questions about it.  It's a bit to get into)

So thanks to option 1, I found myself at Silver Cup Studios both this past Friday and Monday mornings.  Don't get me wrong, it is fun in a way.  You're on a film/tv set. Even the most cynical actor who is trying to pretend they're not impressed, is impressed.  One of the biggest downsides is the waiting.  That's all you do.  Wait.  Friday got there at 9 and didn't get to set until 4 pm.  Yup.  That was the 14.5 hour day.  Monday I filmed early and then spent from about 2:30-12am doing nothing.  Nature of the beast I suppose.  And sure, I "met" Tina Fey.  Er...she said hello to me as we were getting coffee.  So that was something.  I don't get star struck, but I sure was impressed to be in the presence of comedic talent.

Some interesting things about doing BG work? You get to see the innards of a studio or film.  We were on a plane.  They had the body of a plane set up in the sound studio.  How often do you see something like that?  No, there are no pics.  HIGHLY unprofessional to take pics on set and of the actors.  Silly bloggers what were you thinking?

The other aspect, aside from the waiting, is the other BG extras.  This might sound mean or horrible or cruel but I usually keep to myself when I do these things.  First of all I have a huge audition coming up for summer Shakespeare Festivals.  So I was able to spend some time re-reading Henry V.  But also, I know this is a generalization, but extras can be very very..odd.  I feel like every shoot I've been on there has been at least one person kicked off for some random reason.  And the others are all about being seen.  Now, the point of BG is to NOT be seen.  You are glorified scenery.  Sure its fun to see yourself on tv if you can, but that's not the point of the work.  So those people who spend all day planning and plotting to get seen on camera...annoy me to no end.

This shoot was actually made up of some fairly fun people who for the most part got it and understood that this is just a job.  Nothing will come of this other than a paycheck and maybe some interesting stories.  There were a few people very new to the world of acting who pumped us all for information.  Its nice to sit at a table and just discuss eachother's adventures so far.  See what works for other people and what you can possibly adopt to help your career.

Of course the question of, "do I put this on my resume?", came up.  The answer to that question is always no. I don't care what the logic behind it is, it's always no.  I've heard people say it shows that they're working on current projects.  I've also heard people say any experience is good experience.  No no no no no.  Do not put BG work on your resume.  Why?  Anyone can do it.  Literally anyone.  Hence why there are always so many crazies.  It is also NOT acting.  Unless you count acting as scenery as acting.  Then sure.  But no, it should never go on your resume.  Not even featured extra.  Ye be warned.  It looks very unprofessional and is not an example of your work.

Now the big question, why even do BG work.  Well I mentioned earlier that we do it to try to get SAG credit. I promise to devote a whole blog post to this.  There is a lot to cover.  But the short of it is that one of the ways to become eligible to join sag is to do BG work and get 3 waivers.  (3 credits) to become SAG.  They don't just hand them out.  They're random. It is a crap shoot.  But you do it anyway in hopes you'll get it.  I have 2 out of the 3 so far. 2 I got from being called in directly for work on 2 films.  Sometimes it works that way, sometimes you get them the day you show up..surprise.  But still a crap shoot.

So that was my weekend.  BG work.  Yeah, i did it.  I'm not proud, but I'm not ashamed.  Its how you get your foot in the door.  It just takes forever and I'm still trying to catch up on sleep.  While Friday was 14.5 hours, Monday was 15.5,  blech!

When In Rome

Well Ladies and Gents, it might not be glamorous work but once in a while background extra work can be fun. Or at least a way to pay the bills. On that note, last week i found myself as a guest at a huge Italian wedding (go figure) for the film When in Rome With Kristen Bell, Don Johnson, Danny Devito, Anjelica Houston to name a few. Don and Kristen (yeah like i can call them by their first names) were on set. No huge deal. Its always a great character study when doing extra work. I was contracted for 5 days so you can't complain about that.

The film according to IMDB.com is about "In New York City, a young art curator finds herself aggressively pursued by a band of wannabe lovers after she steals coins from a Roman fountain."

First day was cancelled due to the director being ill. (but still got paid!)
Second day, right off the bat someone wacko was escorted off the set. There are obvious rules to doing extra work. Basically, you're a nobody and don't presume that you have any clout. With a room full of 150+ extras losing you will not make much of a difference. So just sit and play nice with the other kids.
All in all it was a nice full day of filming where I was pulled out as one of the few people waltzing. So we'll see when this film comes out. Maybe I'm seen who knows? Who cares really. Its not featured extra work. Its a waltz for Christ's sake. It was a long day (night?) thought. 5:30 p.m. call and shot until 4:45 in the morning. good times.
Third day was cut short because the director was ill yet again.

and then we wrapped. Apparently he had his appendix taken out and was too sick to continue. I sadly did not get paid for the remaining days. Boo.

But still, it'll be a nice check and if anything i got to spend time with some friends who also worked the shoot as well as laugh at the most ridiculous characters...as usual.