TV & film extra – a day in the life of
Have you ever wanted to be in the movies? Have you wondered what it’s like to be on a film set?
You can. By becoming a TV & film extra.
Over the last few years, as well as making my own films, and working on some indie film sets, I’ve also done a little bit of TV/films work by being a TV & film extra. I joined two extras agencies and still get requests from the casting people. One of those agencies is Universal Extras.
Below I talk about what each job was like, to give you an idea of what it was like.
The Cult Member
In 2015 I did a film shoot Carmel College, Wallingford in Oxford. I had to be on set for 6am as they had over 50 TV & film extras to make up. This meant getting up at 4am for the drive to the site.
Once we’d arrived, we had breakfast, provided by onsite caterers. Whilst that was happening, the make up people started to make up each person. Runners also sorted out our costumes. Making up 50 TV & film extras takes a long time. It wasn’t until about 8am, that we were nearly ready to shoot.
But before that, we had to be issued with weapons, replica weapons. Even replica weapons can be dangerous and we had to sign each weapon out and it was stressed to us that if any one messed around with the guns, they would immediately be sacked and escorted off the shoot.
The location
Our location for the filming was an amazing amphitheatre in the grounds of Carmel College in Wallingford.
All the extras had to sit in one wedge of the circle. We had to shout/chant a particular phrase, in response to the lead character who was speaking in the centre of the amphitheatre. Once the director was happy with that take, we then had to move around to a new wedge and in different positions. We then had to repeat the shouting/chanting. Once that take was deemed ok, we then had to move again to a new wedge, and again shout the same phrase.
There was a reason this was done in this way. In post production all the different takes would be tiled together to create a huge crowd.
It was a lovely warm morning. We were sitting down in the sunshine. The director was happy with what had been shot. We were released home at lunchtime. Not a bad way to spend the day and also get paid for it 🙂
Before I drove home I asked the makeup ladies to do something with my hair so it wasn’t quite so ‘dramatic’ 🙂
The viking
For 16 years I was a viking re-enactor, fighting at weekends and giving fight displays. Occasionally we also did some film work. One project I remember included a storyline that a spaceship appeared over our fighting and frightened us all. Not sure how authenticate that was 🙂
My key memory of that shoot, was fighting against one of our members called Wolf (we took on character names). He was one of the founders of our society. He was a fantastic swordsman. Because of the need for consistency we had to do the same fighting movements several times. It was exhausting, so I just ‘opened’ my defences each time and let him ‘kill me’.
The bus passenger
Another job that I remember is an ad for Sky. They wanted extras to act as bus passengers. We just wore our normal everyday clothes.
I initially went to put a basic winter coat on as the shoot was in winter. But then I thought that, to catch the director’s eye, it might be better to wear something more eye catching. So I wore my brown leather trench coat and trendy cap. It worked. The director put me at the front of the bus.
They had hired a bus for the shoot and the location was a nearby green. They filmed from a variety of angles inside and outside the bus, just going round the square repeatedly. Sitting next to a chap and we looked at the same magazine, pointing things out, as part of our little back story, making sure we did the same thing for each take.
I don’t remember any catering on this shoot. But I do remember it being really cold, and standing out on the green, whilst they shot inside the bus, wasn’t pleasant.
The cancer patient
A more thought provoking job involved the recent ads for Macmillan Cancer Support. This was actually shot in a hospital in west London. I can’t remember exactly which one.
I arrived early in the morning as requested. As on most shoots there was catering: breakfast, tea, coffee and juices etc. There was also a crew bus which was an actual double decker bus.
The crew bus
We spent most of the morning in the crew bus. Only a few of us were used at a time. Waiting is a big part of an extra’s life. In fact it’s a big part of filmmaking in general. Some people like to read, others like to chat and it’s a great way to meet people and make connections. Talking of connections, the thin chap in the photo below has done lots of extras work. He was one of the aliens in the Star Wars films.
After (the fantastic) lunch a few of us still hadn’t been ‘used’ and we were still waiting. By mid afternoon, we were still waiting and we were beginning to wonder if we would actually be used. Eventually the runner came to us and asked to come to the area in the hospital where they were filming.
The 2nd unit
We spent some time in a side room. While we were in there the 2nd unit director and his team came in to film what are called ‘cutaways’. These are clips such as a clock, or papers on a desk. These are cut into the main edit at the post production stage.
Finally we were asked to come through to the main shoot area. They asked us to sit in the patient chairs, depending on the colour of our clothing. They set us up with drips, not real drips but mocked up to look like a real drip. The scene was also ‘branded’ and staged by the placement of Macmillan products. They used items such as mugs (as you can see on the picture below). Finally they did one take. And that was it. All over. As the waiting had gone over the time we’d been hired for, I actually got paid extra time, which was even better.
The story behind my short film What did you do in the war Grandad?
Tips to help you make short films on a budget.
To discuss your creative project requirements call 0775 341 3005 or email info @ iconiccreative.co.uk.
