Noticing the little things
Everything about what you see on film or television is contrived. EVERYTHING. If you think you see a huge group of people walking around in the background, and all you can see is blurry shapes, don’t believe they are there randomly. The meticulous nature of creating a film or television show leaves nothing to chance. As a person who has been responsible for placing those blurry shapes in the background, I am starting to pay much more attention to what is happening behind and around the principal actors.
When I’m watching television I look for these “little things.” If people are moving in the background, I try and see if I see the same people over and over. During production, we are given a certain number of extras that can be used. They could be joggers, people in cars, people with dogs or just regular pedestrians who look like they are on their way to work. If you don’t have enough of these people, then you have to “recycle” them as much as possible. Basically, this means you give people starting points and end points in the frame. When they reach one side of the frame, they turn around and alter their gait until the director calls cut. More often than not, you won’t see that same person recycling because of editing. Cutting back and forth between two people in a conversation allows for so much variety that it would just be an odd coincidence to see the same person, in the same outfit, moving in the background.
Another “little” thing that occurs when working so much with extras is the different forms of payment and people you need. For instance, while watching a recent episode of “ER” the final shots were of a main character skating in an ice rink. Skating around her were around 40 or 50 people enjoying themselves as families, couples or little kids. In my mind, I immediately think, “Wow. They had to find a lot of people that were Union actors and who could skate.” (Typically, a SAG actor who can skate is given “Special Ability” pay that is $132.00 and that is $10 above the base pay rate.) Last week, I had to deal with an ice skating scene where we had two teams of youth hockey players and about 10 people who were free skating on an adjacent rink. Before I did any of this work, I may have thought that the rink could be filled with random people from the rink and somehow they were paid a reasonable amount. But no, every part of the scene is constructed and planned. Every person seen on camera is there for a reason, no matter if you see 5 people or 5,000 in one scene, someone in the production had to choose those people specifically for their look and “special ability” talents.
This post is getting pretty long and it is Super Bowl Sunday, so I think I should get to the end. I’ve finished the museum film and I’ll be starting a new one in less than 12 hours. Early call time is never fun (5am) but I hope things will run smoothly. I’m excited about meeting the cast and I’ll give clues to their identities after I meet them and see how they are.
Until then, enjoy the big game or 8 straight hours of “Yes, Dear” on TBS.
When I’m watching television I look for these “little things.” If people are moving in the background, I try and see if I see the same people over and over. During production, we are given a certain number of extras that can be used. They could be joggers, people in cars, people with dogs or just regular pedestrians who look like they are on their way to work. If you don’t have enough of these people, then you have to “recycle” them as much as possible. Basically, this means you give people starting points and end points in the frame. When they reach one side of the frame, they turn around and alter their gait until the director calls cut. More often than not, you won’t see that same person recycling because of editing. Cutting back and forth between two people in a conversation allows for so much variety that it would just be an odd coincidence to see the same person, in the same outfit, moving in the background.
Another “little” thing that occurs when working so much with extras is the different forms of payment and people you need. For instance, while watching a recent episode of “ER” the final shots were of a main character skating in an ice rink. Skating around her were around 40 or 50 people enjoying themselves as families, couples or little kids. In my mind, I immediately think, “Wow. They had to find a lot of people that were Union actors and who could skate.” (Typically, a SAG actor who can skate is given “Special Ability” pay that is $132.00 and that is $10 above the base pay rate.) Last week, I had to deal with an ice skating scene where we had two teams of youth hockey players and about 10 people who were free skating on an adjacent rink. Before I did any of this work, I may have thought that the rink could be filled with random people from the rink and somehow they were paid a reasonable amount. But no, every part of the scene is constructed and planned. Every person seen on camera is there for a reason, no matter if you see 5 people or 5,000 in one scene, someone in the production had to choose those people specifically for their look and “special ability” talents.
This post is getting pretty long and it is Super Bowl Sunday, so I think I should get to the end. I’ve finished the museum film and I’ll be starting a new one in less than 12 hours. Early call time is never fun (5am) but I hope things will run smoothly. I’m excited about meeting the cast and I’ll give clues to their identities after I meet them and see how they are.Until then, enjoy the big game or 8 straight hours of “Yes, Dear” on TBS.
posted by The PA @ 2:02 PM
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