Extras Gig #4: The Office, Part 3

"What's up, Avatar?" "Not much, Craig Robinson, good friend! How are you today?"*

*imaginary response, actual response was a stupid grin and probably my face turning a million shades of red.

The coolest thing about working on this set was getting a nickname from Craig Robinson. He's a really good pool player. I think hearing that there were "pool experts" around intrigued him. He kept challenging us to play. The ADs scolded him (gently- extras get yelled at for breaking the cast/extras boundary, cast members get a gentle reminder that such intermingling is less than ideal).

I ignored the requests from Craig anyway, being the pool playing fraud that I was. So why did he call me Avatar? Well, as I have said before, being an extra is 10% fun and 90% boring as hell. It's important to bring things to do. At the time, I was kind of into Avatar (which is also the link to click if you have no idea what I am talking about right now and would like to read part 1 of this story). I was working on a sketch while he was playing pool:

He stopped his game to compliment the drawing, talk sci-fi, and suddenly I had a nickname. Gush.

The pool expert thing intrigued the whole cast, actually. John Krasinski and Jenna Fischer finally broke down on the third day and just flat out asked, "are you guys really pool experts? It says on our call sheets that you are. It seems crazy that you aren't actually playing pool and they just have you standing around all day." It was nice to joke and chat with them. Then we had to shoot again and we went back to being invisible, despite standing next to one another. Hollywood is weird. This whole experience really underscored that.

Take, for example, lunch. Lunch on this set was even more amazing than breakfast. Food was custom-made. Want steak? No problem. Vegan? There are actual options for you. Dessert? How about bananas foster, flambéd before your very eyes. Anything you want, it's yours. Just don't sit at the wrong table. Which I did.

Being a bit of an introvert, I picked the table that had the fewest people. There were even a couple of kids there. I said hi to one of them. She was sweet. Her mother gave me a look of derision coupled with an awkward and confused smile. A lot of people were giving me a similar look. I felt like a jerk for being nice, so I just focused on my meal and went back to my Avatar sketch.

Later, I found out that "mom" was Angela Kinsey and I was sitting at the table reserved for the cast. Oops. That's what I get for not being a regular watcher of the show. I was also told that some of the confusion might have been due to the fact that with blondish hair (which I had at the time), I look a bit like Jenna Fischer. Maybe someone thought I was a distant relative visiting the set? Of course, if someone had just told me that the table was reserved for the cast, much awkwardness could have been avoided...

For this reason, Craig's no-bullshit acknowledgements that we were actually people in the actual world made him super cool in my eyes.

Despite the awkward moments, I had so much fun on this set. My fellow pool expert extras were all really interesting people. There was a perfect balance of quiet time to read, draw, reflect, explore, etc. and active time to talk and play. Between takes, I chatted with the tech crew (always a little more accessible and willing to talk than the cast). They shot on three cameras simultaneously and did about a million different takes to give the cast (particularly Steve Carell) the chance to improvise a little. I learned a lot.

And also pitied the poor editors who had to go through all of that footage. Yikes.

When it was time to wrap everything up, I actually got a little emotional. Couldn't I just make a livable wage doing this for like a year or something? Later, I wrote a short story about a girl who lived on a studio lot. She dressed from the costume department, grabbed food from the crafty tables, slept on the stunt mats and because she was "no one," she went completely unnoticed and got to be involved in a cool mystery. Sometimes it's good being no one...

Maybe I will post the story here some day.

I ended up being on screen a lot from that shoot. Good food, good people, funny stories, fun work, fun show, fun episode, my face on TV, memories... really, I didn't see how I could top this, given my previous "background actor" experiences. I decided to hang up my background acting hat and do things that made money (part of my fantasy story above was influenced by the insane cost of living in Los Angeles) and was on a more appropriate path to my career goals.

Yes, I was done with extra work. An interesting time in my life, to be sure. I would be happy not being part of that world ever again.

Then a year later, Central Casting called me and asked if I would be willing to work on Mad Men...

It's an Awesome Day When I Must Juggle Robots vs Aliens in the News

A friend of mine sent me a story this morning with the following headline (image will link to story):

Toy robot detours traffic near Coors Field

Another sent me this one (again, image links to story):

NASA Finds New Life

Wow. Not EXTRATERRESTRIALS, sure, but it opens to doors to what we should be looking for.

8-inch Killer Robots and Arsenic-based life forms.  Finally, the Universe is reading my screenplays.  And producing them!

Thanks to Carl and Pericles for sending me these stories!  You have made my day.

If I Could Write Music...

I'm working on it, but I have a long way to go before I can get anything this raw and honest out of my voice/fingers:

Extra! Extra!

Ah, yes. It's about time I got around to writing about this! It's been, without a doubt, the activity my friends and family are most interested in hearing about. I had a bit of cash saved up before I moved out here, so I was able to play a little bit before "buckling down" and finding a "real job." I decided to skip on down to Central Casting and sign on to be an extra- sorry, "background actor." That's right; I just basically implied that being an extra is not a "real job." Also, I used a semicolon. Read on THAT!

Granted, some people have managed to make it such, and I applaud their success (and wonder how much Top Ramen they must eat), but it is NOT for the faint of heart. Often times referred to as "dots" or "blurs," extras are treated with absolutely zero respect. Don't get me wrong, I don't expect respect (soon to be a new hit song), but here I am referring to such an extreme lack of respect that you don't even feel like a human being. The props are quite literally treated better than you are. As a non-union extra, you make $8 an hour to stand on your feet all day, often in uncomfortable attire, and to be shushed like a five year old every time you yawn, sneeze, or say "hi" to your fellow extras. But if it's worth it to you to have a little bit of yourself attached to a project or to see that star you always wanted to meet, read on:

Here's how it works: you go down to "Central" at the most inconvenient time on a weekday morning. You listen to their spiel. You stand in a long-ass line with dozens of other Hollywood hopefuls. You register with them (SSN, DLN, W-2, height, measurements, dress size, special talents, car type, "how far will you go," the works). You stand in another long-ass line. You stand in front of a camera (about as sophisticated as the DMV) and get a picture taken. One. You do not get to see said picture. They hand you a packet of papers and give you a phone number to call. You call said phone number. Again. And again. MANY times per day. You listen to pre-recorded job postings and hope to hear one that sounds like something you match and that is something you might actually like to do. You listen to the WHOLE THING because often they only want your car, or your specific breed of dog, or they want you to jump into a swimming pool with all of your clothes on (repeatedly) or shave your head or be a professional soccer coach or a biker or stripper or something (yes, I've heard all of these) and they seem to want to put this critical information last. You call another number to talk to the agent that posted this call. This number will be busy. Always. (I guess a lot of people fit "non-union woman between the ages of 21 to 71.") You call again and again and again (because you have nothing better to do) or you pay $75 a month to have someone else do it for you (keeping in mind that you will still only make $8/hour when they find you work). IF you get the gig, they will give you almost NO information about where it is or what you will be doing or how long it will take because again, you have nothing better to do and can put everything else on hold. If you don't get the gig (after all of that), you spend the next several hours worrying that you sneezed or a bug landed on your face in that headshot you never got to see. They give you yet another number to call the night before your job. You call that number (note: get a phone plan with unlimited minutes). They pre-scold you for being late and/or not having everything you need. They tell you to bring your own clothes and often something you would never own and will need to buy (i.e. pantyhose). You try to sleep the night before because your call time is often early in the morning (6:15AM) or late at night (10PM), running until early in the morning. You fight traffic to get to set on time. You fail. You park as far away as possible from the set. You arrive and check in with the 2nd AD or a PA who will either ignore you or call you sweetheart. You go sit in "holding" which is often a tent with a bunch of metal folding chairs in it. You talk to some cool people and a couple of crazy folks. They tell you to be quiet. They tell you to go to costume, hair and makeup, all three of which will tell you to go away because no one is really going to see you and they don't want to waste their time. You swallow sadness and immerse yourself in a good book. You get called to set. They tell you to be quiet. A lot. Even if the crew is making all of the noise, they will blame the "background talent" for the hammering. You do your thirty seconds of bad "casual conversation" pantomime. You feel good because you SWEAR the camera is, like, totally right on you the whole time! They feed you (usually). You finish your "day." You go home and tell all of your family and friends to tune into whatever show at whatever time. A week later, you get a paycheck for approximately $80 for ten+ hours of work. Your episode airs or your film is released. Two people report possibly seeing the back of your head for half a second. One of them is your mother. It turns out that it was not your head, but you don't tell anyone that. You swear you are never going to do it again. Two weeks later, you call the pre-recorded line and start the process all over again. This time you just know you're going to get that SAG voucher!*

However, like all experiences, crappy or otherwise, being an extra expands my library of fun stories to tell, and I shall share them here- with pictures (where possible)! You know, someone should make a television show based on their experiences as an extra. It might be really funny! They could get awesome actors to guest star. Ooh, ooh! I'd love to see Ian McKellan do something on a show like that...

(*You need to get three vouchers before you can join the Screen Actor's Guild, which is every non-union extra's dream. Once you have your vouchers, you pay SAG a large sum of money and then you can actually begin making a more livable wage from doing "background" work.)

Lost Spoilers and Pop Culture Overload

Warning: this post contains spoilers no spoilers, actually. At least not to Lost. At least... not that I know...

So, I'm about ready to sink into a deep, dark depression.  In case you have been living in a hole for six years or just refuse to partake in all things wholesome and good, I'll get you up to speed.

There's this little show called Lost.  It was created by some guy named J.J. Abrams and then handed over to these guys named Carlton Cuse and Damon Lindelof.  It's about some folks who crash on an island and then some stuff happens over six seasons.  Compelling protagonists.  Complex antagonists.  Mystery, intrigue, romance, drama, sci-fi and general mythology ensue and then it ends today.

That's right.

It ends today.

In some ways, this makes me incredibly happy.  I like endings.  I don't like shows that stretch out for years based only on ratings and then suddenly come to an abrupt end when the sponsor gives up on it. In other ways, it makes me incredibly sad.  I've really become attached to these characters.  Quite a few things have ended recently.  No more Harry and Hermione.  No more Starbuck and the Cylons.  No more Hiro and Claire Bennett.  No more Flash Forward.  And now, no more Jack and Kate.  Sigh.  Comic-Con had better deliver me something geeky to obsess over this year or I might have to leave my house more often (or at least when Fringe is not on).

Since it is all over the internets and has become something of a pop-culture meme, I offer here my own Top Ten Lost Series Finale Spoilers:

1. It's all just a dream. Vincent's dream.

2. John Locke is Keyser Soze.

3. The Island sees dead people, and it's YOU who has been dead the whole time!

4. Turns out the whole thing is about Shannon, Boone, Nikki and Paolo.

5. The hatch was actually a worm hole that connected to the Large Hadron Collider. And they blew it up! Those maniacs! Damn them. God damn them all to hell.

6. Claire is Jack's sister! His mother! His sister! His mother! She's his sister AND his mother!!!

7. There is no Island, only Zuul!

8. Kate is actually Sawyer.

9. "Dharma" is the name of his sled. It's also made of people. No, seriously. They wear jumpsuits and stuff.

10. It's an alternate universe run by aliens who live in a black hole at the center of hell, can travel through time, have x-ray vision, and also everyone is dead and it's all about the Bible or some junk, but it's okay because it's all just Hurley's schizophrenic delusion.

Thanks for the ride, guys. I will forever carry my Dharma Initiative card in my wallet and the stories in my heart.

A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Oscars

Okay, the Oscars were over a week ago.  Yes, I knew Avatar wasn't going to win.  Sci-Fi only really wins in VFX, makeup, sound mixing and the like*  Yes, I'm ECSTATIC that a female won for best director for a very worthy film.  It was weird to think they were taking place 20 minutes from my house (approximately 3.8 days with traffic) and that I had actually seen many of the winners in real life (most of them by grace of the awesome Jeff Goldsmith who hosts podcasts for Creative Screenwriting magazine, but also the crew of "The Cove" who actually debuted that film in Boulder, Colorado before I moved away). I wanted to post this before the awards, but here it is.  A funny little anecdote:

So an experimental film friend of mine works at the Academy Archives.  I’d heard him mention this before, but I always just thought of the job: archivist.  I’d never once considered the place: The Academy.  Probably some… like… military school or university or something?  Didn’t matter to me.  He works at an archive.  I worked in preservation at a film lab.  We spoke the same language and that was enough.

He invited me and my friend to explore some of cultural Los Angeles and catch a movie (which was followed by pie at Apple Pan- YUM, YUM and DOUBLE YUM).

We followed the directions.  As we approached the building my companion said, “wait.  Your friend works at the ACADEMY archives?”

Uh, yeah.  Should I know what this means?  I’m new to L.A., so probably not.

It wasn’t until after I entered the lobby, having gotten through a couple of security checkpoints and passing several displays housing Oscars, that I realized that the “Academy” was not referring to West Point.  The Academy was referring to The Academy.  The AMPAS.  The one you would like to thank (along with your agent, significant other and hardworking crew).   Oscars.

I tried to hide my embarrassment at my naïveté.  What?  The Academy Awards.  So?  I knew that.  Like I care.  Like… what?  Like I host a party every year, glue myself to the E! channel and write my acceptance speech out in my head every time I finish a project?  Pshaw!  As if!

(*practices acceptance wave*)

It didn’t take long for me to completely geek out after that.  We got a tour of the storage facilities and some of the screening rooms.  It was pretty damn cool.  Glamour aside, it was just cool from a technical standpoint.  And it was cool from a temperature standpoint, it being a film storage facility and all that.  (Ba-dum tish!)  And *I* probably seemed pretty damn cool for appearing not to give a f&*% about it.  Then again, I just blew that cool by divulging the truth here on this blog.

Me= clueless geek.

*interesting that Avatar won for best cinematography... I've already explained why that's cool to people who say "but it wasn't 'filmed.'"  It was, actually- remember that there were also real actors and real sets on that film and that the lighting and camera on those sets needed to match exactly what was happening digitally.  Not to mention that you still have to fuss over depth of field and all of that on the computer side AND make it match what you shot in reality... Discuss!

Targeted Ad Fail

Who needs The Onion?

James Cameron and Me

Why does this man make so much money?  I can't answer this question for everyone, but I can answer it for me.  I'm a girl who got her first SCUBA mask at 15 and got certified in a rock quarry in Pennsylvania in winter (which means I am both nitrox and dry suit certified, thank you very much).  I cleaned animal poo at at veterinary clinic to fund my voyage to Sea Camp in San Diego at around that age.  I can relate to his love of exploring the "alien" underwater world.

Further, as someone who lugged a 70 lb Cousteau-style underwater housing system for a 16mm Bolex through Brooklyn and Manhattan (via subways) and got scolded CONSTANTLY for making flip books out of science texts, drawing instead of taking notes, and recreating television sets in her desk (I'm not even exaggerating- ask my mom.  It was the set of Moonlighting and I was about eight years old) I can relate to the love of art and movies.  EVEN MORE, as someone who went back to school at the age of 25 for astrophysics because I fell in love with the images coming back from Mars and Titan, I can relate to the love of science fiction and space exploration.  I offer here his presentation at TED.  If I can have even 1/3 of the filmmaking adventures he has had, I will die a happy girl.  I would love to bring my love of science together with my love of films.  (I'm working on it. And I've all the confidence in the world that I can.)

I will gladly fork over the cash to see anything James Cameron does.  I think that his scientific background is WHY he makes good SciFi movies. (Did you know that the glowing bioluminescent plants in Avatar are based on very simple creatures found right here off the coast of SoCal?  It's not SciFi, it's just science re-appropriated.)

"Curiosity.  It's the most powerful thing you own" "The respect of your team is more important than all the laurels in the world." "Failure is an option.  But fear is not."  Seriously... I love this guy.

OH... and by the way. I twittered this and posted it on my facebook page, but I was lucky enough to have seen Avatar WITH James Cameron and to hear him talk about it with his production designers at the end. It is not a requirement for a director to know everything about the technology (s)he is using, but he DOES. It is pretty clear that his production designers DO respect him. Since I also geek out about film technology, I should add that I FINALLY got to see the 3D system they were talking about when I was in Cannes, which made me a happy girl.

(I love how they are all squatting off the edge of my soda cup.  I wasn't sure if I was allowed to take photos so I James Bonded it...)

EDIT: Cameron's 3D talk at Cannes can be found at the American Pavilion website, if you are interested.

I'm Team Jacob - of Lost, that is

Some Phun with Photoshop before I get my day going (I was actually surprised I couldn't already find this in a google search). Team Jacob:

(Edit: A friend of mine wasn't familiar with the Team Jacob/Team Edward meme, so I summed it up in a few short sentences (contains mild Twilight spoilers):

Edward is a vampire.  Bella fell in love with him.  He didn't think things would work out.  He dumped her.  Bella was sad.

Jacob is a werewolf.  He fell in love with Bella and hated Edward for hurting her.  She just wanted to be friends.  Jacob was sad

Edward came back and things got all mixed up.  Some people thought Edward was a jerk, some thought he was just trying to protect Bella.

Jacob overstepped his bounds, and some people thought he was a jerk, some thought he was just a dumb boy.

Bella fell in love with both of them (I haven't read the last book yet).

Hence you are either Team Edward or Team Jacob (I was Team Bella, but that's not an option).)

Burbank

"One does not simply walk into Mordor.  It’s black gates are guarded by more than just orcs.  There is evil there that does not sleep.  The great eye is ever watchful.  It is a barren wasteland, riddled with fire, ash, and dust.  The very air you breathe is a poisonous fume.  Not with ten thousand men could you do this.  It is folly."

Well, clearly, Boromir would NOT win an Independent Spirit Award.

(What's that?  TWO Lord of the Rings references in a row?  Yep.)

Let’s just say Burbank is not a place I would like to live.  Ever.  I knew this before I moved to California (in fact, when people trashtalk Los Angeles, they have usually only been to either the Burbank/Studio City area or Downtown Hollywood), but it was confirmed for me on the first day of 110 degree weather and asthma attacks from pollution that it is not a place I should call home.

Burbank is located in the armpit of the San Fernando Valley.  While it is home to many television, film and animation studios, it also hosts some of the worst air in the country. The mountains surrounding the Valley make it impossible for the pollution to go anywhere.  These same mountains keep hot, stagnant air hot and stagnant.  It is also the home and workplace of many a wannabe producer or aspiring... something or other.  The result is a nice warm blanket of asphyxiating poison in which many people are behaving badly because they are obsessed with obtaining or keeping power.

Mordor.

To give you an idea: every day there was a new, thin layer of an unidentifiable "dust" on my car (or as we called it in New York: "schmutz").  I had a constant sore throat.  It got so hot the day after I arrived that the glue from my shoes in the trunk of my car melted.  The soles curled back and peeled themselves off à la the The Wizard of Oz.  And it was only 10AM.  It also didn't help that there was a hill on fire a few miles away from where I was staying.  According to my twitter feed, I wasn't the only one making Lord of the Rings connections...

Still, I was staying with the right people (who I thank ad vitam aeternam for their hospitality).  And since then, I have worked several jobs in that area.  Forty hours a week is doable.  I've gotten to know the area fairly well and have seen that it has its good sides, too.  For example, there are many highways that exit out of it.

Okay, it IS really cool that every street you turn down is film-related.  And it IS really cool that you can see famous people all over the place.  I never recognize them, but I hear they are there.  And that’s cool.  I geek out taking the studio tours and working on sets and visiting friends who work there.  It’s also really cool that there is… like… an Ikea there… or something.

Anyway, my point is...

...I don't know.  I didn't have a point, I guess.  This is a blog.

I quickly tuned my apartment hunting radar system (which is www.westsiderentals.com for those with an interest in finding housing out this way) to “West Side” and tried to get out of there as quickly as I could.  I may have to work there from time to time, but I like to be able to step outside and breathe some fresh air, too.

Nah, Burbank, you’re okay, doll.  You know what?  Have your people call my people and we’ll… have our people talk to each other.  I’m not committing to lunch at Barad-dûr...

Flee? Not Me!

Exciting stuff today! Turns out last night was the perfect night to look at the stars! Check out this atmospheric weirdness:

And:

What is all this stuff? It's NOT a meteor shower, I can tell you that. The quadrantids? I wish they were that cool! Not only that, but the first two burnt up like something unnatural- something man-made. I'm guessing it's a satellite or a rocket or something. I just can't figure out why there are so many of them all over the place. Some people are freaking out and skipping town. I'm going to investigate. Apparently there are some on the ground.

Don't Vote. Wait... what?

The original sarcasm video went viral and prompted thousands to go and register to vote (reverse psychology works every time... or doesn't it?)  This is Steven Spielberg's remake (or a spoof remake, anyway).  I think it's hilarious.  You know, just in case you aren't one of the people swayed by reverse psychology: Oh, and if you live in the USA and are registered, go vote.  Even if you're cynical about it.  Seriously, we are required to do so little to actually live in this country is it really that big of an inconvence to make some federal-level choices once every four years?

Don’t Vote

Magic Mirror

I think I need one of these.  The more I think about it, the more I know it to be true. Interactive Mirror from Alpay Kasal on Vimeo.