On Friday I drove many, many miles to work on House. I will not divulge any spoilers (well, not any huge and obvious ones), so I'll just stick to the people stuff.
The first thing I discovered is what a big difference an attitude adjustment can make! When I used to do extra work, I was mainly focused on getting SAG vouchers. That affected the way I viewed everthing: the quality of the show I was working, the crew, the other extras, the food, etc. Obviously, I didn't get me three vouchers, so it made me very bitter. But this time I went with no expectations for that, and it changed my whole outlook on the situation. I was working on a popular tv show, getting dressed in fun clothes (more on that in a moment), eating well and generally having a good time. The upside to this attitude was that I became more aware of the people around my (imagine!) and everyone was very nice to me.
For breakfast I had eggs and tea. For lunch I had tuna steak with mango salsa, seasoned green beans, cous-cous (that's hyphenated, right?) and a pretty pudding cup with a cookie straw for dessert! We ate in the hospital corridor, which is pretty cool when you think about it. One time I did a Saturn commercial and a small part of the 134 freeway was closed off for shooting. While we were waiting as the crew prepared, a lot of us laid down on the road and took a nap. How many people can say they've taken a nap on a freeway?
The first scene was shot at an actual hotel restaurant. I sat with another gentleman with real (questionable) food before us. They asked us to eat, but if my fusion flatbread pizza was bad and they shot us again and again, I'd have to match all of my shots by eating the same amount of food. I know I'm just background, but I think like an actor ;) Fortunately, there was a bowl of (stale sourdough bread at our table, so I nibbled on that during our take. Even better, they only needed to take one shot of that scene, so they sent us back to holding.*
*Holding is where the extras go when they're not being used. Holding can be anything from a separate soundstage in studios, a tent on location or a parking lot with folding chairs and no protection from the elements. This time it was a large conference room on another floor of the hotel.
Once back at holding, we were left alone for two hours. It was then when I realized I'd commited a cardinal sin: not bringing anything to do. I talked with a few people, but we ran out of things to say. I tried to write but couldn't. I took a nap but woke up. I texted and emailed some friends, but received little response because they have "real jobs" (whatever).
Finally the PA (production assistant) came in and told us to go to wardrobe so we could change for the next big scene. I wasn't supposed to in that scene, but I brought clothing options just in case. Out of the clothes I brought, I was allowed to wear my top. Everything else was theirs. Here's what they dressed me in.
Okay. I'm experiencing difficulty adding my pictures from here, so I'll add them in the next post.
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