The Best Day In The Universe

 

In December of 1991, my family spent a day at Universal Studios Hollywood. The visit was part of a week-long adventure that included two days in Disneyland, one at Knott's Berry Farm, and one in Long Beach, where the Spruce Goose and Queen Mary were parked. 

Knott's was fine -- I'd been there before, at age three, and my least favorite memory of it this time around was riding a loop-de-loop roller coaster. Never again!

Disneyland was amazing, of course. Toontown was a few years away, but they did have Roger Rabbit running around the park.

The Queen Mary was... memorable. My parents booked a haunted tour (but forgot to mention that detail to me) so about halfway through, the doors slammed behind our group and the guide was like, "Oh no, we're trapped!" I'm convinced it's all real because no one tells me otherwise, so I'm silently freaking out. Then our tour guide tells us that an angry ghost child can only be placated if she gets her beloved doll back. We find the doll, and my very own brother volunteers to do the appeasing. My recollection is that he chucked the cursed doll into the ship's swimming pool, which was currently empty of water but definitely (now that I think about it) home to an overworked fog machine. 

The ghost got her doll, the fog lifted, the doors opened, and we all got out of the tour alive. 

And then there was Universal Studios...

  

My only foreknowledge of Universal Studios came straight out of Baby-Sitters Club Super Special #5: California Girls!  I loved the BSC, so if they went to Universal, I must go there also. 

Even though my family was only at the park for a day, I have so many memories of the place, it feels like they couldn't have all happened on the same visit. 

My #1 attraction? Fievel's Playland. There aren't enough photos on the internet of this place to do it justice, and my dad took zero pictures of it. It almost feels like a legendary place that possibly didn't even exist. Oh, but it did....

Fievel's Playland was a playground that was built to look like a junkyard. Everything was giant (8-foot tall books, 5-foot teacups, etc.) so kids could get a sense of being mouse-sized. There were tubes, tunnels, bridges, slides (including one shaped like a banana peel and a tube slide that must've had at least 3 curves... it felt endless.) There was also a volcano (maybe 6 feet high?) you could climb up and then GO DOWN INSIDE -- and from the bottom of that, you crawled through a tunnel and ended up somewhere else.

My parents eventually had to drag us away from there.

My dad took my photo with the cutouts from the Back to the Future cartoon. (I loved the movies, but thought the cartoon was eh.)

We rode the E.T. Ride. You gave them your name beforehand, and then during your ride, E.T. would refer to you by name. (Yee-haw.)

We went on the backlot tour. I saw a bunch of sets from movies and shows I hadn't yet seen at that point. 

We watched the Adventures of Conan show in a theater. It featured ripped actors covered in body oil and skimpy armor. I loved the show so much I watched it twice.

We attended a Special Effects show. They had half a Delorean on rigging and needed two kids to portray Marty and Jennifer. I about died of happiness when I got to be "Jennifer." I went on stage and got into this contraption. It rocked back and forth and the windshield wipers went back and forth and holy moly, dream come true.

And then there was Candid Camera. This revival of the classic show aired in syndication from 1991 to 1992. It was hosted by Dom DeLuise and Eva LaRue and was filmed at Universal Studios Hollywood. Even though it had probably been on the air for two or three months by that point, I had never seen it, and I had no idea who Dom DeLuise was (although if I'd been told he did one of the voices in An American Tail, I might have been mildly impressed.) 

The original Candid Camera aired throughout the 1960s and 1970s. For years it ran as a standalone show. It also garnered multiple TV specials. Candid Camera was one of, if not the first, "hidden camera" TV shows, and it no doubt paved the way for similar fare in the future. In fact, at this very same time, FOX had its own ripoff -- Totally Hidden Video -- which aired from 1989 to 1992.

 Candid Camera's gimmick (in case you are not aware) was to engineer a scenario where ordinary people were put in awkward, goofy, or improbable situations. Just when the person was about to lose their mind, someone nearby would point to the camera and say: "Smile, you're on Candid Camera!" Then, supposedly, everyone would have a good laugh, because... haha, none of this is real! 

All those segments were filmed ahead of the taping of the show we got to watch, however. Between 1991 and 1992, visitors to Universal Studios could go watch Dom DeLuise and Eva LaRue present those clips. The audience was also put there so the crew could film their reactions (laughter, the crew hoped) to the clips.

So my parents saw they were doing this taping, and since the original show had been part of their childhoods, they thought this sounded like fun, and we got in line. We were towards the front of the queue, and we had quite a while to wait. Then some people from the show came down the line and asked if my brother and I wanted to be a part of something just for kids. We'd get to sit in special seats and do... something. We weren't sure what we were in for, but sure! Sign us up!

A little while later, the people came back and got me and my brother, plus half a dozen other kids who they'd talked to, and took us inside. They had us sit in the front rows. Then they let everyone else in. My dad managed to come over and snap this photo before he and my mom took their seats in a different section....

 

Once everyone was seated, I remember Dom DeLuise coming out on stage. He might have told some jokes or something. But Eva LaRue didn't come out right away and the crew was ready to start filming. And I remember Eva yelling from backstage about how she wasn't ready, and the crew was like "ooookay...." Eventually, Eva came out, and the cameras started rolling.

They filmed Dom and Eva introducing those pre-filmed prank segments, and then we (the audience) got to watch some of said segments on the TV screens (seen in the photo below.) One of the sequences in this episode featured a young Denise Richards. She played a beautiful college student who flirts with a bunch of unsuspecting guys in a library.

Then came the moment when the kids were needed. The crew brought maybe 10-12 of us on stage and placed us around Dom DeLuise, who was sitting on a couch. Then they mulled things over and decided they needed a few more kids to come up, so they recruited another 5 or 6.

Next we were coached on what to say/do in our scene. Dom would say: "Have you ever heard the expression 'Don't cry over spilled milk?" and we were supposed to say "Yes!" Then he had another line -- after which we were supposed to all chuckle appreciatively.

They had us practice this three or four times. Then they fired up the cameras and started recording. We only did one or two takes. The crew reviewed the tape and seemed satisfied. They thanked us and sent us back to our seats.

When we got home from our trip, my parents told everyone they knew about the show. And of course they wanted to get it on tape when it aired, except they had no idea when it might do so. We started taping the show every night. It used to air around dinnertime, and since we were an eat-around-the-table kind of family, we almost never watched the show. We'd hit record, check once or twice to see if it was our episode, and then, if it wasn't, stop recording.

This went on for weeks and weeks until finally, one day, we forgot to hit record. The show had been on for about five or ten minutes when our cousins called us and said: "We think we just saw you on Candid Camera!" Sure enough, it was our episode! We hit record. We missed the beginning of that episode, but thankfully we didn't miss our "spilled milk" segment...

Rewatching this, I'm amused by the reactions of some of the other kids, like the boy on the bottom right. Smile, you're on Candid Camera indeed.

Less than two years after this, I spent the summer of 1993 becoming fixated on All My Children. One of the actresses on there then? Eva LaRue! So what if she'd been a bit of a diva on set that one day in 1991? She was Maria, of Maria-and-Edmund! Be still my heart!

So that was my incredible, memorable day at Universal Studios in 1991. 

#BringBackFievelsPlayland

"Grimm", Take 4

One thing about this extras casting company I belong to... First they send you an email telling you you're being considered for a role on a date in the near future (usually within the week). You declare if you are available, yes or no.

If you get another email that evening or early the next day, it will usually be "You got the job!" and you'll get more details on the booking. If you haven't heard back within 24 hours, you can assume you didn't get it; the email telling you "sorry" typically won't come as quickly (as if you had gotten the job.)

In early December I got one of those sadder emails, telling me the roles had been booked and I could move on with my life. But then, that evening, I got another email, asking if I could be on-call as a backup for the same shoot, the following day. It said I might get a phone call at any time, even at 5 or 6 in the morning.

At 7am I got the call. Could I come in at 10:30? Of course I could!

You may recall how, when I worked on my first Grimm ep, back in 2013, that I wasn't really into the show... I'd only seen a few episodes. That has changed, though... I've now seen many episodes, and I really do enjoy the show. I especially enjoy David Giuntoli. He's so dreamy!

The bad news about THIS particular shoot was that (as I quickly discovered) David and the other regular castmembers were not on set and had nothing to do with the scenes being filmed. Instead, we got a couple of guest stars... one of whom I'm sure is wesen. Er, playing a wesen.

We convened in Northish Portland and were bused (on school buses, no less) to the filming location, at the University of Portland. They had huge white tents set up, with generators and heaters to keep us warm (and keep us slightly meh, thanks to the diesel smell.) They'd laid some kind of material, like a carpet made of artificial turf, on the ground. Since it had been raining (and still was) the ground was wet, which made the carpet wet, and mud seeped in through the gaps. Still, we stayed warm and mostly dry.

The scenes we shot that day (two wrestling matches) required around 200 extras to fill the stands and act as fans. Since we were all packed into one holding tent, it was pretty crowded and difficult to move around. After going through wardrobe, passing hair and makeup ("you look fine" -- that's a new one), and changing clothes, I managed to snag an empty chair and found myself at a table of snobby girls straight out of a junior high cafeteria. The things I heard escape their lips that day, I'm surprised they didn't straight up tell me I couldn't sit at their table. Instead they mostly ignored me, and I read the novel I'd brought and tried to ignore them. (I could have moved, but that place was so crowded... and pack o' Bingley Sisters aside, it was a nice spot.)

Apologies if I can never keep Catering and Craft Services straight, but... one of them... had set up a nice table full of fruits and cheeses and other snacks, which they kept stocked and tidy throughout the day. One thing I've learned (and I'm not even beginning to suggest I know a lot, but I've learned some) is that if they feed you? You should eat. Hunger leads to crankiness. Long and repetitive takes lead to crankiness. Eat whenever you can.

While we were waiting to go on set, nearly everyone was given props to take into the "wrestling match." Some people were handed bags of popcorn; others, drink cups; others, pompoms or those giant hands. I got 2 skinny, red balloon-like things, which could be waved or banged together. They had to be inflated, and between the time they handed those balloon things out to people and the time walked on set, several people had managed to pop theirs. One of mine deflated.

The wrestling match scenes took many hours to film... but luckily, most of us got to sit in bleachers. Some people had to stand though, and that would've sucked. There were a couple ladies who had to play dancers, and their outfits were "bathing-suit" levels of revealing... again, glad that wasn't me.

So what did we do all day? We listened for our cues, and then we cheered. We had to react to the "wrestling match"(es) we were seeing. Sometimes we had to act surprised. Or happy. Or ecstatic. We had to wave our props around and act like we were having the time of our lives.

Around 6:30pm, they gave us dinner... catered lunch boxes....

Not too long afterward, we wrapped the scenes in the wrestling arena. They did some close-up shots of one of the bleacher sections (not mine), and, soon after, sent about half of the extras home for the night.

I got to stay for one more scene, an outdoor establishing shot, where the wrestling fans are waiting to go into the venue. One of the extras pointed out (and I'd been thinking this too) that this scene was going to look unrealistic, because nobody was holding their phones or looking at their phones, as people would do in real life. Oh well!

It was all over about 10:45pm. We got checked out, piled back on the yellow school buses, and were taken back to our cars.

A fun day. Lots of sitting, so not too exhausting. It was nice getting to do a couple of long scenes, but a little disappointing to not see any main cast members. Oh well.

The episode in should air sometime in early 2016 and is titled "Silence Of The Slams."

(ETA: The episode aired March 18, 2016, and even though both of the wrestling scenes were in the episode, I couldn't find myself anywhere. Too many people, not-ideal lighting, etc.)

On The Set Of "The Librarians"

A few weeks ago I got to work on the TV series "The Librarians," which is currently filming its second season in Portland.

The pre-job notes for the gig were a bit longer than I'm used to seeing. Instead of asking us to bring three outfits, we were asked to bring at least two complete outfits for three different possible roles (student, professor, or dignitary) in two different scenes (one outdoors/informal, one indoors/semi-formal). Twelve outfits? Um... sure.

Our call time was 10am. We met at a parking garage in downtown PDX, where we were then shuttled to the filming location a few blocks away. Extras Holding was in The Portland Art Museum, which is one of those places I keep putting off going to for reasons that can only be described as psychological.* Several scenes would also be shot inside the museum that day.

I arrived wearing jeans and a striped long-sleeved shirt, but the wardrobe people had me change into a frumpier getup. Then I went to Hair and Makeup, and they put my hair into a schoolmarm bun using six bobby pins and loads of hairspray.

After everyone was ready, all of the extras -- about 50 of us -- were then led outside in front of the museum, which was standing in for the "Portland Public Library". Across the street, in the park, they were filming a scene. For several takes, I walked down the sidewalk in front of the museum library.

When the park scene wrapped, we went back inside and were asked to change into a second outfit, this one for a posh party scene. I had brought two dresses, one cute and sequinny and one black and ill-fitting and straight out of the back of my mom's closet. Guess which one they had me wear? Old lady dress, yes. But at least it matched my hairstyle! They also loaned me a big old greenish cardigan to go with it. Add to that nylons and dress shoes. Yuck.

When it was time to film the scene, we all trooped up the stairs of the art museum, to the Grand Ballroom. En route, we passed by a table covered with champagne and wine glasses, each of them filled with mysterious liquids and/or fake ice. We had to each take one as a prop. Then they assembled us into groups of 3-5 people. I was put in a group of 5. They brought us onto the set, which was this big room in the art museum that had been decked out with props relating to pirates and ships from the buccaneer days. There was a smoky atmosphere. Add to this the fact that I'd decided to do this scene without my glasses. I'm lucky I didn't drop my wine glass, trip over a wire, or crush a faux schooner.

They spent some time rehearsing us, having us try standing in different places, and getting things just right. In the end, I was only about two feet away from Rebecca Romijn in the scene, but I don't know if I'll be seen, and if I am, you'll see me looking way too intrigued by a dusty model of a ship. (I guess I could've just pretended it was a cleverly disguised treasure map, ala DuckTales... missed opportunity.)

We did several takes, then they had to move the lights and equipment around, so we stepped away, and after a while came back and did things from a different angle. Then we stepped away again, while they filmed a scene at a bar. They needed a few people to walk between the actors and the camera. I was one of the people picked (I think because the camera was pretty high and I'm tall? The other people who were picked were all tall) but every time we did the take, the actors finished their dialogue before I passed through. (I would've only been a millisecond black shadow anyway.) One of the other guys that was supposed to walk through the shot was freaking me out a little. He was literally clipping his nails right there on set, while mumbling to himself about wanting to eat.

At 3pm, we went back to extras holding and were given snacks. Most of us (especially nail-clipper guy, apparently) were ravenous, so that was nice. An hour went by, and then they said they were going to send most people home, but did anyone want to stay for one more library scene? I raised my hand and got picked, along with about 6 others. We changed outfits again, and then went to the catering tent for dinner. (This is why you offer to stay later... free food. I had lemon cake and some mysterious vegetable covered in pesto.)

A little while later, we went up to a different room in the museum, a library. Here, the PA looked us over and picked a few of us to be in this one scene where one of the main characters realllly wants to check out the Complete Works Of William Shakespeare. Four people were picked and three people, including myself, were not. (There's always a twinge I feel when not picked, like it's third grade gym class all over again, but I try not to let it bother me. I realize it's about the scene and the colors we're wearing, etc., and that they often have a few more people than they really need, yada. But still.) One funny thing about the set was that they had these prop books set around on top of some bookshelves. When I looked at them closely, I realized they were phone books! They'd glued pictures to the open pages to make the books look like encyclopedias. And now you know all the secrets.

I was out of there by 7pm. I returned my cardigan and made my way back to my car.

A few days later, I decided I should rent The Librarians, season 1 and get a clue about this show I'd done. Unfortunately, Netflix didn't have it; they only had the Noah Wyle movies that the show is based on. I rented the first one and seriously hated it.

I hope the show is better than that movie.

My episode(s) should air in early 2016.

*I have now visited the Art Museum as an art enthusiast, and it is quite nice, as museums go.


(ETA: The two episodes, "And The Drowned Book" and "And The Broken Staff," ended up airing on November 1, 2015. I am visible in the first episode, in the museum scenes. This marks the first time since, um, 2010, that I can actually be seen in something I've worked on! (Though my car did get to have some screentime on Grimm earlier in the year, so... yay car!))

Grimm III

At the beginning of April, I got a call to work on the second-to-last episode of the fourth season of Grimm. I had already worked on one of the earlier episodes this season (well, "worked" is an overstatement; mostly I sat), and I did an episode back in season two where I got to drive a bit. 

This was going to be a night shoot, on a Thursday night, but as luck would have it, Friday was a non-school day, so I didn't have to worry about zombieing through the next day, or worse, having to call in "sick" (read: tired.) 

I showed up on set around 6:00pm. Just like last time, we sat around, got our hair done, then had a delicious dinner. After about two hours, they handed us maps to drive to a downtown filming location, and we all departed.

Annnnd then I got lost.

I was supposed to turn onto Front Ave./Naito Parkway, but I got on the 405 instead, which put me about 12 blocks from my goal destination. Ugh! Downtown Portland is an absolute maze. A bunch of streets are one-way. Other streets have "no turns" signs. Even more are blocked by construction or Max (train) tracks. It's bad enough during the daytime. In the dark? Time to panic!

Luckily, I knew where I was going, it was just a matter of navigating the labyrinth and getting there. Finally, after some fervent prayers, I made it. As it happened, out of the seven or so drivers, I was the last to arrive. They told me where to park. Then I went to Extras Holding, which was a coffee shop. I settled at a table, took a few deep breaths, and proceeded to try to relax while I awaited further instructions.

My first instruction was to move my car forward about thirty feet. So I did. I was now parked just outside the coffee shop. Several times, a big truck came by and sprayed down the street (and my car!) to make it look like it had recently rained (how Portlandesque!) 

Back inside, I sat, read Harry Potter, and sipped chai and drank coffee for the next eight hours. I was never asked to be on camera. All they ever wanted was my car.

Hey, I'm not complaining. It's fun to get paid to sit around and veg, even if it is the middle of the night and you're already exhausted from working a regular 8-hour day. Especially fun (well, interesting!) when you get to share a coffee shop with a half a dozen other extras, three ladies dressed like Pretty Woman, and actors David Giuntoli, Reggie Lee, Russell Hornsby, and Sasha Roiz.

Yes, those four handsome gentlemen were all there, coming in and out of the coffee shop throughout the night. Not knocking the others, but David G. is especially attractive, and this is the first time I've gotten to see his face IRL (as opposed to the back of his head, which isn't half bad either.)

Towards the end of the shoot, I asked a PA if I could go out and watch some of the filming, and was given the OK. It was freezing outside, but I did watch part of the scene where Nick & the others stop Captain Renard from doing a very bad deed. (I guess should be all "spoiler alert," but the episode ("Headache") aired this past Friday, so whatever.)

OMG this episode. Wow. The other episodes I participated in ("Nameless" and "Dyin' On A Prayer") were pretty benign compared to this one. "Headache" was totally gruesome! PG-14V indeed!)

 That's my car on the right... just in front of the silver car. You can see it better in this next pic, there on the left...

That gray building is the coffee shop we were all in. Floyd's Coffee Shop in Old Town! Go visit and buy some chai!

My last instruction of the night? "Leave." At 4am, the episode wrapped, and we all go to go home and sleep for a very long time.

Grimm Again

Recently I got called to be an extra on Grimm again. After the last time, I was determined to make an effort to watch the show regularly, and what happened?

I... forgot to watch the show regularly. Or... ever.

I'd like to tell you that it's because I spend my precious time doing more important things than, psshh, watching television. Why, I read thick, great novels, donate plasma to orphans, and feed stray raccoons. Baby raccoons.

But the truth is that by the time Grimm airs on Friday nights, my brain is fried from the work week, and if I'm going to watch anything, it has to be something I don't have to concentrate on. So I usually end up putting in the Colin Firth Pride & Prejudice for the 73rd time.

Sorry, Grimm.

As usual, I can't tell you anything about the episode I worked on, not that I have much to tell, since I only had one scene, and my part (involving the arduous task of walking out of the room) lasted three, possibly four entire seconds.

But I can tell you that I was actually on set this time, a real set, on a real sound stage. I think that's a first for me. My other extra jobs have all been outside... streets, sidewalks, parks. Even just walking onto this sound stage, I felt a jolt of excitement run through me as I tried to take everything in.

The first thing I noticed was the wonderful (to me) smell of lumber, which is used to frame some of the sets. As I walked toward the "police headquarters" set, where the filming was taking place, I was greeted by the smell of old wood. (Hmm, that sounds unpleasant. But have you ever been inside an old, old house built in the 1800s or early 1900s? Assuming that house is in nice shape (as in it doesn't smell like mothballs or wet dog or something), there's just this certain woodsy smell. I'm guessing they used salvaged wood when building this particular set.) Oh hey, here's a picture:

(from grimm.wikia.com)

Another first for me -- I got to stick around while they did a few shots I wasn't in, and I ended up being just steps away from the director and the monitors and a bunch of the equipment. I got to watch a scene being filmed from the vantage point of the director, practically. (Okay, ten feet away, but still.) That was really fun! It made me almost want to get back into filmmaking again.

In other news, Sasha Roiz bumped into me on set (literally) and didn't even say anything. I still have never laid eyes on Silas Weir Mitchell IRL. (This is now going on my bucket list. Meet the wolf guy.)

I did get to see David Giuntoli as he left the set for the day.

The food: They had a salad bar, some steak, baked potatoes, rice, ziti, a few other main dish things, cookies, and cake. Not quite as elaborate as the buffet they had last time (read: no pudding) but I'm not complaining.

So two episodes down, and very little chance at screen time on either. But third time's the charm, right?

The episode in question, Episode 4 of season 4, should air sometime in November. I'll update here when I know more.

UPDATE! The episode aired on November 14th. It was called Dyin' On A Prayer, and it involved bad guys being smothered by a demon thing made out of mud. MUD. Only the love (hate?) of a child can save the day. 

I believe all of the precinct shots that were in that episode were filmed that afternoon. The scene where Captain Renard comes in and everyone claps? I was not in that scene, but nearly every other Extra that day was. A P.A. came to us and described what would be happening in the scene, then selected those that would be present for it. Alas, I was not chosen. Later in the afternoon, we did a scene where they're at Sgt. Wu's desk (I think? Sheesh, it aired two weeks ago and even I don't remember). I was there, but I didn't see myself in the finished episode (but honestly, I didn't expect to.)

The scene I got to watch from the background is the one where Sgt. Wu goes into Captain Renard's office and speaks with him, and shows him a photo of Trubel. The coolest thing about this? Captain Renard's office has a wall that can be moved (raised?). So when you're viewing his from the main part of the precinct it looks like a small office with all its walls, but if a scene needs to be shot IN it, a wall can be removed. I know this is typical Hollywood stuff, but it was cool, darnit!

That is all.

Grimm Shoot

I've only seen two episodes, but I'll embrace it, sure!

So I got a call to do some nighttime background extraing on the Portland-filmed fantasy series Grimm. And my first thought was, Shoot, I've barely watched the show. Which, while true, was also sad, because Grimm has been on the air for a year and a half, and it's one of the "Big 3" Portland shows (the others being the series Portlandia and the lately-gonered Leverage.) So just about everyone knows about Grimm. Even my mother has witnessed its filming. My mother. My mother who doesn't even recognize Colin Firth if he's got a mustache. 

Despite this sad fact, I knew I wanted to do it.

Now, if anyone came here hoping to find out what's going to happen in the episode, I can not say. You'll have to wait till March to find out, or go view the wiki for the episode. I don't want to spoil anyone, I don't want to get in trouble for blogging about what I saw, and moreover, what I "saw" is probably nothing resembling what we'll actually see on screen. On March 29. On NBC. Watch it.

So in lieu of that, I'll just do what I do best -- compare the experience to my other ones. Starting with the two most important factors of any extra job: Food Situation and Bathroom Situation.

What? I'm a practical woman!

Food: They fed us a delightful, catered buffet, with all manner of good things. It was like a fancy church potluck. And they were thoughtful enough to provide us with vanilla pudding. Mmmm. It was like I'd died and gone to Sizzler. We ate in this big, kind of dark, industrial-mod looking place. I didn't see any actors from the show, not that I would have recognized anyone in the dark anyway.

Bathrooms: No "First Class Port-a-potties" to write about this time, I'm afraid. In fact, no port-a-potties at all. Just regular bathrooms in Extras Holding. A fact about which one should never complain.

Extras Holding itself was a big improvement over the one we got in Walk In My Shoes, because we got CHAIRS. And coffee. And they did our hair and stuff, which is not a given on these things.

The main scene of the day was shooting across the street from E.H., and I will be the first to (sadly) admit that I was not a part of the cool group of extras who got to be in this important, action-packed scene. But then, they had to endure a 12-hour day in suits and/or high heels and I didn't, so more power to them.

Instead, I got to be a driver, wearing my regular old clothes, and I got to go forward and backward along a usually-busy downtown street for about 3 rehearsals and maybe 2 actual takes. They gave us walkies as radios, so at least we were given instructions and could hear them call "action", but it was still just... ack. Especially having to "reset" which means going back to where you started after a rehearsal or take. Which meant, in this instance, driving in reverse. In the dark. In the rain. Trying not to hit a P.A. or the car behind me or a parking meter or a homeless person. Especially since, if I did, I'd have about a hundred witnesses. And be ruined forever.

The driving scene took about 45 minutes, and the rest of the time was spent waiting. We (the other drivers and myself) were allowed to leave our vehicles and go to E.H. if we took our walkies along. I did watch some of the filming, from a street corner. There comes a point where you wish you'd brought your binoculars, but you also know that if you did, you would look like a freaking stalker psycho thing. So... no. Try to look casual. Cool. Professional. (Fail, usually.)

The other "drivers" and I were expecting to be called again, but we never were. I guess the crew got their shot. They filmed other scenes until about 11, then they wrapped, and everyone got to go home. I felt pity-mingled-with-jealously of/for the people who'd been there all day and had gotten to be in the important scene. I felt like, hmmm, I barely did anything. (Sad face.) But then, when I considered all things, I decided... you know what? Even though my role -- and I mean role as in my  duty -- was very small, they wouldn't have hired drivers unless they needed them, and so even though what I did was very small, I'm glad to have been of service to their cause and their endeavor and their show.

A show that I really ought to get caught up on.

Before March 29.

On NBC.

(ETA 5/3/13: The episode was called Nameless. The scene I was present for was the one outside the Lotus (restaurant) toward the end. I re-watched the scene a couple of times... didn't see my car, though... the camera was just never at the right angle. But that's okay. I enjoyed watching the ep.)

These Shoes Were Made For... Running, Apparently

A Walk In My Shoes, the TV-movie I worked on last year, is having its ultra-spiffy encore presentation this Saturday (August 27th) on NBC. 

Trailer on Youtube (beware cheesiness)
Busted Benson Bubblers (my account of my day on the set)
And a screen cap:

It's the running of the bulls pedestrians!  I'm the girl on the right, behind the guy with the orangish shirt.  I was going for "worried and scared"  in this scene, but I'm one of the only ones who doesn't have my mouth in an O shape for most of it, so I dunno.

I watched the movie's premiere on TV last December. I had a friend over, and we riffed our way through it. It was okay....  It's just that there was this one lady....

The brown-haired lady.  Yeah, her.  She was some kind of angel, I guess.  And she'd pop up wherever and whenever, accompanied by music.  It reminded me a little too much of Touched By An Angel.   Have I ever told you about my sinister dislike for TBAA?  Well, maybe another time.

Feel-Good, Family Friendly, and other F words

A Walk In My Shoes <<--view the trailer

I was there the day Nancy Travis smushed the Benson Bubbler.

The other day, I had the following conversation with my brother:

"So my movie is airing December third."

"What movie?"

"A Walk In My Shoes. The one with Nancy Travis..."

"What? Who?"

"Uhhh... she was in So I Married An Axe Murderer?  Three Men And A Little Lady?  Greedy?  The Jane Austen Book Club?"

"Oh.  I thought you said Nancy FRANCIS."

Nancy Francis used to be a local TV news anchor here in Portland.  I had completely forgotten she existed.

Maybe what my brother needs is a photo.  I'll google A Walk In My Shoes and see what I can come up with.

Hmmm...

I'm not sure any of that's helpful.

Well, just watch A Walk In My Shoes on NBC on December 3rd, look for me wearing a purple jacket in the park scenes and a blue jacket in the Nancy-Travis-can't-drive scenes, and whatever you do, don't mistake that purple shoe for a gravy boat... although I can see how that might happen.

Busted Benson Bubblers

Okay. Gonna talk about my day on the set of the Nancy Travis movie.

I was so excited when I got the message saying I'd been hired to be a driver in a TV movie they're filming here in Portland. It's been 2 years since I've gotten one of those, and seriously, being an extra is something I need to do at least once a year or else I start to get cranky. I know, I'm strange.

My call time was 7am on this particular day, and the location was downtown Portland, which thrilled me because I actually knew where to go. No worrying about maps or anything. Just wake up at an unholy hour, get in the car, and get there. Park, make my way to the holding area, fill out forms, wait.

The holding area was an old abandoned building with two large rooms for our use. Tables and folding chairs had been set up, but everything else was just icky. There were actual piles of bricks in some corners, and near one pillar was a 2-foot-high pile of dirt. Suffice it to say, the cast got their own quarters. (On Twilight everyone shared a big tent and tables and got to eat the same food.)

Our first scene was down by the waterfront. I was wearing black jeans, several shirts, and my purple jacket, but I was still cold, and it kept drizzling throughout most of the morning. We did a lot of walking scenes. I was supposed to walk up to a male extra, pretend to know him, and walk down a path with him. We were supposed to kind of hug. Ironically (?) we did at first, but by the 12th take we were barely even touching. Enough is enough! We also got to walk right in front of the camera once (there's a name for that, passing in front -- I forget what it is though. Basically you don't get seen, you're mostly just a fraction-of-a-second blur, which is to imply that the characters are in a crowded place.)

(I should mention there were about 20 of us there. 3 folks had been asked to bring their small dogs. Some had bicycles. One guy was asked to be a juggler. If they ask you to bring stuff you can get a bump in pay. I got one just for bringing my car, in case they needed a driver. My car ended up sitting parked in a lot all day, heh.)

I had a short conversation with the juggler, and spoke with another extra who mentioned there's going to be a Goonies reunion in Astoria next month. Sweet! Random.

A lot of joggers and bicyclers passed by on the waterfront trail while we were filming. Some stopped to ask what was going on. Others stopped to stare.

After a few hours, they sent us back to holding, then almost immediately called us back out there for more of the same. After another 45 minutes of shooting, the scene was finally done, and they told us to change into our second outfit. (All I had to do was change jackets; though for warmth I added an extra shirt underneath.)

Next up, they took us about two blocks away to a street corner, where'd they be filming for the rest of the day. They placed us and had us do a rehearsal, then sent us back to holding for lunch. On the Sony shoot we got cold pizza, Feast of Love we got sack lunches, and Twilight we got buffet -- here we had a food cart/motorhome thing with some people cooking inside. We could have steak, fish, mashed potatoes, tortellini, and/or green beans. I got tortellini and beans, but neither was great. Then inside the abandoned building they had a salad/fruit buffet and chocolate cake. The cake was the best thing. They gave us maybe 20 minutes to eat lunch and then we went back to work.



So in this scene they were shooting, Nancy Travis's character runs her SUV onto a curb and hits a Benson Bubbler. Water everywhere. The extras react with horror and concern. In one take, we had to run right up to her car window and peer inside. In another, we did the same thing, but the car wasn't actually there; we just ran toward the camera and pretend a mark was the car window. Later in the afternoon, a guy and I were placed on cafe chairs, so we got to sit while they filmed a bunch of drive-by stuff.

I got to talk a lot to the people around me. This one guy was completely hilarious; his name was B---y. He told us he got lots of extra work as a thug or a criminal, and had been told he looks like a lot of people, including Sammy Davis Jr. and the Prince of Dubai. ROFL. Then this other guy who was sitting near us told us he's always being told he looks like someone in particular. *I* thought he looked like Gabriel Byrne, but he didn't know who that was when I mentioned it. Nope, he pushed his hair back a bit and suddenly -- he was Steve Carell! It was friggin uncanny! So B---y called him "Steve" for the rest of the day.

While we were sitting there, B---y and I were talking about being extras on other projects, and he pointed out a blonde twentysomething woman who he had seen bossing the other extras around and acting like a know-it-all. "There's one on every set," he said. I said I'd never really encountered that before, but he assured me there was always one. She thus became known as Pink Shirt. Later, I found out exactly what he meant. Once, when we were all kind of gathered in a group, waiting, a random guy off the street came up and asked me for directions to the train station. After I gave them and he walked off, Pink Shirt demanded to know what he'd said, so I replied, and then she started contradicting my directions. (Except she was wrong.) The rest of the time was the same thing; she was spewing her bossy know-it-allness on everyone. And when she would, B---y and I would catch each other's eye and just start laughing. At one point, she snootily said to B---y that he shouldn't act a certain way, because "that's why you don't get asked back for more projects!" He'd already told me about the slew of projects he'd done, so that was pretty funny.

I should mention the pedestrians, because they were pretty entertaining also. Since the scene involved a car crash, and since extras usually stand around a lot, and since watching them set up shots is sometimes the only thing TO do, a lot of random Portlanders walking through the area would stop and stare. And they thought we were doing that also. They thought were were just standing around gawking. One guy even asked me if I'd seen what had happened (like it was a real car accident!) Sooo many people had to be asked to keep walking, because they'd just stop and stand there while they were trying to film. Once, a homeless woman with her cartful of earthly possession came charging right through and ended up dropping a water bottle and a triangular piece of cardboard. When one of the crewmembers stooped to pick it up for her she yelled "No, don't touch that!" She left, growling.

Ah, Portland.

Back to holding around 5:30, more waiting. The building was now devoid of chairs and tables! Furniture rapture in there. Also it was cold. I stood outside in the sun for quite a while. I spoke to one of the ladies who'd brought her dog, and told her about the upcoming Doggie Dash. A homeless man tried to sell the juggler guy and me a (probably stolen) bicycle for $20 and seemed flabbergasted when we turned him down.

Then more filming, and released at 8pm.

The strange thing was, I wasn't even tired, even though I'd been out there for 13 hours. It does help to get a good night's sleep beforehand. Although the next day, I was completely dragging. That's when it hit me.

So all in all it was a good experience. I was happy to get to see Nancy Travis. The cold and the rain sucked, as did the accommodations, but I've heard other extras talk of much worse, so I can't complain too much.

I'm guessing the movie will be out around Christmas, but nobody can seem to agree on what channel. CBS, NBC, Lifetime, or Hallmark? I'll post here when I know more.

* * *

8/27/23: Yes, I'm coming to you from the future with this long-awaited update!

The movie ended up being called A WALK IN MY SHOES. It aired on December 3, 2010 on NBC, and came out on DVD the very next day. Thanks, Wal-Mart! (Can't believe I just said that.)

B---y and I both appeared on-screen during the car crash scene, so that's fun!

I've been back to that street corner once or twice since the filming. Good times.

Dorky movie.

Twilight: The Motion Picture Experience

When I found out they were filming the movie Twilight here in the Northwest, I wanted to be a part of it, despite not knowing much of anything about the books. I'd been an extra in one movie previously, and I was aching to be in another. Being an extra, for me, is like going to Disneyland. At first it's fun, then after a while you get tired and want to go home. Almost as soon as you get home, you want to go back. I had been wanting to "go back" for over a year and a half, and now I had the chance.

It seemed like half of Portland wanted to be in this movie, too, including lots of fans of the book. I was already a member of the extras company that was in charge of casting (I joined back in 2000) so maybe that helped get me a job, but I doubt it. Honestly, they had their freaking pick. But it seemed they did need a lot of people, so I did manage to get in on the background action anyway. They had done an "availability check" nearly a month ago, and I'd said yes, but I didn't get confirmed until the night before filming. Naturally I said yes, yes, yes!

My call time was set for 5pm. Then they changed it to 6:18pm. Finally they settled on 9:30pm. I made the drive to the set. A production guy told me where to park. All of us extras with cars were escorted to the food tent. We filled out our paperwork. I was sitting next to a woman named T*. Since one of the initial "getting to know you" questions among extras always seems to be "is this your first extra job?" we quickly discovered we'd both worked on Feast of Love at Reed College and the North Park Blocks (in August/September 2006). But we didn't meet those days... not surprising, since there were hundreds of people at those shoots. After a short while, we were told to go back to our cars and wait.

Waiting in a cold car is kind of not fun. I read People magazine by a scant sliver of light (I didn't want to kill my car's battery). I tried listening to my iPod, but I quickly realized I needed to be on the alert for announcements, so I put it away. I played games on my cell phone. After roughly an hour, we were asked to leave our cars and do a rehearsal for a scene. This involved walking along a sidewalk. After a few brief rehearsals, we went back to our cars. Not long afterward, they announced we could go to the food tent and have lunch. (It was 1 am. "Lunch"? Hello.) The meal was fantastic. I wish I felt hungrier, but I'm not used to eating at 1 am! While we were eating, T* told me one of the "vampires" was at the other end of the table, so I looked, and indeed, there was Robert Pattinson. I think Kristen Stewart may have been sitting across from him, but I didn't see her face. After T* and I ate, we were supposed to go back to our cars. T* wanted coffee first. The coffee station was set up outside the tent, so we were out there by that when Robert (British accent and all) & 2 female castmembers walked by us. Yay!

We went back to our cars and waited some more. I could hear trucks driving and stuff going on, but I couldn't see much of anything. Then another rehearsal. The first scene we did involved us walking up a sidewalk. A car with Bella and Edward (the main characters in the film, for those of you dwelling under various rocks) came down the street... I think they were having a conversation inside. The car they were in was on a truck thing. So while they're talking in the car, you can probably vaguely see some extras out the car window. After about 1 take, one of the PA's snagged about 8 of us and took us out of the scene. We sat around a corner while they filmed the scene. Apparently that side of the street was just looking too crowded. Later, we would populate the opposite sidewalk.

In the meantime, they had to film a stunt car peeling out down the street or something. All of us extras were told to stay on the sidewalk for safety... we couldn't see a darn thing. We were huddled in a group on the corner. Across the street, there was a commotion. We were all just standing there when someone yelled "incoming" and something came hurtling across the street. I thought it was a prop guy throwing foam pieces of something, but no. A young man (probably 19-24) on his newspaper route was unpleased to discover he was not allowed on the street to deliver his newspapers. There were local cops guarding that very street, and signs posted that the street was officially closed until 6am (this was about 4:45am.) So, ignoring the cops, he flung a newspaper. It hit one of the extras in the head. No injury really, but the guy that got hit really milked it. Anyway, the cops immediately pounced on the paperboy, ordering him to put his hands behind his back. The kid acted like he was on drugs or something, he was screaming and cursing and they were telling him to relax and he was like "IF YOU LET ME GET MY CELL PHONE OUT OF MY BACK POCKET TO CALL MY MOM I WILL RELAX." Baaad idea asking a cop to let you reach into your pocket, hello. So they kept ordering him to relax, telling him they'd use a taser if he didn't. Well, they used the taser. It was horrible. Let's just say, on a dark night, those things glow like neon. We were all just standing there watching because we couldn't go anywhere and it was like a scene right out of a movie, ironically. A very very bad scene. In the end, the paperboy was subdued, and for the next half hour, that's all anybody talked about.

Finally we got back to work. I got to walk on the other side of the street this time. They did a few takes. Something tells me I'm not going to be visible in the movie, not with the amount of shots I actually got to be in. But that's okay. I made new friends.:)

We wrapped just before 6 am, and had to wait to get checked out for longer than was probably necessary. Checkout always seems to take ages, unless you sort of push your way up front, which I just don't ever feel right about doing.

Just after 6 I headed for home. I was freezing cold. And tired. Made it home and got some much-needed sleep. I'm glad I got to work on this movie, even if it was just for one day.

(ETA) From the buzz I'm hearing, Twilight is going to be big. Not Dark Knight big, but still. A far cry from Feast Of Love, which didn't even crack 2 million on its first weekend, and made about 3.5 million overall. Not that a film's gross is of utmost importance to me (some of my favorite movies were flops), but let's face it, it seemed like very few people even knew about FoL. Twilight is already gracing magazine covers, and it doesn't come out for 5 months!

* * *

(Updated 9/1/2020)
Just a few clarifying notes about the post above...

*The location of this shoot was Main Street in St. Helens, Oregon.

*The scene being filmed was that of Edward and Bella driving down the street after Edward has saved Bella from the frat boys.

*I believe the frat boys scene was also shot that night, but it was down the street from us, and there were no extras involved.

*Several of the "Twilight" tie-in books about the filming include a picture that was snapped on this night. If you see a picture of Bella and Edward in a car (or stunt car) with a theater marquee behind them, that's it. In the pictures, they've edited the names of the movie currently showing, but I can attest to the fact that Alvin & The Chipmunks was, indeed, on that marquee.

*During the wide shot in which you see Edward's car racing through traffic, you can see my car parked on the left.

*Very few extras can be seen at all in these scenes. There are a few blurs. One of the blurs out the driver's-side window might have been me, but we will never know for sure.

*I'm pretty sure, in retrospect, that the "two female castmembers" mentioned above were Kristen Stewart and... someone else...? (I don't think it was her stand-in, because she was sitting down at our end of the table.)

*I neglected to mention it, but the portapotties they rented for the shoot were DELUXE. Lights and everything!

Feast of Love Film Shoot August/September 2006

August 16, 2006

My day was long. I was not able to get my call time until 11:15 last night... and was not pleased to learn the call time was 6:15am. Hmmm... so I am living on very little sleep right now. My mom dropped me off this morning. It was dark. Signed in, got my voucher, then we were taken to the holding area. After about 40 minutes they called groups of us to go get set up. At first I was positioned near two other women, and we were told what to do and how to act. But then a little while later I was summoned to sit in the passenger seat of one of the cars that was being used in the shoot. I had to wave a flag/pennant out the window every time we did a take. There were many takes. The good news is that I was one of the few people who got to sit down almost the entire day. The bad news is that there was a lot of car exhaust fumes everywhere. Every time they'd yell "cut" we had to reverse and get back into position... lots of engines were idle for a lonnng time.

The driver of the car I got put in was very nice, and after we did some talking, I discovered she, too, had done the Sony shoot last September. We talked a lot to pass the time. She had brought binoculars and let me borrow them. Once, when we were outside the car (because we weren't needed at that time) I looked through them just to see what was going on and saw Greg Kinnear and went holy whoa. Really, we were only about 40-50 feet away from the action, but with the binoculars the people were life-size. Greg had a stunt double/stand-in who, naturally, was wearing the exact same outfit, and sometimes I'd see one of them and have to do a double take. The stunt double thus became known, to me, as Fake Greg Kinnear.

For lunch they'd ordered Greek food, we all got 1 paper bag that had a sandwich made with that focaccia bread -- you could choose what kind, I got veggie -- plus a salad, cookie, and then beverages. I don't think I've ever had Greek food before... knowingly... but it was pretty good!

Most of the day was a pile of bore. To an extent, I enjoyed watching them film (I often had a great view), and it's pretty cool seeing "in person" all the things I've seen while watching featurettes on DVDs over the years. But the tediousness of it all wore on me after a while, and it's tough when you have to, well, go to the bathroom, and basically to do that you have to ask permission to leave the set and all that. Sigh.

They finally stopped filming just after 7, when the sun began to set. Then we all had to go back to holding and wait forever & a half to be told who would be returning tomorrow and to fill out our paperwork. They only needed about 1/4th of us to come back -- it was all pretty random, but I got asked. Luckily tomorrow's call time is in the afternoon, so I should get a good night's sleep tonight I hope!!

Oh, forgot to mention, I had to take the bus home... took 3 buses and an hour & a half. Lovely.


August 17, 2006

After getting about 10 hours of sleep last night, I woke up feeling very refreshed, felt almost like yesterday had just been a dream. While yesterday I was thinking I have to go back tomorrow?, this morning I was like "Yes, I get to go back!" Weird how much difference REST makes!

Today went significantly better... it probably helped that the day was only half as long.

First we did a bunch of walking shots, where the camera was pretty close, though judging by the angle of the camera, I think if it got anything, it probably just got our feet... and we were likely out of focus anyway. Then we did more walking, where the camera was like 200 feet away... so we probably looked like little dots. A lot of the shots yesterday and today have involved actor Toby Hemingway and actress Alexa Davalos. Greg Kinnear was back again and at one point we were all walking back to the holding area on this paved pathway, and there was a golf cart parked on the side of it, and as I walked past I happened to look at who was sitting in it, and it was him! Like 2 feet away. Sucks that we're not allowed to talk to the actors (unless they talk to you first). That's the rule, and if you're caught breaking it you pretty much can be kicked out of the agency for all time. Er, and then of course there's the fact that I'm way too shy to ever strike up a convo. Whatever!

Back in the holding area, I had just sat down, when one of the P.A.'s came in and randomly pointed to 15 people (me included) and asked us to go back to the field. So we marched back out there and spent the next 2 hours walking through shots... as background to the action. I was paired with another girl and we walked together. Over and over and over. I guess we were about 30 feet away from the action...? I'm bad with estimates. I don't know, but yeah, so if you ever see this movie, just look for the girl carrying the green PSU flag and green and white pompom. If they use this footage I will definitely be visible, though I can't promise I'll be anything more than a blue and green dot. It can be like Where's Waldo! Or... not.

Didn't get to see Selma Blair... apparently she was on set on Tuesday (when I wasn't there). A few people worked all three days, and said they got to see both Selma and Morgan Freeman at Tuesday's shot. Aw rats. I used to be such a big fan of Selma... still have her on my wall.

I checked out (literally... I got my paperwork, etc.) around 6:45.
I am losing my voice.


September 25, 2006

Worked  7am-6pm. It was a continuation of the scene they shot at Reed College in August, only this time they were shooting it in the Pearl district, the North Park Blocks to be precise. Bigass traffic jam scene. Kinnear car had to get from point A to point B amidst cars galore. Back and forth about a hundred times. They put me in a coat from Wardrobe, and it was not exactly a cold day, so that was a bit unpleasant. Also there were honey wagons this time instead of bathrooms, and after 12 hours of that, well, you can imagine. Greek food for lunch AGAIN. Good thing I like it, but wish they'd mix it up a bit. They were much better about passing out water and snacks this time (peanuts, pretzels, and candy). First I was put on the park sidewalk and I was a walker, then they moved me across the street, and then one of the PAs asked me to sit in a car... oddly the same PA who instructed me to sit in a car during the August 16th shoot... coincidence, I suppose, but still odd. So there is one point where I'm a passenger in a car that nearly rams into Kinnear car as it comes by. MY car, which they did ask me to bring to the shoot, was parked so far back that I doubt you'll ever see it -- and no, I didn't have to drive it at all on set, but they still bumped me $10 for just having it there. Maybe it'll be a dot in the overhead crane shot. In conclusion, I've decided "checking the gate" are three of the nicest words in the world. Altogether exhausting, but you do meet some interesting people.

For example: I met this guy today. He asked what I did for a living and I told him, and out of politeness I asked what he did. "I loaf," he said. "Basically, I do nothing and I loaf off others." He said he does this because he wants to be connected to the universe and its goings-on. He then went into a hippie trance and told me that what was important was that I needed to figure out what life is all about. "Do you know what it's about?" he said. "It's about love. You must understand that you are loved. That's what it's all about. Love is you and you are love and THAT is the truth and THAT is all you need to know." A short while later, he started laughing out loud. No one was within ten feet of him. It started as a "hehehe" kind of laugh but soon became an evil-sounding, maniacal, mad-scientist-who-has-just-discovered-a-new-secret-formula laugh.

Iiiii didn't catch his name.

ETA: Also, I was reading a book and he asked what I was reading and I told him Little Women and he goes "What's that about?" and I wasn't sure if he was kidding or not but it turns out he wasn't. He had never heard of it. So I tried to explain but all the while I felt like I was talking to a tree.