I worked as a movie extra again today . Our call time was 8 am and we were wrapped at 9 pm. It was a long cold day. We were filming at the delivery docks under our State House. The delivery docks look very good . The color is a uniform gray( maybe more putty ?) and there is just the right amount of room for 4 vans and a couple of major cameras. Because we were at wardrobe, we missed breakfast. Probably not a big thing in the grand scheme of things, but these things matter when you’re on a set. Standing around waiting to take some action forces one’s mind to think only of food and desire nothing in particular, “but SOMETHING”, with laser-like precision.
For some reason , they kept marching us out into open areas in the ocld and then leaving us there without explanation for thirty minutes at a time. If I had been aware, I would have worn long underwear. Of course, if I had, they would have been shooting all day inside the toasty warm state house.
Our action was a continuation of what we were doing on the set earlier this week. We were rolling the art crates out onto the dock , down the ramp and into awaiting vans. Not rocket science, but really difficult in the freezing cold. My fingers were so numb, I was afraid I would lose my crate and it would go racing down the ramp and crash into the van across the garage.
Of course, the best part of the day was the fact that they didn’t feed us on time and we ended up accruing 5 meal penalties. Which will add up to about an extra $60.00 on the paycheck. As my friend Margaret always says- ” You ain’t makin money as an extra , until you are in pain” . So .. cold and hunger qualify.