Being an Extra

The episode of Revolution I was an extra in back in January finally aired (The Night the Lights Went Out in Georgia)! I was very lucky to catch myself three times even though they were pretty quick!!

 When the main character ran through the market place I caught myself and my friend Kat standing there. It was a moment I didn't have to pause and stil managed to catch it! I jumped off the couch because I was so excited.

This momet I knew  was coming so I knew to watch for it. It was super quick and it took me forever to pause and capture it.

This momet happened before the other two and I didn't even see it... Ryan did! He yelled "I saw you!" And rewound and froze it.

I was in other scenes but they moved so quick I couldn't see myself anymore. But I am happy with what I got! It may not much but it was a ton of fun and I hope I can do it again (:

Rocking 2013

I have to say the beginning of this year has been quite awesome. I feel like certain things have finally fallen into place and we are finally moving forward with our lives in some way. Being unemployed was one of the biggest and most frustrating hurdles. After clearing that one, others seem to follow suit.

Since the start of 2013 I have...

Finally sucked up my dentist fear and got my wisdome teeth removed.

Got cast as an extra in NBCs Revolution... and filmed!

Started working out with the C25K (ok, this one has paused the last week or so but I intend to go back!)

And of course, started my new job. And my mom got a job too about a week later! We are both employed! She is back to being a Church Lady, but Episcopal not Catholic this time. Score for us both in the job market.

I also was cast in another show at the community college. We are doing Moliere's The Doctor in Spite of Himself and I am playing Jacqueline. This show is definitely a lot more male heavy but I am still really enjoying working with everyone, both old and new!

I went from days of doing nothing to working at the library, rehearsing at night, ballet once a week and trying to go to the gym where I can. Whew. Talk about a busy schedule. And with the dreaded military "D-word" floating in the air something tells me this year got busy for me for the right reason.

So my blogging hasn't been stellar, I hope to change that now that I have more to write about, but it is the time to do it that is now the issue! I went from tons of time with not much to say to tons to say and not much time to write. I will work on it. Hopefully my next entry can tell you a little bit more about my job at the library and share some fun pictures of the past few weeks.

Thanks for sticking with me, yet again.

TV Extra, Take Two

For the first, and pretty unsuccessful, attempt at being an extra on TV check out this entry.

Last week I saw that Revolution was looking for extras again for two days of filming. I submitted and also let my friend (and fellow milspouse blogger) Annie know to submit as well... and we were both cast! Last Wednesday we drove down to Wilmington together to get our costume fittings and this week we were on set. Mind you when we went for our fitting it was 75 degrees. Tuesday and Wednesday this week? Barely hit 40. Freezing. Our costumes were all knee length, no sleeves and no suitable for this kind of weather at all!

Costume One:

 Eventually they took pity on us and gave us jackets for a scene the second day.... but did I mention the four inch heels that accompanied this little gem? No? They hurt. A lot.

Costume Two:

At least this one had a flimsy cardigan, but I'll take it. And flats! Halleluiah for flats!!!

So the first day of filming our call was 5:30am. Which meant being awake around 3:30am to get to Wilmington on time! Annie picked me up at 4:15am and we made it with time to spare. It was dark and cold and as the sun came up and the day went on it just got colder and windier!

We were filming at a mall in Wilmington pretending it was summertime in Atlanta. It was freezing! Whenever we could our winter jackets were on, but when filming happened we had to stash them off camera and be in our sleeveless dresses that barely hit our knees. My feet were numb with cold and pain, my nose was running and red, my face got windburn and my entire body hurt after the first day of filming. I did meet some amazing people, see the stars of the show way up close, and learn a lot (and hopefully got on camera!) but MAN it was cold!

Check out those winter jackets!!! And the fact that as many people are trying to huddle in the sun as possible. Penguin shuffle!

 The stars got pants. And sleeves. I was a little jealous!

 Our location for filming day one.

 Of course an amazing lunch (and breakfast) were served!

We did a lot of scenes in the market, some with the stars of the show, and some for Visual Effects to make our crowd of say 75 look like 500. That meant a lot of walking up and down the sidewalk and in small sections of the street over and over again to splice together in post production. In the beginning when the crew asked for volunteers everyone was eagerly trying to get picked. By night and hour 10 when they asked for volunteers we just avoided eye contact as much as possible! Not getting picked meant staying in holding with your jacket (and in my case sweatpants and boots) on! You never say no when they pick you so some people I was with did have to go out a few more times. I was content to sit and wait in the warmth!

 I got home around 9:00pm.... so that would be a 13.5 hour day. We went into double time pay! My husband had a bubble bath waiting for me and made me soup before my chilled sore self passed out before 10pm! I was so cold the bath water nearly burned me and turned me a lovely shade of red, but it wasn't that hot. I was just so so cold it felt boiling.

Luckily day two I got to sleep in as I wasn't called until 2:30pm. I slept a solid twelve hours and laid around the house until it was time to drive back to Wilmington! Day two was much more fun! I got to be in a smaller scene of people entering the Atlanta federation and then in a huge chaotic running scene at night. It was tons of people running and screaming and a blast! This time they let us wear our comfy shoes with our cocktail dresses and even our jackets! It made a huge difference to morale! Running in Uggs is miles above running in four inch peep toed heels for six hours. Seriously.

 Hair would grab you wherever they could to do adjustments, there were a lot of us after all!

Daytime filming.

 Huddled around the propane heater

 On set

 Waiting to go

 With one of my new friends Kat

 Torches! It looked awesome. No pitchforks though.

 Cut!

 Walking back to places.

 Heading back to holding to warm up!

 Inside holding, the place extras wait, snack and try to warm up.

 Camera crane

 Almost ready to go!

 Such a fun night!

 Extras can double as hobos when it is cold enough.

Me on set with my winter jacket firmly in place over my cocktail dress. Priorities!!! And I had my boots on. Definitely a much more fun night!

I met some amazing people that I hope I can hang out with again! This time being an extra was amazing, it blew the first time out of the water, and not just because I got used and got to film, I promise. It was two long, cold and tiring days but I am so glad I did it. And I will do it again if the chance arises! This episode should air around the end of April, I will let you know for sure when the date gets closer and more defined.

A Day in the Life of a TV Extra

I know I am very behind in my blogging but this is one I have been meaning to write for awhile!

A few days after Thanksgiving I saw a call for extras on a casting page I follow on Facebook. It was a call for the TV show Revolution, so I decided to submit. Less than an hour later I got an email saying I was booked! I was pretty (overly) excited about the whole thing.

My first task was to go to a wardrobe fitting at the studio. It wasn't mandatory, but it was an extra $20 on your paycheck if you did it. Obviously I am not doing much else so I jumped on that opportunity. Wilmington is becoming a very popular place to film in North Carolina, it is cheaper and films like Iron Man 3 are really paving the way. Rumor has it Captain America 2 will be filmed here as well. So I drove a little more than an hour to the studio with my bag of clothes. They told us to bring old work clothes and shoes but it was not needed. I was taken into what was practically a warehouse of clothing. Racks and racks of clothes, some designer and some still with tags, all in shades of neutral like the colors of the show. I was given brand new light tan pants, a tshirt, a long sweater duster, a fur vest and some kick ass boots for my costume. I loved the look but I knew they were going to dirty it up!

A few days later was my call to set, also in Wilmington. Luckily I wasn't called too early an 11am call time was much better than say a 5am call time, when you have an hour plus drive! Parking was confusing but I followed another lady around and we picked a nice side street. We got to the church that was serving as our home base and checked in.

Now being an extra means a lot of waiting around. You wait to sign in, you wait to go to wardrobe, you wait to go to hair and then make up and then finally to set.... where you wait to get used. They tell you to bring books or games or something to occupy yourself, but I never opened a book. I spent most of the time talking to people. It was pretty neat to see all the trailers and people running around, it was entertaining just to watch and stay out of the way. I did get to see the main stars of the show (from a distance) and also when I watched the playbacks in the warehouse.

My wardrobe looked awesome all dirtied up, but you know how they do it? Olde English Furniture Polish. Do you know when you wear the clothes it leaves lines around your ankles, waist, shoulders and neck? And it is impossible to get off. I had to shower with vaseline and my husband's assistance to get clean again! But it does look great.

I was given a bag as a prop too. Now my sweater duster ended up being cut, which was unfortunate, because it got COLD in the warehouse where we were filiming. I was the only extra in short sleeves while most people had leather jackets and coats of all kinds. I luckily had a sweatshirt in my bag but no one said anything when I claimed a seat in front of the heaters! The costume designer just didn't like the sweater duster, and it was pretty thin anyway, but I am sure if would have made things a little more comfortable!

 Extras wait. And wait. Filming was behind schedule so it was even more waiting. Once we were in the warehouse we settled down and snacked from the snack table and just talked. The extras with the earlier call time were being used as were the 'martial artist extras' (aka people who could be stuntmen and were trained in martial arts but were cast as extras to work with the stunt people for less money). Unfortunately the casting had overbooked a LOT of us. Apparently a wave of people were cut before we even got to set. I unfortunately did not get used. But I did get to see filming...

And have a pretty banging lunch. Most shows will have a 'star' craft table and an 'extras' craft table, Revolution shared! So we got to eat what everyone else did. Salads and roaster potatoes with rolls, crab stuffed mahi mahi, chicken and pork chops. It was delicious!

I was extremely disappointed when I wasn't used. I came so close. The PA in charge of us sent half the people away and narrowed us down to maybe a group of fifteen. Then I made eye contact with him and apparently that was enough as he sent five more of us home, myself included. Well, that's show business. But I would be lying if I didn't say I cried in the car... because I did. It didn't help that my phone was dying and I got lost trying to get back to the high way! But I eventually did. Revolution is now on hiatus for the holidays but I will be trying again. Just because the first time didn't work out doesn't mean I'll give up. I met some great people, got to learn some things.... and I still got paid! I was on set over eight hours before I turned in my costume and got back on the road.

My husband was very sweet when I got home too. He had a drink as well as some motivational emails for me, which I appreciated.

Here is to trying again!