Movie Making

Movie Making

I was in a movie today. It was very exciting. Actually, moviemaking is a very dull process, and benefits a lot from editing.

The call was at 8:00. I was there a few minutes early. They put all the extras in a greenroom, and the costumer came through to check on our outfits and make sure we were all within the color scheme. The AP brought us snacks and showed us the bathrooms. Then we waited.

And waited.

And waited.

The lights were shorting out the circuits at the winery, and the generator was not working because of the heavy rainfall. So we waited.

...

...

...At 12:45 they pulled in half the extras for wine tasters in the background of the scene in which the lead actor meets the woman he will have an affair with...

At 1:30, after three takes, they yelled, "Cut! Lunch break." Half hour lunch break featuring catered jumabalaya and coleslaw.

At 2:30 the cameras began rolling, same scene. Same TWO LINES. I counted 45 takes. Four hours. Two lines.

...

Break to move the camera to the next shot.

.....

....

4:00 they bring in the last of the extras (that's me) to stand around holding wine glasses in the background of the scene where the lead actor gives a glass of wine to his wife, who comments on the blonde lady who just flirted with him.

Ten takes, and they send us home.

On the plus side of all that waiting around, I got to have a really cute guy who worked at the winery for my partner in my scene. We were brilliant by the way. We stood talking naturally, and then he'd indicated over my shoulder, and I turned around and smiled and handed one of the wine glasses to the girl walking in from off screen. Stellar acting. You'll be able to see it if you look closely in the background. But watch for the blooper in the movie. Because they shot the next two lines of him handing his wife the glass, while in the background we did our little routine. Then they decided to do an establishing shot of him walking from the last take, into the new scene, and with no instructions, we did the same schtick over again. So, if they use all the takes we did, you'll watch him walk across the room while a woman walks onscreen and is handed a wineglass, then in the next closeup, it will happen again.

I get the credit for this in the Nitpickers Guide.