First gig as a movie extra yesterday. A casting agent e-mailed me the day before to check if I was available and informed me that the shoot would be on a cruise ship. "Ooh!" I thought, "cruise + buffet lunch, why not?"
Was running late and had a little trouble finding out where to go since all we were given was the name of the ship, M/S Baltic Queen. Passed a terminal, but the ship wasn't there, so I kept walking in search of the next terminal. Finally spotted the ship which had yet to moor and happened to meet a nice older couple who were also going to be extras. Turns out I had to double back to the terminal I'd passed earlier.
When I got to the terminal, it was time to line up for the passport check, which dragged on a bit.
Once on the boat, we were directed to the cafeteria. They'd cordoned off an area for the extras and there was coffee as well as toast, ham and cheese for assembling your own sandwich. Didn't eat anything since I'd made sure to eat breakfast at home ( My sleep schedule has been messed up lately so I'd been awake since 6:00 PM the previous night.), but did amuse myself with the ceiling mirror.
The scene was a disco scene shot inside the Tango Lounge. They needed some of the extras to dance. Of course, I didn't volunteer for that and sat down at one of the tables instead. There was a prop drink on the table which wasn't meant for consumption. Wonder what was in it and how long it's been sitting there. During breaks in filming, someone from the crew would go around with a pitcher of water and plastic cups and had to make sure to collect the cups before the next take.
I knew that film shoots involved a lot of waiting, but I was surprised to realize that they only shoot a few seconds to a minute at a time. Less than an hour after we'd entered the Tango Lounge, it was time to break for lunch. They announced that the extras would eat at the buffet and actor Kjell Bergqvist quipped "You'll eat buffet, we'll eat gourmet."
I was partly in this for the buffet, but while we did eat at the buffet restaurant, the only option you had was mashed potatoes or rice. Have been soda-free since Monday and thought I might be tempted to break my streak, but the soda machine was off limits.
I knew that film shoots involved a lot of waiting, but I was surprised to realize that they only shoot a few seconds to a minute at a time. Less than an hour after we'd entered the Tango Lounge, it was time to break for lunch. They announced that the extras would eat at the buffet and actor Kjell Bergqvist quipped "You'll eat buffet, we'll eat gourmet."
I was partly in this for the buffet, but while we did eat at the buffet restaurant, the only option you had was mashed potatoes or rice. Have been soda-free since Monday and thought I might be tempted to break my streak, but the soda machine was off limits.
Our part of the shoot finished way ahead of schedule, 2:00 PM instead of 5:30 PM.
Passport checks and customs signs, notwithstanding, we never even left the dock. :)
