I got a call last week asking if I wanted to be an extra for a scene in the TV show LOST and being a fan of the show, of course I said yes! I had to play hooky from work to do so but I figured, how many times do you get the opportunity to be on the set of a hit TV show, right?
I'm afraid I can't go into too much detail as to what was being shot because we all had to sign a 3 page confidentiality agreement. To be honest, I didn't even read the agreement but I'm sure there was a line in there saying "No spoiling on Myong's Madness!". I think I even saw that portion in CAPS. ^^
Anyways....the day started really early as we had to show up at 5:30am. From the parking lot, we were shuttled to the hair and wardrobe area where we checked in and signed the aforementioned confidentiality agreement.
Then for the next half hour or so, they gave us our wardrobe and did our hair. No makeup was necessary as we were just background extras anyway so it wasn't like there'd be a closeup of my ginormous face.
After getting all dolled up, we caught another shuttle to the set. At this point, I could see that there were about 50 or so extras hired for the day's shoot. A mix of young and old, females and males (although too many males if you ask me). Since it was still early, they fed us a breakfast in a buffet line that consisted of cereal, rice, hash brown potatoes, link sausages, scrambled eggs, and a variety of juices and milk.
We were done with breakfast at around 7:00am and waited to get called to the set. We finally got the call and moved like obedient soldiers to where we were told to go. It was interesting to see all the small things that go into such a big production. You have the lighting crew taking measurements all over the place, cameramen, prop guys, hair and wardrobe people walking around to touch you up, and the directors telling you what to do. I was most intrigued by the stand ins for the stars whose jobs are to basically stand in place while the crew gets set up until the real stars make their appearance. Who'd ever want that job? Definitely not for me.
This was our first shot of the day and I will say that I think it will be a very interesting scene when it airs. Nothing flashy with explosions and stuff like that but it looks like a key scene. After they shot the scene, we were sent back to the catering tent until they set up the scene from the opposite angle. So after about an hour of waiting, we were sent back to shoot the same scene, but this time with the cameras facing us, the extras.
After that, it was back to the catering tent (where we spent most of our down time) until the next shot. I was lucky enough to be involved in all 3 of the shots for the day but this 2nd shot I'm way in the background so there's no way I'll be able to see myself on the TV for this shot. I did get scoldings one time because I'm supposed to be conversing with 2 others in the background during the scene but while they were rolling, my partner and I were engaged in a real conversation instead of just pantomiming so the guy in charge gave us a mild warning not to talk so loud. Oops!
This 2nd shot took the longest by far and I started to get really hungry. It was about noon and I had been standing there fur quite some time. When I thought we were done, they announced that we'd be shooting one more scene. Aw man, when's lunch? =)
The 3rd and last shot was a pretty fun one because it involved some coordination because it was an active scene. Surprisingly, we only needed to shoot it about 4-5 times before they said it was good.
By the time this was over, it was about 1:30pm and finally...we were done! Back to the catering tent for lunch which was not good. Personally, I thought all the food looked like it came from Costco. They served us salad, rice, potatoes, pasta, pork loin, garlic shrimp, and cake. Believe me, it wasn't as good as it sounds. But I was so hungry by that point that I scarfed a lot of it down.
After lunch, back to the wardrobe area where we returned our costumes and checked out for the day. Officially clocked out at 3:00pm.
Being on the set for a day, you get a sense of how much money and work goes into a big show like this one. The staff and crew alone consisted of about 100 people, and that was just for this shoot! There were other shoots going on around the island at the same time. Not to mention the equipment, truck rentals, food, locations, everything! Very very expensive.
It was a long and tiring day but definitely a fun experience. I doubt my ugly mug will even make it to TV but it was still fun anyway. I would've been totally bored had I done it on my own but luckily I had a few friends there with me which really helped to pass the time. I'd undoubtedly do it again if given the opportunity. But I will definitely bring a deck of cards next time to get some poker games going!
