Sometimes I miss it all...

One of the guilty pleasures that is readily available here in Seoul is English DVDs. Recently, I bought some of them and among the new DVDs I now own is Jennifer's Body. That movie holds a special place in my heart because it is the last movie I ever worked on.

Some of those who know me are already aware that I was a movie and TV show extra back in Vancouver, as my part-time job while I was in university. Sometimes watching some of the movies and shows I took part in, I almost start missing being part of the Vancouver film industry. Almost.

There are many pros and cons of being an extra. The biggest pro is obvious -- you get to be in a movie, and sometimes with big-name stars. Also, you get a sense of accomplishment at the end of the day when the movie or show finally comes out. It's not like other jobs where your work is quickly forgotten or sometimes ignored. In the film industry, it doesn't matter whether a film bombs or becomes a hit -- your work is immortalized in some way or another.

After thinking of those fond memories, the cons start streaming in, and there are many. One of the biggest issues with the job is that you have no idea when (and often no idea where) you're supposed to report for work the next day. It is normal for your agent to tell you, at 11:00pm, to report at 6:00am in the middle of nowhere. And the agent often can't be blamed for the timing, because they are kept in the dark by the productions as well (and, indeed, it is also common for crew members to be in the dark). I remember such a situation for Hot Rod, when we had to report to Cloverdale, a largely rural area quite a ways from the city, by 6:00am (and often, you're expected to be there around a half hour before the call time).

Also, there are often some pretty nasty clique-ish behavior that goes on among the extras. A lot of people find that amusing, but it's true. A lot of extras, especially those who are unionized, have a tendency to act like they are above everyone else. They often form their own little social circles where they try to walk all over everyone else, flaunting their "higher" status as much as possible. There was a unionized extra I had a nice chat with once who was actually ashamed of his fellow unionized extras, and in fact didn't reveal himself as one until almost halfway into the work day.

And there are also a lot of extras who try to rely on movie extra work as a primary source of income, which is always a bad idea. Being a film extra is not full-time work. I don't think it's even part-time work. Relying on the job for a steady stream of income is very dangerous, given the constant "busy" and "quiet" periods in the film industry. There have been times when my phone was ringing off the hook, but also times when there was no work for months at a time. Relying on this pattern to sustain you financially is a suicide mission.

Of course, there are some good memories. Among them:

• the 7:00pm-to-7:00am overnight shoot at BC Place with Pierce Brosnan (Butterfly on a Wheel)
  
• the awesomeness of George Takei (season 1 episode of Psych)
  
• finding out that Jessica Alba (Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer) and Megan Fox (Jennifer's Body) aren't really friendly people
  
• that Adam Brody is actually a nice guy (Jennifer's Body)
  
• my first film extra job (season 2 episode of The 4400)
  
• coincidentally, being part of the last scene EVER for the The 4400 before it was cancelled
  
• my last film extra job (Jennifer's Body)
  
• how we magically and instinctively turned a simple concert scene into a chorus scene (Jennifer's Body)... that gave me chills at the time and still does
  
• the cool riot scene in Hot Rod
  
• the 1200-extra scene in Hot Rod's school bus jump scene
  
• being named by the assistant director as one of her favorite extras, resulting in actual RECOGNITION by the cast and crew, despite being a lowly extra (Aliens in America)
  
• dressing as a communist soldier, only to be rained out on the shooting day (Watchmen)
  

And then there are the things like the call time issues that I stated before, there are also issues that suck, such as with wardrobe (which may be just as annoying as the call times), productions that may delay or screw up the payroll, the strange ups and downs in the number of movies being filmed, the long work hours (my average was 10 hours per work day, and it was normal to go above 12 hours per day), the poor work conditions (such as really cold extras tents and some safety issues on set), the clique-ish extras on set, and the mind-killing boredom during the long wait times (such as the 7-hour wait time for The Invisible).

So every time I start missing being part of the film industry as an extra, I remember the problems that came along with the job. Suddenly, I remember why I decided to get out of that job in the first place.

It was nice to have a job that pays you for nearly doing nothing, but it's by no means an easy job. There's a reason why the turnover rate was rather high, and by my 4th year in, I was already considered a grizzled veteran in the movie extra industry.