Sep 13, 2022
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Here you go for another round at it !
C'était extra, extra, extraordinaiiiiire...
Third part of IT WAS EXTRA, EXTRA, EXTRA-ORDINAIRE !
PART ONE : THE LABORIOUS BEGINNING : there
PART TWO : FRIDAY, 8th OF JANUARY (THE GLORIOUS DAY) : there
PART THREE : SUNDAY, 10TH OF JANUARY (ANOTHER SIDE OF THE FILMING PROCESS) So saturday morning flew, I was feeling better as time went by, and the fever almost left me. So, I decided to browse around the website to see if there wasn't any extras wanted for the next week because luckily enough, I'm on holidays for the whole blessed week. There was none, but I sent an email anyway, saying basically that the 8th was amazing and if they needed someone again, I'll be there. You never know, it could be worth the shot, right ? And how was I right. In the evening, I received an email saying that I was booked again on the 10th ! I was to play the part of a hacker/computer enthusiast/geek attending the 24th Annual Chaos Computer Conference in Berlin, Germany in 2007 at the BCC in Berlin, Germany. I was expected to be at the meeting point from 9h45 to 20h30 (possibly extended to 21h). They made it again very clear not to take pictures or talk to the actors, and bring the convenient outfits, including sneakers, jeans, hoodies, etc. I told a friend to subscribe on the website and luckily she was booked too ! I was so pleased, because I feared a little bit that she couldn't be there because of her age. But apparently, they really needed female nerd, so here was her luck. I understood why they needed female as soon as I arrived with my luggage in the freezing cold, one hour before the actual meeting hour (because I didn't calculated that the tram would be for once that fast on a sunday). I stepped down the stairs and then, to my great surprise, I entered testosteroneland. For one hour, I just occasionally saw feminine faces, but otherwise it was all men in the room. This waiting room wasn't very big and was beginning to be crowded. I saw just in a dash the previous people I saw on friday : some technicians, and also the nice lady with grey hair. When my friend joined me at last, and we entered the costume room, the costume lady said that I was good to go with my green hoodie. But just before I stepped out, the nice lady with grey hair hesitated and then told me to come back and gave me another grey hoodie with german inscriptions in orange and black. She said that the green colour was too flashy and could be distracting if I'd be send to walk around on the set in a scene, among the actors. At that point I didn't ask her about the autograph because I saw that she was very busy and I didn't want to be rude or something, so I thought about maybe asking her at the end of the day. Just out of curiosity, I asked the costume lady how many men there was and she said that they were 160 men (I saw earlier that there was only 40 women). Since there was so many extras, the day looked like a challenge for them. It was around 10 when I got up with my friend to the make-up room and they were only finishing to gather all the extras (but not all were down the stairs at that point). We waited a little, then the make-up lady said that she was going to put some hair-wax in my hair because they looked too silky for the way I looked with the hoodie and my jeans and trainers, like "cool" and "sport-like". My friend and I started to wait then. At one point, someone handed over laptops as props and in exchange, we had to give him our ID card. So I had a laptop ! Yaaay ! But it looked like it escaped from the 90's and was really heavy ! Nooo ! Also, someone stuck some stickers on it, like "mp3 is not a crime", "Warning : Hacker ahead" and "I don't give en eff about what you think". We also were given badges with different letters : from A to D. I got an A and my friend a D. We were a little worried, and thought at first that it was a way to put people in different positions, but it appeared it was nothing like that at all and A wasn't better than D in the end. We waited until 14h30. Some people were taken down by an assistant and we also thought that they were choose to shoot (and so I was a bit jealous not to have been sitting where they were, but we discovered later that they were waiting just like us, in the waiting room downstairs). At least we upstairs were near the buffet table. By the way, I really admire all of the staff to be so patient and to be so skilled and I would particularly like to thank the really brave catering lady who tried to make us individual sandwiches but she finally gave up when she saw everyone wanted one. That was the right decision to do but she tried and I'm so grateful, really, and I'm not being sarcastic here. After doing nothing, we were given a break to do nothing (it was a lunch break), and grab some bags where they put the same meal they gave us on friday. Same sandwich, wrap, waffle and fruit. I only ate the sandwich and didn't even finished it because I wasn't really hungry. They finally warned us to be ready in ten minutes and we were taken down in the basement in small groups to the set. Said set that we never left until the end of the day. We arrived on the set, which was transformed in a ginormous geek fest. Really, it was mind-blowing all of these lights and noises and crazy stuffs escaped from a computer genius' mind. Some were ridiculous, some less, but in the end it was brilliant. We were seated in front of a computer and were told to be fake typing. And that was all for us, just fake typing, looking really absorbed by it. But how can I be really dedicated to typing nonsense and fake sentences if you give me a "qwerty" keyboard ? (I use an "azerty" keyboard, the differences are really tiny in theory but so huge when you want to type something in reality). All the people not in front of computers were allowed to talk, and some had to pass by, and smile, and wave and ask people some things. Some just wandered and sometimes had to look interested in our fake typing. Rolling cameras, cameras rolling !, Clap, Imaka (?), Background action.... And action ! Well, I really REALLY hope they didn't have some kind of programs to read all the words I typed this day. I first started with the basic "ibelieveinsherlock" and "moriartywasreal", but then, my mind drifted a little and it was more "helpmebenedicthelpmedanielpleasesomeoneidon'tevenknowwhati'mdoinghelpbutitsfunbuti'mtrapped". Yep, I know. But we were told not to use the space bar because it would change the colour of our screen, so. The rehearsals went through and just after a take I noticed a man dressed in black at the far end of the room and approaching and stopping in the middle of the crowded room. My heart leapt from my chest as I immediately recognised Daniel Brühl. He didn't have glasses, was standing less than three meters away, and was talking to someone from the staff. Then had a long phone call in german. I had a very clear and beautiful view of him and was soooo pleased to see him, as I was slightly disappointed (try "really" disappointed) on friday when I thought I will be able to see him. And there he was , with his beautiful face, and his beautiful beard, and his beautiful brown eyes, and his fugitive yet beautiful smile ! It was at this point that I envied my friend a little bit for being 50 cm closer to him (I told her that I wanted to switch places because she had an "azerty" keyboard, and that was true, but let's be honest : I tried to be closer. I'm so sorry if you read this, B.). It appeared he just had to walk from one point to another without speaking (at least that's what I think). And then go down the stairs for another scene and go up the stairs for a third scene. I enthousiastically fake typed during all the takes, even if I was really curious to look at him, just to catch a glimpse of the scene. I was kind of rewarded when someone from the directing staff said to all of our small group (we were 7 or so in the same corner) that we were doing perfect. As time went by and the enthousiasm level decreased, another man from the staff tried to cheer us up and I offered him a little smile in return but truth is I was getting a bit tired and my back hurt. They changed some tables and replaced them by others, always trying to get the right kind of light. Then, we were told to take a small break but no wandering off. This is when they also told us that we didn't have the permission to take photos with Daniel, or ask him something because the director and the other big ones wanted him to be very focused on these scenes. We waited some more and then got back to our previous positions. Again, the extras with computers had to fake type, even if at one point we were allowed to stop and look at a certain direction, but it was apparently not working. So we were told to return to our screens as the slight autistic people we pretended to be and continue the same thing. In the end, I just copied some sentences and words that were on my blue screen. At one point, Daniel was waiting behind us and between almost every take at that moment, I turned my back and glare. He wasn't paying much attention really, so I felt free to stare a little. Then suddenly, he turned his eyes and looked at me. I felt my brain sending red alarm through my nerves, then frying slowly and my head explode in tiny slimy bits in every corner of the room and blinding my colleages. I considered to smile lightly at him, just to... I don't know, just smile at him, and when I finally decided to do so, I blinked, and the moment was gone forever. Still, that was nice. We got several more takes, then someone shooted and thanked the "figuratie" twice or three time in both dutch and french, and everyone clapped and we returned to the waiting room in small groups. It was 19h. Well, the small groups was the intention, but turned out as a human flood. Said human flood wasn't stopped by the stairs and we finally got to the costume room, return the clothes and the laptops and the badges, and I forgot to ask the nice lady about the autograph. We waited some more in the stairs (around 30 or 45 minutes) and finally got the pay. My friend took another metro line and I took the tram home. =) The End ?
Second part of IT WAS EXTRA, EXTRA, EXTRA-ORDINAIRE !
PART ONE : THE LABORIOUS BEGINNING : there
PART TWO : FRIDAY, 8th OF JANUARY (THE GLORIOUS DAY) Was it the hour and a half in the cold, or the high level of adrenaline that was too much for my exhausted brain ? I caught high fever, spending the night shivering and steaming alternately. When I woke up, I felt like I had the longuest night in my life, my nose was stuffy, my throat hurt like hell, my head was buzzing and I still had sore muscles, nauseas and light fever. But nothing in the whole wide world could have prevent me from doing this. I went to a class from 9h to 11h like a good student then returned home, changed my clothes, and took the tram to arrive at the Hotel a little bit early. They gathered us up in the first basement, and we waited in line to give them our name and fill up the form for the extra pay at the end of the day and agreeing with the contract's conditions.
We were around 60 extras, more men than women (I'd say one men and a half to one woman), generally dutch and french. We just finished to fill the form when two women appeared : a little asian woman and a tall women with long grey hair (Funny detail : she had two pair of glasses, I still wonder why. But she was really really sweet. I nicknamed her "ma copine gentille" at the end of the day, forgetting her name. Could be Joan but not sure). They told us that there was a slight change in the day : they forgot to shoot a scene before, so they needed around 20 volunteers to play passer by's. I already leapt of my chair to gather around with the small group that was forming at one end of the room, eager to be further involved in the filming process, But ! (and it was a MAJOR "but") the said scene was to be in... July. Right. July. And I'm sick. Sick as Hell. And I took an aspirin just before I arrived here. And I could possibly be in an hospital before the end of the day because I went by in the street with just a top on and no jacket. But I'm also crazy. So I stayed in the queue, waiting when they browsed the women, and even took off my sweater. "If you could somehow look like you're French" they said, and I smiled because, well, I am French but really don't know how a French looks like.
I think someone must have realised the difficulties to make a 5°C belgian street with low grey sky looks like a sunny french street in July because 20 minutes later, a grey-haired man came down to told us that there was a change : it wasn't July anymore, just January/February and added "Please, don't die on our account". They let us put our coats again and wanted to avoid black clothes as much as possible. Finally, I wasn't picked up because I wore a long black coat and underneath a bright white jacket which was too short. I didn't know I'd be so glad and thankful for their wise decision, because even without this extra scene, it was really exhausting. Being put aside, I could then go to the costume room, where they lend me a long blanck trouser to go with my blazer and my black top. They joked when they saw that at least three out of the first four women brought a black trouser / top / jacket and said their biggest challenge today will be to avoid as much black as possible. At one point, I caught a "schrchrsshrrrr Benedict schhhrrrhrhschchrrrrr" on someone's talkie-walkie and felt ridiculous but smiled. I then did go through the make-up corner and started waiting. It was around 13h30. At 14h30, when I convinced myself to close the book I was trying to read because I read a sentence ten times and still couldn't understand a word, I looked vaguely at the stairs to watch people going up and down, sometimes in a hurry. This is when I saw two people going up and suddenly the sight of Ben's white wig hit me. I let out a squeak for half a second that nobody heard (thank God). And then I saw his precious face and then his whole precious body in a green parka. I tried no to gaze too much but he didn't notice anything since he was talking with the woman next to him and continued to go up and vanished. He went up and down a couple of times, at one point with a banana and a cup of something warm in it (tea or coffee, you choose). I started to be really hungry and I waited until he get up and vanished another time to go grab a slice of buttercake (I didn't have a breakfeast this morning and it was already 15h). Just when I finished the cake, they gathered us in the waiting room, and told us there was a slight problem with the room they choose to film in, because it looked apparently more like a wedding ball room than a proper conference room. "They took away most of the flowers, thank god, but we thought that it was more professional and less... glitzy", so the costumes had to be levelled up to match with the atmosphere, something a little bit more glamour. After few changes, they choose some people to begin to install the background. It was "only" 15h30. There was seven tables with half-full glasses of wine and water, some empty plates, and a lot of half-finished cakes as props. There were a lot of noises, and a really great deal of technicians that installed the cameras, the lights, the cables... The atmosphere was buzzing. It was really amazing to see the "behind the scenes" for yourself, not just with a documentary like in the "Confidentials" of Doctor Who for example. How many little hands, people, time, energy, and material to bring to life two minutes of a tiny scene in a whole movie... It was truly impressive. There was another surprise in this room : David Thewlis (as Potterheads will know him : Remus Lupin). I wasn't expected him at all, and was so pleased to see him ! He was apparently a speaker and had to deliver the end of a speech. When we entered the room, he was sitting on one corner, talking to another man. They alternated women and men to sit around the tables and I got a very good place at a table near the stage. We were after a while joined by another actor, which at one point in the scene has to deliver a line. One woman at my table said that it was a little bit absurd that none of our glasses were filled, even a tiny bit. I said that's because we drunk all of it. We laughed, and she filled two glasses with water. The lights gave them a bit of a trouble but after fifteen minutes, we began the reharsals with Ben's understudy. Rolling cameras, cameras rolling !, Clap, Imaka (? I though that's the word I heard every time but it sounds very Japanese), Background action.... And action ! (I think it's a succession of words I heard too many times to count. That and PLEASE QUIET !!! We were indeed a very loud audience.) We had to hear David saying his line, then it was the turn for the other actor to say his, then back to David again, and then Ben showed up from a corner of the room, and we had to laugh a bit and applause as he walked to the stage, and smiled, and thanked us, and cut, that was great people, we will do another one. Unfortunately, we clapped too early for the first takes and the understudy didn't have the time to deliver his second line, which was ruining the effect. But we finally got the trick, and applauded at the right time. Then, the real shooting began with Ben. I don't have to tell you I could have cheered him up far more loudly, but it wasn't the role or the right time so... Well, my smile wasn't fake, and I hope my eyes weren't glittering too much. At least, you can't see how fast my heart was pumping when he stood less than three meters away from our table. Yep, fangirl time was good. He looked concentrated on his lines and the gestures but between the takes, looked relaxed and laughed two or three times after a take with David on the stage (a most beautiful laugh). He didn't messed up lines but on one take, I think he entered too quickly. I tried not to stare too much at him between the takes, intensely looking at the ceiling, the lights, the cameras back there, the technicians, and trying to talk to the other extras but it was quite hard and I generally kept at least my ears open to whatever word I could hear from the stage where Ben and David were. One time though, I heard "hurting" and he left the stage, found the make-up lady, kneeled before her and she gave him eyes drops. I felt really sad for him, because it must have really hurt. I didn't have any contact lenses in my previous short-sighted life (got operated two years ago). I just had glasses for 17 years, but I imagine what it could feel like. They changed the angles of the cameras several times and the lights a couple more times, but we finally stopped shooting the scene around 18h ish. The staff and the technicians left the room and we were ordered to stay there and eat, because that was lunch break. Also it was more convenient that way, with no one in the way. At that point, my head was hurting like hell, and I was afraid that it could actually explode just like that, in the middle of a take. The fever was upon me again, with the shiverings, the stiff muscles and the coloured cheeks. At least we were seated. We had bags with a sandwich, a wrap, a waffle (obviously) and a fruit, with beverages. Some of the extras ate the half-finished cakes in their plates even if (as it was later explained) it was forbidden. But the woman next to me, who had refill the glasses earlier, said that the slice of pie stared at her for two hours long and it was impossible not to eat it in the end, because it provoked her. We had two hours free (even if we didn't know at that time we will have to wait two hours) and it was an intense session of texting with friends but not about the exact scenes. And since my phone is from the old Mathusalem days, it can only send texts and receive phone calls. It's not the fancy phone with tactile screen and camera inside, but it can resist through an entire washing-machine cycle.
All of this to say : no internet connection with the bloody thing so no twitter nor tumblr. I saw Ben another time when he took the lift to go upstairs but began to be a little bit tired to fangirl in the right proportions. Meanwhile, even if I took another pill with my sandwich, I still had nauseas and my brain was banging once more against my skull. I hold my head, and the tall lady with the long grey hair asked me if I was alright sweetie, and then ask the medic to come while installing me on a chair in the costume room, where it was more quiet and less heated. At that time, by dint of blowing my nose too much, I began to bleed a little bit. She also gave me a glass of water and the medic said that I needed some fresh air, so we went upstairs and got outside in the black snowy streets, right next the entrance door. We talked a little. Even if I wasn't dressed up to be in the cold with only a blazer, I was glad because the fresh air really did me some good. After five minutes, I began to shiver again and we went inside and back in the waiting room, where I had a glass of Coca Cola to help my stomach with the damn ham sandwich. At 20h, we were called upstairs where the set was moved : the scene they were now shooting took place in the hotel bar, where Ben, David and another actress which I didn't recognise talked together. The actress then David left Ben, saying good night and he answered "... Good night". Some of the extras, like me, were supposed to be passing by, right next to their table for the whole scene in a strict order. I was set up with a 40 year old guy as a couple, and we walked passed them too many times to count. Between the takes, I often took off my heels (I wear flat boots and sneakers all year, so after a while my feet started to hurt a bit). That was just when I tried to put my shoes back on and tripped and nearly fell on my fake husband (whom was glad), that Ben passed beside me to go at the back of the set. Really, Brain ? Seriously ? Who was the responsable for this foolish behaviour ? WHY AM I NOT IN CHARGE OF EVERYTHING UPSTAIRS, HUH ? So I felt stupid but, as time went by, more tired and sick and forget to feel like an idiot. We returned downstairs, and after a while, got back up, and passed by again. They had change the angle of the camera and we had to get back, so the camera won't see us waiting in line. Unfortunately, the "get back", included me just next the open entrance door. I felt tired, sick, cold and my feet hurt, but I passed by several times, looking (I hope so) relaxed and in love with my new husband. Then, they decided to put the two of us in the background in red armchairs for two or three takes. It was after that I heard some loud clapping, and that was it ! We did it, it was only 23h and we finished ! I woke up from my seat, and walked slowly to the basement to at least wrap my scarf around my neck. I was freezing. Ben was getting out of the bar at the same time, and for a split second we were walking side by side. Me being me, and really tired, and the reminder of not talking to any actors flashing in bright neon letters in my head, I saw him walking quite fast through the entrance door and disappear for the last time. I went downstairs to change myself, finally getting in more comfortable clothes and return the trousers. The nice tall lady with grey hair was in charge of the returning clothes. I said to myself that I wouldn't have another chance, and asked if she knew that I could maybe have the tiniest possibility to have an autograph from Ben. She looked at me sadly and said he wasn't here anymore, he was already in the make-up trailer (god only knows where it was) for quite a while now. I said to her that it was okay, because i really didn't want to upset or annoy him. She looked at me again and said that she could talk to him maybe, and ask me to write down my adress on a paper. I screamed internally and I don't know how many times I thanked her, and said good night and smiled too much.
We then waited in line to return the form we filled when we arrived and got paid. It was 23h30 when I finally got my euros and climb up the stairs for the last time that day. After a quick talk with two friends, I waited for the tram to go back home and fell on my bed around 00:15.
But there's more... On part three (still to come).
EDIT :
PART THREE : SUNDAY, 10TH OF JANUARY (ANOTHER SIDE OF THE FILMING PROCESS) there
IT WAS EXTRA, EXTRA, EXTRA-ORDINAIRE !
(This title is a reference to a love song by Charles Aznavour "For me, formidable" which is full of puns both in english and french, and also to my new status as extra on the set of "The Fifth Estate" filmed this week and the week before in Brussels) I meant to do this entry on saturday but then, I got reebooked for sunday, so I delayed to write the account of both my experiences. Warning : This post could be full of uninteresting details but for me, every little thing counts and it also help me to remember and squeal internally when re-reading this. Edit : Since this post is too big, it will be in three parts. So, I worked as an extra on set for the 8th and the 10th of February, 2013 in Brussels. The story doesn't begin on the 8th, because that would be too simple and less dramatic. Also, every good story needs a context.
PART ONE : THE LABORIOUS BEGINNING
This all begin with a fabulous friend who had the brilliant idea to told me that Benedict Cumberbatch was filming in Brussels with Daniel Brühl for "The Fifth Estate", retracing the genesis of Wikileaks. BC plays Julian Assange and DB Daniel Domscheit-Berg. She also sent me the adress to a dutch website which is in charge of the extra casting in Belgium and I merrily and hopefully completed my profile less than an hour after she told me all of this. She's very resourceful and I couldn't be more grateful to her for telling me all of this.
I could apply for a role on the 7th which was one week from there (we were 30th, January) and when I clicked I got on a "preselection" status and waited patiently. Then I waited painfully, the pink fluffy balloon of crazy hopes and fangirl dreams that I was deflating slowly but surely as time went by. To be exact, I was all dark and pessimistic thoughts in the end. When the answer finally arrived on the 5th, I was very sad (and it's a beautiful understatement) to know that I wasn't booked, but put "in reserve", as in "back up", just in case of an emergency. My friend tried to cheer me up and succeeding in the end (but with great patience and a little friction). It shouldn't have to affect me this much because they surely had their reasons, maybe I just didn't fit the criteria and of course it wasn't nowhere near the end of the world, I knew that perfectly. But one of my major problems is that I tend to imagine things and complex scenarios pretty fast, and I realised that I was already selected in the deepest corner of my mind, and I felt really stupid that it hurt that much. Also the fact that I've waiting one week could have played a part in this.
In the evening of the 5th, another announce came on the site, asking for "passer-by's" and it said it was urgent. I thought that was my chance since I live in Brussels and the criteria for that kind of role were usually very low so I applied again. And again, I was put in reserve. Later on the 6th, another announce came on the site, asking for "Afterworkers" and same thing, labelled as "urgent", so I applied again. And again, I was put in reserve. When I wasn't selected for the last two dates, I thought that was a little unfair because it's not like they could recognise you in these roles, you're just an anonymous face on the background (and I felt like I wasn't worth enough to do that). And also as I live in Brussels, I tought it was more convenient for me to be there in time, but what was obvious to me wasn't for the ones in charge of the casting apparently (or they had some more serious and still mysterious reasons for not taking me).
So, like a fool, I decided on the 7th (despite my previous resolutions) to see for myself, try my luck and seek the set. The informations I had about the place were really hazy but I thought that, since it was maybe near some well-known spots in Brussels, I could take a chance. I'm not proud to say that, because the very last thing I wanted was to look like a crazy fan, annoy the cast and upset the staff.
Still, for 1h30 I wandered in the streets in search of an hypothetical sign which finally took the form of a yound Dutch assistant dressed in a bright orange "FILM CREW" jacket waiting in the street. She was very nice when I explained the situation to her but couldn't help me since she didn't know who was in charge of the extras. It started to rain and the rain was slowly changing in melted snow with a little wind and we stood outside, in the street. It was an awkward situation.
I saw where the entrance of the set was and couldn't enter, obvisouly, so I sighed, apologised myself for my strange behaviour, thanked the girl and returned home with mixed feeling. I was altogether sad to not have been able to speak to someone and happy to know where the set was and that inside, maybe Ben or Daniel were shooting. Then I send an email to an adress my friend sent me previously and explained briefly the situation, having being put three times in reserve and asking if they needed any extra for tomorrow or any other days. I wasn't hoping much then but I thought "What the hell, what can I loose ?" and tried.
The evening went. At 20h09 exactly, when I least expected it and was busy doing something else (I nearly succeeded in the process of letting this whole unsuccessful business go), I received a phone call from the casting departement, asking me if I could make it for tomorrow. Screaming internally in the highest pitched-voice possible, I calmy and quite enthousiastically replied that I will be there on the precise place and hang up, saying I'll be receiving an email explaining everything.
I was selected to be a "Reporter" in 2010 and had a strict dress code (basically well dressed and professionnal looking people with forbidden clothes and a list of what we have to bring). I was expected to be on the meeting place from 12h30 to 23h (possibly extended to 23h30). They made it very clear not to take pictures or talk to the actors. I had to bring with me at least 3 outfits and another casual one, and wear one when I arrive on the set. So, I packed everything fancy and smart I could think of in a small suitcase with two extra pair of shoes.
To be honest, I squealed a little, I fangirled too much and panicked all night long. I finally fell asleep near 1h30 am.
PART TWO : FRIDAY, 8th OF JANUARY (THE GLORIOUS DAY) : there
PART THREE : SUNDAY, 10TH OF JANUARY (ANOTHER SIDE OF THE FILMING PROCESS) there