My day as an extra
So today, my brother and I spent 10 1/2 hours working as background actors in the movie Untraceable, a serial killer movie that just started filming in Portland.
We showed up at 6:30 in NE Portland to be costumed, and after my brother, myself, and three other guys were fitted into police uniforms, we were brought to the Broadway Bridge, which was shut down to regular traffic for a good chunk of the day.
As the sun rose and began to burn off the fog, we were told about the scene we'd be performing in and we were advised by a policeman on how to realistically react to the situations we'd be facing.
I won't go into too much detail about the context of the scene because it would spoil the plot of the movie, but the gist is that the bridge had been barracaded by cops because there's a guy on it with a gun. My brother and I
were 2 out of the 3 cops assigned to one end of the bridge, where we had parked cars with lights flashing and were doing our best to keep people off the bridge.
There was traffic backed up as well as pedestrians and some bicyclists, and the scene was shot both from ladder-mounted cameras and from a helicopter. A lot of the extras playing civilians, as well as a few of the crew members, were actually convinced we were real cops helping out with the movie. Moreover, the people doing the filming in the helicopter actually radioed their compliments to us on our performance!
After that scene was finished, we descended below the bridge to film some crime scene footage (complete with a dead body).
My brother and I were there along with the other cop actors, and we were doing all sorts of official-looking stuff like ducking under crime scene tape, speaking with other cops, keeping watch over the crime scene, and interviewing witnesses.
A lot of this will be in the background, as more prominent actors are interviewed for the news in front of the camera, but based on the blocking, I'm pretty confident that both my brother and myself will be seen in this particular scene. And, if they use a particular take, then you may be able to spot yours truly interviewing not one but three ladies at the same time.
After that we took a break for lunch and my brother and I changed back into our regular clothes, as they were done with cops for the day. After lunch, we got into my car and I spent the next 3 hours as a driver, helping create traffic for more helicopter shots that will be used at a few points during the movie. It may not sound too glamorous, but it was a ton of fun, as during our circuit back and forth across the Broadway Bridge, us drivers were allowed to break traffic laws. I was flying right through red lights and stop signs, right in front of cops! Every driver had a radio so we could receive directions from the crew. While there's no way my face will be seen in any of these shots, it's quite possible my car will be seen in the movie... but even if it isn't, it was still a lot of fun to be getting paid for what was essentially street racing.
I'm totally beat now from such a long day, but it was a lot of fun. The pay is meager (minimum wage), but it never really felt like work to me. I have a Monday through Friday job now so my availability for future shoots will be limited, but if they do another Saturday shoot, I'm doing this again in a heartbeat, regardless of what extra part I get to play.
We showed up at 6:30 in NE Portland to be costumed, and after my brother, myself, and three other guys were fitted into police uniforms, we were brought to the Broadway Bridge, which was shut down to regular traffic for a good chunk of the day.
As the sun rose and began to burn off the fog, we were told about the scene we'd be performing in and we were advised by a policeman on how to realistically react to the situations we'd be facing.
I won't go into too much detail about the context of the scene because it would spoil the plot of the movie, but the gist is that the bridge had been barracaded by cops because there's a guy on it with a gun. My brother and I
were 2 out of the 3 cops assigned to one end of the bridge, where we had parked cars with lights flashing and were doing our best to keep people off the bridge.
There was traffic backed up as well as pedestrians and some bicyclists, and the scene was shot both from ladder-mounted cameras and from a helicopter. A lot of the extras playing civilians, as well as a few of the crew members, were actually convinced we were real cops helping out with the movie. Moreover, the people doing the filming in the helicopter actually radioed their compliments to us on our performance!
After that scene was finished, we descended below the bridge to film some crime scene footage (complete with a dead body).
My brother and I were there along with the other cop actors, and we were doing all sorts of official-looking stuff like ducking under crime scene tape, speaking with other cops, keeping watch over the crime scene, and interviewing witnesses.
A lot of this will be in the background, as more prominent actors are interviewed for the news in front of the camera, but based on the blocking, I'm pretty confident that both my brother and myself will be seen in this particular scene. And, if they use a particular take, then you may be able to spot yours truly interviewing not one but three ladies at the same time.
After that we took a break for lunch and my brother and I changed back into our regular clothes, as they were done with cops for the day. After lunch, we got into my car and I spent the next 3 hours as a driver, helping create traffic for more helicopter shots that will be used at a few points during the movie. It may not sound too glamorous, but it was a ton of fun, as during our circuit back and forth across the Broadway Bridge, us drivers were allowed to break traffic laws. I was flying right through red lights and stop signs, right in front of cops! Every driver had a radio so we could receive directions from the crew. While there's no way my face will be seen in any of these shots, it's quite possible my car will be seen in the movie... but even if it isn't, it was still a lot of fun to be getting paid for what was essentially street racing.
I'm totally beat now from such a long day, but it was a lot of fun. The pay is meager (minimum wage), but it never really felt like work to me. I have a Monday through Friday job now so my availability for future shoots will be limited, but if they do another Saturday shoot, I'm doing this again in a heartbeat, regardless of what extra part I get to play.