The Reality of Being a Movie Extra

By Charlie Jones


Background artists are most commonly known as movie extras. They are those whose roles in a movie do not require much speaking and are expected to blend in with all the other actors. When compared to the professional actors, however, they are not required to have any acting experience. Neither are movie extras required to have a background in acting, belong to a specific ethnic group, have special training related to acting or belong to a certain age bracket. The important thing that movie extras should bear in mind is that they are expected to handle and understand directions well, be reliable, and arrive on the set early.

Not many people know that extras also come from agencies. Most of the time, a film will require a certain look, and the director will have to cast an extra based on that look. Requirements like this will almost always include requiring an extra to have a specific skill such as dancing. These are discussions you'd have with your agency, so it's really important that you develop a good relationship with an honest agency, rather than one that is out to take your money. There are many of those out there, so do your research beforehand and get ready for some honest conversations.

Sometimes, extras are required to bring their own wardrobe. On the other hand, professional extras will have different kinds of costumes that make them look better with the aim of catching the casting director's attention.

There are also instances when movie extras are called in for filming but they just stand around all day waiting for the director's call. In cases like this, they basically wait. Sometimes, there are movie extras who gets the job, but eventually does not get called for filming, maybe because the part was removed from the script.

With regard to membership in an organization, movie extras are not required to be members of the Screen Actors Guild of the United States or the SAG. The reason for this is that, the SAG only has members who have speaking roles.

Most movie extras will say that movie life requires waiting for long periods. There are also instances when extras are not needed for that scheduled day.

Just because you are a movie extra does not mean that you will become a celebrity instantly. Movie extras are occasionally discovered, the stories happen ll the time. Casting agents may remember something you did previously and give you a chance.

Perhaps what makes the life of a movie extra interesting is that it provides a way to look into what Hollywood life is all about. Movie extras are given chances into observing how and what the life of an actor really is. While it can be said that having a job as a movie extra is not hard, it's also safe to say that it's not easy either.




About the Author:



You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

0 Response to "The Reality of Being a Movie Extra"

Post a Comment

Powered by Blogger