Extra! Extra!

Today I was a background extra for a short video about a website. I don’t know if I’m supposed to keep quiet about who its for, so I won’t say. The theme of it was kind of like when Morpheus is explaining The Matrix to Neo using The Construct. Well, if Morpheus was 5’5”, Jewish and wearing nerdy black rim glasses. Otherwise, the same thing. Sort of.

This was my first time acting (sure, you could call it that). I had fun. I didn’t fuck anything up too bad. I got a little screen time. I even got paid a few U.S. dollars for it. I guess that makes me a professional actor. Or something. But really, the work itself was the reward.¹

It was a lot fun. I’m really happy that I could be a part of it. There was lots of standing around, lots of waiting, lots of fake talking, lots of standing under the hot, hot heat of one million light bulbs. The movie making world has a different name for everything. It’s like a secret language to keep the muggles out. I learned that apple boxes have different names for their orientations depending on which coast you’re on. East coast calls them 1, 2, 3 while west coast calls them New York, Chicago (or maybe Texas) and LA. I like that. We wore booties over our shoes for a good part of the day.

I met some new people that seemed nice after one day’s worth of hangout. I met Adam Lisagor (@lonelysandwich) IRL finally. He’s a real good dude. Loads of fun to work with/for. I hope that I can do more with him.

Finally, a Pro Tip™: read the call sheet closely with regards to wardrobe. If it says “Wardrobe: Business Casual. Please bring an extra change of non-business casual clothes. No logos, small patterned, stripes, solid white or solid black clothing”, don’t show up wearing black pants, white shirt, black sweater, black tie and a baseball hat with a local sports team logo on it. Or do, and be happy that the director is such an awesome dude that he’s not only ok with your outfit, but tells you to keep your hat on for the day.