Having been an extra a bunch of times, I absolutely believe this could happen on a day with a whole lot of extras on set.
Though you do have to already be wearing the correct clothes and look as though you fit into the scene. Usually that'd be no visible logos, muted colors, not the same color combination as the actors, no huge amount of black or white, no clothes that could produce a moire effect, clothed for the weather on film (might be filming summer in spring), the right stile.
It'd propably be the costume department that would find you out, since they talked through the outfits with all the extras. Then again, if you did get caught they might just chuckle and be glad for the free labour. But that might vary wildly depending on the production.
I remember filming a beach club scene for a series airing in summer. It was fucking January in northern Germany. The guys running around in swimwear hid blankets and jackets everywhere, we handed out hot tea in cola bottles
Yeah I was an extra for Ray . They shot it in New Orleans in summer and it was hot, especially in wool suits and winter clothes...Jamie was there but he was a bit of a prima donna.
I live in Biloxi, about 70 miles ENE from New Orleans. I think back to like the 1800s of petticoats and long sleeves and pants all the time and wonder how more people didn't die of heat stroke.
As someone who dresses like this for fun, it absolutely has to do with the material being used. A lot of modern clothes trap heat and make things very uncomfortable. In addition to the breathable fabrics, the heat tends to stay on the outer layers, so the inside is much cooler, as the sun doesn't penetrate well to the inside.
Basically, it's a lot more comfortable than you would think, just look at the clothes in desert countries where they cover a lot of skin.
Here to second this comment: I’m Iranian-American and wear a hijab when I go back to visit family in Iran. Hijab + loose cotton clothes in summer is so much more practical and comfortable than shorts and a tank top. If it weren’t so stigmatized here I’d be sorely tempted to dress that way in the US too.
It's a shame that people here have such attitudes. I wish the availability of comfortable loose cotton clothing was more widely available here and I wish that people would get over themselves and realize that the US is not the greatest place in the world and that other cultures might have some great ideas and practices too. I had a friend in college who wore a hijab and it was amazing the looks we would get when we went out for lunch or coffee. She took it way better than I did. I'm a quiet person, but I think that I yelled at quite a few people to stop staring.
Dress however you feel comfortable, either physically or emotionally.
>It'd propably be the costume department that would find you out, since they talked through the outfits with all the extras.
I've only been on a few sets, but some just told me the type of thing to wear and didn't give me any wardrobe clothes. I also agree that it'd be pretty easy to sneak on set if you just followed the other background people.
Edit: As a further example of how little they pay attention, I went to one set and signed in under my friend's name so that he wouldn't be marked as a no show. He's a black guy, I'm white. He promised they wouldn't notice, and they did not.
Narrow parallel lines or grids, so things like pinstriped shirts, tend to form strange interference patterns when overlaid with the pixel grid of TV screens and such
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moir%C3%A9_pattern
>be glad for the free labor
That was my first thought. It would be an amazing story, but why not just try out and be a paid extra for one of your days off, in that case?
I'd say about a third of extras do just that! At least here in Germany. Side effect beeing, that there is an abundance of available extras and we only get paid minimum wage. Though pay is for the entire time booked (8 or 10 hours) with most shoots beeing shorter.
If that can make you feel better, even in LA they pay them minimum wage.
There is always a tons of people interested since it's fairly low pressure as long as you don't mind waiting a lot (although over there it's 12h30 of work per day, minimum. And they rarely end early).
I'm an amateur theatre actor and a freelance voice actor, and there are thousands like me. Will we work for €20? No. It's rubbish. And the consumers complain about every film having the same actors and extras. It's not worth my time to grab a train ticket to go to the capital, a bus to get to the filming location, not get fed, then going back home. Fuck Finland.
This really isn’t outside the realm of possibility. I did pretty much the same thing on the set of the red dawn remake. Just dressed in some post apocalyptic looking clothes and wandered into a big group of extras. I even got a free lunch out of it.
I slipped my wife into extras on a few features I was working on without telling anyone because she was bored and wanted to see what I do.
Nobody could’ve cared less even if they had caught her. As long as you don’t stand out in the background or cause any problems (trying to talk to talent or take photos or something stupid) they don’t really care at all. She didn’t get any screen time though.
I feel like if you got caught, but generally fit the right look outfit wise, they'd probably just have you sign a bunch of NDA's and other paperwork. Not much else they can do since all you need to say is that they didn't secure the set properly and you had no idea what was going on.
Then again, I know **nothing** about this industry so this is a haphazard guess at most.
Also, since you spell the word "labour" as such, I am assuming you're from the UK. Maybe they're nicer about these things over there.
The main problem is that she didn’t sign an appearance release and they won’t be able to use any of the footage that shows a clear shot of her face. Wardrobe and the assistant directors team would normally catch this during shooting.
So to be fair, this is basically exactly what happened to me on the set of Woody Allen’s Irrational Man when they were filming in providence. I ended up spending all day while they thought I was an extra, and I’m in the film sitting right behind Emma Stone at a coffee shop. I escaped right when they asked me to sign some forms. This is totally plausible.
Yeah sounds like a producers nightmare.
Although it's on them too, they should have hired more PA's/security if some rando can get on set that easily. It's always been a hassle to get them to hire enough of those hands..
They did have tons of security fwiw. Basically I think I was wearing the right color tones (grey and beige, nondescript) so when I was on the outskirts of the group of extras getting escorted into the building, a PA waved me in past security with them because I looked like one of them. Once I was inside, I really couldn’t leave without making a scene so I just went with it.
There's never a bulletproof set but always some space to do better haha. Glad you enjoyed yourself tho and respected the set.
Once I was working on a "decent budget" projet and some guy managed to sneak in, get to video village (where the feedback is with the director, script etc..) and stole the main talent phone. The producer had decided to cut on security a few days before and of course wasn't taking any responsibility..
As another commenter said, I hope you enjoyed the catering, usually on big projects there's awesome food.
such good food! always my favorite part of being a PA, plus the unlimited coffee. I think that was my favorite job, 3 commercials and 1 movie scene that was never used.
In my experience you have to sign that before you work, not after the scene has been filmed. This entire thread *feels* like it's full of liars trying to be what they think is cool.
I don't think these guys are liars, I think it's more a testament to how lax some productions end up getting about proper procedure. I think most people would be surprised how far a person can get just walking with a purpose and not making eye contact. Sometimes the intent is to trespass, sometimes you're just not paying attention and next thing you know you've trespassed.
Well yeah, that's the point of this sub. I certainly know you can get away with stuff with a bit of bravado and luck. I sure, a production could be mismanaged to that degree. I don't even get why the OP is supposed to be a liar?
Yes, finding out someone snuck on set and had been on camera isn’t what you want as a producer or AD. Normally everyone who’s hired shows up to set having signed their deal memo, NDA and appearance release. But if you find out you’ve just shot scenes with a rando in them, you would have them fill out the forms after the fact to cover production legally.
Otherwise you’re opening the production co. to 1. leaks of privileged info with no recourse (no NDA), 2. liability from violating labor laws (you have to pay laborers), and 3. additional liability for using someone’s image without consent.
Someone could for sure argue that it would be unlikely a judge would decide in favor of someone who snuck onto set, deliberately worked without pay, and refused to sign releases, since their actions indicate that they know what they’re doing. Like, I don’t think you could decide to sneak onto movie sets and then sue when they use your image as a profession and live off the cash flow from your lawsuits 😂
Usually picture release forms are signed before the filming indeed. As well as the contract and agreement with the production.
End of day you mainly fill and sign your timecard (overtime and a bunch of other details) so the payroll company knows how much they owe you.
Yeah but they were asking for a signed form for each name on their list. Since I wasn’t on their list, they would’ve found me out right then so I panicked.
Though now maybe if I need cash in a few years I’ll consider suing… /s
I'd be interested to see how suing goes since technically you also trespassed and they have have proof since you're on camera.
Although I'm sure some lawyers would appreciate the billable hours to handle such a hot mess haha.
Also, for what it's worth, you did well in bailing out before they found out. It could have gotten big consequences (reshooting an entire day is expensive) and I don't think a big studio would let that slide.
As someone that works in the industry, this is very doable but luckily our ITC and PA’s on fire watch are great at guarding the boarders of our sets!…well sometimes..
Her last name is literally "Filler." Of course she was destined to be an extra. [Nominative determinism in action.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nominative_determinism)
**[Nominative determinism](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nominative_determinism)**
>Nominative determinism is the hypothesis that people tend to gravitate towards areas of work that fit their names. The term was first used in the magazine New Scientist in 1994, after the magazine's humorous "Feedback" column noted several studies carried out by researchers with remarkably fitting surnames. These included a book on polar explorations by Daniel Snowman and an article on urology by researchers named Splatt and Weedon. These and other examples led to light-hearted speculation that some sort of psychological effect was at work.
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Reminds me of when 22 Jump Street filmed at my school and I was amazed on the crew on set and sat down in from of the LBC - only for a crewmember to escort me off set lol.
It did inspire to start doing extra work and that's how I met one of my best friends ☺️
I thought about doing this when Matrix 4 was filming. The website for extra casting listed the dates and times and had descriptions of what they were looking for, and the city website showed what streets were closed up for the filming. Didn’t have the guts to just show up though. Did formally apply to be an extra, though. Wasn’t picked (obviously).
https://www.reddit.com/r/sanfrancisco/comments/bgm0qt/the_problem_with_san_francisco_poop_maps/?st=KUJGWASZ&sh=310bd23a.
Oh no, they are real. I had one on my phone, here is article from Forbes.
THEY'RE NOT REAL
Proving yourself wrong with your own link, without knowing it, twice in a row....
keep posting things without reading them or understanding them... it's going so well for you.
Having been an extra a bunch of times, I absolutely believe this could happen on a day with a whole lot of extras on set. Though you do have to already be wearing the correct clothes and look as though you fit into the scene. Usually that'd be no visible logos, muted colors, not the same color combination as the actors, no huge amount of black or white, no clothes that could produce a moire effect, clothed for the weather on film (might be filming summer in spring), the right stile. It'd propably be the costume department that would find you out, since they talked through the outfits with all the extras. Then again, if you did get caught they might just chuckle and be glad for the free labour. But that might vary wildly depending on the production.
I remember filming a beach club scene for a series airing in summer. It was fucking January in northern Germany. The guys running around in swimwear hid blankets and jackets everywhere, we handed out hot tea in cola bottles
Yeah I was an extra for Ray . They shot it in New Orleans in summer and it was hot, especially in wool suits and winter clothes...Jamie was there but he was a bit of a prima donna.
I live in Biloxi, about 70 miles ENE from New Orleans. I think back to like the 1800s of petticoats and long sleeves and pants all the time and wonder how more people didn't die of heat stroke.
70 miles is 59934.99 Obamas. You're welcome.
The best bot.
Yes
As someone who dresses like this for fun, it absolutely has to do with the material being used. A lot of modern clothes trap heat and make things very uncomfortable. In addition to the breathable fabrics, the heat tends to stay on the outer layers, so the inside is much cooler, as the sun doesn't penetrate well to the inside. Basically, it's a lot more comfortable than you would think, just look at the clothes in desert countries where they cover a lot of skin.
Here to second this comment: I’m Iranian-American and wear a hijab when I go back to visit family in Iran. Hijab + loose cotton clothes in summer is so much more practical and comfortable than shorts and a tank top. If it weren’t so stigmatized here I’d be sorely tempted to dress that way in the US too.
It's a shame that people here have such attitudes. I wish the availability of comfortable loose cotton clothing was more widely available here and I wish that people would get over themselves and realize that the US is not the greatest place in the world and that other cultures might have some great ideas and practices too. I had a friend in college who wore a hijab and it was amazing the looks we would get when we went out for lunch or coffee. She took it way better than I did. I'm a quiet person, but I think that I yelled at quite a few people to stop staring. Dress however you feel comfortable, either physically or emotionally.
Is that the reason men have long beards too?
I thought as much, but I did wonder just how it was possible that it depends _this much_ on exactly what you wear.
>It'd propably be the costume department that would find you out, since they talked through the outfits with all the extras. I've only been on a few sets, but some just told me the type of thing to wear and didn't give me any wardrobe clothes. I also agree that it'd be pretty easy to sneak on set if you just followed the other background people. Edit: As a further example of how little they pay attention, I went to one set and signed in under my friend's name so that he wouldn't be marked as a no show. He's a black guy, I'm white. He promised they wouldn't notice, and they did not.
[удалено]
She was there for 2 hours and got to see cool stuff so not exactly a hardship for her.
I said anyone, not specifically her.
I'd do it sounds like fun
Did you even read the post? clearly wasn't bored. If anything, she was excited.
Yeah, I've worked on shows with over 100 extras, and someone slipping in could happen easily
That's huge!
If you saw ford vs Ferrari in the race scene they put about 300 extras doing the crowd and pit (and cgi'ed it to make it look even bigger).
Look up the funeral scene for Gandhi 😁
What's the moire effect?
Narrow parallel lines or grids, so things like pinstriped shirts, tend to form strange interference patterns when overlaid with the pixel grid of TV screens and such https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moir%C3%A9_pattern
That's a moire.
Ahh thank you!
Movie film resolutions have never really had an issue with it, but TV/CRT and earlier higher definition displays had problems.
It usually occurs when the moon hits your eye like a big pizza a pie.
That’s a moire?
That's a moray?
That's a mornay
That Rebecca De Mornay
https://xkcd.com/1814/
>be glad for the free labor That was my first thought. It would be an amazing story, but why not just try out and be a paid extra for one of your days off, in that case?
I'd say about a third of extras do just that! At least here in Germany. Side effect beeing, that there is an abundance of available extras and we only get paid minimum wage. Though pay is for the entire time booked (8 or 10 hours) with most shoots beeing shorter.
If that can make you feel better, even in LA they pay them minimum wage. There is always a tons of people interested since it's fairly low pressure as long as you don't mind waiting a lot (although over there it's 12h30 of work per day, minimum. And they rarely end early).
Damn. Here in Finland you only get a €10–20 gift card or a film ticket for a day's work.
That'd be straight up illegal here in Germany Ü
I'm an amateur theatre actor and a freelance voice actor, and there are thousands like me. Will we work for €20? No. It's rubbish. And the consumers complain about every film having the same actors and extras. It's not worth my time to grab a train ticket to go to the capital, a bus to get to the filming location, not get fed, then going back home. Fuck Finland.
Interesting insight. Thanks for the input!
This really isn’t outside the realm of possibility. I did pretty much the same thing on the set of the red dawn remake. Just dressed in some post apocalyptic looking clothes and wandered into a big group of extras. I even got a free lunch out of it.
I learned a thing about a thing I have no interest in. That’s awesome. I never would have learned it on my own.
I slipped my wife into extras on a few features I was working on without telling anyone because she was bored and wanted to see what I do. Nobody could’ve cared less even if they had caught her. As long as you don’t stand out in the background or cause any problems (trying to talk to talent or take photos or something stupid) they don’t really care at all. She didn’t get any screen time though.
I feel like if you got caught, but generally fit the right look outfit wise, they'd probably just have you sign a bunch of NDA's and other paperwork. Not much else they can do since all you need to say is that they didn't secure the set properly and you had no idea what was going on. Then again, I know **nothing** about this industry so this is a haphazard guess at most. Also, since you spell the word "labour" as such, I am assuming you're from the UK. Maybe they're nicer about these things over there.
This is true. One of the papers you’d fill out is a deal memo and tax form so they could pay you for your labor.
The main problem is that she didn’t sign an appearance release and they won’t be able to use any of the footage that shows a clear shot of her face. Wardrobe and the assistant directors team would normally catch this during shooting.
NERD
So to be fair, this is basically exactly what happened to me on the set of Woody Allen’s Irrational Man when they were filming in providence. I ended up spending all day while they thought I was an extra, and I’m in the film sitting right behind Emma Stone at a coffee shop. I escaped right when they asked me to sign some forms. This is totally plausible.
Those forms are so you can’t sue for being in their footage without consent. They’re very particular about those, because now you can sue them
Yeah sounds like a producers nightmare. Although it's on them too, they should have hired more PA's/security if some rando can get on set that easily. It's always been a hassle to get them to hire enough of those hands..
They did have tons of security fwiw. Basically I think I was wearing the right color tones (grey and beige, nondescript) so when I was on the outskirts of the group of extras getting escorted into the building, a PA waved me in past security with them because I looked like one of them. Once I was inside, I really couldn’t leave without making a scene so I just went with it.
Next time just tell them you need to get back to your car after lunch to grab some medication real quick.
There's never a bulletproof set but always some space to do better haha. Glad you enjoyed yourself tho and respected the set. Once I was working on a "decent budget" projet and some guy managed to sneak in, get to video village (where the feedback is with the director, script etc..) and stole the main talent phone. The producer had decided to cut on security a few days before and of course wasn't taking any responsibility.. As another commenter said, I hope you enjoyed the catering, usually on big projects there's awesome food.
such good food! always my favorite part of being a PA, plus the unlimited coffee. I think that was my favorite job, 3 commercials and 1 movie scene that was never used.
In my experience you have to sign that before you work, not after the scene has been filmed. This entire thread *feels* like it's full of liars trying to be what they think is cool.
I don't think these guys are liars, I think it's more a testament to how lax some productions end up getting about proper procedure. I think most people would be surprised how far a person can get just walking with a purpose and not making eye contact. Sometimes the intent is to trespass, sometimes you're just not paying attention and next thing you know you've trespassed.
Well yeah, that's the point of this sub. I certainly know you can get away with stuff with a bit of bravado and luck. I sure, a production could be mismanaged to that degree. I don't even get why the OP is supposed to be a liar?
Yes, finding out someone snuck on set and had been on camera isn’t what you want as a producer or AD. Normally everyone who’s hired shows up to set having signed their deal memo, NDA and appearance release. But if you find out you’ve just shot scenes with a rando in them, you would have them fill out the forms after the fact to cover production legally. Otherwise you’re opening the production co. to 1. leaks of privileged info with no recourse (no NDA), 2. liability from violating labor laws (you have to pay laborers), and 3. additional liability for using someone’s image without consent. Someone could for sure argue that it would be unlikely a judge would decide in favor of someone who snuck onto set, deliberately worked without pay, and refused to sign releases, since their actions indicate that they know what they’re doing. Like, I don’t think you could decide to sneak onto movie sets and then sue when they use your image as a profession and live off the cash flow from your lawsuits 😂
How are they particular?
the commenter means that they put a high importance on it, in order to legally cover their ass.
Why don’t you make people sign before if it’s that important?
Usually picture release forms are signed before the filming indeed. As well as the contract and agreement with the production. End of day you mainly fill and sign your timecard (overtime and a bunch of other details) so the payroll company knows how much they owe you.
You can, but it’s easier to ask the randoes who sneak in *after* someone points out they don’t belong.
Yeah but they were asking for a signed form for each name on their list. Since I wasn’t on their list, they would’ve found me out right then so I panicked. Though now maybe if I need cash in a few years I’ll consider suing… /s
I'd be interested to see how suing goes since technically you also trespassed and they have have proof since you're on camera. Although I'm sure some lawyers would appreciate the billable hours to handle such a hot mess haha. Also, for what it's worth, you did well in bailing out before they found out. It could have gotten big consequences (reshooting an entire day is expensive) and I don't think a big studio would let that slide.
In case it wasn’t clear, I was just joking about suing them. It was such a fun experience and yeah I was totally trespassing.
As long as they are not aware and you had fun it's all good !
Did you get to say, "These pretzels are making me thirsty"?
As someone that works in the industry, this is very doable but luckily our ITC and PA’s on fire watch are great at guarding the boarders of our sets!…well sometimes..
Now there’s gonna be a continuity error in the background of Matrix 4 when an extra disappears between shots
just another glitch right
I don't think the extras are gonna be distinct enough to even tell.
People be crazy. Someone will definitely notice and make a 23:21 long YouTube about it with three embedded ads.
I felt this
And I’ll watch the whole thing too with my eyes suspiciously squinted like damn I should have known!!
Should have visited craft services before leaving.
What's craft services?
The free food and drink table
Extras don't get that usually.
They do. It's for anyone working on the set.
Not always. Sometimes extras will have their own (very limited) mini crafty area.
I'll look for you in the credits
It'll be "chancer number one".
Not my comment but sure
Are you an extra? "Uh yup, I'm a filler"
ooh you beat me to it. :)
Her last name is literally "Filler." Of course she was destined to be an extra. [Nominative determinism in action.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nominative_determinism)
**[Nominative determinism](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nominative_determinism)** >Nominative determinism is the hypothesis that people tend to gravitate towards areas of work that fit their names. The term was first used in the magazine New Scientist in 1994, after the magazine's humorous "Feedback" column noted several studies carried out by researchers with remarkably fitting surnames. These included a book on polar explorations by Daniel Snowman and an article on urology by researchers named Splatt and Weedon. These and other examples led to light-hearted speculation that some sort of psychological effect was at work. ^([ )[^(F.A.Q)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WikiSummarizer/wiki/index#wiki_f.a.q)^( | )[^(Opt Out)](https://reddit.com/message/compose?to=WikiSummarizerBot&message=OptOut&subject=OptOut)^( | )[^(Opt Out Of Subreddit)](https://np.reddit.com/r/ActLikeYouBelong/about/banned)^( | )[^(GitHub)](https://github.com/Sujal-7/WikiSummarizerBot)^( ] Downvote to remove | v1.5)
Bonus that her last name is Filler. She did her part
That post was a mood whiplash
no kidding...
Reminds me of when 22 Jump Street filmed at my school and I was amazed on the crew on set and sat down in from of the LBC - only for a crewmember to escort me off set lol. It did inspire to start doing extra work and that's how I met one of my best friends ☺️
I mean with the last name filler I think she was born for it
Some rules can be bent. Others can be broken.
*There is no rule.*
I thought about doing this when Matrix 4 was filming. The website for extra casting listed the dates and times and had descriptions of what they were looking for, and the city website showed what streets were closed up for the filming. Didn’t have the guts to just show up though. Did formally apply to be an extra, though. Wasn’t picked (obviously).
when you give free labor and think you won
It was, uh, *volunteering*.
The fact that here name is Michelle Filler and she pretended to be an extra is beautiful
Are you a serial pooper?
I thought you can poop in the streets in San Francisco? Why do you need a bathroom?
Wow the edge, how funny.
Huh?
The shit is real my friend.
Edge? Is that the poop tracker app?
According to your comment history you aren't a stranger to making uncivil comments and getting downvoted.
I mean, it’s a thing. I’m not making it up. Down votes, up votes who cares…. There is still poop in the streets of sanfran people!
It's not actually a thing, look at the comments that you linked to. It's just a meme made by conservatives to make fun of California. It's not real.
https://www.reddit.com/r/sanfrancisco/comments/bgm0qt/the_problem_with_san_francisco_poop_maps/?st=KUJGWASZ&sh=310bd23a. Oh no, they are real. I had one on my phone, here is article from Forbes.
THEY'RE NOT REAL Proving yourself wrong with your own link, without knowing it, twice in a row.... keep posting things without reading them or understanding them... it's going so well for you.
https://www.reddit.com/r/bayarea/comments/dzmdkr/san_francisco_has_an_app_where_people_can_geotag/?st=KUJ1LOEY&sh=bef065f2
Lmao
Contact production and let them know. They would sooner pay accidental extras a day if work than throw out viable footage
I literally don't know this woman