Originally Posted: 5/8/2008
THE PRODUCTION ASSISTANT
You may not be surprised to learn that the Hollywood professional filmmaking sphere has a social caste system that rivals any in the ancient world. In fact, you might even think that the “major stars” are the VIPs, bursting with clout, whims and dictatorial power over those all around the set. However, from what I observed, the “star” treatment simply meant that certain actors got to sit in the shade or leave the set during “down” periods. And those other guys: directors, assistant directors, producers, executive producers -- all meaningless.
The backbone of the entire hierarchy is actually the production assistant [PA].
PA’s are worker bees. In fact, the filming process is so flipping complicated, there is a PA involved in every aspect of every element of filming. All PA’s are hooked up with ear pieces [like the sales folks at Old Navy] so that at any given time any PA can be reached immediately and sent to solve a problem or relay the appropriate information. The higher up on the PA food chain, the more “big picture” the PA’s function.
TIFFANY AND LEWIS: PA'S WE ADORE.
Our PA for the day was Tiffany. She was in charge of all the extras from the start of the day, and after we were split up (some to the church, like Sherry and me, and the rest off to somewhere else), she was in charge of the funeral attendees. Sherry and I learned early on from the other extras that we should stick very close to Tiffany and quickly do whatever she said before she finished saying it.
I have to say, Sherry and I LOVED Tiffany. Her first speech to us started with the explanation that she was our “Mama Duck” for the day. Sherry noted that she didn’t look much like a Mama Duck. In fact, she was a cute, 25 year old with a T-shirt that read, “Everybody loves an Asian girl.” Her earpiece was constantly popping, to which she always answered, “Copy. I’m on it,” followed by what she was going to do next, like, “Loading funeral background for deposit,” and, “Background at south entrance for seating arrangement.”
We had other PA’s in charge of us at various times during the day. Our other favorite was Lewis. He was the PA on site who arranged the “background” by telling us where to stand initially and where to walk and what to do when the assistant director called “action.”
When we needed adjusting -- if, for example, there were too many of us trying to get through a door at once, and it looked too cluttered on camera -- the director would tell the assistant director to tell someone to tell Lewis the problem, and Lewis would fix us. The buffer zone was so effective, Lewis would actually sound like he was asking us a favor to stand or move in a certain way, and we would happily do whatever he asked.
[Production photos: Ryan Ozawa on Flickr.com]
Lewis was actually pretty important in the pecking order. I learned this from a lighting guy who overheard me and an extra named Shawn discussing whether we should move out of the way when some lighting equipment was coming toward us. The lighting guy asked us what we were doing standing where we were. We said, “Lewis put us here,” and that was the end of the discussion! The lighting went around us! We used that phrase several more times during that scene to, as Shawn said, “see their faces when we mention Lewis.”
THE IRONY OF "THE EXTRA"
Let me make this very clear: extras are the lowest form of pond scum on set. We were not abused or mistreated in any way, but it was clear that if we didn’t exist, that would be okay by anyone over Lewis’ level in the hierarchy.
What makes this fact so interesting is that once you are on film, suddenly you are VERY IMPORTANT pond scum. If you go “back to one,” your starting point, and walk behind a scene, and then suddenly you aren’t in your correct spot for the next scene, it screws up the continuity of the scene and could possibly mean wasted time or money -- both serious insults to the film making gods.
Once you are on film, then, it’s a PA’s job to MAKE SURE that YOU are where you should be when you should be because production can’t go forward without you in position--an interesting irony of pond scum existence. As pond scum, our job was simple: we stood where we were told and moved exactly as Lewis instructed, and then, when the director called "Cut!" quickly get "back to one" to do it (over and over) again.
THE INCIDENT
Our first scene was outside in front of the church. Four main characters interact in front of the church before entering, and the extras walk around, interact and generally make our way through the front doors. The church has a small courtyard with a statue of St. Patrick, three doors for entry with 2 sets of steps leading up to it, and a U-shaped sidewalk around a lawn about 30 feet wide (Beautiful picture by mikenakama).
Sherry was paired with a BEAUTIFUL girl named Dawn (a model, actress and real estate property manager originally from Texas) who was given a very posh dress to wear by wardrobe that morning, and they were on the left side of the U, right next to where Hurley and Kate (holding Aaron) get out of a limo when they arrive t0 the funeral.
I was paired with another girl, Christine (who was NOT given a posh dress to wear) on the other side of the U, nearly across from Sherry. Once action was called, Christine and I were to follow behind a family of three and walk up the stairs and into the church through the leftmost door. Sherry and Dawn, meanwhile, were to meet up with two other people, greet and chat with them, and stay put until the main characters start to enter the church.
All told, there were probably about 30 people in our little scene with another 40 or so jetting around on the other side of the action where the food and drink mini-tents were set up next to the “star” tents. And those stars, God bless 'em, really needed those tents, you see, because by the time we started filming, it was nearly 9 a.m., and since the church was located on the eastern side of O’ahu, the sun was beating down on us, and with no trade winds to cool us off, we were HOT.
Sherry and I were warned about wearing sunscreen, and the production had plenty of cold water bottles on hand (although, they did not collect the recycling until I insisted!). However, I was wearing The Jacket, and my walking buddy, Christine, was in a full black dress complete with gauzy over wrap, and BOTH of us were wearing pantyhose. We were about to pass OUT! Each break we could, we stood under a pathetic little tree, the only shade on our side of the courtyard.
After about 1 1/2 hours of filming this scene -- they had to swap babies half way because the first “Aaron” was getting pissed about being dragged in and out of the limo -- the director noticed that the mike held over the actors’ to record their lines was leaving a big shadow on the steps. This would be akin to seeing it dangling over their heads on screen like some trashy porn flick!
[Or so I've heard.]
That wouldn’t do, so the crew was tasked with putting together this really HUGE screen to hide the shadows, the stars were sent off to sit in the shade, drink something and have their makeup touched up, and the extras were left in the sun to bake like bread until the setup was finished.
We were specifically told by Lewis to stay put. We could go to the bathroom (behind the church in a weird outbuilding thingy), but we had to come right back and get in position one and STAY there. Christine, an experienced extra, told me that it could take hours to get the equipment set up, but once they were ready to go, they did not want to have to chase down any extras to start filming again.
I had no issue with this, and I felt badly for poor Sherry and Dawn who had NO shade to stand under at all! The spot under the sad, little tree was a bit crowded with 4 people already trying to fit under it, and the ground around it was pretty smooshy from all the rain we had the day before.
Smart Amy "thinks": Well, I don’t want to get my shoes all filthy, and I’m not walking barefoot in the smoosh. This sidewalk (brush-brush) seems clean and dry. I’ll just take off The Jacket (just in case) and have a seat right hear on my position. By the time they shout, “Back to ONE,” I’ll be totally ready to go.
Maybe I should have noticed no one else was sitting down AT ALL. Maybe I should have noticed the screen was almost up and more of the film crew was milling around the set. But I was a little out of it from the heat and waiting [actually, a LOT out of it!].
Still, I couldn't help but notice that a PA (pictured below, bluish T-shirt and ball cap) well above the pond-scum-sector was streaking across the courtyard. When I realized he was headed for ME, I thought, huh, I bet whatever he's screaming applies to me as well. I stood up, concentrated through the haze, and heard, “What if you get dirt on your butt and it shows up on camera!?”
I thought he was referring to The Jacket, so as I stood up, I stupidly held it out to him as if to say, no, I’m not sitting on The Jacket, see? It's fine.
[This first thought is a good indicator of how out of it I was. In my right mind, my VERY first reaction would be: My BUTT is on CAMERA?!]
Then Mr. PA man, who by now has attracted the attention of all 70 people on set, shouts just a little too loudly:
“SHOW some RESPECT for the CLOTHES!”
I was out of it, but I was still me. And the Amy look on my face must have been something special because Sherry, standing well behind Mr. PA man, actually leaned to catch my eye and gently SHOOK HER HEAD at me. I said nothing, but simply donned The Jacket and went back to the “work” of standing in the sun.
Because, as I told Sherry later, the simple fact is there are worse things than being screamed at by a ridiculous person in front of very fun crowd.
We went about our business and shot the scene for another hour before finally heading off for a snack, but as we were snacking and drinking, I heard the low buzz around me of extras nudging fellow extras who were about to sit down and saying, “You’re disrespecting your clothes. You know that, right?”
That s*** was funny ALL DAY LONG.
Many hours later, we were finishing up at the church, and all of the few remaining extras were sitting down in one way or another. A group of ladies and I had commandeered a roll of paper towels, and as I made a little seat for myself on the sidewalk, I said, almost to myself, “Do you see me respecting my clothes? Here I go. I’m respecting. I am FULL OF RESPECT."
Just when I said this, another PA (who ranked somewhere between Tiffany and Lewis in the PA pecking order) was behind me, and he CRACKED UP as he walked by! He turned back to give me the “shh” sign, with a finger over his grin. Then he mouthed silently, “Good job,” before saying into his earpiece, “Copy. I’m on it.”
SNAP!!
Next Up: How to Make Pals in 10 Hours or Less. . .
