Post Filming Reports

September 28 and 29

Treat Williams and Me: My Gig as a Featured Extra

It’s the kind of call a struggling, obscure actor hopes for in between waiting tables and manning the counter at a department store: the casting director called and asked me if I was interested in auditioning as a featured extra for Everwood.

Uh . . . heck yeah!

A featured extra is a notch above a regular extra (someone in the background and out of focus), and a step below someone with a speaking part. It means 5 to 10 seconds of camera time. Casting was looking for a select group of extras who could communicate a range of emotions in response to a character’s behavior. In this case, that character was Andy Brown (Treat Williams).

I reported to the audition and waited with about 30 other hopefuls. Most of the young people are serious about pursuing a career in the acting field. Most are represented by an agency, and jump at the chance to go on auditions, be an extra, a stand-in, or any other TV and film related gigs as much as possible. Whereas I am a homemaker and romance author who occasionally gets to hang around on a television show set! Nevertheless, I was there, because they needed adults. Also, the casting director said that she liked me and wanted to give me this opportunity. How could I turn something like that down?

The casting director quickly read the lines and coached small groups of us on keeping our facial expressions subtle. Everything is big on camera, she told us, so nuances are very important. Then we were paired up into families. We auditioned for Matt Shakman, a young director with a very pleasant face and disposition.

It took about 1 minute to audition, and then we sat down to wait. About 15 minutes later, the casting director called me in again and went through the scene once more. It was filmed each time, sort of like a screen test. We thanked the director for the opportunity to audition, and left.

The next day, I got a call saying that they wanted me for the elite group of featured extras! I was thrilled! I was to work 2 days in a row. When I reported for work, I found out that only a total of 10 featured extras had been selected, out of a total of 60 people who’d auditioned, so I felt extremely honored.

My call time wasn’t early in the morning, but 2 p.m. We began the shoot about 3:30 p.m. at the Salt Lake Community College. Andy and Ephram Brown were mixed in with us, and the loud conversation they have gradually becomes an argument. It draws attention to our small crowd, and some of us aren’t pleased with what they are saying and doing.

Time to act!

Pick a metaphor…we had to give them the evil eye, the hairy eyeball, crusty looks, you name it. It was really weird to be put out with Treat’s character, because normally extras are extremely polite on set, and generally ignore the actors. We are told repeatedly not to look at the cameras. “You’re in the show, not watching the show” is the reminder we get all the time. But as a featured extra, we were almost on the same level as the actors. We were expected to glare and frown and cut some pretty dirty looks during the scene. At one point, the assistant director told me to open up and let it out; after all, I was trying to protect my “daughter”. So as we were leaving the room (cameras still rolling), I cut “Dr. Brown” the nastiest look, with a curled lip and no amount of patience left!

The stars are normally jovial and kid around with one another, but the scene is pretty intense, so they stayed in the moment even between takes. In fact, we extras chatted between takes, and after about forty minutes, the director, the producer, and the assistant director all came out to chat with us about being quiet. Our idle chatter, though fairly quiet, jarred the actors’ moods and minds, so silence was necessary for a good performance.

But when it was over, they smiled at us, and we were given congratulations all around for a good job. No hard feelings, I guess!

The first day ended at 9:30 p.m. I kid you not--6 hours to walk through a room. They filmed from various angles, up close, far away, overhead, and focus on particular duos and trios. The highlight of that day (besides standing right behind Treat Williams all evening!) was getting a compliment about my “performance” from crew member and cameraman, Mike Lookinland (of Bobby Brady fame). We stepped off the set while the real stars finished up the take. After about 5 takes in which the camera was angled at me and my “TV family”, he turned to me and told me that I looked totally ticked off. He said that it was great acting and congratulated me! Now let’s just hope it doesn’t end up on the cutting room floor!

The second day of filming the same scene began at 3:30 p.m. The set was just outside of a building at the University of Utah, in Salt Lake City. The world renowned Huntsman Cancer Institute sat just behind us, and for a few minutes, the play world we were ensconced in seemed hollow. We talked a bit, got to know one another a little more, and then went to the set.

The day was very short; barely 3 hours, start to finish. Treat Williams walked over to our group, grinned, and said, “Howdy everybody!” That was a definite perk. Another fun thing about being a featured extra is that people treat you differently. When we checked in, the casting lady said, “Oh, you’re the special ones.” We got a little more luxury and a bit more pampering. We were chauffeured about, and allowed access to the actors’ area. There is always food, but it is kept separate from the extras, although we are fed well. This time, we boldly marched over to the director’s chair and the chairs with the stars names on them and took food and drink from the stuff the stars always use! When we arrived on set, there were 100 extras, all college aged kids, strategically positioned in an outdoor area. They’d point at us, hanging out with Treat and Greg, and ask, “Who are they?”

As for the actual scene, well, I can’t reveal much else, except that Treat’s character really lets his hair down and pays for it big time. The episode is scheduled to air on Monday, October 18. Just remember…when you’re watching all of our faces—featured and stars—it’s just make believe. Everyone is really very nice.

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September 1, 2004

The Argument, The Wedding, and The Restaurant

It was a sunny, but not hot day. Sixty extras arrived at 7 a.m. It was a local shoot for me; instead of driving one and a half hours like I normally do, I only had to go two towns over.

We did the shoot on historic 25^th Street in Ogden, Utah. Andy Brown and Nina are having a seriously loud argument outside of Mama Joy’s diner. Of course, the folks in downtown Everwood completely ignore the screaming and shouting, and go about their business. That took two teams of extras, about 30 people in each team. Two cars drove up and down the street. Some of us crossed the street, some looked as if they were walking out of a store, and others sat and read the Everwood Pinecone.

Some people have asked me if the streets are touched up or decorated with anything extra, and the answer is no. The downtown really looks like that, and is a popular place to do fifties movies. There are a few Everwood touches; storefronts with Everwood, Colorado on the signs, a lovely craft store façade with a quilt on display and quaint lace curtains, and an abandoned store that looks open because of nicely arranged antiques in front of the windows. The stuff you see extras carrying are not mistakes. They are props, and we are encouraged to carry handbags and backpacks. If we don’t have anything to carry, we are given empty shopping bags, newspapers, and coffee cups. Bottled water, sodas, etc., must be hidden from view.

A block of the street was shut down from regular traffic, but the stores were open, so it was a bit of juggling for the crew to allow real shoppers to visit all the businesses that were open, and yet hide giveaway items from the camera, such as the local paper sticking out of a ladies’ purse.

We finished shooting about lunchtime, and then the huge caravan of production trucks, cast trailers, Everwood vans, and cars of all the extras drove up one of Utah’s beautiful canyons for an outdoor wedding. It was set at a place called “The Alaskan Inn” just outside of a beautiful town called Eden. We extras had a magnificent hot lunch in our standard outdoor tent with air conditioning blown in through a massive hose. The menu was herbed and grilled chicken, succulent roast beef and gravy, spaghetti, rolls, spinach, rice, potatoes, two kinds of salads, cherry/blackberry pie, chocolate ice cream, and punch! Yummy! Then we quickly (I mean we had five minutes!) changed into wedding clothes. We all emerged from the trailers looking like a fashion show.

We noticed a few young ladies in stunning teal dresses, and we were admiring their wedding wear when we realized that they were part of the cast. It was confirmed when a few young men in tuxedos emerged from the cast trailers. We were led to the back of the Inn to the stunning set where a young black couple in wedding clothes were getting their makeup done. A man and woman stood nearby, holding umbrellas over them to keep the brilliant sun from burning them to a crisp. It was only about 87 degrees, but with you’re standing in direct sun, it can be a lot of sun.

We were watching things get set up, as we always do, and then a number of us noticed that one man looked familiar. We knew we’d seen him in some major movies and shows. Finally, we asked the PA (production assistant) and he told us it was Ernie Hudson! Only one of my favorite stars, ever! You know how some stars are not as attractive in person, or shorter than they look? Not this guy! He’s as tall, and dark and handsome as he appears on film.

Most of the time on TV, the food is cold, not real, or arranged to look like the plates are full. We are generally not allowed to touch the props. But the table at the reception had a huge bowl of real shrimp, silver platters of fudge brownies, gourmet pastries and chocolate dipped strawberries. Although we were full from lunch, we were encouraged to eat... so we did! The glasses of wine you will see were just grape juice; there is never real alcohol on a set. Shoots are often quiet; we are not allowed to speak, but we were encouraged to party, to dance, to laugh, and generally have a good time. They even played real music with real musicians (At Last, Our Love Is Here To Stay). I could have done that all afternoon, but they could only shoot from one angle, so we were only there maybe a half an hour.

We quickly grabbed everything we could from the reception table and rushed to our cars. We drove back into Ogden for a scene at a restaurant. Quickly we changed again into semi dressy clothing then piled into a lovely, but dark restaurant (if you’re ever in Utah, stop by Jasoh’s in Harrison Blvd, home of New American Cuisine). The crew had already taped black plastic against the windows and set up bright lights to illuminate Amy and Ephram’s table. The young couple was having dinner and conversation. Team one of the extras were positioned in tables around the stars, and once again, given real food. The crew trimmed the wicks to cut down on black smoke, and lit them. Another crew member set a pear salad in front in me, and others at my table had cheese tortellini with pesto sauce. Good stuff!

We could not clink the forks or knives against the plates, and we had to pantomime animated conversation. The camera panned over and around us. Half an hour later, team two came down, and they filmed another angle, and then focused on filming the young stars at dinner.

Sometimes the waiting can be long, especially when it appears that we are done, and the only filming left are on the stars. But we cannot leave, because we might be needed for another scene that didn’t work on camera or some other reason. The holding area where we waited was pitch black, so many extras slept on the floor or on the two couches in upstairs. That was tricky, because there are cables and equipment everywhere. While we waited in dead silence for those last angles, we were treated to gourmet brownies from the Inn, fruit salad, candy, soda and water. We couldn’t talk, and we couldn’t read, so when they brought out the food, we definitely took to that! Finally, filming wrapped at eight o’clock, thirteen hours after we began.

The filming of the second episode of the third season: Greg, & Andrew

Our call time was at 7 a.m. in a town just south of Salt Lake City. We filmed high school scenes. The crew had already covered the school’s real sign with a fake “Peak County High School” sign, and a welcome back banner.

I was asked to play a teacher. Many of the regular extras thought I was a real teacher at the high school. I wonder what that says about me! Once I checked in, wardrobe asked to see my clothing, instructed me what to wear for indoor scenes and outdoor scenes, and then I had breakfast.

There were 82 extras, and only four of us were adults. Right after breakfast, we changed into our first set of clothing. We went outside, and did a scene where Ephram and Amy are having a blow out of a fight. Meanwhile, teachers and students are walking into the building, getting off the busses, pulling their cars into the parking lot, riding bikes, etc. The crew positioned Peak County busses at the curb, while another crew member replaced the prop cars (cars of extras) with Colorado license plates. The scene took most of the morning to shoot. Thankfully, it was a cloudy, somewhat cool morning. Utah summers have been hovering around ninety five, so a seventy five degree day was just lovely. It even started to rain a little, but filming continued.

We finished that scene at eleven a.m. and quickly moved on to another scene that took place on the same day. The crew gave some extras bicycles, skateboards, a football, a Frisbee, and a soccer ball. The scene took place on the lawn outside the school. I played a teacher weaving between tables, checking on the students to make sure they weren’t getting out of hand. But then I suddenly got called away by another teacher, and I hurry off. In the background, the extras horsed around with the Frisbee and football. That took us right up to lunch time, which is usually about 6 hours after we first begin to shoot.

After a lunch of spaghetti, chicken, vegetables, salad, chocolate cake and ice cream, we had ten minutes to change our clothes, hairstyles, earrings, and shoes. We went outside and filmed a scene which took the rest of the afternoon. The clouds parted and it got hot, fast! Students and teachers are piling into the school. It was similar to the first scene, except that Amy and Ephram are not fighting. They shot from a lot of angles, so we extras had to walk about 30 times up a sidewalk into the school. While they changed the camera angles and repositioned the stars, bodies of overheated extras dotted the acre of lawn. Some laid down on top of their backpacks, taking a quick snooze. Greg Smith and Emily Van Camp were doing cartwheels on the lawn to pass the time.

We finished shooting that scene about 5 o’clock, and then rushed into the building to change into our third set of clothing. It took place in the hallway of the high school, and took four hours to shoot. Some extras were stationed outside of the school, as background, so there was a camera shooting the action inside and outside. I was one of the outside extras. Another set of extras played soccer. The sun went down, and the outside extras sat down to chat and get to know one another. About nine o’clock, the door opened, and crew members carried out boxes and boxes of pizzas! We feasted on hot slices of pizza, and then shooting wrapped.

Groups of 15 to 20 extras are always assigned to a Production Assistant, or a PA. These guys report to the assistant director, and act as an extension of the man the director relies upon to get things done. You won’t see any PA names in the credits except at Christmas time, when everybody’s name is listed. Our PA was named Andrew, a 15 year old kid who got the job because his brother was in the crew. We complimented him sincerely on doing the best he could during the long day (15 hours), told him that this summer job would look good on his resume, and encouraged him to be tough with the few extras who weren’t the best at listening.

Later, we got the surprise of our lives when he revealed that his brother was Greg Smith, the star of the show! Andrew Smith said that he doesn’t think of his brother as a movie star. He’s just “my big brother”, as Andrew puts it.

This episode will air September 20.

Air Date: February 16, 2004

Show Summary: Ephram plays at a Jazz Concert in Boulder, but he messes up twice and storms off the stage. Later, his teacher, James Earl Jones, orders Dr. Brown to pull over. They go into a mall and Ephram plays the piano flawlessly to prove to his teacher and himself that he can do it.

Note: People ask us all the time if Gregory Smith can play the piano. We extras still aren't sure if he can. During filming, it's all mimed, and a tape of the music you hear is played while Gregory hits the silent keys. But when the show airs, they pan the camera up from his hands to his face, giving the appearance that he can play.

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We started the day at 9:30 a.m. by arriving at a mall in downtown Salt Lake (Trolley Square Mall). When we walked in, James Earl Jones was sitting in a chair at the top of some stairs. Then we started filming right away. Ephram Brown (Gregory Smith) was playing the piano and we all had to stop and listen because it was so magnificent! Our "motivation" was that Everwood is a small town with not much going on, and so any little new thing makes everyone stop in their tracks.

Mr. Jones was very polite. He talked to us extras, smiled, and treated us with kindness. A five minutes scene took about 5 hours to film.

We all drove down to Salt Lake Community College for a fake Jazz concert. We had to change into nicer clothes, fix our hair, etc. We were served dinner (yum, yum). While we waited, many of us checked our email. Being an extra is about waiting forever between takes.

I met a woman there who is also a writer. Check back for Diana Bahtishi's bio and book ordering information. We looked up her book on Amazon and then I showed her mine. We agreed to order one another's books, and review them. She's a humor column writer who has hopes of getting some screenplays published.

Then they called us into the auditorium. We clapped for real during the first couple of takes, and then for the next two hours, Ephram fake played the piano. We pantomimed clapping and exchanging facial expressions and fake conversation. Then the director walked over to me and pointed at me and told me to go sit somewhere else. I sat next to a cute kid, and giving the appearance that I was his mother. His name was Fate--no lie--and he had these beautiful braids and long fingernails. A real New Age type of kid. We joked about being "related" and then he asked me if his mommy would buy him a new car. We had a good time with that.

I didn't notice where I was sitting until several people tapped me on the shoulder and told me to look where I was sitting. I was right behind Mr. Jones, along with Treat Williams, and Chris Pratt! They heard us joking and talking and turned around and talked to us. Carole, I thought of you when Treat turned around and looked at me with those luscious eyes of his! They are a vivid blue! Later, Mr. Jones left his script and so one of my new friends scooped it up and took it home.

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Air Date: February 24, 2004

Unspoken Truths

Show Summary: Nina is served divorce papers, Amy is at a drug party.

Call time was at 7:30 in downtown Salt Lake City. When I got the initial call, casting asked me what color my car was, and sounded pleased when I told them it was a charcoal gray. I immediately found out what they wanted to do with it; it was part of the background scenery, and parked two cars down from Treat William's character's car. They roped off a section of road in Salt Lake outside an old school building that doubled as a law office. My job was to be the first background extra to walk down a sidewalk just before Treat and Stephanie (AKA Andy and Nina) walk into the building. {This whole scene was cut from the show}. I did my little walk about 10 times. The director, Michael Lange, came up to me and told me what a great job I did, looking natural and unstiff, unlike so many other extras. I'm smiling, and saying thank you, but I'm thinking, "Yikes, this great director is talking to little ol me!"

It was about 12 degrees out and sometimes snowing, so between takes, I stood there in a flimsy jacket with an umbrella. I didn't wear my winter coat or gloves because wardrobe didn't tell me that we'd be standing outside for two hours. A simple walk into a building took that long! The assistant director told me and the other extras that we could go sit in our cars while they were setting up, so that was of some comfort, and then one of the makeup people for the stars handed me those herbal handwarmers. Ahhhh, sweet relief. Stayed warm for 7 hours! Then once I casually mentioned to the ADs assistant that I would KILL for some hot chocolate, and then Mike Lookinland (of Bobby Brady fame) joked with me and the Assistant's Assistant, and they dashed off to get me a cup. So sweet!

I warmed up quickly, and then my part was over---finally, and they had to get a couple of exterior shots of the building. So they told us to wait inside the building. I was in there just a few minutes when Treat and Stephanie walked in. She looked right at me, complimented me on my coat and then asked if I was freezing, which I was, and then asked me to come over and warm my hands on the radiator. There was a knot of people warming themselves, so we all grouped together. She talked to me, complimenting me on my nails, and then invited me to sit in her star's chair! So I did, because hey, it was next to a radiator! While I was inside, several crew members told me what a great job I did walking along, and one of the cutey crew members hit on me! I didn't mind that!

Then we got into a van and they took us back to wardrobe, where we had to change into business wear. I'd brought a black jumper with a white jacket. They poo-pooed that. I also brought a light green suit, but they thought it looked too springy, so ultimately I wore a yellow and white shirt with a black skirt. We were going to be paralegals. They shot the scenes at the old planetarium in Salt Lake City, and transformed it into a law office and later, a police station. We waited in the auditorium until they called us. We extras talked, got to know one another, traded stories, etc. You Everwood fans know about Mama Joy's diner and a blond who's the cashier at the diner. One of the extras was the blond. Two of the ladies had been in a bunch of movies shot here in Utah, including a Disney movie. There's a show called "Paradise" that's going to be on Showtime, and if it's picked up, it'll be shot in Utah. So I'm excited about that--hey, maybe I can be an extra in that, too!

They called us out for lunch, and it was a Mexican feast. Tofu with spicy pineapple sauce, Mole (I think that was the spicy chocolate covered chicken), Pozole soup, rice, beans, corn with green beans and onions, beef fajitas, fruit salad, vegetable salad and ice cream for dessert. Stuffed and happy, we went back to waiting in the warm building. I noticed that Treat was on a diet, and reading a book about dogs.

They kept bringing snacks in--gum, lollipops, nuts, candy, coolers full of soda and water, salsa and chips, bowls of fruit, tons of different kinds of crackers, cheeses, hot chocolate, tea, and bags of chips. We'd go out of auditorium to use the bathroom, and there would be new stuff every hour. Later in the day, they brought in an urn of chicken soup with lots of chicken and noodles. So you're never hungry!

After all those hours waiting, I went up to see what they were filming. It was the police station scene, so they called me in to pretend to fill out a police report. I was to play the part of an obnxious neighbor. They did a couple of takes, and then stopped. I heard the director saying, "Donna" so I turned around and he was conferring with his assistant. So then they came over and said that I had already been clearly in one shot, and that the image of a mean neighbor didn't fit my bubbly, professional appearance. So they pulled up another extra, a more scraggly looking guy, to mimick that part. I was a little disappointed, but I got to sit next to the sound mixer guy, and ask him about a million questions. He told me about some of other projects he'd worked on, including the Stephen King movie, "The Stand". I got a lot of research done and notes taken, plus I got to also sit next to Treat Williams. He kept cutting up, telling jokes, singing songs, and making faces during scene rehearsals.

We wrapped at 10 p.m. It was a great day!