FilmChatter: Life As An Extra

After spending a lot of Day 2 with my face in the carpet during the police raid, things were definitely going to be more quiet on Day 3! This was the last of my three days working as an extra (or background actor) on "Southern Comfort," a pilot produced by 20th Century Fox Television. The show is set in Memphis, Tennessee and is being filmed here through Thursday. I worked in an upscale birthday party scene being held for Madeline Stowe's character. (As before, SPOILERS applenty will follow in my reports!).

Before we had left on Day 2, we were told that our Call Time was 8:00 a.m. But, just before bed time, I was called by the casting folks, telling me that I was supposed to be there at 6:00 a.m. instead. What?! So much for those two hours of sleep! Well, what I do for my craft! Luckily (kinda), they called me back and said that Call Time would be 6:30 a.m. Okay, a little better. So, I got up and got myself to the set. As soon as I got there, though, I was told to get right over to the house where they were filming. So, I grabbed part of a muffin, some milk, and got myself over there. We were then positioned to pass in front of the camera during a dialogue scene to add movement to the shot.

After that, though, there wasn't much to do for the day. So, I guess I should be lucky I got to do a little more. Those who didn't hear their messages in time (yeah, right!) were waiting around until after lunch. By mid-afternoon, we did get to do some final cool stuff. We got to stand below the back porch where Eric Roberts' character made a birthday speech for Madeline Stowe's character. Then, we went down towards the lake where we watched Madeline Stowe's character as she fired the new rifle she received as a birthday present.

Things wrapped up as we got to have hot dogs and pizza that the production brought in. We had our final time sheets signed and got the vans back to the parking lot. Towards the end of the day, I was able to trade names and information with other extras so I could keep in touch. As our van left the set, we passed all of the trailers lining the suburban streets, heading off to whatever filmmaking adventure would come next.

Pilot for Fox Series To Be Shot in Memphis - The Commercial Appeal

Cameras Set to Roll on Fox Pilot - The Commercial Appeal