The Extra Factor- The who, what and why of life as an extra.
They waited in the bushes for their target to arrive. Both men were nervous as the car pulled up. They knew it contained £25,000 collected from the bank for the weekly dole payments at the exchange office. They pulled the balaclavas over their faces and checked their weapons. Both men then jumped over a wall and ran towards the car. As one of the raiders let a shot off into the air, he could see the look of terror in the employment exchange employee’s eyes. He pointed his gun with a firmness that indicated that if the money was not handed over now the next shot would not be up in the air.
This scene is a normal day in the life for extra actor Neil McManus. One day he is a ruthless INLA man and the next he is a painter and decorator in the background of a Colin Farrell movie scene.
There are thousands of extras in Ireland. They come from a cross section of society and have varying reasons for being involved in the work. The extras on set are a mixture of aspiring actors, the recently unemployed looking for cash and retired people just looking for something to do.
Neil McManus is an aspiring actor currently studying in the Gaiety School of Acting and this is the reason he became involved in work as an extra. “I wanted to see the ins and outs of what happens on a film set and the difference between stage and screen work,” he says as an extra you are moving to the same direction as the actors- you are just not doing the character work.”
Neil, who is a full-time electrician, is realistic about what extra work can do for his acting career.
“Some part-time actors come along to a set thinking they will get picked out of the crowd by the director and given a proper role. They are living in a fantasy land, this doesn’t happen.”
Stephen Gaffney like Neil, has appeared in TV programmes and has also done some work on advertisements. His reason for becoming an extra was because of an interest in being behind the camera rather then in front of it. Stephen is a student in Trinity College studying to be a film Director. “I am interested in making short films and TV programmes,” he says as an extra, you are standing around a lot. So you have time to observe how things are made.”
For Stephen the banter and craic on set is a big part of why he keeps doing extra work. He recalls one episode of Garda An Lar he worked on which generated a lot of interest in the local area they were in. “We were doing a reconstruction in a block of flats in the North Inner City. The presence of all the film crew brought out a big crowd of local kids. Once the kids saw some of the extras dressed up in Garda uniform the shouting and roaring started. It was all good natured although I couldn’t repeat some of the stuff they were saying to us.”
Derek Quinn, director and co-founder of MovieExtras.ie, deals with the very wide range of people working as extras on a daily basis. “Our database includes aspiring actors, students looking for cash and we have a couple of millionaires who are just doing it for the craic.”
This mix of people that work as extras is exactly what MovieExtras.ie are looking for. “We look for people aged from 4 months to 85 years. We have a mixture of looks and ethnicity.” This mixture means they will always have someone on their books that fits the profile of whatever movie or TV production is going on. The productions they are involved in include Fair City and The Tudors, numerous advertisements and large-scale movie productions.
So is the extras industry the place to earn some good money? Well MovieExtras.ie charge a yearly subscription of €89 to be registered with them but Derek Quinn argues that this is excellent value for the work opportunities provided. “The pay is between €77 and €150 per day for background work but we have had people paid up to €6,000 for working on advertisements.”
Although the money that can be earned can sometimes be modest enough both Neil and Stephen are complementary of how well you are treated on set. You don’t get your own personal stylist flown in from LA or a 40-foot trailer fitted with hot tub but they do put on a good spread. According to Stephen “depending what time you are there from you get breakfast and lunch. If you have to work late, you get dinner also. In most extra work I have done you are treated as in integral part of the production which makes you feel special.”
With over 400,000 unemployed in this country, is this affecting the work available to extras such as Neil and Stephen? Neil has noticed a big difference between this year and 2008. “There are loads of new people working as extras since the downturn in the economy. Many of the people I meet on set now are recently unemployed. In 2008 I was getting calls every couple of days about extra work. It has changed in 2009 on average I only get work once a month.”
There has been more bad news for those working as extras recently as filming of the final series of The Tudors is ending soon. This series was a lavish production and has provided steady and enjoyable work for extras over the last number of years. According to the Irish Film Board, there is no panic in the industry despite this recent setback. Popular ITV drama PRIMEVAL has announced that the fourth and fifth series of the programme will be filmed in Ireland. This was followed by the announcement that a new comedy thriller ‘The Guard’ starring Brendan Gleeson and Don Cheadle has started filming in Ireland. These announcements will be welcome news for Stephen, Neil and all the other extras throughout the country.
This scene is a normal day in the life for extra actor Neil McManus. One day he is a ruthless INLA man and the next he is a painter and decorator in the background of a Colin Farrell movie scene.
There are thousands of extras in Ireland. They come from a cross section of society and have varying reasons for being involved in the work. The extras on set are a mixture of aspiring actors, the recently unemployed looking for cash and retired people just looking for something to do.
Neil McManus is an aspiring actor currently studying in the Gaiety School of Acting and this is the reason he became involved in work as an extra. “I wanted to see the ins and outs of what happens on a film set and the difference between stage and screen work,” he says as an extra you are moving to the same direction as the actors- you are just not doing the character work.”
Neil, who is a full-time electrician, is realistic about what extra work can do for his acting career.
“Some part-time actors come along to a set thinking they will get picked out of the crowd by the director and given a proper role. They are living in a fantasy land, this doesn’t happen.”
Stephen Gaffney like Neil, has appeared in TV programmes and has also done some work on advertisements. His reason for becoming an extra was because of an interest in being behind the camera rather then in front of it. Stephen is a student in Trinity College studying to be a film Director. “I am interested in making short films and TV programmes,” he says as an extra, you are standing around a lot. So you have time to observe how things are made.”
For Stephen the banter and craic on set is a big part of why he keeps doing extra work. He recalls one episode of Garda An Lar he worked on which generated a lot of interest in the local area they were in. “We were doing a reconstruction in a block of flats in the North Inner City. The presence of all the film crew brought out a big crowd of local kids. Once the kids saw some of the extras dressed up in Garda uniform the shouting and roaring started. It was all good natured although I couldn’t repeat some of the stuff they were saying to us.”
Derek Quinn, director and co-founder of MovieExtras.ie, deals with the very wide range of people working as extras on a daily basis. “Our database includes aspiring actors, students looking for cash and we have a couple of millionaires who are just doing it for the craic.”
This mix of people that work as extras is exactly what MovieExtras.ie are looking for. “We look for people aged from 4 months to 85 years. We have a mixture of looks and ethnicity.” This mixture means they will always have someone on their books that fits the profile of whatever movie or TV production is going on. The productions they are involved in include Fair City and The Tudors, numerous advertisements and large-scale movie productions.
So is the extras industry the place to earn some good money? Well MovieExtras.ie charge a yearly subscription of €89 to be registered with them but Derek Quinn argues that this is excellent value for the work opportunities provided. “The pay is between €77 and €150 per day for background work but we have had people paid up to €6,000 for working on advertisements.”
Although the money that can be earned can sometimes be modest enough both Neil and Stephen are complementary of how well you are treated on set. You don’t get your own personal stylist flown in from LA or a 40-foot trailer fitted with hot tub but they do put on a good spread. According to Stephen “depending what time you are there from you get breakfast and lunch. If you have to work late, you get dinner also. In most extra work I have done you are treated as in integral part of the production which makes you feel special.”
With over 400,000 unemployed in this country, is this affecting the work available to extras such as Neil and Stephen? Neil has noticed a big difference between this year and 2008. “There are loads of new people working as extras since the downturn in the economy. Many of the people I meet on set now are recently unemployed. In 2008 I was getting calls every couple of days about extra work. It has changed in 2009 on average I only get work once a month.”
There has been more bad news for those working as extras recently as filming of the final series of The Tudors is ending soon. This series was a lavish production and has provided steady and enjoyable work for extras over the last number of years. According to the Irish Film Board, there is no panic in the industry despite this recent setback. Popular ITV drama PRIMEVAL has announced that the fourth and fifth series of the programme will be filmed in Ireland. This was followed by the announcement that a new comedy thriller ‘The Guard’ starring Brendan Gleeson and Don Cheadle has started filming in Ireland. These announcements will be welcome news for Stephen, Neil and all the other extras throughout the country.
posted by Walshpots at
1:34 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]
<< Home