Frustrating (Non) Walk-On Jobs

I've mentioned in earlier posts on here about my work doing 'Walk-On' work. On such television shows as 'EastEnders,' 'The Bill,' 'Lovejoy' and many others, over around 30 years, on and off. During the 1990's I think I was on something or other virtually every month during the summer. It trailed off as the new century started, basically because I was doing care work. As I'm now officially retired I thought I'd like to get back to doing SOME sort of supporting artiste work (please don't say 'extra' as it's a bit of an insult. I've been directed by the actual director on stuff I've worked on as well as A.D.'s (Assistant Directors) who are generally the people who work with the S.A's (Supporting Artistes) and give direction. I've never had any lines to say, but that doesn't mean you're not an important part of the film, or television programme-making process. If you make a mistake or don't take direction it means that a shot has to be re-done. Actors get annoyed, as they have every right to do, and it means that a 'take' has to be re-done. You have to be extremely patient, as many 'takes' can be done of a lot of the shots. From different angles, which means that the camera or cameras in some cases, have to be moved about, along with the lights, props have to be reset, along with furniture and this all takes time and effort. The S.A.'s can be the last people to be called onto the set and have to wait in a holding area, away from the actual shooting, usually on a bus or coach. Days can be long and VERY boring. You might have to arrive at a particular location at an unholy hour, say 5.30 a.m., and you might have had to drive some considerable way to get there, in the middle of the countryside perhaps and then, when you arrive, get herded around, sent to wardrobe and makeup and the, once in costume and 'made-up,' have breakfast and sit on the bus to eat it and wait for hours until you are used, maybe for 20 minutes during the whole day, or perhaps several stints of work over the whole day.

Well, having said all that, I used to get called by telephone from the various agencies I used to be with. Mostly in the Anglia area of East England, with the best (during the 1990s at least) Jaclyn, who were based in Norwich. I'd get a call from the ladies who ran it then, and they'd say 'can you work on . . . such and such a day? It's to work on . . . 'Lovejoy', 'Middlemarch' or whatever. I'd say, yes, or no, and then you'd pencil it in in your diary. Usually regular work on 'Lovejoy' and none of the 'you've been put forward . . .' business. You just said 'yes' to a job and then went to the location or studio on the allotted day and time.

I signed up to a couple of agencies. A couple of years ago I went up to London to register with Casting Collective. My stepson Daniel even came with me to make sure I got there. I think there was some concern that I was going to get lost or something. Hardly likely, but who knows? My photograph and my details were collected and put on their website. It seems that most casting is done using this technology. I can imagine it's easier than producing the more traditional 'Casting Book' that most agencies used to have. Probably less expensive as a print book must cost an arm and a leg to produce and then distribute to television and film companies as well as advertising agencies and other people most likely to need walk-on's as well a photographic models. After a while I began to get text messages. No such thing as a telephone call. You have to answer very quickly to these texts. Really  no personal touch with an agency ringing and speaking to you direct. I got quite a few 'you've been put forward for . . .' bites, one for something called John Carter of Mars and another for The King's Speech. A pity I didn't get to work on that, because it won the 'Best Picture' Oscar the year it was released. But no joy on either movie, unfortunately.

I also signed up with an agency in Birmingham called Extra People or something. We actually drove up to Birmingham to have photographs done at their studio in the Jewellery Quarter. A photo was posted on their website but I heard nothing for years. Until a few weeks ago I had an email from them telling me that they'd put me forward for a job as a gardener on something near Chipping Norton, at some large country house. I have a hunch it was to work on an episode of the popular series 'Father Brown,' which is filmed in and around Oxfordshire. It wouldn't have taken too long to get to the location, but then I got another email a few days later to say I hadn't been chosen. More recently I had another email from 20/20 after I'd responded, through Facebook, to a call for people to work on something at Cardington, in one of the former balloon sheds which have been converted into a film studio. I heard nothing further until a week or two ago when they sent yet another email asking for people to fill in for people who couldn't presumably fulfil a very long commitment to filming something called 'Big Ears' which I believe, after doing a Google search, is a live-action remake of Disney's 'Dumbo,' and being directed by Tim Burton. I sent a selfie, as well as my NI number and other details but, as Carol isn't well and now in hospital (see previous blog post) I couldn't accept, unfortunately. As it was for about a month-worth of work it would have been quite lucrative money-wise. So, after all the excitement of being even considered for work on something and then being told you haven't been selected, it's somewhat frustrating, to say the least.

There was YET ANOTHER call for work, again via email, for something filming in Milton Keynes. Don't ask me what it was for, or, for that matter, where in Milton Keynes. So, you can imagine I was keen to say 'yes' to it. But, you've guessed it, nothing came of it. You would think, would you not, that I'd be in with a chance with something that was being filmed virtually on my doorstep? But, no, I didn't even get a sniff.

I just don't understand this thing about being 'put forward' for this sort of work. It's not as if you're going to do an actual speaking part. You just have to be able to take a certain amount of direction, behave properly, not take any photographs on the set, be extremely patient and not trip over the scenery. They seem to make a big issue over something quite straight forward. I've been booked for work where you accept or decline the work offered work and then just go to the location and do the day's walk-on and that's the end of it. Then you sign the clit at the end of the day and get paid a few week's later.

Strictly Come Dancing and Saturday Television

Oh dear, what's happening? I sat and watched ALL of 'Strictly Come Dancing' yesterday evening. I'm not exactly a fan, although Carol loves it. I find anything 'celebrity' orientated, or 'reality television' totally awful, but this is somehow engrossing. I have never seen what was so interesting in seeing a group of really boring individuals sitting around in a house (ie. 'Big Brother') or a load of celebrities in the middle of a jungle doing really stupid things, but the dancing in 'Strictly' is quite good. Although the prospect of someone like Anne Widdecombe or Paul Daniels making a complete fool of themselves on the dance floor is quite amusing. At least she doesn't take it too seriously and is really self-deprocating. Anyway, what is so wonderful about 'celebrity' and what is a celebity, anyway? They're just people doing a job, but in the public eye. In general they're just self-promoting individuals who know how to play the Public Relations game. The show is really just a way of selling tabloid newspapers, because everytime something happens to them, such as them falling over in rehearsals or saying something awful about someone else, it appears in the newspapers the next day. I'm not over-keen when the judges say something nasty about the contestants, particularly Craig Revel-Horwood. He's really negative about most of the dancers. I'd love to now what his qualifications are for actually being a judge on this show. I don't think the audience actually like him, because they always boo whenever he says anything negative about any of the contestants.

Yesterday we did some shopping, and I have to report that Christmas is coming! We saw Christmas cards, and the usual pre-Christmas junk which the supermarkets foist on us three months before the actual Festive period. Asda, where this was seen, has an aisle which you can't avoid as you enter the store, which is currently fully of Hallowe'en tat. This is where the 'Seasonal' goods seem to go. It may be Bonfire Night items one week, Valentine's Day items around about Mid-January, Easter eggs, or in this case severed arms, legs, and other mutifarious bodyparts which constitute good taste for Hallow e'en.Who really wants a false severed arm, covered in blood? What do you do with it?? Or, in the matter of Christmas items, puddings, mince pies, wrapping paper, chocolate Christmas tree decorations??? Are we expected to store these things somewhere in our homes, for three months until Christmas Day? We've got little space to store everyday items, such as cleaning materials, toilet rolls, and all the things you don't generally want just lying around your home on public display, but all this Christmas tat, where are we supposed to keep it? And do the food items (ie, puddings, chocolate, mincepies) have a long enough 'best before' date that they don't deteriate before the 25th December.)

Before I sign off this post, I must just mention that I haven't had any work from Casting Collective. I did mention towards the beginning of this blog, it must be back in October or November last year that I was going to sign up with this film/television extra Supporting Artiste agency in London. Well, I have had not a single day's work out of them. They have texted me on several occasions for work, and 'put me forward' for several things, for example, a film with Colin Firth called 'The King's Speech', another, a Disney movie called 'John Carter of Mars' but not a sniff of a day's work on that. There has been a Channel Four series being made in Oxford called,  I can't remember the name, but I didn't get chosen for that, and quite a few more bits and pieces, including a commercial for Bulmer's cider being made in Henley on Thames and 'Johnny English 2' which was being made in Milton Keynes, which would have been good as I wouldn't have had to drive far, but not a sniff, sneeze or otherwise on actually being used. So that lets you know what happened with that agency. And they emailed me to ask if I was interested in continuing with my membership for next year. My answer will be a big no, unless you cast me in something DEFINITE and actually USE ME!

No Casting

Well, I didn't get any sort of response regarding the film from Casting Collective, so I'll just assume that I'm not going to be called for any work on "The King's Speech." It's just the luck of the draw I suppose. I think perhaps they were asking people to get their availability and there were more people contacted than were actually needed for the call. Oh well, it is the first week of 2010, so there's bound to be more work. There seems to be a lot of stuff being produced at the moment, so I'll just have to be patient and wait and see.

London Visit

I went to London on Friday. I went by train, as I didn't fancy driving. I have applied to join an agency called Casting Collective to get back doing film and television walk-on work. I have done a lot of this work over the past few years, but haven't done any for a while, due to one thing and another. I'd sent my details via their website, and up-loaded a photograph. It had taken a while, as we have an extremely sl-o-w internet connection at the moment (long story regarding this.)but it must have got to it's destination, as I got an email from them telling me that, to join their 'book' for 2010 I would need to go to their offices during November to register. I rang and got the appointment for last Friday at 2 p.m. Carol insisted that Daniel, her son, meet me in London, as she knows that I have no sense of direction, and I think she thought I was going to get lost. Daniel had done his homework, finding the correct train for me to catch in Milton Keynes (the 1204, to be precise.) the right Underground connection, train etc, and where to get off near the agency's office. I texted him once I was on the train to say that I was on my way, and we met outside Costa coffee at Euston station.

Casting Collective's offices are in a rather uninteresting area of London, not far from BBC Television Centre. We got there in good time, as I was texted to say that I'd need to get to the office a good 15 minutes before the appointment. Other people began to arrive, presumably as they were booked for a 2 p.m appointment. We eventually went in and Daniel went off to fill in the time before I came out from the appointment. The door was locked, with a printed message saying to not 'buzz' the door as it was lunch-time and to wait unti 1.45 before 'buzzing' to be let in. Which someone at the front of the queue did. We had to sit and wait in a long line of chairs and then fill in further forms, which seemed to take some time, and I was eventually taken in to the registration area. I won't actually know for certain whether I'm selected for entry into the 'book' until sometime in December, as it isn't a foregone conclusion. I suppose they get so many people who want to do this sort of work, and then, for one reason or another, suddenly decide that they can't do it, perhaps because of work commitments, and then don't sign on. So, I must be patient and see what happens. I do hope so, as they have done a lot of big films, Harry Potter included, and it would be great to work on something like that. The session ended with a photographer doing several photographs, which will go in their casting directory and on their website.So, I went off and that was the end of the appointment. Nothing glamourous about any of this, as it never is. Just an ordinary office in a rather boring street in a rather unassuming corner of London.

I texted Daniel to say that I had finished, a good deal quicker than I had anticipated. The whole appointment was no more than 45 minutes all told. He had gone into Charing Cross Road to look around computer stores there, so I had to wait for him to return. I walked towards the Underground station, and met him about half way. We went back to Euston, got on the train for Milton Keynes and he got off at Watford Junction, as he was going to work that evening. I rang Carol on my mobile, to discover that she had been given a lift from the academy to the carpark near the station, and I met her outside just as I got off the train.