Film Extras

There are a couple of reason you may want to be an extra. Some people may just want the experience of being part of a film. If you are young actor, they are benefits to being an extra.

Film Extras on SAG projects earn SAG credits. SAG is the Screen Actors Guild, which is an actors union. It is often necessary to join this union to get acting work. In order to join SAG, you must have three SAG credits, meaning work on three SAG films. Extra work is the best, if not only way for a non union person to get SAG credits.

A young actor may not have much to list on a resume. If you are just starting in acting and don't have many credits, list you extra work on your resume. Extra work is not generally listed on resumes, but if you have what amounts to a blank page something is better than nothing. The extra work you've done shows that you are serious enough to spend the long hours for little pay and that you have been on set.

In addition, you get experience what happens on set. You'll get to watch the principal actors. You'll see how the same scenes are shot again and again (acting is often very repetitive). All of this is a learning experience.

Do you want to becoma an actor? Learn more about emotional memory, concentration, scene analysis and acting exercises at ActingScenes.com. Plus, you'll find over one hundred scenes to perform for practice, classwork or competition.

Bring a book, crossword puzzles or have something quiet to do while you are seated a table. Extras and actors alike must often wait on set has sets are broken down or built up for hours at a time.

You may want to bring a change of clothes. Sometimes extras are filmed in front a blue screen or green screen. The footage can then be used is special effects. If you have a blue or green shirt on in such a case, you may be asked to change or you might even be dismissed.

First, be prepared for long hours without much to do. Many film projects have 12 hour days, attempting to get as much out of any one shooting day as possible. The SAG union allows for 12 hours days and requires additional compensation for actors if it is exceeded.

Much of the time on set will be spent waiting. Between scenes, the crew must prepare new sets and shooting locations. This often takes hours. Film Extras are often kept somewhere out of the way until they are needed. The principal actors often retreat to their trailers during these times.

Film extras are usually fed by the catering services. A lunch and dinner are customary for a 12 hour day.

Film extras don't usually earn very much. Fifty or a hundred dollars per day is about it. You'll get voucher or paid when the day wraps. That means if you leave early, you don't get paid.

Do you want to becoma an actor? Learn more about emotional memory, concentration, scene analysis and acting exercises at ActingScenes.com. Plus, you'll find over one hundred scenes to perform for practice, classwork or competition.