Working as an Extra on a Film

Take a Virtual Tour of Yankee Stadium where this movie was shot!

View Exclusive Photos of the set Here

Filming for the new Kevin Costner film, "For Love of the Game" is now completed! I was an extra on the set, and this article will let you in on some moviemaking details.
The film is about baseball, and as you would have it, of course we are filming in a very cool and famous baseball stadium, Yankee Stadium. This is the T-shirt we were given: (Click on the pic for larger image)

T-shirt logo

My job is basically to "cheer", "boo", "ooh" and "ahh" etc. when the directors give a signal. Whoo hoo! I do get paid, and I get free breakfast, hot lunch and a few snacks. I am not in the Screen Actors Guild, so I don't get prefferential treatment (such as better food, or better placement, besides the better pay!), but it's fun nonetheless.

Inside the stadium, there are tons of cardboard cutouts-pictures of real people pasted onto cardboard, then propped in the seats, to make the stadium look filled. There are only about 1500 extras in the stands, and they move us around to all areas of the stadium for different angles, to give the illusion that there are thousands and thousands packed in. The upper tiers are not filled at all. We are moved for almost every different scene. I have so far sat behind home plate, in right field and in the bleachers way out under the huge scoreboard. I have been paid to sit in seats that most people have to pay lots of money to have the privelige to get.

Some of the little details about the extras in the shoot and the props:

Some of the vendors are real vendors, but some are just extras. They carry souvenirs and food--hot dogs, bags of peanuts, cracker jacks, etc. We are told at the beginning to NOT eat the food. The cracker jacks boxes are emptied, so what you are seeing is just empty boxes...and the beer cans being "sold" are all empty as well. If you watch really close, you can see that most of the vendors are not getting "paid" for their items. Some guys will throw a bag of peanuts into the crowd, but never come up to collect the money. The girl with the souvenirs is kind of weird; I saw many people calling to her for a flag or magazine, and she is holding them up, showing us, but doesn't stop or give any to us! The magazine she carries is already worn and beaten up. heh!

The film is set in July, and everyone is out there wearing winter coats, woolen hats, layers upon layers. We get there at 6:30 am, and it is brisk to say the least! We are in the stadium for at least 11 hours a day, and have to take off the coats when the camera is rolling. The problem is, there are many , MANY people who refuse to take off their coats! Some have been reprimanded for it, but most are ignored, there are just too many. I can not believe the ones who don't even act. I saw one guy in his coat, reading a newspaper the whole time we were supossed to be cheering, and acting in other ways. He is getting paid to sit and ignore is responsibilities. Grrr. Others, (Esp the men, I noticed) whine about how cold they are, and will not take off their coats. So when this film comes out watch for tons of people in heavy coats in the middle of "July". They also asked us not to wear black, but hundreds of people wore all black anyway. A couple of girls all dressed in Gothic type clothing , all black, were there as well. Hmm. They just didn't look like big baseball fans. Most of the big fans wore jerseys and hats, with the teams names on them. Not to stereotype, but in a film, shouldn't you listen to what wardrobe tells you to wear if you are getting paid?

Concerning the baseball scenes, there was a shot where the actor had to pretend to swing at a ball, with no BAT in his hands. Another scene involved what we think will be a home run, but oops, no he catches the ball. This scene was filmed with us in the bleachers, and we were told to cheer, cheer , cheer, then when the catcher catches the ball, go, "awwwwww". It seems this was a problem scene, and it was shot over and over again, for at least three different days.

In another scene where the umpires and coaches have a disagreement, we are told to cheer softly when the problem is resolved, and some people were asked to "heckle"....that means when everyone else was cheering lowly, they would start gesticulating and screaming their disapproval.

In some shots we were told that since there was dialogue, we would need to pantomime. We had to pretend to clap and shout and cheer, without making a sound. It looked really funny the first time we did it, and some people didn't catch on and were making noise. It was one of those things you just have to see. When the director yelled "cut!" everyone started applauding themselves:)

Some people were listening to walkmans so loud, you could hear them from many rows away. They had no intention of letting this film get in the way of their comfort. They are a disgrace in my opinion, because we are getting paid to work, and sitting there toasty warm, listening to your walkman (and SINGING! no less), reading, doing crosswords, etc. is just an affront to all of us who are covering for them.

There was a raffle held and a few choice items were given away: TVs Stereos and Vcrs.

Well this week has been interesting! For most of the morning we were sent to sit in left field. Well, technically not IN the field, but in the seats:) The sun was shining, people were chatting, it was toasty warm and very comfy. Of course, the three girls behind me would not stop talking about their dentists and agents, etc. They were like, ValleyGirl rejects, and spoke like every character on MTV's "Daria" except, well...Daria herself. I filled that role;)One girl kept shouting/whining that she forgot her sunscreen and her lip balm. I, ever prepared, whipped out my lip balm with SPF 15 and began applying it, making sure the label was clearly visible behind me>;-) Well, they were desperately annoying! Some very kind lady offered the superficial group behind me a bottle of sunscreen and they practicaly screamed how appreciative they were. Ugh. Puh-leeze. How fake can you be?

Everything is great...until we get moved. By this time I know that our doom is sealed and we are headed out to ...DADADUM DUM DUUUUMMMM...."The Bleachers". Aaargghh! We sat in the shade of the bleachers for oh..hmm..about 3 or 4 hours. Nippy outside to say the least! We were moved again after that to LUNCH! yay! The yummiest slab of meat loaf ever! I mean that, because if you were sitting outside freezing without a coat on half the time YOU would love the meat loaf as well:)

After Lunch, we were sent back to the bleachers, where we remained for the rest of the day and into the night. We did not leave until 10 o'clock that evening. The hardest part of the day was when they ran out of coffee. AND hot water. AND Cocoa. So there was just nothing warm left. They ordered soup in coffee cups, but only a handful of us got any, and when I got my hands on one, I used it as a hand warmer! I could not even feel my feet it was so cold, and I was wearing two pairs of socks. A few fights broke out because we were all cold and tired and cranky. Some extras were escorted from the stadium as well.

On "Access Hollywood", Kevin Costner was interviewed and they made a big deal out of the fact that he pitches "300 times" a day. Well, from what I actually saw he pitched FAR LESS, about 5 or 6 times a day. He was nice enough to give out autographs on more than one occasion, and took time with his fans who were also extras:) One person had him sign thei T shirt, and also had the guy who holds the signs up sign it as well. The extras dubbed this man, "Socko". Don't ask why, but every popular person there had a nickname. A guy who was carrying on with his boxing gloves and radio was Christened "Guido" also known as "Rocko". He was an interesting sort who would wander off into the prohibited areas, thereby causing Security to fetch him and bring him inside, to the extras disapproval. Bock, one of the assistant directors, went to get him back again and everyone cheered. "Guido" was a big part of the fun at Yankee Stadium during the filming, and no doubt he will be seen in the finished product!

The last day of filming was Monday, November 22.

If you would like to see what the Internet Movie database has to say about For Love of The Game, just click the link and have a looksie. they have a little info on it and it is currently listed under the "In Production" category. Interestingly enough, it is listed just two notches above Foreign Correspondents, the film by Mark Tapio Kines. Mark is a doll, please visit his website.

Everything written here is my work unless otherwise noted, so dont even think about stealing or "borrowing" it without permission. Thanks. All writings this page � 1998 Pomeranc All Rights Reserved