A day on the movie set

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Anybody who knows me even a little bit in real life know that my principal interest is the cinema, even more than travel, and thank god for that since I am not currently able to travel until further notice. But don't imagine that I am a film buff or anything like that, because I have very little interest in the classics. What interests me are the very latest events in filmmaking, new methods of storytelling and new technology. I often pay more attention to how the camera is moving and how the scenes are edited than to what the actors are doing -- except that I am also obsessed by the quality of the script and allow no discrepancy to pass unnoticed.

In other words, I have always wanted to make movies even more than to see them, and if I had followed my true calling in university, I would not have wimped out into political science and gone to film school instead. Well, in a way, I did go to film school, since I went to the University of Southern California, the prime film school of the United States along with Columbia University in New York -- so all of my optional credits in university were always film classes. We went to the studios, we talked to the directors, we saw movies that were so vile that they had never dared to release them and we saw movies so terrible that they were never able to release them.

I got my first job as a movie extra when I was in university, in Richard Fleischer's science fiction movie "Soylent Green" starring Charlton Heston and Edward G. Robinson. I appear on screen about 5 times in food riots, and that is me in the red circle in the photo. I was seen in lobby cards in cinemas around the world. Do you remember lobby cards? Of course not. Somewhere in my archives, I actually have an original lobby card of this photo.

I spent two days of glorious misery at the MGM studions in Culver City, California. The movie took place during a heat wave, but we were filming in October, and it was very chilly. As starving street rabble, we had a mixture of dirt and vaseline smeared on us and it was in the same condition that we had to eat during the catering service. I loved every minute of it, the hours of waiting for the minute of action. The assistant director shrieking "SILENCE" or "ROLLING" or "ACTION" was a major highlight. He was always running up to the director who would whisper things to him and then he would tell various people (sometimes me), "you walk diagonally over to that spot and then you stop and look around when the window breaks."

I was an extra in a few other movies -- a French movie called "La Clé sur la Porte" about a young boxer. I was just one of the excited spectators yelling. I went to Santo Domingo to be an extra in Sydney Pollack's "Havana," one of his biggest flops. I was fully costumed and made up in this one, and even had my hair trimmed and slicked by the makeup department to look like 1959. Most of my time was spent slowing strolling around the casino with my Jackie Kennedy style wife watching the people playing slot machines, while the real movie action was at a poker table. We were just blurs in the background. I was also one of the patrons standing at the bar while Robert Redford chatted with Lena Olin in a booth. Basically, everything I did in "Havana" ended up on the cutting room floor, which is extremely common. But I loved that, too, just walking into the big plywood shack on the outside and finding myself in an opulent casino on the inside, looking at the rails on the floor for the camera movements, the lights set up in every corner. It is a technical world that fascinates me.

I received an offer to be an extra in a movie called "Titanic" that was filming in Mexico. It sounded like a waste of time, so I turned it down, and I had no interest in going to Mexico anyway, and that basically ended my movie career, because it was the last offer.

But the other day, I knew where a film set could be found, and I knew that it was an open film set (super rare) because the location was in a French national monument. The Ministry of Culture allows filming in such places but refuses to close them to the public for the purpose of filming -- take it or leave it. And so I went to immerse myself in a day of filming again.

All of the trucks were there. You need a lot of trucks of equipment to film anything.









I was not the only person who knew what was going on.

At one point, there was a terrible dilemma. To get into the monument (Château de Pierrefonds), people had to buy a ticket. But the ticket office (on the left) did not open until the château opened, while on the right, the various actors were arriving, and people didn't want to miss them. Stand in line and miss some arrivals or watch the arrivals and get into the château late and miss something else? I knew how slowly the day would go, so I wasn't really worried about missing anybody or not. Whatever will be will be.

Oops, here's an actor who just arrived. He is the principal villain!



And here is the lady playing the Queen of Camelot.

What next?

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The château had been decked out with the banner of the BBC series, and people began to stream in -- the public and also the extras, who were arriving on foot from an unknown place which I immediately decided that I would investigate later in the day.

Horses were also extras.





It's interesting to see who is in charge of what. This guy was in charge of getting each actor into the château unmolested.







The central courtyard was where most people would be spending the day.

[bixaorellana]

Truly fascinating! Can't wait for more.

A question in the meantime, please: how do they keep the public quiet during filming? Do they just edit out random sneezes or cell phone ringings later?

[Deleted]

They yell "SILENCE!" There were a few tense moments because several high school groups came through in the morning. Imagine trying to get teens to shut up.

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The courtyard appears very often in the series, so they need all sorts of shots of people going hither and thither, with or without accessories.

I was able to get a few shots of the courtyard as it will appear in the episodes.

       







But usually there are anachronistic intrusions everywhere.

[bixaorellana]

This is out of this world! My total favorites are the last three -- the anachronistic knights.

[lola]

Too cool, K. I love the villain on his mobile. And he seems like such a nice guy.

The government's policy seems like a good one. I have wondered how moviemakers manage at Versailles.

[Deleted]

Clearly he has fooled the others since he is dressed as a knight (albeit with a druid cloak thrown on top!); it requires extreme nobility to become a knight of Camelot. The only person I know who ever got permission to film in Versailles is Sofia Coppola. I presume she shot major things on Monday when the château is closed and other things after closing hours -- since the sun hardly ever goes down in May and June, you can film things in France at 9pm and still have it look like mid-afternoon.

I have more stuff for this report, but Photobucket is being temperamental and has delayed me.

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One of the scenes we were able so see was the villain skulking about.





They did a lot of takes of this, and the extras had to walk their walks again and again.

These guys had to walk in the background, turn around and walk back.



People had to keep adding wood to the fires.



Accessories waited to be used.

[Deleted]

What was so frustrating was knowing at all of the big stars were filming major scenes upstairs in the "throne room" which was closed to the public for the morning. The French cultural authorities might make a big show out of leaving the monuments open to the public in case of filming, but they are not going to refuse bundles of money being thrown at them. Hence, this kind of notice:

"Due to filming: closure of the following chambers until 14:30....

Closure of ..... starting at 14:00"

Therefore, the château is never really closed, but certain areas are not accessible at certain times.

Oh, and I really looked upstairs with extreme longing, because you could see what they were doing.







One of the top stars even came out on the balcony for a break.

   

[htmb]

Really cool, K. I am sure there was a lot of standing around for you, but how fascinating this all is and your photos so far really give a sense of what you were watching. Were you there all day?

[Deleted]

Oh, the nasty trick they pulled on us! During high season, the château does not close at lunch time. But starting in September, it closes for an hour from 13:00 to 14:00. Considering the number of people already inside, I figured they would just stop new people from coming in, but no -- there was an announcement that we all had to leave! Okay, not so much of a problem, but it quickly became evident that the cast and crew had remained inside to finish up some scenes without our annoying presence!

However, within 30 minutes, they all came out as well. I was amused by the fact that the top stars never came out through the front but clearly had some sort of secret exit. (I had already read this on the obsessional websites, so it was not at all a surprise to me.)

Special mention for this crew member. It was fucking cold that day and he kept parading around like this.

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The lunch closure gave me a chance to find out where all of the people who had to leave on foot were going. Only the stars and some of the crew had access to vehicles to take them around.

The answer was about 500 metres away -- a huge cinema village.



This was the costume tent.



And this was the catering tent.

Even though I knew that this is how everything is done, I was nevertheless amazed at how much stuff was set up for just one week of filming. For this particular series, there were two one week periods of filming this year. In previous years, they came for three one week periods, but since this is the 5th season of the series, they have built more sets at their home base in Cardiff and don't need to come to Pierrefonds as much.

One of the odd things about a television series is the fact that the episodes are not at all filmed in sequence when various locations are used. In the past, this (as well as a lot of series) was filmed in blocks of three episodes at a time, all mixed up. But now that they come less often, it is entirely possible that scenes are filmed from 5 or 6 episodes as needed. I feel sorry for the actors in cases like this, because it really complicates their work. When at all possible, every actor likes to film an episode or a film in sequence, but with this method sometimes they have to shoot long sequences with characters who died two weeks ago on the shooting schedule.

I guess this should reassure people who think that acting is super easy work for a lot of money. It is actually super hard work, but yes, for a lot of money.

The knights did not change their colour code. It was so cold, they had yellow blankets!





Our "villain" had fun taking pictures of the crowd.



Some kind of gallows had been set up in the courtyard!





They tend to burn people to death in the series, hence the butane?

[bixaorellana]

Ooo ~~ the villain gives good skulk! That second picture of him skulking is a great photo. It should be a publicity still.

All the photos are good & really fun. Were you ever bored? Also, is it usually that cold there this time of year?

[Deleted]

No, it was very unusually cold after several days of rain. It had rained all day the previous day, so for certain scenes, they used a fire hose to wet down the cobblestones in the courtyard.

Anyway, after lunch, they let everybody back in.

This has got to be one of the most thankless tasks in the movie industry -- being the stand in for the star. This poor guy had to sit around for the entire day, looking like the star, dressed like the star, but being absolutely nobody.

 



And the French extras waited and waited and waited also.











They actually used a prop broom to clean up horse shit.

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After spending the morning on one side of the courtyard, the crowd was moved to the other side for the afternoon.

It was not yet 14:30, but I decided it was time to run upstairs and see if I could get a peek at the salle des preuses, which is used in the series at the throne room. This is one thing they are not going to build in Cardiff if the series continues.

Actually, I had gone prowling in the morning and had caught a very brief glimpse when a door opened. I saw that the room was flickering and filled with smoke, but the main thing I saw was the dragon lady holding the door staring at me with her eyes telling me "if you reach for your camera, you are dead!"

The room was still not accessible, but the door was now open, and a new dragon lady was there just to keep people from penetrating but not taking photos. I saw that the "throne room" was now the location of King Arthur's round table -- a much larger one than I expected.

Having seen that, I knew that I was not going to see much more today, and I had been hanging around for about seven hours anyway, which is more than enough for a whim.

This man was clearly more than an extra but nobody knew who he was.





This actor is one of the principal knights in the series.





And after 4 seasons as a servant, Guinevere is now queen, and she looks like one, too.



This major British actor is the wise old doctor of the series.



Time to go back to the real world.

















Goodbye, movie world.

[lola]

So many excellent shots. Guinevere is a stunner in that dress. And that "somebody" extra.

What were you wearing on your head in that first crowd scene?.

[auntieannie]

Ever tried to become an extra in the french movie industry, K2? just for the fun of it? You could now?

[bixaorellana]

Really wonderful & so many good shots. I love all of "the more things change, the more they remain the same" ones, such as the men in plastic rain ponchos interspersed with the droopily dressed medieval people and the girl in the hoodie almost blending in with the group shot of the men. Speaking of group shots, the one of the three women with an iPad is just stellar.

Boy, the star's stand-in would really fool anyone in non closeup shots!

Why would they use a hose to wet down already wet cobblestones?

Just a super job of conveying the ebb and flow of the day & a visual treat overall -- thanks!

[auntieannie]

The guy with two vests must be a northerner, by the way... ;-)

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Well, here's the promo for the upcoming season.

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Sept 16, 2012 13:20:26 GMT lola said:

What were you wearing on your head in that first crowd scene?.

We had these khaki caps which I presume were standard wear in the horrible 21st century NYC pollution.

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Here is how it all ended the next day in Pierrefonds, which was the last day of filming. You will see most of my same cast of characters.

[htmb]

It's nice to see the actors being so attentive to the fans. Some of the older actors looked like they were really enjoying the attention.

I think visiting sets like this one is fascinating. My father and I were each extras in a movie made in the 1960's titled "No Man Stands Alone." I don't think it was ever released, but the main actor was James Whitmore. I was only a child, but I had to ride my horse through a park in the background of one scene. My father was a businessman walking by on a street in another.

I also spent time watching the filming of a William Shater movie ( I have no idea the title). There was filming done inside my uncle's home, as well as outside on the street in Tampa. This was probably in the late sixties since I was still in high school. Fascinating to see all the equipment used when creating one or two brief little scenes.

Very nice report, k. Thanks so much for braving the cold to bring us these fantastic photos and helping us to feel like we were there along with you.

[nycgirl]

This report is such a treat! I, also, am enamored with the magic of cinema. I'd love to visit a movie set.

I've been an extra once, in an indie French film that probably didn't get a theatrical release. Not as illustrious as "Soylent Green." It was fun, though, and I even had a line. I shouted "Charge!" in French. (Can't remember the word now.)

These photos are terrific. I especially got a kick out of the anachronistic ones. And I'm pleasantly surprised to see how diverse the cast is. That's not very common for medieval-themed movies.

This is a great follow-up to your Pierrefonds thread. I recognized the lizard rain gutters.

[lugg]

Fascinating and entertaining. So many great photos , especially the well timed captures of the set without any anachronistic paraphenalia, but I too think the three of the anachronistic knights are fantastic.

I have never visited a set where filming was taking place, so the question from me is- Do they shout - light, camera , action and clap the clapperboard still or is that a myth ?

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On this set, the main three words were "silence!" (to the public and assistants), "rolling" (the camera is on), and "go!" (this addressed to the extras who had to walk around and do their various things). I wasn't close enough to the "real" actors to hear their additional instructions.

Through the most remarkable of coincidences, it appears that mich64 and her husband were there the same day at the same time as I. They might even appear in my photos. Maybe we'll find out when they return from their holiday.

[mich64]

We are home! I just went through all of your photos carefully to see if we were in any, but not. We only had our tablet with us when we were away, I am so glad today to be looking at your essay on my large lap top screen! Well done!

I could have spent the entire day there as well. I was enthralled by the whole experience and could not believe how fortunate we were to be there on a day when they was filming.

We did find our way up to the Throne Room and I was allowed to peek inside and I got a very good look at Guinevere, she is absolutely gorgeous and her red gown was spectacular!

I enjoyed the fires burning in the court yard, not only for the warmth but the ambiance it created.

My sister was not as excited about the whole experience as I was, did not seem to interest her at all. My husband could sense my excitement and left me to absorb as much as I could by myself while he went along with them touring the Castle where she snapped her camera constantly. I am sure she has many good photos that I will have her send me. I was too busy watching and listening.

I was fortunate that one of the ladies moving people through the passageway where the actors were sitting was kind to me and allowed me to lean against the wall and observe for as long as I liked while she hustled everyone else by.

I have yet to load my photos from my camera onto my laptop, will do so in the coming days and will post some pictures.

It is amazing to think K and I probably passed one another at some point of the day.

[bixaorellana]

Mich, how absolutely thrilling that you could add eye-witness details to this thread. And what super luck to get up close to some of the doings. On one hand, it's a shame you & Kerouac didn't run into each other. On the other, selfish hand, if you had, you all would have been distracted & we might not have this fabulous report.

Welcome home! Can't wait to see & hear all you've done.

[mich64]

Thank you Bixa!

Our original itinerary would have had us there when filming was done... Thank goodness I thought it too much for my husband to drive the first day to Caen, therefore, I reversed the route and made Compeigne our first nights stop.