Hello! Rob the Guinea Pig here. I shall start off my first entry to this blog by sharing with you lovely people a few exciting days from last week.
Thursday 13th Sept - up at 4am to get to Pinewood Studios in pitch darkness for 6am (joy!). (Got stopped by the police at 5.20am for weaving my way through the scene of a traffic accident, rather than turn back to find another route. I’d had four hours sleep - so sue me!)
I’m playing a ferry passenger in the new Batman movie, and am told to bring clothes that ‘a refugee would grab had they had to flee Gotham City in a hurry’ (does anybody actually flee slowly from anywhere?) - so I basically wore what I usually wear - black jeans and patterned t-shirt. Had to swap the t-shirt at Costume for a denim shirt instead, as that was said to be more American-looking (they found one that just about fitted my ample frame).
I then spent eight hours sitting on a baking-hot bus waiting to be called to the set, during which time I: (a) ate a cooked breakfast and dinner, (b) chatted to a few ‘femme fatales’, (c) snoozed a little, (d) read a few pages of my book (THE TERROR by Dan Simmons - excellent so far), (e) texted a teacher friend (Jeremy), and (f) visited the toilet portacabin twice.
It’s a life of glamour making films, I tell you.
Then at 3.15pm we got the official summons to Stage ‘S’, where the ferry set is in position. Can’t tell you anything about the scene, I’m afraid (owing to a confidentiality agreement we’re all obliged to sign), but one of the villains can be heard over a loudspeaker. Sadly, I doubt if you’ll see me in the finished movie, as I was right at the back of the room throughout filming.
We eventually wrapped at 6pm - a twelve-hour day. Still…beats nine-to-five in an office somewhere…
Friday 14th - interview with RES Ltd, who provide stewarding at Wembley Arena amongst other places. Given my current employment with CES at Wembley Stadium and QPR, I was accepted without qualm. I have an induction on Oct 3rd, and presumably will start work asap afterwards. I’d hoped to start work with them back in July, but they’ve been a little tardy with their recruitment programme. Still…some excellent shows coming up (Rush, Police, Bill Bailey, Hard-Fi) - don’t know yet how I go about registering for them. Should be good.
Sat 15th - rehearsal for OUTSIDE EDGE, the play I’m doing with Proscenium in Nov. I’m playing Dennis, the cad - interesting part, as I’ve never played a cad before. Am summoning up all my memories of Terry-Thomas as I go through the lines.
Eve - games evening at Chrissie and Nick’s. Played Scattergories, and had great fun winding up Nick. Under ‘Famous Duos’ and the letter ‘O’, he had ‘Orville’. We discounted it, as he hadn’t written down ‘…and Keith Harris’, thereby nullifying the answer. He wouldn’t have it. ‘Who else would it be??’
‘Could be Wilbur Wright,’ his mate Steve replied, ‘but you haven’t written that down either. We’re not mind-readers!’
Suffice to say, he added a point to his score, and we all took it off at the end….
Sun 16th - took advantage of the London Open House Weekend and went down to Rotherhithe. Had a tour of the Sands Film Studios and the Brunel Museum, with an eye to organising an outing with the Arts & Heritage Club next year. Very good - will definitely suggest it to Head Office.
Also visited Soseki Museum in Clapham, after reading about it in The Book of Lists - London under ‘8 Unusual Museums’. Maintained in tribute to Natsume Soseki, one of Japan’s most famous writers, who live opposite the museum from 1900-1902 (the museum founders tried to buy the actual location, but as the owners wanted £5m for it, they thought again!). Most of the visitors are Japanese, but there were one or two Europeans dotted throughout the Visitors Book. A shame that he’s virtually unknown over here. The museum is actually a converted two-room flat - a little strange from the outside, but it works after a fashion. I doubt if anyone would be aware of it if you either (a) weren’t Japanese, or (b) hadn’t read The Book of Lists - London.
Mon 17th - another day’s filming, this time at Kempton Park racecourse for a Morrisons commercial, with Alan Hansen. Unusually, we were called at 10am for breakfast, didn’t start filming till midday, and then wrapped at 3pm, followed by a roast beef lunch. I was playing a punter comparing the odds in front of a line of tic-tac men, deciding which horse to back. I was in the foreground for this one, so may appear on-camera. All in all, very satisfying.
Tues 18th - stewarding at Loftus Rd for QPR. A little nippy, but a couple of free hot pies went down well. Moved to Directors Box for a change, instead of standing at the bottom of a draughty stairwell - much better!
Wed 19th - day off. Bliss!
And that’s it! Ciao for now!
R.
24/09/2007 at 11:12 am
Wow Rob, you really are busy! This ‘Extra’s’ business you’re in….I always thought it meant extra actors for background scenes. It sounds like you’re mainly in it for the extra food though!!