Entering phase 3

Retirement Life

It's early 2017. A full year since retirement, and Vacation Time has been fun. But in the winter, it's too cold in my garage to do woodworking, so I started thinking about, "what else can I do"? I did a bit of trolling on some job sites, using search words like, "occasional" and "temporary". I even reached out to a friend who does brand work, to see if they needed anyone to help out once in a while. I quickly realized that while I had marketable skills, the ad hoc level of work that I was willing to do was simply too ground level for me. e.g. manning a registration desk at a conference was not something I was ready to put myself through.

So a couple of months later, I'm at a cocktail party, and run into an old friend. Talk quickly turns to what I'm up to, and after finding out that I'm retired, she says, "you should be auditioning for commercials!". Yeah right. That's like being a real actor. I suggest that I might be up for something a little more basic, like extra work. So she referred me to a friend who runs a background (BG) agency. I sign up, get some photos taken, and literally a couple of weeks later, I'm on Supergirl!

What the heck?!? Yes, on my first day as a BG, I was pulled into two scenes where I either sat next to, or interacted directly with the actors. What a trip! Ok, so it's not a show that I would normally watch, and the acting is, well, not that great. But for a former IT professional, this is a significant departure from my daily activities.

Ok, truth be told, there is a ton of sitting around, waiting in an area called background holding. You receive a call time the night before with some wardrobe instructions, and after you check in with the background wrangler(s) and sign some paperwork, you get processed by wardrobe; this usually means having the costumer look you over, and if necessary, have you change into something different. Then you go through the hair and makeup department, and then you wait. And wait. Sometimes, the wrangler will keep you informed of what is happening on-set, sometimes you have no idea what is happening. But you meet other BGs, and often strike up conversation about other shows or BG activities.

After what might have been a couple of hours, or sometimes half a day, you get called to set. The BGs stand off to the side, and an Assistant Director, or sometimes one of the wranglers will give you instructions on what to do when they call for action. For the most part, you really just behave normally, except that you have to mime conversation. Whatever action you are performing, walking down the street, sitting in an audience, or being a doctor in a hospital, you do the same thing for each take. They change the camera angle three or four times, so you might have to do the action again, or if you end up behind the camera or some rigging, you get relaxed back to holding.

My first couple of days on set were very long - 15 hours! You get fed throughout the day, and there is always a table or tent set up with Craft Services, which we call Crafty for short. I made sure that I brought a book, as there can be long stretches with no activity. Will this be a regular thing for me? Let's find out.