Before we get started here, just a quick thanks to Diane B. Rooney. Who so graciously offered up this “Pirates of the Caribbean II: Dead Man’s Chest” set report (which previously ran over on the Compass Rose discussion boards) for reprinting on JHM.
Also — for those of you who don’t want to know too much about this eagerily anticipated Walt Disney Pictures release prior to its release to theaters in the summer of 2006 — not to worry. “Dead men (and Diane) tell no tales.” What follows is a spoiler-free article. As in: It steers clear of revealing plot points and concentrates more on what it was actually like to be on the set of this Jerry Bruckheimer production.
Okay. Enough with my long-winded intro. Let’s get to Diane’s report, shall we?
They took off from day jobs as waitresses, security guards, even lighting directors. They postponed trips to China or drove three hours each way. Those without cars spent hours navigating Los Angeles’ public transit system. Most were experienced, some were novices. Some had been seen at December’s open casting call, others had already been registered with Sande Alessi Casting. They wanted to work for Gore Verbinski, or be on the same set as Johnny Depp. They came to be part, even a small part, of a few scenes in the making of Pirates of the Caribbean II.
I was fortunate enough to be one of them. What I’d like to do here is to share my experience as a novice film extra on a project as exciting as Pirates II. I won’t describe the scenes I saw being filmed, most of all because the folks at Walt Disney don’t want that stuff leaking out from people like me, but also because I’ve no idea where in the story these scenes might occur or to what extent they’ll survive the editing process.
To answer your most burning questions first: Yes, I did see principals Johnny Depp, Keira Knightley, Jack Davenport, Kevin McNally, and director Gore Verbinski, stood or passed within feet or even inches of them, and yes, that was a huge thrill.
While I’ve been on stage many times, this was my first experience on a film set. There’s a lot that I didn’t know how or when to do. I dread these situations, because I hate feeling stupid and because I know my ignorance exasperates or makes work for other people. I did ask a lot of questions and do some research, but if I use an incorrect term or title here, I ask forgiveness in advance.
Getting the Call.
The phone rang on Friday afternoon, March 4. It was Nina from Sande Alessi Casting, calling to confirm that I would be working on Pirates of the Caribbean the following week! Even though I had been fitted for a costume back in early February, I know that a lot of things can happen. I was a complete novice – perhaps they’d decide it would be better to use someone with experience?
Filming took place Wednesday through Friday (March 9 -11) on the backlot at Universal Studios. I don’t know why a Universal set was used or if it was used in the first film. I can only suppose it was because the set had the right look and was available for that window in the production schedule.
Arrival.
I was told to report at 9:30AM on Thursday at Universal Studios. Security there, as at all studios, is tight. Trying to get in just to see the set or a celebrity is hopeless. No one gets through the gate without a studio ID or, in the case of temporary workers like me, unless you are on a list for that day. On my first day, I wasn’t on the list yet, so, with a few others, I had to call in and be verified. I was scared – what if they didn’t have my name? To have come so far, and then not get in!
But my name was found and verified, the guard alerted and a parking pass issued. From the garage, I took a shuttle van, together with other extras and some production crew members, through the Universal backlot to the Pirates’ location. The van passes not just famous sets like Universal’s western towns but also the cottages that house independent production companies like Dino Di Laurentis and Imagine. I saw Sam Mendes’ parking space. There’s even a lakefront set and one with a steam locomotive!
On arriving at an area with trailers and tents, I checked in, giving my name and number (the number of my costume/character), and filling in a session form so I could be paid for the day. Then I picked up my costume and headed inside.
Wardrobe, Hair, Makeup, and Aging.
The changing area (women’s anyway) is a mad whirl of people getting dressed, with plenty of wardrobe professionals tying chemises and skirts and lacing corsets. You keep all your hangers together with the tag with your name and costume number and loop over it a large zipper bag for your own clothes and personal belongings. At the end of the day, items like your shoes, stockings, jewelry, and corset go back into the bag. Photos of each extra in costume, with her number, hang in the dressing area, so your look can be compared to the photo from the costume fitting to make sure it matches.
Next, hair and makeup. This area also has photographs of each person, numbered, in costume. The hair professional locates your wig if you have one. Your own hair is carefully pinned up and a skullcap or net is placed over it. The wig goes on top of this, and can then be styled with a curling iron. The wig’s forehead line and the sides by the ears are secured with a type of glue (which comes off with alcohol) so the wig doesn’t get out of place during the day. Then your hat is pinned on top of the wig.
Once your hair or wig is styled, you proceed to the other side of the room for makeup. Again, pictures are checked to ensure you look exactly the way you should. Makeup includes face, hands, and body, to make the character look dirty and disheveled (it’s Tortuga, after all), and even includes tooth makeup to make teeth look stained.
With all the extras needed for these scenes, hair and makeup was a busy area. Picture three aisles of hair and makeup professionals, their work stations, mirrors and kits lining each side, and people to direct us to an open station to keep the process moving.
Many of the male extras had grown their hair and beards long and did not need wigs or facial hair. Their hair was still dressed and styled, however, and they still had makeup applied to complete their look, in some cases, to make them look older, fiercer, or more battle-scarred.
Unlike the men’s coats, most of the women’s skirts did not have pockets, so it was difficult to stash cell phones, glasses, medicine, or smoking materials. I took my phone, note pad, and ID in a small bag I left in the extras’ waiting area off the set. My glasses I slid into the top of my stocking so I could pull them out to see in between shots. This strategy didn’t work that well long term and they eventually broke from being bent so often.
The last stop before proceeding down to the set was aging. Here wardrobe technicians carefully “aged” or distressed the costumes, applying to them what looked like dust or dirt in a cotton or muslin bag. (I’ve read that what’s often used to distress costumes is fuller’s earth, clay, or ground up chalk). They wore masks to keep from breathing in the material.
At the end of the day, the process is reversed. You change, re-hang your costume, put the loose pieces in the zipper bag, return your wig, and turn in your costume for re-racking. You take your session form to sign-out, where your hours are recorded and you’re given a copy for your records and join the line for the van back to the parking structure. Professionals become expert at this. I was still wrestling with my last skirt and the bunch of hangers, looked around, and saw the room was nearly empty.
To Tortuga and the Cantina.
At the bottom of the hill from the trailers and tents is the Tortuga set, and along the streets of the backlot are more trailers for people and equipment, a tent and waiting area for extras and a large meal tent.
Tortuga looks much as it did in the first film. It’s a rather rough place where the residents mostly drink, fight, and carouse. Tortuga’s residents represent a wide range of ages, body types, and ethnicities. The scenes I participated in take place in a cantina or tavern. (You’ll remember the cantina from the first film, where Jack takes Mr. Gibbs for a drink and tells him he plans to recover the Black Pearl – I have no idea if this is the same cantina location.)
Close up, the cantina set is amazing. As in the first film, it’s furnished with wooden benches and tables. On the tables are wooden and metal plates, jugs, and leather and metal cups and tankards. Some items are made from a rubberized material, so they can be thrown in fight scenes without injuring anyone.
Given the time period, the cantina is lit with candles, hundreds of candles, on the tables, in wall sconces, and in overhead chandeliers. Indeed, there were production people going around periodically through the day replacing the candles, and a lot of wax built up on the tables over the two days. The cantina set is roofed with white screening or sheeting material supported by an exterior crane, I think so the lighting can be better controlled (or perhaps to keep people in helicopters from photographing the set?)
The level of detail in set dressing is incredible. For example, the cantina walls and the walls of other town buildings are decorated with handbills and news sheets detailing upcoming pirate trials, promoting shop owners and their wares, or announcing engagements and marriages (no one we know.) Even though it’s unlikely they’ll ever be readable on screen, these details help create the atmosphere of Tortuga.
The number of people present and the amount of equipment on and near the set is astounding. There’s equipment in trailers, trunks of equipment stacked high outside the set, and miles of cable to power lights, cameras and other equipment snaking through the entire set. You have to step very carefully over cables and around cameras, monitors, and other equipment as you move in and out of position, not easy in period costume. Ack! If I broke it, would Disney make me buy it?
Being on set is overwhelming at first – a film version of what historians call “the fog of war.” It’s crowded with people and equipment, hot from the candles and film lights, and hazy from stage smoke being blown in by large fans. The costume feels strange, and the corset restricts your field of motion. Plus, if you’re nearsighted like me, you can’t see very well.
What Film Extras Actually Do
Before going on to the set, we extras were sorted into smaller groups of about 8-15 people each, so we could be directed and managed by assistant directors or production assistants. (Each production person wears an ID tag with his/her name and title, though I couldn’t read them because of my nearsightedness. They are also all connected via walkie-talkies and head sets, and have one or more cell phones at the ready.)
The ADs or PAs place each person in an area of the set and give them specific actions and interactions for the scene. For example, this could include greeting someone, pouring a drink into their cup, clinking cups with them, walking with them from one side of the area to another, and reacting to action taking place nearby. I was impressed with one PA’s direction to our group: He told us to be carousing, but with a bit of sadness because we’re here on Tortuga and not in London. Thought that captured it perfectly!
Each group rehearses its action a few times to make sure it’s smooth. Meanwhile, all the other groups of extras as well as the principals in the scene are rehearsing, so it’s quite busy. Over the two days, we all moved around quite a bit from group to group and from area to area on the set.
While I started out deep in the background of the cantina, in a later sequence I was closer to the principals. I think the production people made a real effort to move the extras around so they’d have at least one or two opportunities to be closer to the main action (and the principals!)
With all the people present, the noise level got quite high, and there were frequent calls for quiet, especially when the principals or stunt people were rehearsing.
Action!
All the scenes I observed or participated in had several takes, and multiple cameras were used in each one so the action was captured from different angles. Usually, a few seconds of music would play, someone would call “Background action! (our signal to begin moving) and then “Action!” We’d keep going until we heard “Cut!” Then we’d regroup and get ready to do it again.
I was able to watch Johnny Depp, Jack Davenport, Keira Knightley, and Kevin McNally in several scenes. They worked closely with director Gore Verbinski, trying different pacings, movements, and timings for the scenes in rehearsal. It was fascinating to watch them focus and center themselves before a scene started. Everyone was patient with re-takes, as different inflections, emphases, or sequences were filmed.
After the last take of a demanding scene involving a principal, Mr. Verbinski would call out, “Ladies and Gentlemen, Miss Keira Knightley,” or “Ladies and Gentlemen, Mr. Jack Davenport, all the way from England,” and everyone would applaud.
I watched a sword fight involving about ten stunt professionals, who work with the film’s director and the stunt director. It really is like a ballet, as people enter and exit and change fight partners. Although I ‘m sure they had rehearsed the scene previously until their motions were engrained in their muscle memory, before the cameras rolled they went through it at half, three-quarter, and full speed.
Food, Refreshments and Comfort.
Everyone’s heard about the craft services (catering) on film sets. There is always water, soda, coffee, tea, and snacks including fruit, peanut butter and jelly, yoghurt, bread and bagels, cookies, and chips for the extras, which you can have while waiting to go on the set or on breaks. You can’t bring food onto the set, but production people come through frequently with bottles of water. My big production secret is that you’ll never see how many plastic water bottles there were on the floor of the cantina!
Professionals who are members of SAG have a separate refreshment and break area, except for the main meals, when the food tent is open to all with buffet line service. We had a lunch break on Thursday at 4:30, and both lunch and dinner breaks on Friday. Our dinner break was at about 1AM. We left the set and were greeted just outside it on the streets of Tortuga with a full buffet setup and helpful servers: roast chicken, vegetables, burgers and hot dogs, even dessert.
Efforts are made to keep people comfortable. The extras’ tent is heated in the evening. Makeup professionals give people eye drops if needed.
Continuity.
Continuity is critically important, even for extras. Photographs were taken of everyone on the first day to ensure costume, hair, and makeup would be consistent for the second day. Wardrobe and makeup professionals and production assistants carried plastic envelopes of photos to check consistency. Makeup professionals came around frequently all day and night touching up face, body, and tooth makeup and spritzing us with water both to cool us off and to make us look sweaty.
Health and Labor
There are lots of people on and around the set you wouldn’t automatically think of. On one break, a gentleman came around asking if any one in the group was a member of SAG (the Screen Actors Guild), as he was the SAG representative for the production and was available if anyone had questions. Also present on set was a medic. One of the men in my group had a bronchial problem and for a few minutes it was difficult for him to breathe. He declined help but on the next break a production assistant came over with a medic, who offered medication and other assistance.
Shop Talk and Pirate Tales.
So what do extras talk about? Well, professionals tend to talk about work they’ve done, or work they’ve heard is coming up. I met several men who had worked on the television series “Deadwood,” and one who’d spent six weeks in Mexico as an extra on “Master and Commander.” They talk about the cost of living, traffic, day to day stuff. Pirates fan extras tend to talk about the films, the stars, the stars’ films, and drop lines from The Curse of the Black Pearl at every opportune moment.
And they talk about the scripts for the sequels. “Well in the second film, what happens is…, but then in the third….” The first several times I heard conversations like this, my ears perked up. But no two stories agreed. I heard people claim to have picked up scripts from trash baskets and copy machines, even one person who claimed to have copies of both scripts in his car. I’m afraid they were used more as pick-up lines than confidential disclosures.
Not that the plot lines discussed weren’t interesting. I especially liked the suggestion that the Black Pearl was a real character the ship had been named for, and she’d appear in one of the sequels. I also liked what I call the George Lucas treatment, in which it’s revealed that Elizabeth is Governor Swann’s ADOPTED daughter, and her real father is…Captain Jack? Bootstrap Bill? Mr. Gibbs? Whoever. In this version she’d been adopted after some family tragedy back in England, after which her father went to sea. Ah well, sounds like someone’s seen ol’ Darth Vader and Luke a few too many times.
Day Two
By Friday, I felt a bit more comfortable, since I knew at least a little more of what to do. When I arrived at the gate and gave my name, the guard gave me a big smile and said “You’re in our system!” We were due to report at 10:30AM but I got there very early so I wouldn’t feel rushed. I was able to have breakfast in the big food tent – with a big selection of hot dishes, cold platters with salmon, cereal, juice, bread and pastries, fruit, and a van outside serving egg dishes, wraps, and breakfast burritos. Then back up the hill to wardrobe, hair, and makeup.
Friday afternoon Sande and some of her associates from Sande Alessi Casting visited, chatting with many of us, and stayed for lunch. It was great to see them and they were very interested to hear our stories.
Advice
Some of you may be waiting for a call to be an extra on Pirates, or may just want to give being an extra a try. Based on my (limited) experience, here are some things that may be helpful if you get the chance:
1. Try to get a good night’s sleep. Production days can be long. Thursday we were there ’til midnight, Friday til 4:15AM Saturday.
2. Get to your location early, so you allow plenty of time for the security check and can be among the first into wardrobe and makeup. If you’re not rushed, you’ll feel less flustered.
3. If you don’t know what to do or where to go, ask, but try not to be a pain. Almost everyone you will encounter is a professional and unfailingly nice but I’m sure it’s tiring to get the same questions.
4. Conserve your energy. Sit down when you can, drink plenty of water, and be sure to eat on the meal breaks.
5. Listen, follow instructions, and be quiet on the set. Making people call repeatedly for quiet wastes time and energy.
6. Observe and learn from the professionals around you. I would have been lost without the experienced extras I met who gave me advice, rehearsed with me, helped me relax, and even turned me around to face Johnny Depp and the camera.
7. Try not to complain. By the end of the day you’ll be tired, hot, and dirty, your costume will probably be uncomfortable, your feet will hurt, and you may have blisters or red eyes, but remember, there are thousands of people who’d give anything to be where you are.
8. This should go without saying, but maybe not. Don’t speak to or make eye contact with the principals unless you’re directly involved in their action, especially before the start of a scene when they are preparing themselves.
9. Be professional. Don’t even think about autographs or photos on the set. And keep cell phones and pagers off and well hidden.
Closing Thoughts
Several qualities about the people and production impressed me. Here are the top four:
Professionalism: Everyone one I met and observed was a true professional. They took their work seriously and gave a full effort every time. The production people are very mindful of the schedule and what needs to get done each day. There’s a constant sense of focus and the need to move forward.
Energy: Film making is hard work over long days. The amount of energy put out by everyone from the director to the newest production assistant is staggering. Well after 2AM Saturday, there were multiple takes of a scene involving Elizabeth Swann. The director, crew, actors, everyone involved was still going full steam, from checking monitors and camera angles to suggesting changes to repeating sequences, in what, the 17th or 18th hour of their work day. And they still managed to look like they were having the time of their lives.
And while we were released at 4:15AM Saturday, there were many more hours of work to be done to take down the set: Equipment to be packed up, costumes to be racked and organized, tents taken down, trailers moved, water bottles picked up from the set and who knows what else.
Attention to Detail: No detail is too small to get right. Adjusting a costume, touching up tooth makeup, replacing candles, thousands of details that may never been seen, even going through the DVD frame by frame, it’s all important.
Camaraderie: We’ve all seen documentaries covering the last day of production: the hugs, the tears, the goodbye gifts. Well, we extras were there after just two days. By the end of our time on Tortuga we had traded stories, aspirations, work histories, family tales and more.
Leaving Tortuga
We were released at 4:15AM. Saturday morning. Some extras were off to bus stops to wait for 7AM buses. I was tired, dirty, bleary-eyed, footsore, and my hair stuck out in all directions from being in pin curls under the wig all day. I’d also had two of the best days of my life. I was so confused it took me about half an hour to find my car. I staggered into my hotel lobby around 5:30AM, where people were already having breakfast and starting their day. I’m sure I looked like an escapee from a zombie party. I slept for about six hours and then headed home, playing the Pirates’ soundtrack most of the way.
Before leaving Tortuga, I exchanged emails and phone numbers with many of the people I’d met. Yes, several of us plan to meet in Los Angeles next July to see the film together and watch for our on-screen appearances.
Do I have the extra bug? Well, let’s just say “Rent” is being filmed here in San Francisco, and they’re looking for extras….
Summing Up.
Eyeglass repair: $22
Gasoline for round trip from San Francisco to Los Angeles: around $80
Two days with Johnny Depp and an amazing group of professionals and Pirates fans: Priceless!
Special thanks again to Ms. Rooney for offering to share this great set report with JHM readers. For those of you who’d like to thank Diane for her great coverage and/or anyone who has additional questions can contact her at dianeroone@aol.com.
What’s that? You’re hungry for even more “Pirates” related news? Well, you can check out this great article that Diane did about the “Dead Man’s Chest” casting call. Or — better yet — this fun feature that Ms. Rooney filed about her “Pirates II” costume fitting. Which might give me a better appreciation of the whole process involved in film-making.
And let’s not forget about KeeptotheCode.com, the official fan site for Disney’s “Pirates of the Caribbean” movies. Which finally officially went live last week. There’s lots of piratical fun to be found there.
Anyway … That’s your “Dead Man’s Chest” update for today. Your thoughts?