BW extra report...

Mark McConchie has posted on his Live Journal that he was an extra during the shooting of the Bionic Woman Pilot. This is what he had to say...

Actor's Update: Bionic Woman background gig
My first day of (paid) work since March 2nd.

The general rule is you either want the day to be really short or really long (really short because we get paid a minimum of eight hours even if we only work one or two hours, or really long because once you get into overtime, you can quickly double your take home pay). When I got the detail that my call time was 3 p.m. but the Crew call was 7 in the morning. I knew it was not going to be a long one. Most film companies do not like to go past the twelve hour mark for Crew.

The film location was in an area known as the "GVRD" (which is an acronym for Greater Vancouver Regional District, the municipal body responsible for what is largely watershed territory). The location is famous for filming, all those moody rainy shots from X-Files, Battlestar Galactica films in the forest there, Stargate, dozens of feature films including Jumanji. The list goes on. The trouble, for me, is the fact it is awkward to get to. Only twenty minutes from downtown Vancouver, it is nonetheless an area which buses do not go to. Fortunately, my background agency arranged for another background performer to give me a lift (I gave him some cash for gas money).

There was a nervous moment or two finding the filming location because there were no signs set out showing the way. We were told that the signs were all stolen from the last film location.

But we found it. We were immediately directed to what had been the Crew's lunch tent where they lit a propane heater for us. It was comfortable enough. We may have been too late for lunch, but we quickly figured out where the Craft Services was. Munchies.

Work has been so sporadic, there were a few faces I hadn't seen in months. There was plenty of time to catch up.

After a couple of hours of conversation (I was eavesdropping for the most part. It's amazing what you can hear if you listen) they decided they were going to dismantle the lunch tent, so they moved us over to a trailer unit which was used for actors with small roles (the smaller the role, the smaller the trailer). Fortunately, by that time we didn't have long to wait before they sent us up to set.

I was one of six medical doctors who were attending the arrival of Jaimie Summers who was being helicoptered fresh from an automobile accident in which she sustains the injuries which cause her to become the Bionic Woman.

We were distributed among three vehicles and then instructed to leap out of the SUVs as they reach a helicopter landing pad, looking as though we are jumping into action to begin treatment immediately. I did my utmost to look important and efficient. Instead of a helicopter, we had to react to two wind machines which simulated the downdraft of the copter blades.

We were done after we had gone through about six or seven takes, about a half an hour in total and we were wrapped by 8 pm. Then it was just a matter of signing out and getting back to Crew Park.

There was one awkward moment when I jumped in one Shuttle van but the guy who was my ride got in another. His van got rerouted back to the filming location, so I was stuck in a dark parking lot for several minutes before he finally caught up with me.

So, five hours of time, paid a minimum of eight hours. It's all good.

And I film my role in Blood: A Butcher's Tale at the end of the week. Busy week. Hmm.

Mark's Live Jounal can be found here...