Setiquette matters

Learn the unspoken rules of Setiquette to succeed as a background actor.

Last Friday, I sat in the front row of a Spanish mission church in San Gabriel, doing my job as a member of a fictional congregation for Eric Arevalo’s film, Faith.

A cold rain fell outside the church necessitating an umbrella for the trek through the church cemetery to visit the stone old, stone cold restrooms. Craft services was a tent with sandwiches and folding chairs. There were a dozen of us background actors, working basically for good karma to support a handsome young USF filmmaker and his team who were striving to make a meaningful film about the wide chasm between the Church and the poor.

Things had been going well except for one irritating pair of newbie extras one seat away from me who had decided a hot set was a cool place to strike up a conversation designed to lead to a romance. Every single moment the camera was not actually rolling, these two were chattering on, totally unaware that the rest of us, professionals all, were silent and waiting for our cue. Twice, their jabbering continued after the director said, “roll camera.”

I couldn’t help it; at a break, I said to the young girl who’d been jabbering, “You know it’s not appropriate to talk on a hot set.” To which she huffed, “I have been an extra for two years and people ALWAYS talk on set. If I couldn’t talk, I wouldn’t be able to stand it.” By way of clarification, I pointed out, “Talking in holding is fine but on set, silence is important.” She stamped her little rain boot and walked away, obviously offended by the old man who been on sets for 40 years.

As we were about to restart, the director thanked me and said, “I had too much on my mind to come over and ask them to shut up.” I said, “They should have known better.”
(Later, the jabbering guy mysteriously vanished and little Miss Jabber was dealt a subtle reprimand in a scene where the director yelled cut just before she reached frame in a walking scene while I was promoted to a full-face closeup with the priest.)

As background actors, we are always being observed and there are some rules, obvious and otherwise, that can effect our future work. Ignore them at your peril. Basically, backgrounder actors would benefit from figuring out how a set runs and who its players are.
The only reason movies and tv shows get made at all is because the set is run by certain rules, most of them widely known, some of them unrecorded. On a set, each department is its own little world. There are different specific jobs, of course, but each has boundaries in the quest to reach the same goal. The best thing to do is sit back, stay out-of-the-way and observe. That’s how you’re going to learn the most. If you’re smart, you learn from every moment you spend on set.

YOU’LL LEARN:

 
• … that all the different departments, although separate, know what everyone else is doing.
• … not to sit in certain chairs.
• … that charm and a little luck may get you bumped up.
• … to always say “Thank you” if someone is catering to your needs in any way.
• … not to take any of it for granted, because everyone in every department has worked hard to get there and will keep working hard to stay there.

 

The person you’ll deal with the most is the “extras wrangler,” who may be a production assistant, an assistant director or the person who lost the straw-drawing. They are responsible for you and you are responsible to them. Don’t ever consider anyone on set as beneath you. Many people working on a set aspire to do something else one day, which is why a wise background actor strives treats everyone with respect. That bearded gaffer could be a director by next year. The man pushing equipment around may sell the screenplay he’s been writing for the last five years. The industry is a small world and two-thirds of your jobs come from referrals. Your reputation matters and bad behavior can ruin your career. On set, be humble, helpful, honest and eager. Don’t be a threat to others. Take the work seriously and do your best.

Some universal Setiquette rules:

 
• Late is a four-letter word. Show up early for the call.
• Be polite to everyone. Use “please” and “thanks.”
• Let people do their job. Don’t bug them or get in their way.
• Be humble, interested in the work, and eager to do it.
• Confused about your assignment? Ask questions immediately.
• Watch what’s going on around you. Pay attention.
• Make your “wrangler” look good; do your job.
• Don’t embarrass anyone. If you are smarter than others, keep it to yourself.
• Listen very carefully before you jump to conclusions.
• Learn and use your “wrangler’s” name.
• Work hard and willingly and do NOT ask “when will we be done?”

 

“To be the best you can be in movies and television, you need to understand the work environment. Instead of sleeping with a director, actors should consider sleeping with a production assistant. You’ll learn much more about how things work on a set.” - Lary Crews

(Note to readers who have lost their sense of irony: I am kidding. I do not actually recommend sleeping with anyone to get ahead in the business.)