CAN DIRECTORS GET MAD AT BACKGROUND ACTORS

IN MY OPINION:

WILLIAM REYNOLDS:

CAN DIRECTORS GET MAD AT BACKGROUND ACTORS, AND SOMETIMES USE BAD LANGUAGE:

HELL YES THEY CAN!!!!

I was recently doing a seminar, and was speaking of an 'Assistant Director" at the actual Directors bequest to go fire,

the hell out of several extras that were screwing up his scenes. Causing more takes and more money. The AD blew

his top as well and used several expletives to the group as he kicked them off the set.

One person in the class submitted to me..""Well I was in a movie in NY and I never saw 'that' happen" . If you were the

Star of that particular movie you were there for about 3 months, a background actor probably a day or two at most.

Plus about 95% of films don't experience problems like the one below. BUT IT DOES HAPPEN..BELIEVE ME.

True story from a A list Driector.

Background actors can ruin your movie.This is something I discovered on day one: You can have your shot list memorized, you can know the emotional arc of the scene forwards and backwards, and you can get great performances out of your actors, but all it takes is one extra in the background to ruin all of that work. I remember there was this one moment during the shoot where Daniel Radcliffe broke down and bared his soul, and after that amazing take was over, someone whispered in my ear, "Did you see those cops behind Dan?" Sure enough, the two background actors we had cast as policemen were straight out of a Keystone Kops movie in 1924, shaking their fists and overemoting. Just when I thought I had nailed Dan's greatest scene ever, I had to junk it because I had these two extras in the background ruining the shot!

DID HE LOSE IT??? WHAT DO YOU THINK