Project X/Superbad, wolf of wallstreet, etc…
When there’s several hundred people at a party scene, and all of them are doing different things, like dancing, drinking, doing drugs, things that seem entirely unscripted, make out scenes, sexual scenes, jumping into pools, crowd diving, spraying beer everywhere, swinging from chandeliers, fights, getting sick, etc. how are these scenes coordinated? Is everyone at the party given free reign to be as chaotic as possible and the cameraman just takes random shots of everything or is every single shot laid out in the script perfectly? How does it all seem so natural? How long does it take to film a chaotic houseparty scene like this? How do the extras get the job? Do they need acting experience or can anyone just be in it if they’re in the right place and the right time? How do extras and actors get roles for films without knowledge of the film’s recording getting out?
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You have to take into account how many times the camera cuts. What you are seeing as a bunch of crazy stuff going on all at once is filmed over a matter of hours or even days. It’s like putting a choreographed dance together.
My high school was used for a film once. Though it wasn’t a party scene, it was supposed to be a normal school day, full of kids. Students were invited to come be extras.
We all waited in the cafeteria and were hand picked to be in the shot. I don’t know what the criteria was, whether they wanted people who stood out or people who blended in. Me and my friends waited all day and were only called for the very last shot.
Every single extra was individually placed exactly where the filmmakers wanted them, including which direction they faced and whether they were supposed to talk (or more accurately, appeared to be talking). Any movement was also choreographed so that if they had to edit different takes together, the extras would always be doing the same thing in the background.
It was eerily quiet and I found out that the only people who were actually supposed to talk were the main characters that have dialogue. The rest of us were silent even if our mouths were moving. They would add sound effects in post to make it sound normal.
This was just a small indie film so it’s probably not exactly like big studio film. But I have seen clips of shows and films while shooting and the extras-being-quiet thing seems to be pretty standard.
Groups of extras are given basic direction. Folks in this room are making out and being sexy, bros over there are funneling beers, people in the hall are chatting, partiers by the pool are dancing etc. and if they are recording dialogue or other sounds the extras have to do it silently (as much as possible anyway).
Being an extra isn’t that hard, just go to a casting agency and sign up, a buddy of mine did it in the walking dead for years, they finally moved him from basic zombie to a hero walker that gets closeups and interacts with the cast, and eventually they made him a biker if some sort that got some lines.
The rule is that extras aren’t allowed to talk on screen, if you have even a single spoken word you must be a member of the actors guild (which is rather expensive to join) I think my friend had to pay a few thousand for his card to be able to be cast in a speaking role. But he eventually ended up in one of the guardians of the galaxy movies from his experience just walking on as a random extra.
First of all there is a storyboard and director interacting that sets up choreographed shots. What you think is chaos is really tightly controlled because time is money.
Overalls – extras doing specific things and mouthing repetitive words at each other. Things like pool interactions, bars, waitresses are setup right from the storyboards. Those overalls get filmed from a few angles, and there are cameras hidden in scene that give alternate angles, which gives whole other “times” to the scene in one run.
Mid range with stars- stars are mic’d up or a boom follows. The the movement is carefully planned through the crowd. Lots of times you’ll have steady cam or dolly laid right through the crowd, but their movement and the other camera shots makes it invisible in the finished product.
Close stars /bit part actors – the specific person is mic’d up or boomed. Their movement through the scene is tracked through several cameras to give angle variation. The specific moment is tied back to the overall shots, but careful attention paid so that your close in shot flows with the background, but the multiple cameras aren’t visible in the overall shots. Takes a while to film if you have moving required dialog in those scenes. Depending on the set, moving walls on all 4 sides sometimes make the scene flow easily, but in reality the “room” is on the middle of a production stage area the size of a hangar.
As the party evolves, wardrobe changes, people changes within rooms, the cake disappearing, the ice sculpture melting, the people passing out… that’s all scripted and storyboarded.
The wardrobe crew is responsible for getting “that guy” in “that same outfit”. They will sometimes grab outfits and keep them for a couple days if the extras come in off the street wearing their own clothes.
Depending on the size of the party scene, you may have room level planning for each room within a hotel, house, set. If those scenes run for multiple shooting days, it’s often much easier to run at a stage instead of a real location.
Suggest you watch:
Bachelor party with Tom Hanks
Weird Science
American pie / 2
Start looking at the locations, and think about the size of rooms in houses and hotels. Then start applying those rational sizes to what you see. Then think about the walls you never see. That’s where you’re in a stage instead of on the location.
> how are these scenes coordinated?
People with megaphones and shouting. Everyone is there to do a job, they listen to instructions. It’s designed to look like chaos, not be chaos.
> Is everyone at the party given free reign to be as chaotic as possible and the cameraman just takes random shots of everything or is every single shot laid out in the script perfectly?
Neither. They will assign people things to do, tell them to make small talk or sweep with a broom or whatever. If something in the background isn’t right they’ll ask them to change. It’s not scripted but they make sure the same people are doing the same things in each shot. Shooting a long scene in a movie can take several weeks.
> How does it all seem so natural?
Acting. Also, if you look closely, it often doesn’t, because they’re asked to do the activity without making any noise! Because it will ruin the sound recording. They have special shoes with soles that make less noise, chip bags and things that don’t rustle. So extras with shovels or brooms or eating with silverware, are doing so without making any noise, which often looks quite strange. It’s also why people dancing in party scenes often looks weird, because the music isn’t playing on set.
> How long does it take to film a chaotic houseparty scene like this?
It depends how long and complex the scene is. Anything up to multiple weeks. Yes that means that guy has been swinging off a chandelier for 10-14 hours a day for two weeks.
> How do the extras get the job?
Agencies and open casting calls.
> Do they need acting experience or can anyone just be in it if they’re in the right place and the right time?
Depends on what they’re going to be asked to do but generally anyone can.
> How do extras and actors get roles for films without knowledge of the film’s recording getting out?
They make the ads more generic. Here are a couple of examples you will probably recognise when it comes out
> Untitled A24 Feature Film, Young Zendaya
>
> Young Emma
> Supporting. Female. 13-21
> Mixed Ethnicity girl of Black and caucasian heritage. Will be playing the younger version of Zendaya in the film. Should bear resemblance to a Young Zendaya and be or *look* 13-16 as the character is in high school. Young Emma is a troubled teenager growing up in a small suburb, craving acceptance and approval from her peers. However, when she feels excluded, her frustration turns into resentment. Though intelligent, she is misguided, often concealing her inner turmoil. On the surface, Emma seems fairly normal, but beneath the facade, she harbors peculiar fixations. **Open to both union and non union performers**
> Ethnicity: Black / African Descent, Ethnically Ambiguous / Multiracial, Latino / Hispanic, White / European Descent
> Required Media: Headshot/Photo
> Untitled A24/Timothee Chalamet Film
>
>
> General Background: Unique Looking 1950s Faces.
> Background / Extra. Female, Male. 18+
>
>
> Young GI Types
> Background / Extra. Male. 18-35
> Clean-shaven, short, or buzz-cut hair styles.
>
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> Asian Table Tennis Fans
> Background / Extra. Female, Male. 18+
> Ethnicity: Asian, South Asian / Indian, Southeast Asian / Pacific Islander
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> Hasidic Men
> Background / Extra. Male. 18+
> Note if you own your own Hasidic wardrobe and if you have natural or faux payots.
>
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> Basketball Player Types – No Tattoos
> Background / Extra. Male. 18-35
> Ethnicity: Black / African Descent, White / European Descent
>
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> Slim Women for 1950s Roles
> Background / Extra. Female. 18+
> Women size 4 or slimmer for 1950s roles – upcoming shoot days in october (fitting required and wardrobe provided to portray 1950s street life, socialites, party goers, international fans, and more!
>
>
> Kids with Short Hair
> Background / Extra. Female, Male. 0-15
> Kids with short hair (girls shoulder length, boys very short- various ages) filming in NYC. Various roles from actors’ kids, to nyc day life, park goers, school kids, and more!
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>
> Featured Bar Patrons (Upstate NY) – Hancock NY LOCALS – 11/4 & 11/5
> Background / Extra. All Genders. 18-50
> Looking for great interesting faces to feature for a bar scene set in the 1950s. Production is looking to hire on a local hire basis in and around Hancock NY. Mostly younger – 18 to 30 years old. Very featured!
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