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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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.
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