What the extras in the background are saying
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I've always wondered about that myself.... so I went searching for an answer. I found some comments from folks on Reddit who said they have knowledge about how this stuff is done, most from personal experience. I've posted a few of their comments:
What do background actors (extras) talk about when they're having fake conversations?
You know what I mean. People standing around in the background of a TV show / movie pretending to converse..
Can any actors answer this? I imagine sometimes they are simply miming to not interfere with the audio recording.
• I was an extra on a made for tv movie. They told us what style of conversation to have, but to not actually say any words.
For example, 4 of us were sitting around a table at a restaurant. I was told "you are telling an exciting story, lots of hand gestures", while my cohorts were told "her story is hilarious, you guys think it's really funny". But we had to mime the whole thing.
(Note: I also read that the extras are told to mouth the words “watermelon, peas and carrots, or rhubarb” over and over. If the mikes are far enough away, they can have real conversations because they won't be picked up. But most of the time, they are "conversing" in silence.
• Depends. You’re supposed to pretend to talk but for it to be convincing it’s a good idea to actually talk about something. You gotta balance this against the need to remain situationally aware for cues yet you’re probably not supposed to notice the movie star who is casually walking past having a convo of his own. But when the director talks you’d better hear it. So yeah small talk is a good idea but don’t get so into it that you forget the scene you’re in. Peas and carrots.
• It really depends on the scene. As many people have mentioned, the extras often can't talk because they don't want any other noise being picked up. However, there was one time that I was in a scene where we were at a bar listening to a band. Since the band's music track was going to be played over the scene, they weren't recording any sound in the filming itself. The extras at my table just had a normal conversation, although we still couldn't talk too loudly so that we wouldn't distract the production crew.
It's also worth noting that each take often takes less than a minute to film, followed by 5 to 10 minutes (or longer) to set up for the next take. You're really only faking the conversation for a short time, and you can usually have normal conversations between takes.
• I've been an extra in a movie before, and they had my friend and I in the background of a party. They pretty much told us the same thing-- "Gesticulate and be expressive but don't distract the viewer, just look like you're engaged in what the other is saying."
We did several takes and each time we would mouth a conversation (just whatever we felt like making up) to the other. One time we talked about Adderall and erections, complete with hand motions. I think they used that take, actually.
• I am not an actor but I do work on set on many of the shows you probably watch. Background actors have to sit around all day, doing pretty much nothing until they are called out to do pretty much nothing on screen. During this time they have usually had many conversations and a few debates with their peers. They either continue these discussions at very low levels or they aren't saying anything. If it's a big room like a ballroom, you can't have 500 extras talking quiet or it would actually be a low roar.
Also, many people can read lips. I'm not deaf but I can still tell when someone says "watermelon, @#$%&, @#$%&, and carrots." Background that does this gets "let go."
• Haha what? I've never heard of anyone being let go for mouthing dirty words while pantomiming. Usually they're let go for @#$%& like wandering off set for hours or threatening to punch the 2nd 2nd AD or @#$%& like that. It's unusual and unlikely that the camera would be focused on a bg's lips enough to be able to read them.
Mostly background actors pantomime nonsense or just quietly talk about stuff amongst themselves like their new fad diet or who's working on what show or who's a @#$%& or whatever it is slightly-vainer-than-average people usually gossip about.
o Depends on the show. If you're on a Nick gig, Disney or a family drama you better check yourself.
• You can't speak or you'll end up being picked up by the mics on the actors.
Unless you’re adept at lip reading, it's the easiest way to ensure your not picked up on the mics. Almost all the of the 'background conversation noise' is added in later on. It's cheaper to not have to edit that noise out. Those well away from the active mics probably talk, as they won't be heard, but anyone close enough to be picked up, gotta mouth words.
• I watched the commentary of Out Of Sight last night and Steven Soderbergh talked about filming a scene at a boxing match. All the extras had to act, perfectly silently, that they are rooting for one of the boxers and Steve Zahn had to stand up and yell as loud as he could, "I have to go pee!". How extras keep a straight face sometimes, I don't know.
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/22/2024 09:42AM by MamaRAMa.
What do background actors (extras) talk about when they're having fake conversations?
You know what I mean. People standing around in the background of a TV show / movie pretending to converse..
Can any actors answer this? I imagine sometimes they are simply miming to not interfere with the audio recording.
• I was an extra on a made for tv movie. They told us what style of conversation to have, but to not actually say any words.
For example, 4 of us were sitting around a table at a restaurant. I was told "you are telling an exciting story, lots of hand gestures", while my cohorts were told "her story is hilarious, you guys think it's really funny". But we had to mime the whole thing.
(Note: I also read that the extras are told to mouth the words “watermelon, peas and carrots, or rhubarb” over and over. If the mikes are far enough away, they can have real conversations because they won't be picked up. But most of the time, they are "conversing" in silence.
• Depends. You’re supposed to pretend to talk but for it to be convincing it’s a good idea to actually talk about something. You gotta balance this against the need to remain situationally aware for cues yet you’re probably not supposed to notice the movie star who is casually walking past having a convo of his own. But when the director talks you’d better hear it. So yeah small talk is a good idea but don’t get so into it that you forget the scene you’re in. Peas and carrots.
• It really depends on the scene. As many people have mentioned, the extras often can't talk because they don't want any other noise being picked up. However, there was one time that I was in a scene where we were at a bar listening to a band. Since the band's music track was going to be played over the scene, they weren't recording any sound in the filming itself. The extras at my table just had a normal conversation, although we still couldn't talk too loudly so that we wouldn't distract the production crew.
It's also worth noting that each take often takes less than a minute to film, followed by 5 to 10 minutes (or longer) to set up for the next take. You're really only faking the conversation for a short time, and you can usually have normal conversations between takes.
• I've been an extra in a movie before, and they had my friend and I in the background of a party. They pretty much told us the same thing-- "Gesticulate and be expressive but don't distract the viewer, just look like you're engaged in what the other is saying."
We did several takes and each time we would mouth a conversation (just whatever we felt like making up) to the other. One time we talked about Adderall and erections, complete with hand motions. I think they used that take, actually.
• I am not an actor but I do work on set on many of the shows you probably watch. Background actors have to sit around all day, doing pretty much nothing until they are called out to do pretty much nothing on screen. During this time they have usually had many conversations and a few debates with their peers. They either continue these discussions at very low levels or they aren't saying anything. If it's a big room like a ballroom, you can't have 500 extras talking quiet or it would actually be a low roar.
Also, many people can read lips. I'm not deaf but I can still tell when someone says "watermelon, @#$%&, @#$%&, and carrots." Background that does this gets "let go."
• Haha what? I've never heard of anyone being let go for mouthing dirty words while pantomiming. Usually they're let go for @#$%& like wandering off set for hours or threatening to punch the 2nd 2nd AD or @#$%& like that. It's unusual and unlikely that the camera would be focused on a bg's lips enough to be able to read them.
Mostly background actors pantomime nonsense or just quietly talk about stuff amongst themselves like their new fad diet or who's working on what show or who's a @#$%& or whatever it is slightly-vainer-than-average people usually gossip about.
o Depends on the show. If you're on a Nick gig, Disney or a family drama you better check yourself.
• You can't speak or you'll end up being picked up by the mics on the actors.
Unless you’re adept at lip reading, it's the easiest way to ensure your not picked up on the mics. Almost all the of the 'background conversation noise' is added in later on. It's cheaper to not have to edit that noise out. Those well away from the active mics probably talk, as they won't be heard, but anyone close enough to be picked up, gotta mouth words.
• I watched the commentary of Out Of Sight last night and Steven Soderbergh talked about filming a scene at a boxing match. All the extras had to act, perfectly silently, that they are rooting for one of the boxers and Steve Zahn had to stand up and yell as loud as he could, "I have to go pee!". How extras keep a straight face sometimes, I don't know.
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/22/2024 09:42AM by MamaRAMa.
