Spiderman 3 on the Avenue of the Americas

The 6:AM call time meant that I'd have to get up at 4:20 AM to catch the 5:11 AM train... (yawn).

But I knew that I'd sacrafice my sleep-time and whatever Memorial Day plans I had -just to be on this set for 3 days as a background extra. The ordeal was draining -but well worth it. I put 36.94 hours into standing around, running in fear, fighting with makebelieve cops, avoiding computer debris from hitting me on the head -and of course clicking away a few paparazzi-style pictures of the cast and crew.

Our director for the first two days was Sam Raimi. He was the first director I've ever seen on set to constantly be wearing a suit. Most of the "trendy" directors wear some type of "nuveau hat" or jacket or some outlandish color that allows their clothes to be noticed. Not Sam. He was neat, focused and professionally kind. He personally addressed the extras with respect and gave a clear synopsis of what we were expected to do. He also did something very classy... he spoke to the gawking tourist crowd and took pictures with them... he also invited a few of the enlisted men to come onto the set and watch the movie making from a few feet away. Observing his style, I developed great respect for him. It's too bad he didn't stick around for the third day. "Unit 2" apparently had a director with a much more different style and all of a sudden there were delays, mishaps, walk-away meals (read: buy your own lunch), and even a thunderstorm which suspended shooting for an hour. I hope Sam returns soon.

The fun part of watching the stunts take place was mezmerizing. The "real Spiderman" (a.k.a. stuntman Henry Amos) was swinging through the canyon of tall buildings on 6th Avenue with Ron Howard's pretty daughter, Bryce Dallas Howard hugging him. The tethers on their torsos were attached to two large cranes -one for the vertical lift and one to create the arc-swing. I was repeatedly amazed by how gently the two actors were able to land on the debris-strewn concrete fountain area. All of the extras were snapping away with their low resolution telephone-cameras, while I had my handy-dandy digital Sony doing a little zooming at a much higher resolution. One of the PA's eventually begged us not to do it in front of the producers! (Otherwise it was O.K.)

In one scene we were told to react and run for our lives as a loud explosion took place and precariously placed desks and computer equipment went dropping all around us. One of the desks landed in the windshield of a taxi cab and another piece of metal crushed a vendor's hot dog stand with broken girders all over the place. I couldn't help but "reminisce" about my experiences during 9/11... Other extras also had a similar reaction to this scene. But thank goodness we have a "friendly neighborhood Spiderman" to look over us!

Bryce, having been saved, ran to the arms of her police-chief father, played by the ubiquitous actor James Cromwell. He is another magnanimous actor who likes to go sit with the extras on occasion and sign autographs. I love that down-to-earth attitude. Enter the scene, Topher Grace (he's shorter than I expected), with camera in hand, interviewing Spiderman while clicking away at his visage. Something was not satisfactory with Topher and he started to pace back and forth while discussing the scene with Sam Raimi.

While this is going on, I elbow my friend and mention how funny it is to see these guys going at it while some little shrimp in a white shirt and sunglasses is standing next to them eating chinese food from a takeout dish. I was then quickly and comicly corrected with the explanation that the kid in the white shirt was in fact Tobey Maguire. Coooool!

So he was here after all. And it suddently struk me how weird it was to see the stuntman in costume, Tobey the eating-actor, and a close look-alike in an orange polo shirt who was his stand-in for light and distance measurements -all of whom, as a conglomeration, were needed to depict Spiderman. (One for the price of 3 -That's the American economy. I suddenly have a deeper understanding of the speedy US debt-counting sign nearby which is showing the amount to be in the KAZILLLION dollar range at the moment. Oh well, I guess we'll just have to export more movies).

Breakfast and lunch for the first two days went really well... especially the 2nd day, when we had blackened cajun catfish and tons of garnish and desert to go along with it at the Roseland Ballroom. Throughout the day there were little sandwiches being passed out to the crew. The rule was that the crew must be the first to take from the tray... and if there's anything left over, we, the extras, could have it. I guess it's part of the Caste Laws in the Movie-Manu System. Needless to say, there were few, if any mid-day sandwiches left. But I kept a bottle of water in my pocket. This came in very handy because the weather turned really warm (we're talking 80's) and all of us were told to wardrobe for autumn weather (suits, scarves, gloves, overcoats). My raincoat was black and it absorbed heat like a sponge. Other extras were stripping off their clothes between takes. It was a real do-your-laundry provoking scene. Even Spidey was dragging his ass.

The three days ended and some of us exchanged emails so we could share the pictures we took on the set. One of the guys who asked me to take a picture of him in "costume", was a "ticket concierge" and said he would be "helpfull" in getting me any tickets to theater shows and concerts. I'll be testing that offer pretty soon! My other background buddies are shown below.

The following day I got an offer to work on the Spiderman set again... in 2 weeks. So I guess this is a "to be continued" ending!