Extra

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Extras in a break from shooting

An extra (formerly also known as a figurant ) is an actor whose character is on the edge or in the background of the action and does not intervene in the action independently or individually.

Locations

Extras during filming

Extras are used in film and theater productions and in opera . You mainly act in a crowd with others and have no individual or supporting role. You are inconspicuous and "one of many". The main task is to create a believable and vivid background image. For example, they fight in an army, stand as onlookers around a murder victim, sit with others in a café or play football fans in the stadium. Directors deliberately do not give them precise stage directions, as they are supposed to behave naturally and in no way uniformly. Sometimes directors, scriptwriters or producers also go under the extras, this performance is known as a cameo . A well-known example is Alfred Hitchcock , who appears briefly in most of his films.

The tasks of the extras can be similar to those of the amateur actors , often overlap and can change during the filming of the role. So extras are rescheduled to small actors at short notice. As soon as an extra has a minor role or speaks, he usually becomes a minor actor. However, the areas overlap, as there are also silent roles or that someone just laughs, screams, mumbles.

The American Jesse Heiman , who appeared in more than 50 Hollywood films and 100 television series, achieved greater fame as an extra . In Germany, Johanna Penski , who was involved in more than 850 productions, is the best-known and at the same time the oldest extra woman. The record with the most extras is held by the British film Gandhi , for which 100,000 paid extras and 200,000 volunteers were staged on January 31, 1981 .

Individual evidence

  1. PM Questions & Answers: Which film scene needed the most extras? ( Memento from February 22, 2012 in the Internet Archive )

Web links

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