(Click To See A Larger Version Of Our Paycheck!)

Written & Experienced By : Brad Plevyak & Chris Alley

THE SAGA BEGINS...

11:50 PM - It all started then, 10 minutes before my alarm was set to go off, waking me for what was about to be our greatest Trip Askew on the books (so far, anyway!). As I jumped up with a shock to answer the phone from my slumber, I was surprised to hear that the voice on the other end was none other than Kevin himself! He'd previously asked us to come to the set, and wanted to make sure that we'd obtained all the particulars and could still make the trip. I assured him that Nancy Mosser had set everything up for us and that we were good to go. Kevin said, "Excellent", I believe, but due to that stupor that comes from the phone ringing and waking you, the rest of the brief conversation is pretty much a blur. It was really cool of the guy to call. We certainly appreciated it. It set the stage for what was to be an outstanding day.

12:50 AM - Things were off to a running start, so after we'd each hit the showers and packed our supplies (2 changes of clothing in a suitcase, to use as a prop)...We were off. A quick obligatory stop at Sheetz for munchies and water, and then at...

1:00 AM - We hit the turnpike. Things always seem a little bleak when you hit this road on about 3 hours of sleep with a solid 3 1/2 hour drive ahead of you, but we were up to the task. Chris took the honors this time...An excellent trip with no traffic (What would you expect at this time on a Monday night?) and no wrong turns. By the way, Pittsburgh apparently takes care of their major road construction late at night. This kicks ass. In about the only other eventful trip news, we attempted to point out what we thought was GOING to be the Daily Planet building as we passed the Pittsburgh skyline and lamented over the Supes project, which seems to have just barreled out of control...

But you're looking for DOGMA news here, of course...

4:26 AM - We arrive at the top-secret Dogma base camp ahead of schedule, and note a few (not many) other extras have arrived and are awaiting further instructions. It's a chilly morning here in Pittsburgh, PA, so we think it best to wait in the car for our 5:00 AM call time to get closer before trying to figure out what's going on.

4:55 AM - By the time the clock on Chris's car radio was displaying this, quite a few (approximately 40 or so) cars had arrived at the lot, along with close to 200 extras all carrying various duffel bags & suitcases. We noticed a large gathering was forming in the lot off to our left, so left the comfort (not necessarily the warmth, since we were almost out of gas and didn't keep the engine running) of the car to investigate.

4:58 AM - The crowd is gathering due to Nancy Mosser (the extras casting agent for the flick, referred to by all on set by its codename "Bearclaw", as many of you know) and crew passing around all the necessary paperwork we need to fill out to be extras. It's an organized operation... They've got clipboards to verify that we're actually on the list before allowing us to go further. By the way, we notice the crowd is quite an eclectic one...Many different clothing styles and age ranges...We're surprised by the variety and happy to realize that this will definitely help to maintain the realism of the scenes that we'll be joining. We head back to the car and fill out the forms.

5:30 AM - Breakfast! Craft services has been in full swing since we've arrived at the lot, and set out a nice spread of donuts, cereal, coffee, juices (and a FULL menu for the cast and crew). After handing in our extras applications for approval (We're getting PAID for this, by the way, it turns out...$42 and change for a day's work...Even overtime perhaps. Can't beat that for a day like this!). The grub isn't far away, so I head over and grab a cup of coffee.

5:45 AM - I throw away the coffee. After trying hard to drink it, the taste of the stuff just wasn't doing it for me. But the few hot sips were enough to warm & wake me a bit. Chris made a wise choice by avoiding the stuff, though.

6:00 AM - A powwow forms around the breakfast table in the lot, so we figure it's time to grab our bags and leave the car behind for the day. It's a cold, damp morning, and the gathering crowd is visibly shivering and uncomfortable. The fact that we won't see the sun for another hour or so wasn't going to help, either.

Whino officially introduces himself to the crowd...He's the guy that's coordinating this whole thing, and certainly has his act together. He tells the crowd a few things about the flick, but most don't seem to understand...The younger kids knew exactly why they were there, but the older folks, we learned, tend to take extra work whenever they can, and do it as sort of a hobby, unaware of the film or the actors behind it. Not a problem really, it's nice to have a good cross-section of people, we'd say.

We were told today's scene would involve stars Matt Damon and Ben Affleck, as well as some stunt folks (who we never turned out to see, actually). Some extras would be dressed as nuns and priests (due to the religious nature of the film), and others dressed as flight captains and attendants...The scenes would take place at an airport, you see. The rest of us, who would use the clothing we'd brought along as our costume, would play folks arriving, departing, or greeting within the terminal.

6:30 AM - This was the first in many times during our day when we'd learn to really appreciate what goes into being an extra. We all stood, close to 200 of us, in the cold chilly lot, waiting to be escorted to wardrobe (10 at a time, very slowly at first), before being passed along to a bus which would take us to the actual set. Minutes seemed like several minutes, as we hoped for the sun to rise and warm us up. Whino remarks, as he points at the horizon: "Ah, look at that pink sky...That's the great thing about my job. You get to see the sunrise and the sunset EVERY day."

[ By the way, we once again wisely decided NOT to wear watches (as we seem to stupidly do on ALL these trips) so all times from this point on, while close, are approximated. Sorry. ]

7:00 AM - Suddenly, things are looking up! The wardrobe department is FLYING through groups of 10 in NO TIME! "You're good, you're good, you're good...". Seems they decided to approve almost anything extras were wearing (as long as they were wearing SOMETHING, we suppose), and, before we knew it, we were in line to board the bus toward the mythical Bearclaw set. What might await us in the coming hours? Time would tell.

[ Now, at this point we've gotta give you a little disclaimer. We're leaving some stuff out of this, not because we forget, but because we've signed confidentiality agreements and, frankly, think that a lot of this stuff is best discovered for yourself. We'll give you as much dirt as we can without throwing any TOO major out there, so fear not. Some things just need to be kept private, though. Oh, and by the way, taking pictures wasn't permitted, and we didn't plan on breaking THAT rule. So you'll hafta live with what we've got. Anyway... ]

ARRIVING ON SET...

7:20 AM - We arrive at the set (an airport terminal), and man, there's a LOT going on! We notice a camera track set up on the floor of the terminal, along with tons of lighting rigs. Crew is everywhere, and they look just about ready to shoot. We're all led into a waiting area, where we're told that, during the day, we may be told to do one thing by someone, then suddenly something totally different minutes later, often by someone else. This turns out to be more than true, since shuffling extras around to exactly where the crew needs them to be is a major part of making the entire scene work. We're instructed to "go with the flow", and we do just that.

7:30 AM - It's been minutes since we've hit the set, and we're already finding ourselves being pulled into a shot! We're both selected to move from the waiting area to the set, so we proceed, luggage in hand. Scott Mosier's already arrived and surveying the area...The first person that we actually recognize.

7:35 AM - I'm told to sit on a chair in the terminal, and Chris gets split into a group of "greeters", who will be anticipating the arrival of the friends and loved ones, which will occur immediately behind me.

7:45 AM - After about 10 minutes of waiting for other extras to be selected and positioned, the makeup guy realizes he hasn't hit me up yet and hits me with the brush...Funny how my face didn't itch before; now I wanted to itch it more than ever! Not wanting to screw anything up though, I fend off the urges. Meanwhile, Chris has been taken back to the waiting area, where extras are being paired off guy/girl (most who know each other) to be arrivers/greeters, making for a convincing scene at the airport. Elsewhere...

7:50 AM - Kevin and Kim have arrived at the set, and are chatting with a couple of the stand-ins, who will be replaced by a Nun and Matt in the actual shot scene. It just so happens that Kevin's exactly in front of me and, after noticing me just sitting in a chair, decides to get me a little more involved. He asks where to find Chris, and, before I know it, I'm being whisked back into the group of arriving passengers. Cool! On my way back, I see Chris has returned to the pool of greeters. He informs me that he'll be the one to greet me as I enter. Sounds good to me. We're excited to be a more involved part of the scene, and ready to give it a shot.

8:00 AM - I'm introduced to a few of the other "featured" extras in the scene, all who are at the back of the arrivals line: A woman and her daughter, who will play part of "the family", and Leslie, who will play a "young lover" meeting her boyfriend as she hits the terminal. I'm placed directly behind her, the last person to get off the plane. It's at this point that I realize, many of the folks in this line are what I'll call "professional extras"...They're mostly from the Pittsburgh area and have done this a lot of times before, whether for acting experience to get a career going or just for something to do. Not really a bad way to spend your spare time, I suppose. Either of us would certainly take the chance if movies were made frequently in our area. We weren't even aware that Pittsburgh was such a popular area for filming, actually, but apparently there's definitely work out there if you look around.

8:10 AM - Leslie is a bit annoyed, since she's just discovered that her friend that was supposed to play her boyfriend in the scene had been swapped for another guy whom she'd never met, who turns out to be Ben Affleck's stand-in. In this scene, she'll have to greet him with open arms, hugging and kissing him, so she's taken out to meet the guy and talk things over. Minutes later...

8:15 AM - Leslie returns, with Chris not far behind! Apparently, Kevin had finally spotted Chris outside and asked that he join me in the arrivals line. Instead of having us meet someone, we're told to play the parts of two strict businessmen, hurried to leave the terminal, discussing business-type-stuff through the entire duration of our screentime. Unfortunately, we're not in business suits and it's too late for wardrobe, so who knows if it'll even be apparent on film. But that was the concept, anyway. We're told to hang a left on our way out the door, head straight up the center of the scene (getting us some good camera time), and to finally take another left as we exit the camera's field of view. Sounds simple enough.

Oh, and one other thing: All actions (including conversation) was, of course, to be kept absolutely silent for the scene, so we didn't walk over Ben & Matt's dialogue. Chris and I were going to have to FAKE our conversation just by moving our lips and gesturing! We hoped that we wouldn't come across looking stupid.

8:25 AM - "Quiet please, we are rolling!". It's an exciting moment as a hush goes over the crowd of 20 or so extras...The scene actually begins with a camera tracking along the terminal, following Matt and a nun as they converse, with the camera finally stopping as they reach our arriving terminal. By the way, have we mentioned that the airline's got a very Askew-sounding name? That's all we're saying. Anyway, due to the lead-time for the take, there's always about a minute of anticipation before we even begin to move towards the set. As the door opens, and we get closer to the set, we prepare to begin our "fake" conversation...

8:26 AM - We walk out onto the set, Chris's overnight bag and my bulky suitcase in hand. It's chaos! We hadn't thought to realize that ALL the extras before us would be stopping as they were greeted, so people are EVERYWHERE. Chris splits off to the right of the scene, and I barrel through a few people, desperately trying to hit my marks (smacking a few extras with my huge suitcase as I make my way through...). Then, I see why Chris went off course. There's a BOOM MICROPHONE directly in the path we'd been told to take! I stop for a moment, realize I'm standing still in the shot, see Chris standing off to the right, so there I head...directly in front of the camera! Yikes! It's a total nightmare! "I've ruined the shot!", I thought with alarm.

The scene continues to its end, and, when cut is yelled, one crewmember advises me not to walk in front of the camera, which, of course, I knew...Steve (the guy who told us to take the ill-fated route) apologizes, and says he didn't know the boom was going to be there. Whoops! Anyway, our new direction is to head off to the RIGHT (the direction Chris had taken) to avoid the traffic jam (and the boom). I also ask Steve for the permission to ditch the suitcase (or borrow a briefcase), to help me avoid possibly knocking someone over. He agrees, and tells me to just ditch the suitcase. It was a good thing...I could now use my hands to gesture as I was "talking" to Chris.

8:40 AM - The shot is reset, and we're ready for another try. We're determined to do everything EXACTLY as planned, and hope to snag a few seconds of camera time. This take goes much smoother. Then, we reset, and do it again. This happens continuously, for the next hour or so, each time introducing slight variations... The crowd is told to hang around in the scene longer, then told they're staying there TOO long, etc...That's filmmaking, folks. It's gotta be JUST right!

After the 3rd take, a few extras are back in the hallway whispering excitedly about spotting Gwyneth Paltrow on the set! Sure enough, during our next take, there she was, seated next to Ben, crouched down and off camera! We believe that she was actually up for the role of Bethany in the film at one point, but the deal fell through, so it was quite ironic to have her on the set, visiting Ben, and on the day we were filming, no less.

THE BIG SCENE...

10:00 AM - "Okay everyone, here's your big scene!" We're told that the focus of the camera will now be changing to US (rather than Matt & Ben, in the scene's foreground), and that this was our chance to shine. Everyone else is told to do JUST as they have been except, you guessed it, yours truly! Kevin's doing his best to make sure that we get in the shot (what a guy!), so we're told to stick as closely as possible to Leslie (the "kisser", as she's referred to), remain intent in our business conversation , but stop short and act a bit upset to see her kissing her boyfriend, since she's in our path...Not to mention unavailable. It was going to be tough, Chris remarked, since she tended to run to meet the guy when she saw him, where as we could only walk. Hey, we'd give it our best shot!

10:10 AM - "...And...We're Rolling!" We'd been told that, now that Ben & Matt's dialogue was recorded and the focus was going to be on US, talking was permitted. This made it much easier for Chris and I to hold a conversation, since we could actually HEAR what the other was saying. We did only 2 takes of the scene this way (and about 10 the other way, since the Matt & Ben stuff is more crucial than the quick snippets of us that you'll see inserted into the shot), but they seem to go quite well! We're stopped halfway through the second take and given "marks", from which we will continue when "Action!" is yelled again. We're both caught in mid-stride, trying to keep up with Leslie as she rushes off to meet her man.

10:15 AM - "...Action!" The set comes alive once again, and we continue from our marks. It was hard to tell whether we'd come close enough to Leslie to make it look as if she'd been in our way, but made our remarks and then went back to our conversation as we exited, stage left. We're sure that this will come off as only a few quick seconds on film, if even that, but hope that it ends up looking natural. After the scene is cut, a final close-up of the young lovers kissing is shot, to coincide with a comment that will be made by Loki & Bartleby in the scene. It goes quite well, and the entire group of onlookers applauds.

10:30 AM - Happy to have finally completed the shot, we hit the sidelines for some expected downtime. We notice that Kevin and Ben are sitting close by, watching monitors and chatting. Kevin waves to us and shortly after comes over with Ben, to introduce us! It's a really cool thing, folks, and something we really didn't expect, so we were pretty thrilled. Ben's a very cool, funny guy, just as you'd imagine. Kevin mentioned News Askew to him, which he said he'd visited (primarily commenting on the Armageddon action figure shots we'd had), and joked about Kev's sincerity about being a fan of the site, and that he was a REAL fan...Anyway, it happened so fast, and we can't remember the exact dialogue, but it was fun to joke around with the guys for a couple...Kevin left us to chat with Ben, who in turn introduced us to Matt and, to our surprise, Gwyneth (who looked outstanding, we might respectfully add)! We shook hands with all, congratulated the guys on their Oscars, tried not to feel too ridiculous when Ben told Gwyneth about the website..."It's a Kevin Smith and Ben Affleck site," he said. "Ya know, the IMPORTANT stuff". She heartily agreed. Matt rushed off fairly soon after, and Ben & Gwyneth hung out for a minute or so more. With another handshake, a "Nice meeting you" and a "Bye", they were off.

All in all, it was a great moment and, along with our big screentime, the highlight of the day. We didn't want autographs or expect any lengthy conversations...Hell, we never even expected to MEET them...But we certainly appreciated Kevin's introduction and their taking the time to stop over.

10:40 AM - Catching Kevin on the way back to pick up my abandoned suitcase, I ask him if we did him proud and thank him quickly...He says that we're "definitely in the shot". Cool!

11:00 AM - The following shot was a repeat of the scene we'd just done, only taken from reverse (looking out onto the airport terminal, rather than in). Extras (not us, this time) were used as passers-by to fill in background space. We realized that our gig was definitely more high profile, since most of the folks in this scene would only get shot from the mid-section and down, since Matt & Ben were both seated.

12:00 PM - Lunchtime! Right on schedule. They've really got a good operation running here. We're told that we'll each be given $8.00 cash towards lunch, and have 45 minutes to go wherever we'd like in the airport to eat it.

12:10 PM - McDonalds it is! There's certainly no shortage of places to eat, but we decide something fast and cheap would be the best bet...We'd have time to eat and change our clothes afterwards, in case we were needed for future scenes. We order our value meals, check our Monopoly pieces (damn...lost AGAIN! Does anyone win this game?), and chow down. A few extras are talking about the Supes flick a table away. Seems a lot of folks in the area spend their time searching out extra work. Hey, if you've got the spare time, what the hell, we suppose...

12:45 PM - Lunch has ended, we've changed, and it's back to work. We're asked to come up towards the moving walkways, where the next scene will take place. Matt & Ben will be shot on a VERY long camera track that follows them at the same speed as the walkway, upon which they're standing. A single, long take will be used as the two speak, with the dialogue ending just as the track does. Timing will be critical.

1:00 PM - They've got enough bodies to fill the scene, some will walk by, others will ride the walkways, so we grab a couple of seats alongside of the action, as the flight announcer of the actual flight that's boarding shortly says, "Please excuse the mess, and sit back and watch the moviemaking...". Ben and Matt soon glide by on the walkway, in a heated conversation, which includes the lines of delivery Kevin mentioned recently in his set wrap-up for the day. We watch 3 or 4 takes of the scene from the end of the long track, each one seemingly aggravating Ben due to the fact that the track is running out before the dialogue!

1:20 PM - More track has been laid down, stretching the entire length of the moving walkway. The first take seems to work much better, allowing the dialogue to finish with the guys still on camera. We decide to move to the starting end of the scene and get a different point of view.

1:45 PM - "Reset! Everybody back to your ones!" There's a phrase that you can almost mouth along with the crew after spending some time on set. With each take, Kevin closely watches from a monitor. If he's satisfied, the scene is closed and they move on to the next. If not, those all-too-familiar words echo throughout the set. We hear them quite a few times as we sit in the background at the beginning of the track, continually watching the camera roll to the track's start as they set up for another go.

2:00 PM - We notice a pissed-off looking airport guy barking at a poor crewmember, complaining about "having an airport to run" and the inconvenience that having lights missing in the terminals is causing his passengers. Apparently, actual ceiling lights were taken down for the first scene to allow for proper lighting, and had yet to be replaced. There was still plenty of light in the area, but the guy was obviously bent out of shape about the film's shooting, and just felt he needed to blow off some steam on someone. He was such a character, it was funny. Someone should have given him a job. We felt bad for the crewmember, though. It probably wasn't even his fault.

2:30 PM - After 13 takes (with some long breaks in-between), the first of the two walkway shots is complete. All extras on the scene are asked to move back to the waiting area, to allow the crew room to set equipment up for the next scene.

2:40 PM - It was yet another slow and trying part of the day...We sat in the waiting area, away from all the action, for at least 2 hours, waiting for further instructions. Because we were in a real working airport, things were starting to open up and return to normal. A flight to Germany was boarding nearby, as the flight attendants announced that the movie "Bearclaw" was filming and apologized for any confusion or disarray. They said to look for its release in the future, and we couldn't help but laugh, thinking of all the poor, unsuspecting folks that would keep wondering when "Bearclaw" would be released.

To entertain us even further, Mr. Macho airport guy returned to the scene, hands on his hips, acting all high and mighty, as he angrily watched the crew work their asses off to get the overhead lights back in place.

More slow, quiet time passed. If you're ever an extra in a film, here's some advice. Bring a book. Hell, bring 2 books. Anything to pass the time would make the day seem much smoother. As for us, we did our best to relax since, although we were excited to be on the set, the urge to sleep was starting to get the best of us. Finally...

5:00 PM - Quitting time. Nancy and assistants walked into the room with instructions...Get in line with our approved papers from earlier today to "check out" (so we can receive our payment!). A line quickly formed (out of nowhere!), and soon, our official work as a Dogma extra had sadly ended. Sure, it's no fun to sit around and do nothing for that stretch of time, especially when you can't even watch filming take place, but that, friends, is what being an extra is all about. There's a few moments of excitement followed by a lot of waiting. Actually, that can pretty much be said for the movie-making process as a whole. But damn, is it still something fascinating to witness. We'd do it again in a heartbeat.

CHATTING WITH KEVIN...

5:15 PM - We didn't think we should leave the set without stopping to say thanks to Kevin for all he'd done. He'd really set us up for an incredible day, and it was certainly appreciated. Having not been on the set for almost 2 hours, we'd hoped that he'd still be somewhere in the area. We decided to investigate.

5:20 PM - Luckily, Kev was still on set...Doing what he always seems to do without question everywhere he goes...Chat with fans and sign autographs. Whatta guy! And all this while watching dailies, even! Chris soon caught up, and we waited a few moments, talking to Kim as Kevin signed some VHS boxes. Kim was pleasant, as always! Great girl. Kevin finished, and stood up from his director's chair, asking us to stand in front of the movie camera just a few feet behind us! He took out his digital camera and got a nice shot of us, to add to his Dogma photo scrapbook. Can't WAIT to see THAT one!

5:27 PM - With some kind parting words, including a suggestion that we could perhaps stop out in the 'burgh again, sometime before shooting wrapped if we had the spare time, the news that the scene we appear in is crucial and "uncuttable" (it'll definitely be IN the flick) and a final thanks, we took our leave of Kevin, Kim, and the Bearclaw set. Surprisingly, it wasn't tough to find our way back to the bus at all, and, after waiting for it to arrive again (it had just filled up with a group of extras), we were on our way. Kevin and the crew left the scene in a white van immediately before us. He thanked the crowd for coming as he made his way out.

5:44 PM - The bus dropped us off at the exact pickup location, where Chris's car sat, safe and sound. As we left the base and headed back towards OUR home, we began to talk about the events of the day, then...

6:00 PM - I took out the laptop and began to type...