Help me look like a bad-ass!
June 9, 2011 10:00 PM Subscribe
I want to be cast as an extra for The Dark Knight Rises. Please help me with costume ideas to be a thug/criminal.
Here is the casting call. It is for The Dark Knight Rises, even though it is titled as "Magnus Rex." The reason I chose thug/criminal is because there is no way I could pull off being a guard/policeman or a businessman look. I could easily do a sports fan, but since this is Pittsburgh, I'm pretty sure every one and their mother will be dressed as a sports fan. I really want to stand out with a good costume. (They recommend you come dressed as the part you're shooting for.) But, I don't really know where to start to begin making myself look like a thug/criminal. I guess I'm not opposed to spending money, so that is an option, but obviously I'd rather not or spend very little.
Here are some pictures of myself. I apologize for linking to my Fazed profile, but I'm not linking my FB and I don't really have any other pictures on the tubes.
A little bit about myself: I'm a mid-20's skinny white guy with long hair. I have a beard as of right now, so I'm thinking maybe that helps me look a little more rugged. However, I'm certainly not really a rough looking guy.
Any and all suggestions are welcomed and thank you in advance. I'll be trying to put together my make-shift costume tomorrow night for the call on Saturday and/or Sunday morning. If you have any questions, feel free to ask, I'll be checking in from time to time before it all goes down. Thanks!
Here is the casting call. It is for The Dark Knight Rises, even though it is titled as "Magnus Rex." The reason I chose thug/criminal is because there is no way I could pull off being a guard/policeman or a businessman look. I could easily do a sports fan, but since this is Pittsburgh, I'm pretty sure every one and their mother will be dressed as a sports fan. I really want to stand out with a good costume. (They recommend you come dressed as the part you're shooting for.) But, I don't really know where to start to begin making myself look like a thug/criminal. I guess I'm not opposed to spending money, so that is an option, but obviously I'd rather not or spend very little.
Here are some pictures of myself. I apologize for linking to my Fazed profile, but I'm not linking my FB and I don't really have any other pictures on the tubes.
A little bit about myself: I'm a mid-20's skinny white guy with long hair. I have a beard as of right now, so I'm thinking maybe that helps me look a little more rugged. However, I'm certainly not really a rough looking guy.
Any and all suggestions are welcomed and thank you in advance. I'll be trying to put together my make-shift costume tomorrow night for the call on Saturday and/or Sunday morning. If you have any questions, feel free to ask, I'll be checking in from time to time before it all goes down. Thanks!
Fellow fazer here. I think you could swing the bat-shit-insane-homeless-junkie-in-a-trenchcoat look (a compliment :))
Unless you are extremely tall, I don't think you will have much luck looking intimidating. But sketchy, seedy, and frightening, I think you can do that. An extra is just that, you need to be able to see and immediately read what you are. Anything that requires subtlety will be impossible.
The plus here is that you can be both victim and perpetrator, since you'd be a social outcast, I think that you could conflict with both parties (double the job opportunities).
As for costume:
-Trenchcoat
-Lots of ill-fitting layers
-Beanie
-Boots that are beyond their last leg, mostly untied
-Nothing matches
-Every single thing you wear needs to be like dragged around behind your car for a day, run over, and used to clean the floor of a local jiffy lube
-Probably a wig, double points here if it is thrashed and matted (there should probably be grey in there)
-You need enough hat/wig/beard/collar coverage that you can't see how young you are
-Find some terrible bronzer day of and apply it poorly (hobos have serious exposure)
-Don't shave for sure between now and then, no matter how bad it looks
-You could experiment with some of those weird contacts that make you look blind.. one or both eyes.
-Chew like a thin mint, an oreo, or a bag of sunflower seeds (and then don't swallow) before you go up, you need your teeth looking nasty
-Any speaking lines should be barely perceptible as English (or any other language for that matter)
Good luck sir!
posted by milqman at 10:39 PM on June 9, 2011
Unless you are extremely tall, I don't think you will have much luck looking intimidating. But sketchy, seedy, and frightening, I think you can do that. An extra is just that, you need to be able to see and immediately read what you are. Anything that requires subtlety will be impossible.
The plus here is that you can be both victim and perpetrator, since you'd be a social outcast, I think that you could conflict with both parties (double the job opportunities).
As for costume:
-Trenchcoat
-Lots of ill-fitting layers
-Beanie
-Boots that are beyond their last leg, mostly untied
-Nothing matches
-Every single thing you wear needs to be like dragged around behind your car for a day, run over, and used to clean the floor of a local jiffy lube
-Probably a wig, double points here if it is thrashed and matted (there should probably be grey in there)
-You need enough hat/wig/beard/collar coverage that you can't see how young you are
-Find some terrible bronzer day of and apply it poorly (hobos have serious exposure)
-Don't shave for sure between now and then, no matter how bad it looks
-You could experiment with some of those weird contacts that make you look blind.. one or both eyes.
-Chew like a thin mint, an oreo, or a bag of sunflower seeds (and then don't swallow) before you go up, you need your teeth looking nasty
-Any speaking lines should be barely perceptible as English (or any other language for that matter)
Good luck sir!
posted by milqman at 10:39 PM on June 9, 2011
I'm also a long-haired guy, and I was cast as an asylum extra in Batman Begins, however, after two sessions of tons of waiting in lines, I got a call that the scene was cut. I didn't dress for the part, but I did have some five o'clock shadow at the time (because of laziness).
I got the impression that they mostly wanted people that would fit in the scene, but not stand out. So, it's probably not worth going over the top with lots of details. Maybe just show up in a dark, worn T-shirt and a leather jacket if you have one. Don't wash your hair for a couple days beforehand, maybe.
A bit of warning: You have to sit through a lot of lines and waiting just to show up for a few seconds in the movie. The initial casting call will take a 3-4 hours of going through lines, and if you move on to the next stage, which for me was wardrobe, that is also a lot of hours of waiting for about fifteen minutes of trying on a costume. And then, the scene they cast you for could be cut before they even film it, and you get to be on the set. If you do get to film the scene, they warn you that actual filming is a whole day or more of waiting around, but I imagine that's offset by getting to see Batman props.
I'm guessing you already know something of this cost, but just in case, there it is. If you still want it regardless, good luck!
posted by ignignokt at 11:23 PM on June 9, 2011
I got the impression that they mostly wanted people that would fit in the scene, but not stand out. So, it's probably not worth going over the top with lots of details. Maybe just show up in a dark, worn T-shirt and a leather jacket if you have one. Don't wash your hair for a couple days beforehand, maybe.
A bit of warning: You have to sit through a lot of lines and waiting just to show up for a few seconds in the movie. The initial casting call will take a 3-4 hours of going through lines, and if you move on to the next stage, which for me was wardrobe, that is also a lot of hours of waiting for about fifteen minutes of trying on a costume. And then, the scene they cast you for could be cut before they even film it, and you get to be on the set. If you do get to film the scene, they warn you that actual filming is a whole day or more of waiting around, but I imagine that's offset by getting to see Batman props.
I'm guessing you already know something of this cost, but just in case, there it is. If you still want it regardless, good luck!
posted by ignignokt at 11:23 PM on June 9, 2011
A single light-colored costume contact lens to give you that cataract-from-barfighting effect might add a nice touch.
posted by gingerest at 11:28 PM on June 9, 2011
posted by gingerest at 11:28 PM on June 9, 2011
Best answer: I work in Hollywood.
I have worked for producers casting films. I have sat in innumerable casting sessions. I have cast extras and wrangled crowds during filming. I have thumbed through thousands of headshots to pick out hundreds of people we will forget to give donuts to on the day of shooting. I have been the guy you want to make pick you.
There is absolutely zero you can do to better goose yourself into getting picked. Really, truly. Either they like you or they don't -- it'll be as basic as that. Either you're what they're looking for or you aren't. You have a very distinctive, interesting face -- they'll see you no matter what you try to do.
Here's what NOT to do: do not change your basic appearance in some way. Do not wear make-up (unless you always wear make-up). Do not wear a wig. Do not wear bronzer. Do not wear a fake tattoo. Do not wear cosmetic contacts. Don't do these things for two reasons: a) they need to see who you are and exactly what you really look like and b) they don't want people who try too hard. Y'know who are hard to have on movie sets? Superfans. Superfans make trouble, superfans are draining, superfans are problems. We want professional workers, and so while we're looking for types, we're also looking for pros. A cosplay enthusiast is not a good candidate for extra work (unless it's a scene at a cosplay con!).
Go basic. Muted t-shirt, worn jeans, boots. Neutral. Pull your long hair back in a pony tail -- casting directors need to see your full face without hair hiding any part of it. Looking at your pictures, I'd suggest you shave -- your angles work to make you distinctive. Your chin hair is cool. I might keep that. But otherwise, shave, definitely. I would definitely cast you as a junkie or an insane asylum patient or a two-bit criminal. I would not cast you as a thug.
posted by incessant at 11:33 PM on June 9, 2011 [24 favorites]
I have worked for producers casting films. I have sat in innumerable casting sessions. I have cast extras and wrangled crowds during filming. I have thumbed through thousands of headshots to pick out hundreds of people we will forget to give donuts to on the day of shooting. I have been the guy you want to make pick you.
There is absolutely zero you can do to better goose yourself into getting picked. Really, truly. Either they like you or they don't -- it'll be as basic as that. Either you're what they're looking for or you aren't. You have a very distinctive, interesting face -- they'll see you no matter what you try to do.
Here's what NOT to do: do not change your basic appearance in some way. Do not wear make-up (unless you always wear make-up). Do not wear a wig. Do not wear bronzer. Do not wear a fake tattoo. Do not wear cosmetic contacts. Don't do these things for two reasons: a) they need to see who you are and exactly what you really look like and b) they don't want people who try too hard. Y'know who are hard to have on movie sets? Superfans. Superfans make trouble, superfans are draining, superfans are problems. We want professional workers, and so while we're looking for types, we're also looking for pros. A cosplay enthusiast is not a good candidate for extra work (unless it's a scene at a cosplay con!).
Go basic. Muted t-shirt, worn jeans, boots. Neutral. Pull your long hair back in a pony tail -- casting directors need to see your full face without hair hiding any part of it. Looking at your pictures, I'd suggest you shave -- your angles work to make you distinctive. Your chin hair is cool. I might keep that. But otherwise, shave, definitely. I would definitely cast you as a junkie or an insane asylum patient or a two-bit criminal. I would not cast you as a thug.
posted by incessant at 11:33 PM on June 9, 2011 [24 favorites]
I think milqman has it with the batshit-insane-junky strategy. Either that, or the wiry gang member who, rather than get into a protracted shouting match followed by an extended fist fight, just walks up and stabs someone with minimal provocation.
I wouldn't go over the top with an anything I wore - they'll have their own plan, makeup people and what not. I would wear the clothes that I would start with if I were putting together the costume milqman describes, I just wouldn't do anything to transform them from worn clothes to crazy junkie guy costume. Your goal needs to be to convince them that you can help communicate the danger and desperation of the streets of Gotham City, not give the impression that you're there to help them come up with a new named villain.
posted by Kid Charlemagne at 3:42 AM on June 10, 2011
I wouldn't go over the top with an anything I wore - they'll have their own plan, makeup people and what not. I would wear the clothes that I would start with if I were putting together the costume milqman describes, I just wouldn't do anything to transform them from worn clothes to crazy junkie guy costume. Your goal needs to be to convince them that you can help communicate the danger and desperation of the streets of Gotham City, not give the impression that you're there to help them come up with a new named villain.
posted by Kid Charlemagne at 3:42 AM on June 10, 2011
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by tumid dahlia at 10:38 PM on June 9, 2011