Early Thursday morning, Martin drove his old Ford to the Midtown Arts Theater.
Hundreds of people gathered in Theater Square next to Peachtree Street.
This is Atlanta's hangout for extras.
To put it bluntly, it is a temporary labor market.
Martin came here yesterday morning and encountered the TBS TV show selecting audience actors, but he was not selected.
Whether in Los Angeles or Atlanta, the supply of low-level actors far exceeds the demand.
Lacking personal connections and no certain organization, even finding a job as a purely background artist requires luck.
Martin found a place to park his car, and when he entered the square, he saw Robert's big head.
Robert's hair was neatly combed and he was wearing an old-fashioned formal suit. He said, "Wait a minute, the leader hasn't come yet."
Martin looked at it for a moment: "Did you do it specially?"
Robert said: "This way, I have a greater chance of being selected. Actually, I don't have any other ideas. I just have a line."
It really depends on luck, Martin said: "Good luck to you, man."
People from the Marietta Theater Company arrived one after another, including Martin. They were all temporary workers and paupers.
The leader, Jerome, drove over in a Lexus and asked everyone in the troupe to wait at the edge of the square. He made a phone call. When a bus stopped on Peachtree Street, he shook hands with the fat man who got off the bus and said a few words. He waved to the square: "Get in the car."
When the fat man saw that there were no weird-looking people, he said something to Jerome before going to choose temporary workers.
Martin walked quickly and got on the bus at the front. He glanced at the first row in front of him. There were folders on the seats inside.
He chose a seat on the other side of the row and Robert entered.
Martin sat on the outside and looked at the square through the car window.
The fat man is selecting people. The method of selecting people is very simple. Choose whoever you like.
Based on the information collected recently, Martin can easily judge that Atlanta is far away from film and television production centers such as New York and Los Angeles. The preferential policies have just been released, and there is currently no mature acting market and supporting agent system.
Jerome is something of an agent.
The laws and regulations in California and New York don't apply here.
The bus was quickly filled with people, and there was only a narrow aisle between Fatty and Martin.
Martin did not strike up a conversation rashly.
Not far after the bus drove along Peachtree Street, it suddenly slowed down.
A procession appeared ahead near the State Capitol.
The demonstrators were all women.
There were also reporters from TV stations and newspapers following us.
The fat man stretched his neck and looked ahead. Instead of cursing, he said: "Give them the way. When they pass the next intersection, we will turn around."
The name of the "ATL Women's Association" was printed on the vests of the marchers. Martin judged the fat man's attitude and seemed to be saying to himself: "Are they fighting for their legitimate rights and interests?"
The voice was not loud, but it could fall on Fatty's ears. Fatty said casually: "This is a famous equal rights group in Atlanta. It has done many great things."
Martin was sure that the fat man's position was in favor of the marchers, and immediately adjusted the position of his butt: "Is he also doing something great this time?"
The fat man obviously knew: "Several conservative leaders of the Georgia Methodist Association claimed that women are just family subordinates and must follow the family's will when it comes to sex and reproduction, which triggered this protest."
He pointed to the slogan in the hands of the marchers: "ATL Women's Association calls on women to enjoy sexual and reproductive freedom."
Robert muttered in a low voice: "Shit!"
Martin pretended not to hear and said to the fat man: "It's an action of great social significance."
Fatty and Proud Yan: "One of the organizers of this event is Ms. Kelly Gray, the boss of our Gray Company."
Unexpectedly, this fat man was also a good employee who was worried about his boss. Martin quickly found a topic to bring them closer and said: "My girlfriend and many of her friends, probably dozens of young girls, have always wanted to join the Women's Association. To do something to fight for women’s rights, they can participate in socially meaningful activities like this at any time, but it’s a pity that they can’t find a suitable introducer.”
As long as she takes care of the food, Elena can attract hundreds of women from the Clayton community, let alone dozens of people.
As for Elena, she volunteers at the conservative Methodist Association.
This is not the point. Elena said that as long as the remuneration is appropriate, she can trust anyone.
"I know many outstanding women in the association." Fatty definitely has a future in Gray Company. He took the initiative to attract supporters for his boss. He took out his business card and handed it to Martin: "I'm Andrew. If they want to join, they can call me at any time."
Martin then solemnly put it away, took out the prepared business card and handed it over: "Martin Davis."
Just before the bus turned out of Peachtree Street, another parade group entered Peachtree Street, also dominated by women, carrying the flag of the Methodist Church.
Women began to embarrass women, extreme conservatism versus feminism.
The two sides exchanged insults in the air, and the whole city was in trouble.
The last scene Martin watched, the reporters were all in high spirits.
…………
The bus walked for more than half an hour and arrived at a farm north of Atlanta.
The crew rented a farm and temporarily built some 19th-century plantation-style sets. As a temporary dressing room, actors dressed in old-time costumes were put on makeup next to the wooden house.
Martin got off the bus and found the group leader Jerome waiting at the entrance of the farm.
Andrew came to Jerome and said directly: "There are two special roles. The daily salary is 100 US dollars. The working time ends at 4:30 pm. Overtime is calculated at 10 US dollars an hour. Call a few of your best actors." come over."
The hourly wage calculated purely for acting is only $5.15.
Jerome immediately thought that the idiot Martin still owed him dues, so he was the first to call Martin's name: "Martin, come here!" Then he shouted: "Kohler, Robert, Jones."
No one can owe me money! Jerome said to Fat Andrew again: "Martin is good, you can give him priority."
Andrew remembered the name. As soon as the people arrived, he ordered Martin: "Martin Davis, and...you, come with me."
Robert, who followed Martin, became another lucky person.
Jerome led the two of them towards the wooden house, while the others could only follow the stage manager to the outdoor temporary dressing area.
Robert poked Martin, who told him to shut up with his eyes.
The two followed Jerome to the wooden house. After waiting for a while, someone told them to go in and put on makeup.
While putting on makeup and changing clothes, an assistant came over to explain the show.
A character with no lines, but a lot of moves.
The two played the role of assassins who assassinated the supporting actress. They rushed to the garden where the supporting actress was with guns and were killed by the male protagonist with two shots. The supporting actress was deeply moved, took off her clothes and had sex with the male protagonist next to the two corpses.
In other words, during the filming of this intimate scene, Martin and Robert had to lie down the whole time.
Of course, background artists with corpses lying on the ground are paid more than background artists who are standing.
Robert has a senior background, Martin even less so.
There was no difficulty in the previous part. I strictly followed the positioning requirements and passed it after two takes. The director called for a jam once, but the actor missed the shot.
Then the highlight came. The two of them lay motionless on the ground. The male protagonist and the female counterpart were stripped of their special protection except for the special protection of the crew, and they played poker on the stone table in the garden.
Martin understood that this was a large-scale drama broadcast on a cable channel late at night.
Everything is exposed except for the bottom bit.
After more than ten years, it might become a classic nostalgic youth film.
According to the director's requirements, Martin must face the hero and heroine when he dies, so as to highlight the contrast between death and love in the panoramic shot and cause strong sensory stimulation.
He was like a photography artist from the Sacred Valley, lying down and enjoying the whole process of snapping again and again.
