Yesterday I had the opportunity of a lifetime. To be in a movie, with Brad Pitt no less! Sort of. They are filming “Moneyball” with Brad Pitt, Philip Seymour Hoffman, and Jonah Hill at the Oakland Colisseum and through BeInAMovie.com 7 of us got to be part of the crowd in some of the baseball game shots for the movie! When you sign up with Be in a Movie, you’re invited to be a Background Spectator, usually in an exciting crowd, stadium or action scene. The Celebrity Actors (sometimes), Director, Producers, Cameramen, makeup artists, stunt men and special effects coordinators are all there with you.
For this particular opp, you got to dress in Oakland A’s baseball attire, something we have plenty of since we are all fans. When you sign up, you get information on what to wear, what to bring (and not to bring), and you must sign liability waivers. Heading to the Colisseum, we were treated to free parking, phew, because a real baseball game parking pass can be 20-30 dollars. Getting there, we waited in line for about an hour to sign in, turn in additional paperwork, and get a raffle ticket. Once in the stadium were were sent to a section of the seats and were asked to “Hurry Up and Wait!” We did a lot of this. Do as you’re told, sit and wait until the next direction. 7 hours of it exactly, most shifts are about that long.
All during this time, you see producers, actors, camera men and all the exciting elements of film making on the field. This movie is about the A’s team back in 2002 and so the actors playing the baseball players were a great conversation piece for my husband, a big fan. We sat in left field for a few hours, then were moved as a collective group (about 600) of us to just behind home plate. They don’t fill the whole stadium, they just use computer technology (CGI) to cut and paste our group throughout. Even watching some of the filming the baseball players don’t always use a ball, they pretend to. Something they’ll add in later electronically, since pitches and hits aren’t reproduced exactly.
As far as the stars…well due to the nature of the movie, the main stars like Brad Pitt and Jonah Hill wouldn’t be in this part of the filming. They play the general manager and assistant in the film, they aren’t normally at the baseball games per say so they wouldn’t be in the shots we were a part of.
Positive points:
-it’s free, aside from transportation
-you get bragging rights, “I was in THAT movie!”
-you get the chance to see celebrities–we saw no one.
-you get to see firsthand how movies are made
-you may get 4 seconds of fame
-prizes are awarded
-free snacks are provided
-you get tips on how to be a paid extra
Negative points
-no cameras allowed, I feared losing mine so I left it in the car. PLENTY of people were using their cameras on their phone, not fair.
-you do a lot of sitting, a lot of waiting
-snack mean just that, even at the stadium we hoped for a concession stand to be open to us, but there was chex mix, gummie bears, granola, coffee and water, ONLY for 7 hours!
-the prizes…well there were 2 only, by far less than promised
-you get SHUSHED a lot.
-you hear about 1/100th of what’s going on in the film.
It’s really fascinating and a neat experience if you have the time. Would I do it again? Maybe, but not anytime soon. Sitting in a baseball stadium in those metal seats for hours takes a toll. But you should check out http://www.beinamovie.com to see if there are opportunities in your area, there’s even a link to being in TV shows on that site! My number one advice, bring a book and bring a sandwich or two! If you check out the movie, maybe you’ll see me in the stands, I’m the one with the PINK foam finger.
I was not compensated in any way for this post.
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