Languages in LA

Every job has its lingo. I spent yesterday on the set of the TV show “The Journeyman,” which airs Monday nights after “Heroes.” It’s a new show, and seems to be reminiscent of “Quantum Leap.” I was working as an extra in the background, because I like doing something fun on vacation from teaching. And I thought this would be fun.

 
Fun, however, is not necessarily how I would describe extra work, now that I’ve done it. However, I did at least learn what a martini shot is.

 
The scenes I participated in all take place at an office Christmas party in 1979. I was assigned a slinky black dress and some heavy gold jewelry, and the hairdresser transformed my short shag into a stiff, feathered do with flipped-up wings. The make-up artist went after my cheeks and lips with enough fire-engine red to set off the smoke detector. I was given a pair of shoes that immediately cut into my feet and caused a haze of pain to settle over me, clouding the entire day.

 
For the next six hours, I and 40 other extras were assigned to silently mingle and cross in front of the cameras as the actors moved among us and said their lines. We did this over and over and over and over and over. In painful shoes. For six hours. With no break and no refreshments.

 After lunch, we did it again… until 9pm. We filmed four different scenes, and by seven in the evening, we were too beat to even complain. Finally, the word came around that this was “the martini shot.” Apparently, the last scene of the day is called the martini shot, probably to cheer everyone up and remind them that once you’ve turned in your wardrobe and gotten your voucher, you can go home and have a drink. Which I did.