Life as a Movie Extra群众演员的人生

　　Ordinary people have always been attracted to the world of movies and movie stars . One way to get closer to this world is to become a movie extra. Although you have seen movie extras, you may not have paid attention to them. Extras are the people seated at tables in a restaurant while the two main actors are in conversation. They are the guests at the wedding of the main characters. They are the people crossing the street while “the bad guy” is being chased by the police. Extras don’t normally speak any lines, but they help make the scenes look real.1

　　人们常常被电影和电影演员吸引，接近他们的方式之一就是当群众演员。虽然你见过群众演员，但可能从没注意过他们。群众演员就是主角在餐厅对话时在后面坐着的人，是主角举行婚礼时在现场的客人， 是坏人被警察追捕的时候过马路的行人。 虽然群众演员通常没有台词，但他们的存在使整个场景更真实。

　　Being a movie extra might seem like a lot of fun. You get to see what life is like behind the scenes. But don‘t forget that being an extra is really a job, and it‘s mostly about doing nothing . First-time extras are often shocked to learn how slow the process of movie making is. In a finished movie, the action may move quickly. But it can sometimes take a whole day to shoot a scene that appears for just a few minutes on the screen.

　　当群众演员看上去很有意思，你可以看到电影背后的情景。但是不要忘记群众演员是一个职业，而这个职业常常意味着无事可做。第一次当群众演员的人常常会感到震惊：原来拍电影这么缓慢。电影成品中 的场景会播放的很快，但在拍摄的时候，屏幕上几分钟的镜头可能需要拍一整天。

　　The main requirement for being an extra is the ability to wait. You may report to work at 5 or 6 a. m. , and then you wait until the director is ready for your scene. This could take several hours. Then there may be technical problems, and you have to wait some more. After the director says “action” and you do the first “take”, you may have to do it again if he or she is not satisfied with the scene. In fact, you may have to do the same scene over and over again. You could be on the set for hours, sometimes waiting outdoors in very hot or cold weather.2 You may not be finished until 11 p. m. or midnight. The pay isn’t good, either — often only a little bit above minimum wage. And you must pay the agent who gets you the job a commission of about 10 percent.

　　对群众演员来说，主要的要求就是要有耐心等待。可能告知你早晨五六点钟工作，但你要一直等导演准备好你要出演的一幕，可能一等就是几个小时。说不定还会出现技术问题，那就要等更长的时间。导演 说开始之后 你开始演你的第一场戏，要是导演不满意，你就要重演一遍。实际上，一遍又一遍地重复是常有的事。在拍摄现场，你可能一演就是几个小时，有时还要一直待在很热或很冷的环境中，工作可能会 持续到晚上十一二点。报酬也不是那么理想——很可能刚超过最低工资线，你还要从中拿出约10%给向你 提供工作的中介。

　　So who would want to be a movie extra? In spite of the long hours and low pay, many people still apply for the job. Some people truly enjoy the work. They like being on a movie set, and they enjoy the companionship of their fellow extras. Most of them have flexible schedules, which allow them to be available. 3 They may be students, waiters, homemakers, retired people, or unemployed actors. Some unemployed actors hope the work will help them get real acting jobs, but it doesn’t happen often . Most people in the movie industry make a sharp distinction between extras and actors, so extras are not usually considered for large parts.

　　究劳哪些人会想当群众演员呢?虽然工作时间长而报酬又低，但还是有很多人乐意申请这份工作。有些人是真心喜欢这份工作，他们喜欢出现在电影中，也乐意同其他群众演员交流。这些人中大部分都是时 间比较灵活的人，这样他们就能腾出时间来演戏。他们有可能是学生、服务生、家庭主妇、退休人员或者是失业的演员。一部分找不到工作的演员希望群众演员的工作能够帮助他们找到一份正式的演出工作，但 是希望很渺茫。电影业里的人大都对群众演员和正式演员有严格的区分，通常不会考虑让群众演员出演大角色。

　　The next time you see a movie，don’t just watch the stars. Take a closer look at the people in the background, and ask yourself ： Who are they? Why are they there? What else do they do in life? Maybe there is someone in the crowd who is just like you.

　　下次看电影的时候，别总是盯着影星， 也看一下做背景的人， 问问你自己： 他们是谁?为什么在这里? 在生活中他们做些什么呢?也许在人群中就有人过着跟你相似的生活。

　　词汇：

　　movie extra 群众演员

　　chase vt追捕

　　shoot vt拍摄

　　action n ( 导演指令)开拍

　　commission n佣金

　　注释：

　　1.Extras don’t normally speak any lines, but they help make the scenes look real. ：虽然群众演员通常没 有台词，但他们的存在使整个场景更加逼真。

　　2.You could be on the set for hours ，sometimes waiting outdoors in very hot or cold weather. ：在拍摄现场，你可能一演就是几个小时，有时还要一直待在很热或很冷的环境中。

　　on the set：在拍摄现场。

　　3.Most of them have flexible schedules, which allow them to be available. ：这些人中大部分都是时间比较灵活的人，这样他们就能腾出时间来演戏

　　练习：

　　1.What is true about movie extras?

　　A) Only agents get them jobs in movies.

　　B) They often have to wait around on movie sets and do nothing.

　　C) It’s a good way to get a real acting job .

　　D) They can have drinks in a restaurant.

　　1. B 本文的第三段详细叙述了群众演员的主要工作要求是在拍摄现场等，不用做事，所以答案为 B; 第一段中描述了群众演员的工作;他们是演员的陪衬，不用讲话。虽然提到他们是在餐馆里，但并没有提是否可以喝饮料，所以 D 可以排除;A 中的 “only” —词太笼统，所以 A 不对;从第四段可以看出，从群众演员到演员的转型是相当困难的，所以 C 也不对。

　　2.What might surprise movie extras the first time they do the job?

　　A) It can take hours to do a scene that is only a few minutes long in the movie.

　　B) They always do the same scene many times.

　　C) The actors are interested in talking to them.

　　D) The action moves very quickly.

　　2. A 第二段中说明了令初做群众演员感到吃惊的是： 拍一个场景需要一整天，而播放时只有几分钟。 虽然 B、D 都有所提及，但不是令他们吃惊的事情。

　　3.Why do most people work as movie extras?

　　A) They like meeting famous movie stars.

　　B) They think they will become famous.

　　C) They want to be on a movie set.

　　D) They will get real acting jobs.

　　3.C 虽然做群众演员耗时长而薪酬低，但他们为什么还选择这一工作呢?答案在第四段：他们喜欢这份工作，愿意与别的群众演员交流，他们自己的工作时间有弹性。A 没有提到， B、D 不太可能。

　　4.What are the job requirements for being a movie extra?

　　A) You have to have a part-time job.

　　B) You must be attractive.

　　C) You must be willing to repeat a scene many times.

　　D) You must start working very early.

　　4.C 做群众演员的条件是什么?在第三段和第四段，我们可知：要有耐心(长时间等待，一个场景有时要拍好多次)，要肯吃苦(在恶劣的户外环境中拍戏)，报酬低，工作时间有弹性。A、 B 没有提到; 在第三段的第二句提到：You may report to work at 5 or 6 a. m. ，表明只是有时会很早开始工作，不是每日必需的，所以 D 不对。

　　5.It can be inferred from the passage that____________.

　　A) being a movie extra can be boring

　　B) movie extras need acting experience

　　C) movie extras can play larger parts

　　D) movie actors are quite different from actors

　　5.A 从本文对群众演员的工作描述我们可以看出，群众演员只是演员的道具，所以是乏味的。B 没 有提到;据第四段的最后一句，C 不对;第四段的最后一句清楚表明，群众演员和真正的演员差别很大，所以不是得出的推论，推论是通过字里行间推出来的，不是给出的陈述。