So, there's a rather large movie project filming in Pittsburgh right now that I happened to have sort-of been a part of in a round-about way...

First, let me say that if you are reading this in hopes of getting some grade-A "Magnus Rex" spoilers, you should probably look elsewhere. Honestly, you won't have to look hard... looking literally anywhere else online will likely turn up far more information about the Pittsburgh shoot of "Magnus Rex" than you will find here. Did you see Anne Hathaway in her *censored* costume earlier today? I think even the AARP website carried links to it. But I digress. You won't find me breaking down the juicy bits that I may or may not have discovered and which have already independently been reported in excruciating detail for the benefit of rabid "Magnus Rex" fans everywhere. This is mostly because I have signed a confidentiality agreement of some sort. I can't quite tell you what I agreed to, as I wasn't given a copy to keep nor was I given a particularly adequate time to read it, but such is life. My apologies to any future first born that is reading this from within bondage to either Christopher Nolan and/or Warner Bros. studios. Signing it seemed harmless enough at the time.

I will, however, be talking about things that I shouldn't be talking about... at least according to the code by which all film extras should apparently live. The forbidden bits seem to include any and all of it. Seriously. We were not even allowed to breath the words "*censored*" or "The *Censored Censored* Rises" on the set. No, the project we were participating is was "Magnus Rex", a working title that came complete with it's own little logo of a fairly awesome catoon T-rex. A warped part of me would like to believe that all of the *censored* stuff is cover for the secret filming of this much more daring project about a lizard king trying to find his way on the campus of Carnegie Mellon University, where filming took place. I think it's the kind of project that could speak to a new generation. But in actuality, it's just another *censored* flick.

Again, after having it stressed how much we are not to talk about any of this, I do have visions of being snatched from my keyboard by the bagmen from "V for Vendetta", never to be heard from again. Someone please water my plants if that is indeed the case.

Anyway, I had attended the general casting call in Pittsburgh a month or so back and had added my name to the list of potential extras for the filming which is currently taking place. Something like 5000 people did the same. The guy in line behind me had flown in 600 miles from Iowa specifically to sign up to be an extra for "Magnus Rex", and was returning directly to the airport following the casting call. That was dedication to his craft. As for myself, I had driven in from about 30 min upriver and had seriously debated whether to bother because I was kind of sleepy that afternoon. Plus parking can be a bitch. But I soldiered on.

Fast forward to about a week ago I received the call. They had a role for which they thought I would be perfect. Now, I did not take this lightly... I had been photographed at that casting call, after all, and had filled out a rather lengthy survey on myself. They were in a position to know just how much they desperately needed me. Still, I hesitated and said I'd need to check my schedule... They needed me to agree to be a part of filming the very next day, with the possibility for the following day as well in case the shoot went over. I was already sweating a "real job" deadline for the very day they called, but I figured I should take the opportunity now that it had come. I phoned them back and accepted. They were thrilled to hear back from me and told me I should expect an e-mail with details soon, followed by a phone call with the time I was expected to report to the set. Oh, and there was one other little thing... Despite the current record heatwave sweeping the nation, we would all be costumed in heavy coats for the shoot as the film takes place in winter.

Well, sure... why wouldn't you want to shoot winter scenes in 98 degree temperatures? That's the magic of movie-making at work. Naturally, I said that wouldn't be a problem.

I am, on the whole, not very bright.



More on that in Part 2: Where the Magic Happens.

give us the juicy bits .. like where they make you do your scene as 'naked dead corpse #4' in front of Miss Hathaway.

They filmed all their winter scenes in the middle of summer.

A relative of mine was sneaked into the Twin Peaks movie as an extra. He didn't have a speaking part, never met any celebrities, and he was on-screen all of a split second, but they had him on the set for two whole days to accomplish that. And he's still fortunate, because most of the extras get their footage cut.

Hope you were luckier than that, and that I don't need an arcade-game-speed thumb to pause the movie and see you in it.