Do not file this post in the self-help section. (For one thing, there isn't one.) A while ago, I published a frame-grab from David Mamet's "House of Games," in which I can be glimpsed as an extra. That got me to thinking about other people I know who have appeared (however briefly or peripherally) as extras, and how (or if) such experiences have affected their lives and/or their relationships to the movies.
So, I asked Dennis Cozzalio, of Sergio Leone and the Infield Fly Rule, to send me a grab of his own appearance in 1978's "Animal House," aka "National Lampoon's Animal House." (See, we were both in movies with "House" in the title.) I'm publishing it here, along with an image of Dennis today -- well, OK, it's a recent drawing of him by his daughter that I happen to think is fantastic (so much so that I printed it out and stuck it on my own fridge, even thought I've never actually met Dennis or his daughter. Is that weird?).
Now, if there's a fleeting, Bogdanovichian "piece of time" in which you figure, please do send the following to me (at the "e-mail jim" link above):
1) A frame grab, identifying yourself in the picture.
2) A (brief) description of the scene (like, one sentence).
3) A (brief) anecdote, if you have one, about your experience during the shooting of the scene.
4) A recent photo of you, so we can all witness the ravages of time -- something the movies are made to document.
Or, if you want to post something on your own blog, please send me a link. Think of this as a blog-a-thon with no deadline.
An anecdote from Dennis:
I met my best friend (known in the [SLIFR] comments columns here as Blaaagh) on the Eugene, Oregon set of "National Lampoon’s Animal House" in the autumn of 1977. I had actually seen him and another actor several months earlier performing a scene from "Of Mice and Men" at a state Thespian conference. I guess the performance really impressed me because several months later, in the dingy, stale-beer-smelling basement of the Sigma Nu house on 13th Avenue that served as the interior of the Delta house, I spied Blaaagh sitting and waiting, as we extras tended to do, to be called for the next shot and remembered his shining moment as George. In a very atypically brazen moment for this shy boy, I introduced myself, told him I remembered his performance, and I think this shocked him just enough to inspire him to have a conversation with me. We kept bumping into each other that week (pretty hard not to on that cramped set), and by the weekend we were off to see our first movies together-- "Star Wars," followed by a midnight double feature of "Monty Python and the Holy Grail" and "Jabberwocky." (See what that journal is good for?) We survived "Jabberwocky" and remain as bestest as best friends could be to this day.
This is a brilliant idea, Jim. Looking forward to all the entries.
Thanks for the screengrab. Ever since I heard about Dennis being in Animal House I always wondered which one he was. I wish I could send something but I've appeared in no major film and only fleetingly on tv (commercials, news segments on plays I was in) and radio and under a different name anyway so who the hell would know it was me except on my word. But I love the idea. I hope plenty of our fellow movie and culture bloggers have appeared as extras because I'd love to see their shots.
Do music videos from films count?
Jim, it is quite an honor to be the inaugural subject of what promises to be a delightful series. And I have to tell you, my daughter is completely eating up this little moment of celebrity that her drawing has brought to her. I think, though we’re very supportive of both our daughters and their artistic inclinations, and that even though they think what they’ve done is good, my daughters probably wonder if my wife and I are really as enthusiastic as we seem to be. Well, the look on her face when she saw her drawing on your site was quite enough to convince me that she really believed people besides Mommy and Daddy liked what she did. It was quite a moment to see, and it made me even prouder of her. And when I told her about you putting it on your refrigerator, she cackled like a little banshee!
As for Animal House, every time I see that movie it functions for me like a moving yearbook dedicated to my earliest college days, one generation’s irreverent nostalgia piled on top of another’s. It is really exciting, and kind of dumbfounding, to think that this movie, which many of us were sure would be forgettable at best when we were on the set, has turned into such a touchstone of movie comedy. I just wish I had a decent screen-grab program at my disposal, because there are some other moments—especially during the opening party scene when Larry and Kent make their first appearance at Delta Tau Chi (“Come on in. Don’t cost nothin’”)—where, thanks to the miracle of bad continuity, I seem to be everywhere at once, clearly visible in a checkered shirt and yellow sweater straight out of my own closet (Universal saved a bundle on my costume costs alone!) If I can wrangle a couple of those shots, I’ll send ‘em along.
As for the story behind the shot above, I remember we rehearsed it a couple of times before breaking for lunch, and each time John Belushi would make his way past Stephen Furst and the other extra (I think his name was Roger) to give me my very own Delta Tau Chi name. Each time he got to me and burped out my new handle (“From now on, your Delta Tau Chi name will be… Douchebag!”) I couldn’t keep from busting out laughing. I spent the entire lunch worried that, when we came back to shoot the scene after lunch, I would crack up and ruin a take, which is why I look even more mortified than usual in the actual movie. I did not crack up on film, but then again the scene was edited so that my new identity would end up on the cutting room floor, relegated to anecdotal history only. But that beer bath remains on film, and I recall that no one offered us a shower or even a hose-down afterward. Everyone smelled like none-too-fresh Rainier Beer until the set wrapped that evening. In fact, to this day every time I smell stale beer, I’m transported back to that hot, sweaty basement… What a way for a green freshman to start his adventure in higher education, huh? Nothing but downhill from there!
Thanks again, Jim, for indulging my memories!
Jim,
Going from Dennis' description here's a nice front and center shot of him from Animal House.
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2137/2036343624_0fbf38f7d0_o.jpg
Hope I guessed right.
Ha! That's me, all right! And if I'm not mistaken, just as I turn and head up the stairs, there's a cut to a shot of the room where the camera was placed in the previous shot, and if you look down in the right hand corner of that shot, suddenly there I am, this time wearing a beany but otherwise in the same sweater/shirt ensemble, gazing up adoringly at a girl while sitting on the floor.
The funny thing is, my best friend and I, in observing how we were being placed all over the scene, figured that this was evidence that the movie was going to be bad-- "My God, the continuity is going to be awful!" Of course it never occurred to us that audiences in 1978 weren't going to be scouring the background of shots looking for the likes of us and whether our placement in the scene matched cut for cut. How can a green freshman have that many delusions of grandeur?
Excellent investigative work, Jonathan! It was 30 years ago this month that movie was filmed. Food fight!
In honour of this most brilliant of cameos, I watched Animal House again last night, and gave out a hearty "Yay!" when I saw Dennis on screen. from now on, his blog is on Double Secret Probation.
Hi Jim! Have been a longtime lurker for the past year or so.
I'm sharing my 5 seconds of Network Fame on a TV movie with Antonio Sabato, Jr. - THRILL.
http://mimezine.blogspot.com/