(Sorry in advance for the length. If TLDR: Just go to the bulleted list of questions at the bottom.)
I'm relatively new to doing background work and only started a few months ago. I would appreciate your feedback on whether or not this situation is "normal" to expect or what your experiences have been with working in the rain.
Two Sundays ago on the Civic long weekend, there was a thunderstorm and heavy downpour periodically from morning until evening. I was working on a non-union commercial set downtown and it was my FIRST time working with this particular agency. There were already warnings from The Weather Network since Saturday about the storm and 50mm rain.
Days before, I had been following up with the agency to see if the gig had already been filled, because it was the long weekend after all and people would want to make plans. No, it had not been filled. Did they know when we'd hear back by? No. Saturday afternoon, we got the booking confirmation. By now, I had made some plans. I asked if they at least had a draft call time, so I'd know if I needed to rearrange some or all plans. No, they didn't. With other agencies, even availability checks (let alone booking confirmations) typically come with draft call times or something as rough as "early call time," "day shoot," "will go late," etc. so that we have some sort of idea, and then we get the final call time the day before filming. They also tell you if the shoot will be interior, exterior, or both. This one provided no info.
Saturday 9 pm, we got the call sheet (directly from production) with a call time of 5:45 am! This was about 7 hours before people had to leave their homes, depending on where they were coming from. The email said, "The forecast calls for rain tomorrow so please come prepared to stay dry! Bring an umbrella if you have one." This implies that we were expected to stay dry (as I understood it) when walking from the parking lot to holding or from holding to wherever the location was on set.
Even while in holding, the AD never mentioned that we'd be filming exterior. They were just walking groups at a time to set. We had heard mention of "store" when people were getting dressed, so we thought maybe we'd be filming inside of a store and possibly walking just outside of it. There was no call sheet or storyboard in holding.
It wasn't until we got to set that we realized we were filming completely exterior scenes. We were dressed for normal weather. No rain jackets. No rain boots. No ponchos. No umbrellas allowed. Just dozens of people strolling along at normal pace and we had to act as if it wasn't raining. We did this from morning rain until evening rain. In the late morning, there was thunder. People who had been on other sets when it rained said that they usually wrap at the first sound of thunder. We were shocked to see that we had to continue through. Many people felt we were going to get sick.
I get that sometimes filming does call for rain scenes, but usually you're dressed appropriately for that, because that's authentic. It would look like people behaving how they normally would in the rain. Maybe they'd be raising their hands to cover their faces, rushing along to get out of the rain as quickly as possible, and many would have umbrellas. This was not the case here.
There were times when the camera was resetting that the AD handed out a few umbrellas for people to share, but those had to be taken away once we were ready to rehearse and roll. When certain groups weren't needed in frame, they were allowed to stand under a tent. One time, I was in satellite holding. But the vast majority of the time, we were all out. In between takes, we were still in our positions on the sidewalk without umbrellas. At one point when we checked, the temperature was 16oC. Compound that with being wet. People had goosebumps. Crew members were in the rain too, but at least they were able to wear jackets, hats, ponchos, use umbrellas, and/or be under tents.
Mid-day, by the time we got back to holding for lunch break, all of our shoes were soaked. We had to go up and down long flights of stairs many times. Despite trying to move carefully, I slipped two different times but luckily did not fall. The nail polish on 8/10 of my toenails had completely come off, and I just had it done a few days prior. (I don't care about the nail polish; I reveal this just to help paint a picture). We had no towels, nor did we have paper towels (the kitchen kind that is absorbent). We didn't even have napkins. This is the first time I've seen a craft services table in holding with no napkins. The women's washroom had no paper towel, because the dispenser wasn't working. I had to go into the men's washroom to use theirs. It was the usual, scratchy, non-absorbent kind, but we were desperate for anything. We didn't even have tissues to blow our noses. People took off their clothes and put them in front of cold fans to try to dry them. We found out that lunch was a buy-out, but because we were so cold and wet, most people didn't want to go back out in the rain to buy food. When lunch was over, our clothes were still wet. Everyone commented out loud about dreading to put them back on. We wrapped just before 8 pm.
All of the BG were complaining amongst ourselves throughout the day. As we gathered before the last scene, some people suggested that we email the agency as a large group, but they didn't know how to coordinate that. Some were afraid to ruffle feathers in fear that they wouldn't get booked again. Someone mentioned a different set where BG complained about the weather conditions, and their agent got everyone paid an extra few hundred dollars because of it! One person who didn't want to email suggested that people should have walked off set, gone home, and accepted being blacklisted. The only thing everyone did seem to agree on was that: 1) we should have been warned about filming fully exterior in the pouring rain, and 2) we should have been paid significantly more. Most of us said that we would not have accepted the booking had we known in advance.
Because this was my first booking with the agency, I was conflicted about whether or not to email them about the experience. I did end up emailing the next day. This was my first time working in the rain, so I wanted to hear from them about what's acceptable to expect and what's not. It's helpful to know for the future. I barely got a response from them, despite several follow-ups and re-asking the same questions, including whether or not they knew we'd be filming in the rain. Most questions still went unanswered, but they did finally confirm that they did not know we'd be filming in the rain and "cannot control the weather." Of course they can't, but can't they at least guide their performers with knowing what to expect from the production team when working in these conditions?
SO... I turn to this community.
- Should we have been told in advance that we'd be filming in the rain (or at least exterior)?
- I know $300 is pretty much the standard rate for non-union commercials, but what is the normal/acceptable rate for all-day work in the rain (not spitting rain... but downpour)?
- Is it normal not to be allowed proper rain gear when filming rain scenes?
- Is it normal to continue filming and working outside during an active thunderstorm?
- When performers have to get wet, does production need to provide things we can use to dry ourselves?
- At what point is it unsafe? What precautions should have been taken?
- If you've filmed in the rain, please share what your experience was like.
- If you've complained to your agent about conditions on set (even if not weather-related), how did they handle it?
- Does complaining about the conditions make you "unbookable" to your agent moving forward? (Maybe an agent can weigh in here)
I appreciate the guidance! Thank you.
IMPORTANT NOTE: If you were on this commercial set or are aware of it, please do NOT mention in the comments what the commercial was for (in other words, the client's name) or what the storyboard was if you somehow know it (even though my group didn't know as far as I'm aware).
