A 'Nightmare' on your street: Being an extra could be painful

Sure, it sounds like fun to be an extra in a movie, especially a remake of Wes Craven's 1984 horror thriller "A Nightmare on Elm Street."

But is it fun? Really fun?

"No," said Elgin resident Judi Brownfield, who last spring joined about 100 extras for an all-day shoot on the movie set at the Bluff City Cemetery in Elgin.

"Before I ever sign up to be an extra again, I'm going to take a closer look at one or two details, like how much abuse my calves are expected to endure!"

In an early scene of "Nightmare," which opens today, you can spot a blond Brownfield next to the tall man at a grave site on the crest of a small hill.

"It rained the night before, so the ground was soft," Brownfield remembered. "The women came in stiletto heels and were sinking into the ground, then popping as they came back up, which threw them forward as they were trying to walk. We walked up and down the hill for about 15 hours. It was a physically demanding day."

Brownfield, who runs the Books at Sunset book store in Elgin, had suggested to a location scout that "Nightmare" film at the local cemetery.

Out of 40 Illinois cemeteries, Bluff City was chosen for its visual appeal, especially its mausoleums.

To act the role as the film's fictional Springwood High School, moviemakers tapped John Hersey High School in Arlington Heights and Elk Grove High School, whose new, impressive indoor pool makes a big splash in "Nightmare."

In fact, it was a photograph of the Elk Grove pool on the school website that grabbed the attention of movie scouts.

Rick Mirro, Elk Grove High's assistant principal for student activities, shot the photo that started it all.

"And I'm still tired from it," Mirro said.

One location scout came to see the new pool and fell in love with its huge windows and natural light. Soon, a team of scouts swarmed the building and Elk Grove High became a star in the movie.

"They weren't disruptive at all," Mirro said of the film crew. "We had 10 trucks in the parking lot and life went on. We worked out the details ahead of time."

John Novak, assistant principal for student activities at Hersey, agreed with him.

"They were really great about keeping disruptions to a minimum," Novak said. "It was a neat experience. We got to see the inner workings of the movie business."

Maybe that's not always such a good thing.

Beth Rowe, features editor for the Prospect High School newspaper, chronicled the film shoot through the experiences of Hersey High junior Kelsey Coleman and Elk Grove High senior Jacob Kozak. Both auditioned to be extras.

Coleman squeaked in. Kozak did not.

"It was boring for some people," Coleman told Rowe. "We were all hungry and being bossed around."

Yet, Coleman reported that he enjoyed every moment of the experience, and "I was really sad it was over."

Hersey senior Carly Mirro, Rick Mirro's daughter, got to be an extra in a classroom scene during which the teacher falls asleep and wakes up screaming.

"We all had to react to that," she said. "They shot it from a bunch of different angles. It was cool."

The experience was particularly interesting to Mirro because she's considering a career in movie or TV production. She got to see the completed film on Thursday.

"Seeing how what they did at the school turned into a completed movie was fascinating," she said.

"And I liked the movie, too. It's not just blood, guts and knives. There's a real story."

<div class="infoBox"> <h1>More Coverage</h1> <div class="infoBoxContent"> <div class="infoArea"> <h2>Stories</h2> <ul class="links"> <li><a href="/story/?id=376745">Review: 'Nightmare' not the remake it's sliced up to be <span class="date">[4/29/10]</span></a></li> </ul> </div> </div> </div>