The first day on the set we were extras. On the second day we were promoted to atmosphere people. The money is the same and the duties hardly ever vary: stand and wait; work and wait; relax and wait.

Bill O’Gorman soon learned the facts of life. “Ready for shooting in half a minute really means half an hour,” he says, and he is seldom wrong.

Shooting a scene can take two hours to set up and five minutes to shoot. Add seven re-takes and a half-hour between each; total, six hours. Erudite Jeff Norton Sr. observes, “He also serves who only stands and waits.” He stuck it out for a day and a half before his moment came before the camera.

The first impression we all have of Universal’s filming of Jaws is the friendly, courteous attitude of all the crew, the technicians, director, camera men, makeup men, chefs and the drivers of the large trailer rigs. And they meet challenges head on, changing, adapting and rolling with the punches. They never lose their cool.

The days are long. Starting at 7 a.m. they usually last until 6 or 7 p.m. Watch the crew. When a man is not needed, he is stretched out somewhere, taking, checking his equipment, or watching the actors work. Everything in a low key. Unlike jobs in industry where we usually produce for eight hours a day, their value is to be there when needed. This can be often and long. They know their jobs and do them well, but in between they copy the house cat and relax.

Right Place, Right Time

The extra soon learns to be there when needed also, and to transpose the call to take our places into action. Ginny Poole alerts the group around her with “Hurry up and wait!” When the call for background action comes over the bull horn, we operate, following whatever hints we have been able to pry loose from an assistant director. So often it seems like milling around that the term becomes quite common. Red Kranz conjured up the rhyme he learned in the Navy:

When in trouble

And in doubt,

Run in circles,

Scream and shout!

It’s appropriate. We never learn whether we are getting better or worse as time goes on. Quoting Allan Miller, “If nobody says it’s wrong, it must be right.” We feel encouraged.

Meanwhile, the principal actors carry on with quiet efficiency. Off camera they are polite and unobtrusive. When working, they respond quickly to the director and bring to their craft an expertise which can only come with experience.

For the boat scenes, the Island people whose boats were used for the filming responded with enthusiasm. On most days out on the water, however, the weather didn’t cooperate, and much fortitude was required to withstand the wind, salt spray, constant maneuvering and the long day. Overhead, the gulls duplicated the boating patterns with many embellishments, grace and beauty.

Back in the docks, the Universal set in some ways reminds us of a circus: the mobility of the props and equipment, the three-ring atmosphere when the sequence is designed to be hilarious, and the look of business-as-usual the day after the set moves off the docks and down to Main street.

Passin’ the Time

Donald Poole, on boats since he was seven years old, speeds the waiting time with many a yard — sometimes of old whaling days, sometimes not. He regards seriously his vocation of providing food from the sea as an important contribution to the economy. As a Jaws actor, however, he has a somewhat bemused air as he surveys the unusual scene with pipe and captain’s hat.

A few of the atmosphere people confided to me as to why they are enjoying their avocation. Ralph Andrews likes working on Jaws because it requires him to roll out early, a habit he has been trying to cultivate since his retirement. Jack Burton enjoys it because he likes to be among people. Bill and Anne Bowie soak up the action the movie people are injecting into their old haunts on the Edgartown streets. Willis Gifford complains about an old football injury to his ankle but keeps going strong.

On the whole, it’s a happy and excited group of local people enjoying each other’s proximity and rubbing shoulders with the professionals.

And of course we’re looking forward to the finished product, the completed movie. We will search the silver screen for familiar faces. And no doubt somewhere a grandchild will exclaim with excitement. “Mom, there’s grandpa!”