As some of you might know, I’ve been watching ‘Flikken Maastricht’ a  lot lately. When I heard they were going to shoot another series of episodes (and I was told you could sign in to be an extra for the series), I took my chance and wrote the production company an email. I hadn’t heard anything about my email until they called me a few weeks ago. They asked me if could come to Maastricht to be an extra, but unfortunately I wasn’t able to go.

Last Friday I got another call. They asked me if I had anything to do on Sunday (July 4th). Since I hadn’t anything planned for that day, I agreed to come to Maastricht. They told me I was allowed to bring a friend, so I called my FM buddy Lisa and she decided she’d join me to have a fun day out.

Although we both knew we didn’t have to do much acting (which is actually a good thing xD), we were still a bit nervous. We woke early and had to kill some time because we weren’t going anywhere until half past 11. We had to be at the set at 2 o’clock. It took only an hour to get there, so if you do the maths… we were early.

We went to a small café where I used to go when I was little, but that took some time because there was this stupid Christian parade with heaps of incense. I thought it took too long, because I really had to pie and I don’t see the point of religious parades.  After I finally went to the loo, we ordered our drinks and sat at the table… impatiently. I drank my choco and my friend Lisa, had some orange juice. My mom and Gerard ordered some coffee.

Because we both lost our nerve and patience, we left the café half an hour later and went to the set; we were forty-five minutes early. Because our contact wasn’t there yet, we had to wait. So we sat down on a work bench and waited. Meanwhile the crew was busy preparing food and Lisa and I watch what they served. I’m somehow addicted to food, so I had to watch! While watching we also saw some of the (main) actors grabbing a bite. Mr Reinier and Mrs Spelbos were two of them. We politely said ‘hello’  because we didn’t know what else to say.

When our contact arrived at the set, we were moved to the other side and got some of the instructions. We had to wait for the others before we went to the park, where they were actually going to shoot the scenes. In the park, we had to wait again for further instructions.

After fifteen to twenty minutes we were all put on our spot. Lisa had to sit on a bench and I was dropped somewhere along side the road in the grass. Lisa had to sit on the bench for two to three hours, while I was moved to another spot because otherwise I wouldn’t be enough people in the background.

My starting point was a street lamp and I had to stroll along a path until I had to go back to the lamp again to do the same all over again. The first time I was a bit surprised, because at the end of the road there were a few benches and on one of them sat a bear made of stone. I wasn’t prepared for that. Between the takes I made some small talk with Mr IJssel.

When they started filming in another angle, we had to wait again, because we needn’t to be in the background. Lisa was still sitting on her bench. We watched a few scenes enroll and tried to figure out what it was all about, but I still don’t know exactly what it was about. I guess I have to wait until they are going to broadcast it.

After two to three hours we went back to the bus (the place where we had to wait in the beginning). We had to sign a form that we did this on a voluntary basis and we wouldn’t claim any rights and they had the permission to use the footage we were in. We also got a DVD box of the 4th season as a gift, but both Lisa and I had bought it the day it was released. So now I have two of them.

There was another scene that had to be filmed, so we went back to the park where we were given some new instructions and starting points. This time Lisa and I had to wait behind some bushes and when we were given our cue we had to walk down the road.

During this scene, Eva van Dongen (the character played by Mrs Schijf) had to arrest somebody. But since the scene had to be done several times (read: 25-30 times xD), he was arrested a lot. I wouldn’t have mind to be in his shoes. Sounds like fun to be arrested in a series xD.

The first 15 times we could watch the scene because we weren’t in it yet. When they changed angles, we had to do our ‘job’ and we walked down that road… a lot.

Not long after that, they had finished the scenes in the park and we were done. We got some drinks and managed to take a photo with Mrs Schijf and Mr Reinier, before we went back home again.

Although I’m really glad I quit my last study, which was about theatre and television science, it was an awesome experience and I wouldn’t mind doing it again, but not for a living. It would drive me crazy.

Looking back, it’s sort of strange that I might be part of an episode of one of my favourite series. It gave me a bit more insight in the process of making a series and I admire the cast and crew even more for what they are doing to make such an excellent TV drama. I wouldn’t have wanted to miss it for the world.

Mood: Tired, but content
Music: none