Output details

‘The Extras’, Regina, 2009. Large Scale Live Performance with 23 Extras, 2 live cameras, live video, sound mixing and video projection. Video: 45 mins HD DVC Pro

The film ‘The Extras’ explores the role of background performers within the tradition of the Western (cowboy) movie genre, staging different ideological performances of the “extra” as an exploration of the cinematic representation of conventional power/social relations. Developed through research at the Saskatchewan provincial film and photographic archives where Clausen identified local, historical movie locations used by Buena Vista and Canada Saskatchewan Production Studios as archetypal midwest Western settings. A script was developed through a series of workshops organised with local Canadian performance groups, re-performing key scenes from the films and from movies recently produced in Saskatchewan, (‘Tommy Douglas Story’, 2006, ‘The Englishman’s boy’, 2008). These workshops experimented with rearticulating the relationship between the ‘Star’ (heroic individual) and supporting cast (conformist masses) testing the ‘extras’ potential, as both the passive ‘everyman’ (Didi-Huberman) or unruly mob/revolutionary collective threatening to re-occupy public space (Eisenstein).The final performance was staged and performed at Central Plaza, Regina, with a crew of 23 extras, 2 live cameras, live sound mixing and video projection. This event was funded by the Canada Council for the Arts, Saskatchewan Arts Board and Curtain Razors. The performance was edited live and mixed with video material developed through a collaboration with a local re-enactment company, performing scenes from ‘The Medecine Line’, a 19th C outdoor drama featuring a historical, violent encounter between Sioux Indians and the North West Mounted Police, which involved numerous actors and horses. The film was screened on CBC Saskatchewan Television throughout September 2008 and Everyman Cinema, Regina, January 2009. The project was subsequently presented at HEAD, Geneva, 2009 and formed the basis of an MA project led by Clausen at University for the Arts, Geneva, 2008, developing performances with students and examining the role of the extra. Reviewed by Vanda Schmockel Splice Magazine, Winter, 2008.