(I had night before last that my dad and I got chosen to be extras in the filming of a scene for the Dark Knight, when we first arrived in a park where some carnival games were, there were other extras standing around in this circular meeting place and Heath Ledger was dressed in his Joker costume ready for filming and he was standing right in front of us with his back turned to us as we arrived. I can see Heath Ledger in my dreams at least.)

We'd arrived at the movie set just in time. My friend Sarah and I had been two of the fortunate few who had been chosen to have a brief appearance in the new Batman film, the Dark Knight, and it was nothing short of a dream come true. Both of us had been long time fans of Heath Ledger, for his handsome good looks and his brilliant acting and finally we'd get a chance to spend some quality time with him and watch his performance as the Joker. Hopefully we'd get the chance to be in one of his scenes. This particular scene was being filmed at night in one of Chicago's popular downtown parks, Grant Park, in the area there where the Buckingham Fountain rested.

It was indeed a enchanting setting, lit just right with elegant ebony lamp posts which curved over at the top and large willow trees hung over parts of the cobblestone path that wound around the main feature, which was of course the fountain. I couldn't see this as being the setting for one of the film's more chaotic moments, but it would be the perfect place for a date between Bruce Wayne and Rachel Dawes. However, sure enough, Heath was standing amongst the crowd gathered on the circular walkway there, in fact he was standing right in front of us as we made our way across the grass to join them, with his back turned to us. I knew it was him immediately because of his dark purple suit and his curly hair was dyed deep olive green and the bottom of it in the back was flipped slightly to the left. When we reached the walkway he turned his head towards us and nodded, offering a little wink and a friendly smile,

then he began to walk towards us and extended his right hand forward to shake ours, "…nice to meet you ladies, your part of the extras I take it, hope you enjoy yourselves."

I smiled back, finally over the shock of his hand in mine, and exclaimed, "…oh there's no doubt about that," his grin widened, showing his pearly white teeth then he'd laugh softly, obviously enjoying my enthusiasm. My heart was melting, it seemed he had an equally adorable personality too. I saw Sarah shaking her head at me out of the corner of my eye, I was acting pretty goofy, like I was in a bit of a daze, but Heath didn't seem to mind my admiration, he seemed rather flattered by it. Wouldn't any girl have behaved the same way in this situation? Even in all that make-up he was still just as attractive as he was with his bare skin showing.

I'd forgotten all about the primary reason we were there, till the director, Christopher Nolan, called for all the people involved with the scene to stop what they were doing, for it was time to begin filming. I sighed, disappointed that our time getting to know Heath had to come to an end, but perhaps there would be another chance after work on this portion of the film had finally come to an end. We waved goodbye to our new found friend and watched him head over to a park bench where he picked up a film prop knife and a light beige over coat and hat to match it, he put on both clothing items over what he already wore and took his assigned place on the bench. Seeing him do that made me feel for him, it was pretty humid tonight, but that was the way show biz was I guessed, many actors had to work in unfavorable weather conditions, I had heard especially if it gave a nice affect to the scene. Next I was told to join some of the other extras on a concrete bridge going over a small river that ran through park in that same area, and did so after the director had pointed out the location to me and I saw him directing Sarah to the fountain where she would sit on the wall going around the edge of it and read a copy of 'Gone with the Wind' he had given her.

The plot for this scene was that Rachel would be arriving in this area of Westwood Park (the name it was given for the movie), after a friend of Bruce's had called her telling her Bruce would be busy that day and would have to cancel their date due to some unexpected troubles at work, and that they could enjoy a evening in the park and dinner later on. The supposed 'friend' however, who had given himself the fake name of Charles, was really the Joker altering his voice and he planned to keep his identity unknown by wearing the heavy coat and hat which would be pushed down over his eyes to help keep himself from being found out along with the aid of the coat's tall collar. When he was able to sneak up from behind her after she had arrived, he'd kidnap her with the threat of his chosen weapon and use her for bait to draw Batman into a trap later. Soon Maggie Gyllenhaal made her appearance, dressed in a light blue blouse, a matching skirt that came down to her knees and a pair of sandals with white straps and bottoms made of cork. It was true, this woman had always been one of the most stylish actresses, in life and in film.