Monday, April 2, 2012

Seven's Acting Debut

Seven in makeup

Seven's acting debut was a success and I want to tell you all about it!  But... and its a big BUT... I cannot tell you very much until the movie is released in February.  I had to sign a very thick stack of paperwork that included a confidentiality agreement.  I will definitely start writing the posts with lots of pictures, but will not be able to publish them until the movie is out.

The first shoot was at a racetrack in Miami on Tuesday.  Seven had to do a stand stay on the track while the handler got out of the shot and then run to an actor.  I stayed close to the actor because we did not want her to turn her head back towards me if I was behind her.  She was so awesome!  Seven did the shot over and over again in the blazing sun.  At one point, I called for an umbrella because there simply was no shade and the crew responded quickly. 

I am not sure if it is like this on all movie sets, but the animal talent department does not get a lot of credit.  The scene I described above would have been very difficult with all, but a few greyhounds on the entire planet.  We were very lucky that the actor in this scene was not famous so he was eager, arrived early, and willing to practice with Seven before the shoot.  Even so, the animal talent agent and the actor did not know exactly how the scene would play out and it was actually very different from what we practiced.  We were very lucky that Seven is one of those rare greyhounds that will repeat the same thing over and over again in the hot sun.
After the scene, we bathed Seven which cooled her off quickly.  Despite the working for 30 minutes in the sun, she was fresh as a daisy and ready to do it all again.  Her second scene of the day called for her to be carried by one of the actors, Anthony Mackie. I was not familiar with him, but once I looked him up I see that he has been in a lot of movies.  He was a lot of fun to chat with and was quite the joker.

I so want to tell you more, but it will have to wait, unfortunately.