Photo from MichaelBay.com
Michael Bay
Believe it or not, it is still Tuesday, May 8th. Seven was asked to do another scene. Michael Bay took us to the set bathroom and said that "Tasty Reuben" needed to run into this room, turn around, and look scared.
This is where I do not understand the movie industry and I get the impression it is like this across the board. We were never prepped for such a scene. To me, such a scene sounds pretty important to the movie so it would seem wise to alert your animal handlers ahead of time so they could train and practice the scene. I wonder if directors just dream up these scenes on the set or do they really not think it is necessary to inform the animal talent.
Here is another great example. A friend of mine shot a movie in New York with her greyhound last fall. The director wanted the greyhound to sit with her back to the camera and to turn her head back and forth as if she was watching the actor pace the room. Well...maybe... if you had told her two weeks ago... but it was not going to happen that day.
Luckily, Bay left me with a cameraman so there was no pressure to pull this scene out of thin air in the next minute. I practiced with a target sitting on the weight scale a couple of times and then using a "go to place" command, I had her lie down on the bath mat. Thankfully, I was able to talk as they will be adding voice overs and sound later. As Seven took her place on the bath mat, I would leave the room which would give Seven an alert and concerned face. It actually worked really well.
So once again, the animal talent is the unsung hero and a greyhound no less. Able to accomplish scenes in mere moments with no prior practice or prep. And once again the director does not learn a valuable lesson.
For the next couple of hours, we stayed close to the set just in case we were pulled into another scene. Even to take Seven out to potty, I had to be followed out by Kevin with his ear piece. He would be able to wave us back in if Bay called for us. The crew was very uptight about us getting too far away for even a split second.
Riley - "Are we freakin done yet?"
I was glad I had decided that Riley would stay with us this time. Last time, she ended up in the van for several hours with Stefanie checking on her periodically. That was not going to happen again so Denise had Riley with her the whole time Seven was out and working.
At around 8:30 PM, we were wrapped for the day and headed back to the hotel. Wow! Tuesday is finally over!
