As you know, Seven is very famous after being the star greyhound in "Pain and Gain". Okay, so no one has recognized her in public yet, but I am sure it is coming. Ha! I had promised to post the videos and photos that Seven's entourage and I took behind the scenes once the movie was out. I am behind in doing that, but better late than never, right?
I have already posted about our experience in great detail so I am going to assume that you have read it or will read it if you want to know a lot more.
Click Here and start at the bottom to go in chronological order.
These photos are from the first day of filming at Flagler Dog Track where we filmed Seven's last scene of returning to the track and her first scene when "Adrian Doorbal" steals her.
In Seven's first scene, we worked with Jeff Owings. He has done numerous commercials and having a few lines in "Pain and Gain" was a big deal for him. He was thrilled Stefanie and I had taken so many pictures and videos of the work at Flagler track. I sent them to him so he could include them in his portfolio.
Jeff was there early. Like us, he knew very little about the scene. We knew her name was "Tasty Reuben" and that she would have to come to him. So we practiced doing stand stays and recalls in our spare time.
We then met Michael Bay and the make up artist to have the fake blood applied. It was funny at how careful and painstaking the application was in the first week of filming. Bay gave his input and made sure she looked just right. At a later date, I had to remind Bay that Seven should be covered in blood when we filmed the scene of her escaping the house and murder scene.
Seven thought the fake blood tasted good. It was sugar based so it was edible.
Vaseline, I think, and powder was used to make her look a wet and dirty.
In Seven's first scene filmed (her last scene in the movie), she had to do a stand stay on the race track and then would run to Jeff when he said Reuben.
Seven was fantastic and repeated this scene over and over again in the hot sun. I think it may have been 10-15 times and she only broke one of her stays. She waited for her new "Reuben" cue all the other times.
No time was given to Seven to adjust, to meet the crew, or get used to the cameras. I guess if we had had problems, they would have been forced to give us time, but I was very proud that Seven could just walk onto her first movie set and own it.... and honestly, I knew she would.
Phil, the animal talent agent, handled Seven during the stays. I stayed closer to the actor so Seven would not try to turn around and look for me. As you can see, Phil is a little hard of hearing. I don't know about you, but if I was hard of hearing, I would keep eye contact with those that are going to be giving instructions. It was a bit frustrating.
Another take:
And despite all of the takes and standing in the sun, Seven ran to Jeff every time like it was the first time.
But she did start to get hot so I called for an umbrella so I could shade her. About a minute later, a crew member comes racing back with an umbrella. Awesome.
After a few more takes, I was getting concerned that Seven was getting too hot and I was about to pull the plug on filming.... they had to have what they wanted by now.... at least in my opinion. Ha! But we finished up soon after and there was no need.
And then Seven was bathed by five people, I think. I thought Seven might be tired for the first time in her life, but she was fresh as a daisy after the bath and ready to do it all again.
Michael Bay (the guy in white) wanted to take pictures of Seven in her racing silk. He wanted her to sit and I explained that would actually look funny since racing greyhounds don't typically sit. Phil was eager to keep his hands on Seven and I understand his need to look necessary and crucial, but I am the owner, trainer, and handler of Seven. As I positioned her for a stand stay, he would interfere. I finally told him "I've got this." and Anthony Mackie later told me that was when he knew I was cool.
In the photo below, left to right, is Phil, Anthony, and Romaine the props guy. And then the guy just above me and Bay in the black polo shirt and sunglasses, he was the only person to remember Seven's real name... of course, I don't know his name. Whoops! He was probably an assistant director or producer.
A photo of Seven in her racing silks can be seen as a framed photo on "Victor's" desk (Tony Shalhoub) when Dwayne Johnson's character is searching his office. I noticed that on my third viewing of the movie.
Stefanie, Seven, and I got acquainted with Anthony Mackie. He complained about how big Seven was and called us phat Georgia girls. We learned later that phat was a compliment. Once again, I lost control of Seven to Phil.
In the second scene (Seven's first scene in the movie), she is stolen by "Adrian Doorbal". I put meatballs in Anthony's pockets so he could make friends with Seven and Phil explained how best to carry her. Seven looked very comfortable with him, but then who wouldn't want to be carried around by a handsome movie star.
The scene was repeated a number of times and Phil handled her the entire time... irritating. That was the last time.
We were wrapped for the day. Stefanie and I asked for pictures with Anthony. Since he was funny and joking with us, I said I wanted a picture with him just in case he became famous one day.
A big thanks to Stefanie who took most of these photos and videos.
