Deborah S. Patz - Author

Author & Filmmaker

  • Books
  • About
  • EXTRAS
    • Fun FAQ
    • For Profs
    • Film Resource Links
  • Blog
  • Contact
  • Film Production Books
  • All Books

Shooting With the Year of the Rabbit

February 4, 2011 by Deb Leave a Comment

This Chinese new year reminds me of a film shoot I was on where we were filming rabbits. And trying to capture animals acting on set is always entertaining… no matter what happens.

The script called for the heroes (people) to liberate the many rabbits from their cages in the lab and for the rabbits to run, hop and skedaddle down the hallway and out of the building. It would be even better if they looked a little panicked as they made their escape to freedom, but hopping quickly would be sufficient. Sounds straightforward, doesn’t it? Dozens of rabbits running in one direction on cue. Uh-huh.

So we brought in a ferret to chase the rabbits. Everyone knows that rabbits and ferrets are natural enemies. I mean ferrets were raised to chase rabbits out of rabbit holes. What could go wrong?

On the day, what we didn’t foresee was… that both the rabbits and the ferret were raised in captivity. We may have known they were natural enemies of each other, but they didn’t. On set they merely padded up to each other nose-to-nose and sniffed a gentle “hello.” There was mild interest to indifference between them. Now what do we do?

In the end, we had someone just off-screen and around the hallway corridor push the rabbits around the corner into the hallway and into shot. Yes, if you really looked, you could see some of the rabbits sliding along the floor while a few others hopped around them like they were on a pleasant afternoon stroll.

The Year of the Rabbit is supposed to be more calm after the ferocious Year of the Tiger… and I know what they mean by calm rabbits, so I don’t doubt it!

Cheers & Gung Hay Fat Choy!
Deb

Filed Under: Fun Tagged With: animals, new year, rabbits

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

You must be logged in to post a comment.

Subscribe to Blog via Email (BLOG RETIRED)

Categories

  • About Deb Patz
  • Books on Deb's Shelf
  • Budgets
  • Ciné Surfer
  • FILM
  • Forms & Templates
  • Front Page
  • Fun
  • Gladys Comics by Deb
  • How It's Like…
  • INDUSTRY
  • Industry News
  • INK
  • Ink Wisdom
  • Inspiration
  • Life
  • Management
  • Moviemaking Tips
  • Rayne's Coast Comics by Deb
  • Script Road Map
  • Skills Development
  • Tips from a Busy Person
  • What a Writer Needs to Know
  • What I Learned From…
  • What's It Good For?
  • What's Stopping You?
  • Work-Life Balance

Tags

3D animals awards budgeting callsheet career choices children choices christmas computer tips confidence coproduction dreams equipment film education film festival film terms free halloween imax Industry News maniac mansion mistakes movie moment movie quote MWP networking persistence perspectives pm101 preproduction resources scheduling screen credits scriptwriting social media stars stress management time management travel weather wordsearch wrap writeshootedit writing process

Connect with Deb

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • LinkedIn
  • Goodreads
  • Amazon Author Central

Looking for something?

Deb’s FILM & INK Newsletter

Subscribe to the Newsletter

RSS Deb’s FILM N INK BLOG (RETIRED)

  • Deb’s FILM & INK Newsletter… come ‘n join!
  • Dinosaurs in the Airport
  • The Oscars are Coming, the Oscars are Coming!

Copyright © 2021 · Author Pro Theme on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in