Hound in the Dumps

Affordable Fine Art Photography, Cards & Gifts from A Couple of Artists




A Dog Day Afternoon at the Movies

Francis and I got to do a film together this past summer--an independent feature filmed in Venice, CA
directed by Drew Ann Rosenberg, entitled The Dog People. It's kind of a 1984 for dogs where the dog
people are suppressed by the anti-dog people and one woman rises to buck the system. Remarkably
enough, Francis listened to directions for every take! What a ham --guess he saves his perfect
performances for the camera--who knew?! (His selective listening skills are legendary in the annals of dogdom )

Anyhow, for those of you unfamilar with the process of making of movie...here's a glimpse of what goes into making a few minutes of what you see on screen. All links on this page take you to a RealVideo clip of the action. You will need the RealPlayer to view these clips. For info on how to get this and all the other goodies you need for any site at Caryn.com, please visit our Tools Area for additional assistance.

A Take is another name for a chance to get it right. With indie films, time is money (that you don't have) so ideally you'd like everything to be perfect on the first try. Not to mention that if you're oh, say, a little lacking in the permit department from the city, you'd better be quick enough to get out of there before the cops show up!

Now the first shot establishes a sense of place--a Master shot, filmed from the top of a building looking down on the street gives an overview of the action of the scene. I received instructions from the director via walkie-talkie from a nearby hidden crew member!

That done, it was time for some closer shots. Now the idea was this--I was supposed to be a happy citizen skating along, when the Dept of Sanitation and Dog Removal van cuts me off, and kidnaps me and my dog. Pretty simple as stunts go. But nothing is ever THAT simple...

We had our share of bloopers...like the time the bystanders walked into the frame and blocked the shot, the time the van came a little too soon, the time the van almost hit us!!, and the time the doors wouldn't open.

Just when we thought we almost got it right, we did it one more time and got an even better shot.

The end result?


Take a look at the edited version and see for yourself!!

Francis is pretty psyched--from homeless beach doggie to movie star--
is this the stuff Hollywood dreams are made of, or what?