A Quiet Place: Day One (2024)

In the scene where a group of people sit in a circle in hospital and one of them has a cat in her lap, prior to filming the cat was carried to set by handler and passed to seated actor who held both cat and his lead. In the subsequent scene where the actor walks down the hallway with cat on leash and feed cat in her room, the actor walked the cat on lead and harness. The trainers did a short training session prior to the camera being in position. In the bedroom, after the actress unclipped the lead from the harness the trainer used a buzzer to cue the cat to the bowl of water that was on the floor. The cat ran to the bowl, that had the buzzer next to it. When the cat got to the bowl the actor made clicking noises and the cat turned to look back at the actor.

In the scene where the actress sits in the bus with the cat, then subsequently gets off the bus, holding the cat, prior to shooting the animal handler entered bus with cat and handed the cat to the actress who would hold him.

In the scene where actress walks into liquor store holding her cat and she sees the owner of the store has a cat sitting on counter as well, animal handlers positioned just off camera for all takes. Street door to Bodega was open for some shots; since there were fast moving vehicles passing on the street outside extra care was paid to ensuring that cat on counter could not escape. AD was positioned near front door.

In the scene where the actress walks through a devastated auditorium and the cat jumps out of actor’s arms and runs off, the sfx dust was nontoxic.
1st AD frequently reminded crew & cast to keep quiet whilst cat on set. On action, the trainer stood off-camera and used a buzzer. On action the cat jumped out of actor’s arms and ran to wrangler.

In the scene when the actress follows a crowd down the street holding her cat, the cat was carried to set wearing his costume harness and lead by the cat handler. When the camera and actress was ready, the costume dept gave the actress a warm pack to put inside her costume then the handler handed the cat to her. The actress held the cat with both arms and walked ahead of the Steadicam camera.
When cut was called, the handler stepped in and took the cat from the actress. The handler held the cat in her coat until the next take. Once the shot was done, the handler carried the cart back to the holding tent.

In the same scene when monsters attack and the cat runs through the crowd, prior to shooting the trainer placed an open crate behind an upside down car. This was at the far end of the set. The camera and actress were at the opposite end of the set. On action the actress was laying on a mat with the camera looking over her shoulder. The handler handed the cat to her. The actress held the cat and on a cue released him. The trainer was hidden behind the car at the far end of the set. She called the cat and activated the buzzer. The cat ran away from the camera and into the hidden crate. The handler went to the crate and picked up the cat to carry him back to the start position. The crowd of people stuck to their path.

In the scene where the cat drinks from puddle near stairwell, the cat never touched the water. The cat was actually “drinking” cheese spread placed on a plastic pot submerged in a clear acrylic tray filled with diluted chicken stock, which was itself almost submerged in the water of the flooded stairwell. The camera angle meant that these additional structures will be invisible.

In the scene when the actress picks up the cat, puts him in her bag and walks out, prior to filming trainers placed cat on the apartment floor next to bag by handler (who was just out of shot) and he was held on a mark with the command “stay”.On command, the cat hopped into bag, and the actress lifted the bag and carried the bag away from camera.

In the scene where actress places cat on violin case on flooded subway, the subway station was actually a stage. Prior to filming, the cat was placed in the bag that was already in position, on the half violin case that was on the water on set. The actress was already standing in the water and held the violin case when the trainer placed the cat in the bag on case. On action, the actor walked down the underwater tunnel, pushing the cat in bag on the half violin case.

In the scene when the cat walks through construction site at night with fires in the background and the actor follows him, prior to shooting the cat was prepped for scene, along the wall and between the scaffolding. The trainer placed the cat on scaffolding and used a clicker to que the cat to walk from point A to point B. This route was mapped by the handlers approximately 3-4 times prior to filming. When ready to film handler removed his lead and held cat until rolling. Moderate-heavy amounts of fog (Artem 15 canisters, Smoke Factory, Polyvalent alcohol & water vapor), black and grey ash (cellulose) being blown by an electric fan (away from cat), propane controlled fire on construction site edges, lighting used to give the impression of smoldering fire.

In the scene where the actors sneak past the monsters on the deserted freeway and the actor leans behind the car holding the cat, prior to shooting the handler handed the cat to the actor when the cameras were ready. The handler stayed hidden behind the car in the foreground. The trainer stood at the end of the set, behind the camera. On action the actor carried the cat forwards, climbed over a low wall still holding the cat and continued forwards, ducking through a hole in a wire fence and out of shot. The distance the cat was carried was 40ft total. When the actor reached the end of the set past the camera the trainer stepped in and took the cat from the actor. In that same sequence, the actor runs on the dock towards the boat holding the cat, prior to shooting the stunt double came to set for a practice run carrying the cat for a gentle jog. The stunt man handed the cat to the actor, who followed suit in the action. The cat was rewarded with food and rest between takes.

In the scene where the actor jumps into the water with the cat, for most of those scenes, the actor was holding a fake cat. When we see the actor actually swimming in the water with the cat held over his shoulder, they filmed actor holding cat in a swimming pool. They used these sequences in the scene in ocean. Whenever the cat looks submerged in water, the cat was a fake.