Second Act (2018)

In the scene where the women walk out of the office and see a cat walking in the hallway, the animal wrangler carried the cat in a carrier and placed him on his mark. On action, the actors walked out of the elevator and saw the cat acting naturally.

In the scene where the actors walk into the laboratory and we see several cats in the lab, on the table and in the background, this scene was filmed on a closed set with exits closed. The animal wranglers stood off frame at all times and reset the cats in between takes. The cats were habituated to performing the animal action needed. Prior to shooting the scene the animal wrangler placed the cat on top of a plastic bin container with baby food and cat food on top, and then the other animal handler placed cat food on top of a laboratory table. On action, the cats were recorded eating food in the background and sitting.

In the scene in the vet’s office where we see the vet treating a dog who is standing on the table, the animal wrangler brought the dog to set, placed him on his mark, and they shot the scene without an issue.

In the scene where the actor releases a half dozen doves from a cage, and a few of the doves fly into a truck driving across the street and burst into feathers, this scene was shot in several takes. The animal wranglers gave six of the birds to the two actors which held them in their hands. On action, the two actors bent down and walked around the table, then released the birds. A V-FX camera was placed to focus on the crate of birds behind the table in frame. On action, the actors picked up the birds from the crate off frame. Then, they place them back inside the crate and the action was reset and repeated. The birds bursting into feathers was accomplished through CGI in post production.