There are always concerns when animals are involved in movie productions; making sure that both humans and wildlife are unharmed should be a top priority on any set. In the new movie The Rum Diary, adapted from legendary Gonzo journalist Hunter S. Thompson’s novel, there were two scenes of particular concern to the production — the cockfights.

“The roosters are an essential element to Sala’s character,” says production designer Chris Seagers. Sala, played by Michael Rispoli, is a news photographer at the San Juan Star who strikes a friendship with the main character Kemp in the movie. “Bruce was always very concerned about how this would be shot. It was never about seeing a fight.

It was about showing the ballet of their movements, the artistry of it all. The birds we used were exquisite, and beautifully kept. We did a lot of research about what we wanted to photograph. We needed to see the birds leaping into the air, and spreading their wings.”

A lot of work went into making sure that the filmmakers could achieve the shots they wanted without any harm coming to the birds in any way. In order to achieve that goal, the production invited the American Humane Association to supervise all the animal action including the cockfighting.

Officer Laura Sweet worked on the initial training period, and the first sequence, and they also brought in Officer Gina Johnson to assist her in the first scene because of the number of animals involved. Avian Veterinarian Antonio Riveras was brought in to monitor the birds for stress and heat exhaustion.

“It was very important for us to adhere to the American Humane Association’s guidelines,” says executive producer Patrick McCormick. “We wanted to make sure that no animals were harmed in any way. We had to start figuring out ways to stage these cockfighting events so that we were totally sure the birds were safe.

We wanted everyone involved to be assured that their health and welfare were never endangered.” “In a cockfight, the bird’s natural spurs are clipped before the fight,” explains McCormick. “They are replaced with artificial metal ones, so that every bird has the same size spurs, and the spurs are what cause the injuries. We created soft rubber spurs to replace them.

The other thing we talked about was their beaks. We figured out we could tape them without impairing their breathing, as long as it was for a very short period of time. Initially, we thought this would be sufficient. However, we learnt from the A.H.A., that it was an issue if the birds touched in any way because this constituted fighting,” says McCormick.

“So, in addition to the rubber spurs and taping of their beaks, we had to figure out how to restrain the birds.” Laura Sweet from the A.H.A. worked with trainer Eric Colon for several weeks to devise a method of creating the shots without the birds ever touching.

With the aid of the costume department and prop-master Drew Petrotta, and costume designer Colleen Atwood, they devised an ingenious harness which fitted under the feathers. The harnesses were then attached to monofilaments, which allowed the animal wranglers to control the birds so they never got close to each other.

The scenes were closely monitored by the A.H.A reps and by first assistant director Peter Kohn. They only allowed seconds for each take, and only one or two takes for each shot. The hard work paid off and the filmmakers were thrilled with the footage. All the roosters used in the movie have been relocated to a life of ease on a ranch in Canyon Country, near Los Angeles.

Image Courtesy of   http://www.facebook.com/RumDiaryMovie

The article Animal Welfare On Set; The Rum Diary and Cockfighting appeared first on The Toonari Post - News, Powered by the People!.

After another stint as swashbuckle Jack Sparrow earlier this year, Johnny Depp is revisiting the world of Hunter S. Thompson in the upcoming movie ‘The Rum Diary’. He plays the main character, an alcoholic journalist looking for a change of scene. And according to the production team, there were no questions about Depp’s match for the part of Kemp.

“There’s no actor who was closer to Hunter Thompson than Johnny Depp,”  says producer Graham King. Although Paul Kemp is loosely based on Hunter S. Thompson as a young man, director Bruce Robinson wanted for the character to come out of Depp’s interpretation of Thompson, not an imitation of the writer in later years.

“I wanted Paul Kemp to be Johnny Depp playing Hunter, but not with the shorts and the bald head,” says Robinson. “The film is set in the late fifties and very early sixties, so, in a sense, this is a very straight romantic lead. For all the comedic exuberance of ‘Fear and Loathing’, this is a straight drama. Hunter was very handsome when he was young, and Johnny is an incredibly handsome leading man.”

“Johnny transformed himself into Kemp very easily,” adds King. “He adds layers and layers to a character. He makes a raised eyebrow hysterical. He’s very subtle at what he does. Bruce had the easiest job directing Johnny, because you don’t really need to tell him as an actor what to do. You don’t really need to tell him how to deliver a line, especially a comedic line.”

Depp, like Robinson, wanted to tap into the idea of Thompson as a young, unformed artist. “The way I approached it was that the character of Paul Kemp is Raoul Duke as he was learning to speak. It was like playing the same character, only 15 years before. This guy’s got something; there’s an energy burning underneath it, it’s just ready to pop up, shoot out.”

In the movie’s plot, when Kemp begins working at the San Juan Star, he immediately strikes up a friendship with Sala, the news photographer who works there. Robinson was looking for a very particular quality when he was casting this role. “I wanted someone relatively unknown, but who was a really great actor. Michael Rispoli fit the bill,” says Robinson.

“Sala is somebody who came to San Juan ten years earlier. He was a photographer, probably not without talent. He became absorbed into the place, elevated by it, and then almost destroyed by it. One of the reasons I cast Michael was that I was looking for that sense of inability to escape.

I wanted an actor who the audience would look at and think: ‘He’s not getting out of here, he can’t leave.’ A lot of the people who read for the part were superb actors, but when Kemp leaves at the end of the story, they were going with him.” “Bruce called me and said, ‘I’ve found him!’ Depp says. “As soon as I saw the tape, it was instant—that’s the guy.

He looked, sounded and felt exactly like the part of this expatriate American down in Puerto Rico, lost and trying to figure out what he wanted to do with his life.”

The crook of the story is the dirty businessman Sanderson, who hires Kemp to write favorably about his latest scheme. Robinson had no doubt about whom he wanted to play Sanderson. “Aaron Eckhart was my first and only choice,” he says. “He is a very good actor, and he has a kind of cruel beauty about him.

He is also a complete contrast to Johnny Depp. He is handsome in an Aryan way. Johnny is Latin handsome. Sanderson is a property developer who has attachments to the newspaper, both financially and editorially. He is utterly charming and utterly ruthless.”

Depp was impressed by Eckhart’s intense commitment to the role. “He absolutely just scrubbed us all. He took the role by the throat and went with it.”

Image Courtesy of   http://www.facebook.com/RumDiaryMovie

The article Johnny Depp; From Pirates to The Rum Diary appeared first on The Toonari Post - News, Powered by the People!.