Not sure where exactly to ask this...

[Justin Oakley]

So Im putting it here in the general chat. It might sound a little weird, but hey were talking movies here.

 

I need a dead cat. I cant use a real one, for obvious reasons. but I need one for a prop. Are there resources for film and stage where one could buy realistic animals for such an effect?

 

Ive looked online but its mostly novelty stuffed animals. Im looking for something that has a little heft to it...and maybe joints that arent stuck in a fixed position. Something that can be handled and look like a dead animal...it wont be just lying on the ground.

 

If I can get a point in the right direction that would be great.

 

Thanks!

[Randy J Tomlinson]

I know a Prop Company in Germany who has Cats and Dead Bodies. But im not sure if they send it to South Carolina. You maybe want to ask them

 

https://moviesfx.de/

[Aapo Lettinen]

there might be a possibility to "borrow" a real one from a animal shelter or similar which lets some animals go on regular basis. If it needs to look VERY real this might be an option as long as everybody agree to it and it is ethical (the cat already dead anyway and it is treated respectfully).

It would not be possible to use the real one for more than a couple of hours of course before it needs to be cremated and crew members may feel bad about it even if its dead by natural causes :/

[Aapo Lettinen]

that moviefx site looks like great source, maybe they have something suitable :)

[Justin Oakley]

Yeah...ya going to be a child holding it. This is all super low budget stuff. Soliciting local help...unpaid. I was lucky to get the nod from parents to let their twin boys be a part of it. I dont think they would be too keen on the idea of their hot holding a cat corpse.

 

And I went to that site. Sucks because I cant speak or read German haha

[Mark Dunn]

Even if you could persuade a child to hold a dead cat, I'm not sure you should. Think about it for a minute.

A prop cat is going to cost a small fortune.

[Robin R Probyn]

Just use the sound persons "dead cat" wind jammer.. simple..

[Aapo Lettinen]

Yeah...ya going to be a child holding it. This is all super low budget stuff. Soliciting local help...unpaid. I was lucky to get the nod from parents to let their twin boys be a part of it. I dont think they would be too keen on the idea of their hot holding a cat corpse.

 

And I went to that site. Sucks because I cant speak or read German haha

 

OK then a real dead cat is DEFINITELY NOT a good idea. the child may get traumatised for life :o

I thought it would be a scene with only adult actors...

[Aapo Lettinen]

maybe you don't need to be so graphical with the cat images so that lower quality prop could be used?

people will get the point with wider shots if the children act appropriately.

[Robin R Probyn]

Old furry muffler for the wide shot.. then shoot the kids face close up.. he/she can hold anything..

[Daniel D. Teoli Jr.]

there might be a possibility to "borrow" a real one from a animal shelter or similar which lets some animals go on regular basis. If it needs to look VERY real this might be an option as long as everybody agree to it and it is ethical (the cat already dead anyway and it is treated respectfully).

It would not be possible to use the real one for more than a couple of hours of course before it needs to be cremated and crew members may feel bad about it even if its dead by natural causes :/

 

Yes, try for a real dead cat if you can get one without killing it. If you live in an area that is conducive to roadkill you can pick them up sometimes...but not on demand.

 

When you film is done lets see a clip of the dead cat.

[Daniel D. Teoli Jr.]

 

OK then a real dead cat is DEFINITELY NOT a good idea. the child may get traumatised for life :o

I thought it would be a scene with only adult actors...

 

That is a good reply for 2019. I'm underground, so my reply may not be appropriate in 2019 OP. I operate under the auspices of...if it is legal I do as I like.

Edited January 17, 2019 by Daniel D. Teoli Jr.

[Justin Oakley]

maybe you don't need to be so graphical with the cat images so that lower quality prop could be used?

people will get the point with wider shots if the children act appropriately.

I really do need it as real as possible.

 

The idea is this: slide past the threshold of a bathroom where a boy is standing over the toilet with the cats lifeless body hanging in his hand. He drops the cat and it lands with a wet thud. I need that lifelike mailable prop.

[Aapo Lettinen]

I really do need it as real as possible.

 

The idea is this: slide past the threshold of a bathroom where a boy is standing over the toilet with the cats lifeless body hanging in his hand. He drops the cat and it lands with a wet thud. I need that lifelike mailable prop.

 

is this going to be a "normal sized" cat? is it a comedy scene or drama?

 

just asking because cats are relatively long and flexible and large animals and I think it's not going to look like how you're planned it to be if a young child is holding a realistic cat prop and just dropping it into the toilet hole. Probably he is holding it with both hands from the center (because it being relatively heavy and awkward to hold in front of him for a long time and that would be the easiest way to hold it I think) the front and back hanging from both sides like upside down U-shape and then when he drops it, the head and tail side will bounce from the toilet seat very heavily before the whole thing goes down the hole and splashes. It will probably look pretty comical at least, if it being a dark comedy I understand why you want to shoot it that way :)

[Justin Oakley]

 

is this going to be a "normal sized" cat? is it a comedy scene or drama?

 

just asking because cats are relatively long and flexible and large animals and I think it's not going to look like how you're planned it to be if a young child is holding a realistic cat prop and just dropping it into the toilet hole. Probably he is holding it with both hands from the center (because it being relatively heavy and awkward to hold in front of him for a long time and that would be the easiest way to hold it I think) the front and back hanging from both sides like upside down U-shape and then when he drops it, the head and tail side will bounce from the toilet seat very heavily before the whole thing goes down the hole and splashes. It will probably look pretty comical at least, if it being a dark comedy I understand why you want to shoot it that way :)

Horror/suspense

 

And the boy is about 8 years old. And the cat isnt being dropped into the toilet. It is implied that he did something terrible, in this case most likely drowned it IN the toilet. And he is holding the wet, lifeless body...not out in front of him. But most likely by his side. Preferably by its throat or even the scruff of its neck.

 

And as the camera slides he just lets it fall out of his hand and onto the floor. Again, why I need it as real as possible (with some heft to it). The whole body landing and folding...you know, like a limp dead animal, at his feet.

 

The size doesnt matter, although Id like an adult cat. So its less guess work for the viewer. With the proper camera movement, and sound, and lighting it will be unmistakably dark and not in anyway comedic. Especially within the context of the entire story.

[Justin Oakley]

 

That is a good reply for 2019. I'm underground, so my reply may not be appropriate in 2019 OP. I operate under the auspices of...if it is legal I do as I like.

Totally man!

 

I would just as easily use a real dead animal. But again...the parents might not be down with that. They dont know me from Adam. They were just kind enough to let their boys be part of it.

 

I dont think theyd appreciate some weirdo sticking dead animals in their childs hand (repeatedly).

[Dan Hasson]

I need a dead cat. I cant use a real one, for obvious reasons. but I need one for a prop. Are there resources for film and stage where one could buy realistic animals for such an effect?

There's a prop house in London that rents out 'dead animals'. Its pretty much a taxidermist that specialises for film and tv.

So look around online for a taxidermist in your area, their skill is in dead animals!

Edited January 17, 2019 by Dan Hasson

[Max Field]

Just use the sound persons "dead cat" wind jammer.. simple..

I was gonna do this joke but thought it was too easy. I demand green arrow royalties.

[Phil Connolly]

I would second the issue that although its probably cheaper to use an actual dead cat. I wouldn't risk tramatising the kids with it (depending on age). You also need them to be able to "act"

 

Fake cat sounds expensive

 

Maybe sedation is doable? The excellent "Amores Perros" did that in the dog fighting scenes and it was pretty convincing. Although you'd have to find a cat and a Vet thats prepared to do it. Again sounds expensive.

 

Tricky.

 

Maybe there is a way to stage the scene with a real dead animal but you don't have the child on set at the time. Eg with cutaways etc...

 

Theres always a creative solution.

 

I made a comedy short film where a dog is killed. We had similar problems about how you stage it and reveal the corpse. In the end I opted to have it die off screen and my actor turn up in the next scene with a plastic carrier bag full of "bloody lumps and fur" - with the dog leash(lead) hanging out to to properly sell it. The result (especially after we dubbed the sqelching sounds) worked ok within the crazy world of the story

 

e.g:

 

Dead rats are easier as you can buy them frozen from pet stores as snake food. You just need to defrost them and boom

[Jon O'Brien]

You don't really have to have an actual cat or even a fake prop. But if you must have one then I would go with a fake prop definitely and try to not show it very clearly on screen. That's my outlook. A movie I saw once had a hard hitting effect (for me as a younger person at the time) without showing the dead cat at all. It wasn't necessary as the actor's faces/body language and the sound effect of screeching tyres and someone jumping out of the car to look - that was more than enough to convey the scene and in a way it was much more powerful that way. But it's up to what the director wants of course.

[Bruce Greene]

Do not use a dead cat with a child under any circumstances!!!!

 

There are some realistic toy cats for sale if you search for them.

Get one and remove most of the stuffing and refill with something heavier like sand so it will be floppy. Restitch the cat. It should look very real.

[Aapo Lettinen]

Maybe sedation is doable? The excellent "Amores Perros" did that in the dog fighting scenes and it was pretty convincing. Although you'd have to find a cat and a Vet thats prepared to do it. Again sounds expensive.

 

sedation would be otherwise doable but you can't drop a living animal to the floor from any height. it will seriously hurt it :angry: and I would not trust the child could handle the sedated cat correctly. maybe continuously supervised by the vet and the animal owner but still.

[Aapo Lettinen]

it would be more humane to use a dead cat and scare the child with it than make the child to hurt a living cat multiple times by dropping it to the floor and tell it is somehow "ok" to do that :blink:

 

----

anyway, why not use the best cat looking prop you can find and if that is not enough for the whole scene then you can just edit it differently and do some separate closeups later with a real dead cat ;)

[Justin Oakley]

Man! I found some resources for rentals. As expected, that stuff is EXPENSIVE! 200-700 bucks to rent dead animal props for a week.

[Aapo Lettinen]

Sound pretty reasonable if they let you get it wet for that price.

 

You can also do vfx with stunt hand adult dropping the real dead cat to the floor child never being in the same room with it. OR you can do the ok quality cat prop thing with the child, then do separate closeups of the real dead cat at animal shelter etc using small for example 4'x4' floor prop under it which can be disposed after the shoot