Certified Animal Action Overview

No Animals Were Harmed™ was there to help ensure every animal moment was handled with care, patience and safety, from a friendly neighborhood dog to a cat crossing the street. Trainers helped the animals feel comfortable with the actors, sets, sounds, lights and special effects, using familiar treats to encourage natural behaviors like running, playing, looking up, barking and swimming. The dog received regular breaks for fresh air, water, cooling and rest, while the pool scene was carefully prepared with safe water conditions, a dedicated exit step and a warm place to dry off afterward. For more intense moments involving dinosaurs and creatures, much of the action was created with visual effects, with the animals only performing simple, controlled behaviors that they already knew. T

Detailed Animal Action Report

In the scene where there’s a block party in a residential neighborhood and we see a young actor and his dog on a leash run over to his mother and talk to her when she leans down to pet the dog, prior to filming the wranglers talked to the actors and got them acclimated with the dog. When the actress points to the dog with a light reprimand, she had peanut butter on her finger to cue the dog’s attention. The dog noticed the peanut butter on her hand and started licking her.

In the scene where the family eats dinner in the dining room, while the kids intermittently play fetch with dog with a rubber toy, including playing tug of war with the actress, trainers brought the dog to set and placed him on his mark while holding his collar. On action, the trainer let go of the collar, the actress squeaked the toy and the dog ran to her and played tug of war under the table. Between set- ups, the trainer walked the dog outside to get air and exercise.

In the scene where the dog is in the backyard, drinking from his bowl when a light from the sky shines down and the dog barks at it, prior to filming the trainers worked with the special effects team and the dog to get him acclimated with the effects. They started with the fan first, then added water mist and finally the non-toxic atmosphere.  Before shooting, they brought the dog to his mark and placed a bowl with bone broth inside of it. On action, the dog drank from the bowl. Meanwhile, a trainer stood on a nearby ladder holding a squeaky toy while the other trainer placed the dog in a sitting position. On action, the special effects team turned on the fans, fog, and lights while the trainer on the ladder squeaked the toy to get the dog to look up, as if he were looking at the UFO in the sky. On the next take, they did the same thing but also cued the dog to bark. When the young actor comes outside to check on him and bring him back into the house, on action, the actor kneeled down, petted the dog and gave him a treat. Since the boy and the dog were already acquainted, it went off without a hitch.

In the scene where the family sits in the dining room for breakfast and the kid feeds the dog some eggs from his plate, prior to filming, the trainer placed the dog on a sit stay in front of young actor before stepping out of the shot and behind the camera. On action, he fed the dog scrambled eggs from his plate

In the scene where the actress sits on the roof of her house reading when she hears something and sees a cat running across the street, prior to filming the first trainer placed the cat into a crate and carried him to his A mark. The second trainer had another crate that was ten feet on the other side of the street. Traffic was cleared from the set, so there were no cars. On action, the actor released the cat while the other trainer called him to the B spot using a buzzer and vocal commands while tapping his food bowl. The cat ran to the other trainer and bowl across the street.

In the scene where the actor looks out the window at the dog in the backyard and the dinosaur chases him off, that whole sequence was created through CGI. The birds on the dead body were also created through CGI.

In the scene where a dinosaur swoops down and grabs the kid’s leg, and the dog runs over and bite its wing, and the creature picks dog up, and drops him on the ground, this scene was filmed with a combination of VFX and practical effects. On action, the trainer held a toy up in the air and cued the dog to jump and bark. They got the same reaction a few times by having the other trainer stand on a ladder holding the toy and cuing the dog to look up and bark. The rest of the scene was created through VFX.

In the scene when the actors run upstairs with the dog and they encounter another monster and the boy pulls the dog away with his leash, prior to filming, the trainer walked the dog to the set on his leash and led around the area to get him acclimated with everything. A long black paracord tether was tied to dog’s choke chain. On rolling, the trainer hid on stairway landing and held the tether to keep the dog from walking out of shot.  Meanwhile, the trainer stood off-camera in dog’s eyeline. On action, the dog walked up a few stairs behind the actors. Once he reached the second floor, the trainer cued him to bark. Between set-ups, the trainer walked the dog to air-conditioned van for water and rest.

In the scene where the actors run up to roof of house where they continue to fight creatures, the trainers went to the set/roof of house. They placed landing pads with blue moving blankets to get them from it getting too hot. Prior to filming, a trainer walked dog to his mark and sat him on a cooling pad. Another trainer stood on B mark. On action, trainer called dog to B mark. The rest of the scene was created by VFX.

In the subsequent scene when the family falls into the pool, including the dog and we see the actors screaming, while the dog swims, before they all get out, prior to filming, trainers made sure the pool temperature was above a certain level. We confirmed that the pool’s pH and chlorine levels were acceptable. They created a step for the dog to make it easier for him to get out of the pool. On rolling, they placed the dog into the pool near the diving board. The dog was acclimated to swimming. On action, the trainer stood on side of the pool and called to the dog, who found the stairs and exited the pool. Between setups, the dog was brought to a warm van and dried with towels.