Lesson I learned....
- Thread starter Sithxace
- Start date
ZeroContent
Member
Yeah, unless you have a big budget and have tons of time, stay away from using kids because they're unreliable in their performance, they have no attention span and then you have all the legal issues you have to follow, it's a huge pain in the a$$. Though i have been on a show that had a 12 year old girl and she was a very good actor and she was a trooper the whole time even with the long days, and unseasonably cold days. I was the sound mixer on the shoot so i had a lot of down time we'd play a lot of gin rummy and chess, smart kid.
Any tips you can give about working with children? I have to use children 5 years apart from one another. I don't have the luxury of twins. What would you do to prep them for a scene. What do you do when they are no longer excited and start going you a hard time? How do you get them not to look into the camera? :huh:
Mattykins
Cute Member
You have to be sure your shoot runs flawlessly. Schedule it so the kids are in and out. Have a parent on set obviously, and make sure to engage the children. Make it a game for them. You need to run fast. And keep them happy - wether that be a game with the PA when you are setting up or cookies...keep them happy.
Scott F
Pug Life
That is the hard part, isn't it?
I just did a dolly shot in which 10-12 kids were waiting in a line outside a store. By the grace of God, we got the shot, in fact I got a few good takes. This was for a low-budget commercial. Before we grabbed the shot I gave the kids a quick overview of what I was looking for performance wise. And of course I stressed not to look into the camera.
My boom op/assistant came up with the solution for keeping kids in line: Hit them over the head with the mic when they act up or look at the camera. (Make sure you have a dead cat on the mic) OK, that's a bad idea, don't listen to that one.
And make sure you have release forms on hand!