Into The Woods (2014)

All horseback riders were stunt riders or experienced actors who were skilled at riding, mounting and dismounting. All running/galloping scenes were well choreographed, and actors used caution while on and near animals. The horse(s) rearing was a trained behavior. When teams of horses pulled wagons or carriages, the drivers were experienced and teams of horses were familiar with each other and accustomed to the pulling action. Whenever horses were seen tied to posts/fences/trees, they were attached to lead ropes tied to posts.

In the scenes where we see the actors leading the cow with a rope, the trainer placed a cotton halter on the cow and handed it to the actors before shooting the scene. On action the actors merely led the cow with the rope attached to the halter. When we see the boy milking the cow, trainers were off-camera making sure the cow remained stationary, and the boy was prepped on how to milk the cow prior to shooting the scene.

In the scene where a horse drawn carriage is driven down a dirt road and splashes Jack’s mother with water, production dug a hole in the road and poured water into it, the horses were led down the road and the driver made sure the horses did not step in the hole.

In the scene where Jack returns with magic beans to show his mother and we see a rooster on the road in the background, the trainer placed a tie on the rooster’s leg to keep him in place.

In the scene where the cow runs away from the couple and into the woods, trainers were off camera. One trainer was at location A where the couple was talking with the cow next to them. The other trainer was in location B closer to the woods and off-camera. On action, trainer B cued the cow to come to him with grain, and the cow trotted over to the trainer.

In the scene where the two princes get off of their horses and talk, trainers placed grains in a trough to keep the horses stationary while the actors talked.

In the scene where the Baker and wife are talking in the woods while the cow stands next to them, the cow was eating feed constantly during takes to keep stationary. In the subsequent scene where the cow collapses on the ground, production used a fake cow for that scene.

In the scene where the prince is riding his horse away from the tower and the witch causes the weeds to grow, which blocks his way, and the horse rears, throwing the man off the horse, the horse was ridden by a stunt double.  The camera was held by cameraman who was lying on floor, while the horse trainer stood behind and helped guide the cameraman and keep him out of way of the rearing horse.  On action the trainer cued the horse to rear up, the horse did, and the stunt double fell on a thick pad.

In the scene where the actor on horseback rides into a swamp, falls off the horse, then we see a snake slithering in the water, a trainer was sitting in a boat just off-camera for the whole sequence, placing the snakes in tactful areas prior to shooting. Between takes the trainer retrieved the snakes with a special apparatus called a Russian arm and placed them in warm containers.

In the scene where the cow comes back to life and stands up, trainers had the cow lying down on soft ground. They covered her in leaves. Then the witch approached and draped her cape over cows’ hindquarters. On action, the trainers let the cow go, and cued her to stand up. Prior to filming the scene where they feed the cow pieces of hair and an ear of corn, the trainers spoke to props department about making edible shoe, hair, cape and corn and researched ingredients. This was checked with trainer and trainers were confident cow would be okay to eat them.

In the scene where the tower falls apart, frightening the horses, three horses with saddles were held by stunt/horse wranglers behind the carriage. On action, a rumbling sound was played through speakers to simulate an earthquake. Pieces of Styrofoam were dropped from the castle above in front of the horses, ten feet away. At that moment, the trainers pulled the reins on the horses to make them look frightened.

In the scene where Rapunzel gets on the horse with the Prince and they ride off into the distance, the horse was lead to its mark by the trainer. The horse was held on its mark with two nylon fishing lines. One line is attached to the bridle and held by the handler in front of the horse, off-camera. On action, the actor gets on horse, and pulls the actress on the horse as well. The actors were well prepped prior to shooting the scene.

In the scenes where we see horses in the woods and there is smoke in the atmosphere, production used a non-toxic vapor to create the smoke.

All the birds seen in the film were accomplished through CGI.

The roosters and chickens seen in the film were brought by trainers and they placed feed on the ground to keep them in place while filming the scenes.