Amos & Andrew (1993)
Animal Action
Animal action primarily involves the Gillman’s dog, Rommel, a white German Shepherd. While they walk their dog, he lifts his leg relieving himself on a variety of objects. The dog had been trained to lift his leg on cue and was not actually urinating. When the Gillmans spy on Andrew, Rommel runs up to the window and barks and snarls at Andrew, frightening him. This scene was shot in cuts with the dog responding to his trainer who was on the other side of the window giving him verbal and visual cues. Rommel is present in many scenes throughout the film performing a variety of trained behaviors, such as sitting or speaking on command, rolling over, shaking hands, etc. These were all accomplished by way of the trainer’s verbal and/or visual cues with food as a reward.
In the film’s climax, Andrew runs through a field as he’s being pursued by two bloodhounds on leash. He’s rescued by Amos who swerves through the field driving a car. This scene was shot in cuts. Rather than pursuing Andrew, the dogs were being called to their trainer and crossing from point A to point B. The car was actually driven by a stunt driver and the car maintained a safe distance from the dogs. Later, when Andrew sends the bloodhounds off on Tolliver’s scent, the scene was shot in cuts and, as before, the dogs were running to their trainer rather than pursuing the actor.
