Clive Owen, Babies in Action in "Shoot Em Up"
Just when you thought you'd seen every action sequence Hollywood could imagine, Michael Davis comes up with "Shoot 'Em Up." The film stars Clive Owen as a gunfighter carrying a newborn baby through hails of gunfire for the entire film. Though he could have cheated by using a doll for most shots, Davis actually found a way to incorporate real infants.
"If we would have shot here in LA, the rule of shooting with an infant is that they can only be in front of the camera for a half hour a day," said Davis. "I didn't know that. But, when we went up to Canada, the babies could work for eight hours a day. They can work 15 minutes on in front of the camera and then they need a 20 minute break. But, we had twins so virtually we could have a baby whenever we wanted. It eased it up a lot."

Click for more pics from "Shoot 'Em Up"!
Of course, some shots just have to be created with digital effects, but audiences will be hard pressed to pick those out. "We got very lucky. There’s a few doll shots. There are a few or a number of digital face replacements where we videoed the baby's head. But, we got really lucky. A lot of the time, whenever possible, I had the live baby. We just couldn't cheat it. It was a great call on our part. We were really nervous about working with babies and action and all of that."
Even in some of the big gunfights, Owen is holding the real baby. The trick is to not actually fire the guns. "The babies were not around when we fired live loads, but obviously now you could do the digital muzzle flashes. We could have the baby around. We just cheated it. It was a combination of about how tight we were and what the action was. The mom that we got was a total sport. She was there all the time and let us do whatever we wanted with the babies within reason."
"Shoot 'Em Up," a New Line release, is scheduled to hit theaters September 7 and stars Clive Owen, Monica Belluci, and Paul Giamatti.
"If we would have shot here in LA, the rule of shooting with an infant is that they can only be in front of the camera for a half hour a day," said Davis. "I didn't know that. But, when we went up to Canada, the babies could work for eight hours a day. They can work 15 minutes on in front of the camera and then they need a 20 minute break. But, we had twins so virtually we could have a baby whenever we wanted. It eased it up a lot."

Click for more pics from "Shoot 'Em Up"!
Of course, some shots just have to be created with digital effects, but audiences will be hard pressed to pick those out. "We got very lucky. There’s a few doll shots. There are a few or a number of digital face replacements where we videoed the baby's head. But, we got really lucky. A lot of the time, whenever possible, I had the live baby. We just couldn't cheat it. It was a great call on our part. We were really nervous about working with babies and action and all of that."
Even in some of the big gunfights, Owen is holding the real baby. The trick is to not actually fire the guns. "The babies were not around when we fired live loads, but obviously now you could do the digital muzzle flashes. We could have the baby around. We just cheated it. It was a combination of about how tight we were and what the action was. The mom that we got was a total sport. She was there all the time and let us do whatever we wanted with the babies within reason."
"Shoot 'Em Up," a New Line release, is scheduled to hit theaters September 7 and stars Clive Owen, Monica Belluci, and Paul Giamatti.
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quigonjim1 writes: on Jun 27 2007 01:20 PM Sounds like a original concept. Looking forward to it. (Reply to this) |
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arendr writes: on Jun 27 2007 01:28 PM What is this? The sequel to Children of Men? Also, insert dead baby joke here... (Reply to this) |
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Vauba Haoly writes: on Jun 27 2007 01:29 PM The concept is not original it has been done in Lone Wolf and Cub but this movie may do it completely different, or not. We'll see. (Reply to this) |
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misterz007 writes: on Jun 27 2007 01:34 PM "Just when you thought you'd seen every action sequence Hollywood could imagine" *ahem* Hard Boiled *ahem* Although it was made in Hong Kong (Reply to this) |
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digitalsoul68 writes: on Jun 27 2007 01:52 PM In reply to this comment (#871613) Exactly what I thought about, Vauba...a modern day version of Shogun Assassin. (Reply to this) |
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Bigbrother writes: on Jun 27 2007 02:32 PM Sometimes there's a reason concepts haven't been done before...because they're stupid. Someone smart and fast enough to survive 2 hours worth of gunfights while toting a baby isn't smart and inventive enough to find a babysitter? My friend please. Let's hope this is one of those movies that can transcend a flawed concept. (Reply to this) |
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JUDGE DREDD writes: on Jun 27 2007 03:43 PM Children of men was awsome!!!! But does this one mean a lot of bleeting and whailing all through this movie? I hope not, babies in films should be banned! 2hours of crying and shooting. Meh! (Reply to this) |
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Qmanfan writes: on Jun 28 2007 06:18 AM Clive Owens cool, but any movie with Monica Bellucci I'm gonna go see (Reply to this) |
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stevegilpin writes: on Jun 28 2007 07:52 AM This was already done in John Woo's "Hard Boiled." (Reply to this) |
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timov writes: on Jun 28 2007 08:39 AM this seems kinda lame to me. why the crap is he doing this??!! they could kinda make it like "SPEED" with a baby. the baby's got a bomb inside it and if he sets it down, the baby blows up. and of course you've got the dudes from "Children of Men" chasing him. at the end he hooks up with jennifer aniston from "Derailed" and they raise this DEAF child as their own. (Reply to this) |
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Holly Jolly writes: on Jun 28 2007 09:33 AM This is a over the top film, watch the trailer on IGN. I've been excited about this movie for over a year. It should be very fun. (Reply to this) |
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dangerseed writes: on Aug 23 2007 08:59 AM Monica B., oh yeah! (Reply to this) |
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