Child actors and gruesome films.

[Itsmychristmasdress]

I'm watching gangs of new York. And it just got me thinking how child actors are exposed to horrific violence on set of movies...I wonder how is that allowed. I am sure they are protected in some ways but I'm not sure they can be fully protected?
Anyone know a bit about it?

I remember thinking this when I watched the Exorcist back in the 90s. I don’t know the answer

I also wonder about babies in argument scenes with people screaming at each other

That's true as well. I wonder how it's allowed.

Scenes are often shot and cut in a way to ensure child actors are not on set for very frightening parts.
Film sets are also full of people, a very different atmosphere to what you see in the film.

The children know they're acting and/or playing. They also don't see anything like the final product during filming and shocking things they appear to say or do are often done by an adult double or voiceover actor or added in post.

I work in TV, a lot of the time it will be carefully arranged shots to make it look like a child is there but often scenes can be filmed without the child and the way it’s edited carefully makes it look like they were in the whole scene.

When under 18s are in scenes that are scary/adult language etc then safeguarding teams will oversee those scenes very carefully, chaperones will be on set the whole time, counselling can also be offered in some circumstances.

The bit I was watching had the child weeping over a dead body and then aggressively threatening to kill people with a knife, he couldn't have been older than 6. I don't know how they could do that as you have suggested above.

Great question, I’ve always wondered this too…

That's interesting. Quite sad that counselling could be required for a child in the name of entertainment though.

They are protected from scary things. Often they're never even in the same set.
I do think, in the not so distant past, a lot of kids weren't protected.

Same for adults though, like intimacy coordinators are a very very recent thing. They will ensure the actor/actress is totally comfortable and will call the shots to the director. Keeping pressure away from actors who might be easily coerced. These are shockingly new in the film industry.

As for the screaming and shouting..I don't know - you'd have to show an example of what you mean.

I presume there is a lot of editing going on, what we see on screen is not what is happening

I think counselling/psychological testing is more common in reality TV series now, especially after contestants on things like Love Island have suffered mentally, obviously thats young people rather than children but more safeguarding is in place now than there used to be years ago.

Vwey true. So many messed up reality tv personalities, un prepared for the tabloids, media etc.

I can imagine my six year old quite enjoying playing this. Maybe they aren't as sensitive as you're thinking

I think their parents must just be happy to put them through things for the money and so they can say their kid is in a film.

Last night I watched a film called "The Shut In" and there was a scene set outside in the supposedly pouring rain where the mother actress was desperately trying to get into a locked car whilst holding her baby and they were both getting absolutely soaked. The poor baby was drenched and looked very upset. How on earth could someone expose their child to that? Then in another scene the baby was being held by a "baddie" character who was shouting aggressively and looked really frightening. The poor baby looked very upset and was crying. That baby didn't understand that none of it was real, how could anyone put their child in that situation just to make money?

I always hate it when babies/toddlers look scared in films and programmes because they're way too young to act that. I think it's Series of Fortunate Events where there's a scene where Jim Carey's character picks up the baby and says something to her in a menacing way. I can't quite remember as it's been a long time since I watched it but I remember feeling very sorry for the baby who was obviously terrified of him in that moment.

I think for the best part the child is protected from anything scary.

Might depend on the director I suppose. Imagine most do, the boy who played Danny in The Shining didn't know he was in a horror film. Kubrick made sure he wasn't exposed to anything frightening - and Kurick wasn't exactly famous for being nice and thoughtful.

I read something recently from a child actor who starred in a big well known horror although I have forgotten which one. They said it was all made out to be a big game and that they had no idea of the nature of the film until they watched it years later.

I suppose they will get to see the props being made and makeup being applied so it won’t seem scary as it will just be Bob with silly makeup rather than a big monster.

Very interesting, I’ve often wondered this too

I think also that a lot of what we react to in scary scenes is added later, like sound effects and background music. And I wonder even if very scary sounding dialog is redone in pick ups so that it is not too affecting for the child. I think they are very very careful to make sure that child is not upset by what they are doing.

Its not just horror films, I sometimes wonder if animals on set have more protection than child actors.

www.theguardian.com/books/2022/jun/12/sarah-polley-terry-gilliam-run-towards-danger-baron-munchausen-interview

but it wasn't over a dead body, was it? It was a live person lying still. A 6 year old might vaguely get the concept of death but wouldn't know what a realistic dead body looked like. They would have just been told 'sit by this lady and pretend to cry because your sad she's hurt.' Before and after the scene the 'body' would have been sitting up smiling at them, so they'd understand it was just 'pretend.'

Have you ever listened to kids play? My and my sisters used to act out all sorts of random and quite dark stuff! They don't really understand it.
Doubtless there are some who are exposed to inappropriate stuff, although less now, but crew can do a lot to work around it.

I'd be more concerned about child stars that a bit older, like 12 plus, and are on set without so much oversight and a much better understanding of the expectations on them.

Probably the child actor from The Shining, Danny Lloyd. He talks later about not knowing it was a horror film until his teenage years when he saw it. He also talked about playing on the set with the nice British twins who were there occasionally.

It's acting. The ones old enough know it's not real.

I always wonder about the scenes with babies crying though. Do they time it around the baby's routine so he/she will start to cry naturally for food? Or do they unsettle the baby in some way to set it off. Because those babies have no clue what is going on. They are just upset.