We’ve already shared at HuffPost UK how TV shows and movies source newborn (or newborn-looking) babies.
But once they’re there, how do you get them to... act? After all, some of these infants are days old ― if I can’t sob on command after an unnamed number of years on the planet, how are these neonates meant to?
And aside from their undeveloped acting chops, they’re only allowed on set for a certain amount of time. So if you want them to cry on-set, how can you do that speedily and effectively (without being mean)?
Well, according to Insider, it “requires a special set of skills.”
Go on...
Insider met with Elaine Hall, who is what’s known as a “baby wrangler.”
“A baby wrangler is an interpreter between what a director wants a young child to do in front of the camera,” she explained.
She adds that twins are often used to play the same role, taking away some of that time pressure we talked about earlier.
And to STOP them crying, “everything was made into a game,” Hall shared. “I would be behind the camera in every scene, making them laugh.”
But when you want the kids to well up, she shared that “what I do to get babies to cry is I start to cry myself.”
“When a baby, even an infant, hears another baby cry, the infant or the baby will start to cry themselves,” she added. “It’s pretty instantaneous.”
Hall used this method for movies like Akeelah And The Bee as long as countless other movies, TV shows, and ads ― “my success rate is 100%,” she shared.
Is that the only way?
No. Jambox’s blog alleges that “The filmmakers may create a situation that they know will cause the baby to cry, such as separating the baby from its mother or introducing a loud noise.”
They add, “Another approach that filmmakers may use is to use stimuli to elicit a crying response from the baby. This can include things like blowing air in the baby’s face or making a sudden noise.”
Elaine Hall told Insider she’d heard of other baby wranglers introducing foul smells or making loud noises to get babies to cry on set, but she thinks those could be too “harmful” to the child.
Ideally, the child’s face doesn’t need to be shown during the crying scene ― in that case, directors can use a doll and dub the sound of crying over the scene.
No business like it, eh...