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(Tatiana Kulachenko)
When we were called and asked to provide ten Dobermans for participation in filming
of "Nochnoy Dozor" (Night Watch) mystic thriller, we immediately got interested
in those tasks, which would be set before the dobermans in the action. We were
told that a group of well-trained IPO-working dogs would be needed. In the film
dobermans had to personify Satanic Hosts, but together with that they had to be
perfectly obedient, excellently IPO-trained with much drive to work. A doberman
had been invited before us and it was already taken in a few scenes, but the film
crew wasn't satisfied with working qualities of that dog, so they decided to
address us, "Irinland" kennel, for we had already had experience in filming large
packs of dogs.
In this connection the filming of the clip "Street Hounds" with Detzel can be
remembered, where according to scenario the back-up person was supposed to hold
eight dobermans on leash together. But having communicated with the dogs, Kirill
(Detzel) realized that they all were peaceful and well-disposed to people, so he
refused help from the back-up man and took the leash himself. He perfectly managed
to hold the whole pack of adult male and female dobs. Filming of the clip was
being done outdoors late at night; according to the screen-play writer's idea the
dogs were running up and down the street, males and females mixed together, unleashed
and without muzzles. And not a single dog had any wish to kick up a row with another one.
In small numbers dobermans starred in TV films based on novels "Russian Amazons-2"
written by Darya Dontsova, also in the following movies - "Looking downwards",
"The Formula", "Martian Chronicles" and others.
But let's get back to "Nochnoy Dozor". Having read the scenario, frankly speaking,
I began to have doubts if it had the sense to participate in the project at all;
at the first glance the dobermans' role was rather ominous - dogs had to bark
madly, attack the actor and fiercely tear his clothes. And we, fans and admirers
of our favourite breed - the Doberman - adore our dogs and want them to be
perceived by other people as the Powers of Light and not the Powers of Darkness;
as the Heavenly Hosts and not the Satanic Hosts.
But later they convinced me that it had been just the first impression, the
project itself was very interesting, and, well, the actors sometimes have to
play negative roles, which does not automatically make them bad persons. All in
all, we agreed.
Only sociable, not-conflict, and excellent IPO-working dogs were picked for filming,
for they had to work unleashed and without muzzles in immediate proximity from
the filming crew, therefore they had to be obedient to voice commands given from
a distance. Ten dogs from "Irinland" kennel took part in filming, and here we
would like to name them all and say big thanks to the dogs' owners for their
cooperation and patience:
Irinland Jozefina Joze IPO-1, TAN 20/20; Irinland Patricia Perla IPO-3, SchH-2;
Irinland Kriss Kaizer IPO-1; Irinland Paola Pierluka IPO-1, SchH-1; Irinland Kamila
Kara IPO-1; Irinland Stealth Skyhawk IPO-1; Irinland Ukas Ulm IPO-1; Irinland
Harrier Hurricane IPO-1; Irinland Duc Dufer IPO-3, SchH-1; Irinland Sheldon Shick
IPO-1; Irinland Paloma Pilar IPO-1.
The filming lasted a few days; all our four-footed actors came to Mosfilm at the
appointed time, where the scenery was set in one of the pavilions. Our working
days began like this: in the kennel we got up at 5am, prepared dogs, gear and cages;
then a car from Mosfilm picked us up at 6am and we reached the destination at about
7:30am. It wasn't easy to get inside; a pass was required there. Having filled
in all forms we drove in and unpacked in the indicated pavilion. Then the make-up
crew arrived and transformed our brown-and-tan and black-and-tan dobermans into
absolutely black dogs, eliminating their tan. Brown Paola and Kamila became black.
They used black-color spray on the dogs, spreading it evenly from nose to tail,
though it didn't irritate skin and was easily washed off afterwards. Our dogs
behaved themselves adequately and with no fuss went through the whole procedure
intended to make Satanic Hounds out of them.
The air was stuffy in the pavilions
and terribly hot outside, so the dogs were literally melting. We were filmed in
the pitch-dark, in the set made as a half-ruined roof of the building. The dogs'
leaders were bound to wear everything black in order not to be visible, the same
referred to dogs' gear.
On the first day, when we came to the film set and fixed the dogs' crates, we
looked at the floor and were really shocked - according to the scenario it had to
be a roof of a high building, and the roof (that is, the floor) was completely
covered with debris of broken glass, bottles, protruding chunks of armature, nails,
wires and screws. So the first day began with cleaning the place, because the
dogs could be injured in such a mess.
Konstantin Khabenskiy - a very pleasant person, who is well disposed both to
people and to dogs, played the main role in the film. He was quick in winning
dogs' trust and understanding, and he performed many complex tricks without back-up,
not showing even slightest signs of fear or timidity in front of the dogs, which
had to bark, attack and bite him according to the scenario. We trained our dobs
for acting together with the dog trainer and Khabenskiy's back-up Andrey Manin,
many times working on each episode, and it was an extremely difficult task because
in this case the dog must have very stable psychics - you can't explain to the
dog that it's just another try and it's possible to take it easy. Every time the
dog works it works for real, at the top of its capability.
The scene, where
Khabenskiy was lying on the roof defending himself against the dogs with the
"magic" ray of light, was a classic IPO task - detaining by barking, i.e. having
received the owner's command the dog must indicate the helperlocation by barking
only, without biting. Jozefina Joze and Patricia Perla were taken in this episode.
Irinland Jozefina Joze played the central dog's role, which exactly consisted of
seizing Khabenskiy, who was on the roof of the elevator. She had to fix a tight
grip on his leg, pull him down to the floor and fiercely tear his clothes. Jozefina,
being already not a young dog (5 y.o.), perfectly fulfilled her task in several
takes. And what's more, in the fighting episodes on the roof the dog made a tight
grip of the arm of the helper's jacket, then this jacket was actually taken off
the helper and put on Khabenskiy, and all that was done with THE DOG GRIPPING THE
JACKET ARM! It was a hard task for the dog, and Jozefina managed it with honor.
Later the filming crew of the famous TV cast "Skaner" came to our kennel to film
Jozefina in this trick especially for the channel viewers.
The most difficult part of staging scenes with Dobermans was that, according to
the producer's idea, the pack of dogs, shoulder to shoulder, had to attack the
actor and fiercely bark at him. Dogs' attention should be concentrated on the
man and shouldnbe shifted towards each other. Everyone who trains dogs understands
how difficult it is to reach this goal, when the pack of adult male and female
dogs close together are provoked to bark and to bite. And this is done not in
a large field, where one dog is against one helper, but in a narrow space of the
filming ground, where 6-8 dogs are around the man lying on the floor. Our dogs
brilliantly carried out the task and deserved much praise.
A hard task had been set for the group of our three dogs - Jozefina Joze, Kriss
Kaizer and Patricia Perla; simultaneously they had to grip the lying actor by the
leg and arms and shake him violently. A spectacle not for over-sensitive minds!
And the dogs did it perfectly. There was another scene, where six dogs - Kriss
Kaizer, Stealth Skyhawk, Harrier Hurricane, Ukas Ulm, Patricia Perla and Paola
Pierluka, standing in complete darkness on the table 1,5m high had to bark fiercely
before the camera, which was hidden in the hole under the table; and doing so they
shouldn't show aggression towards each other. In this episode our famous actor
Irinland Kriss Kaizer, already taken in a few films, was shown close-up. Patricia
Perla and Paola Pierluka were asked to bark in order to record the sound for this
scene. To our regret there is only a short episode with dogs in the film, many
interesting scenes were excluded. We hope they will be shown in the TV version.
The filming schedule was very tight, sometimes from 8 in the morning till 8 in
the evening. During breaks the dogs were either resting in their cages or just
walking about the pavilion, for nobody was afraid of them there. Once, when we
were absorbed in watching the takes, two girls, Patricia and Paola, got together
and headed to the next pavilion where the buffet was situated. We found them
there begging from the kind buffet-lady for cookies and other tidbits, and at our
arrival they had already been considerably refilled.
Also during the breaks we investigated other pavilions where filming was going on;
there were many people and famous actors moving around there. The dogs weren't
embarrassed by commotion, because they are show dogs and are used to fussy crowds
of people. In the neighbor pavilion they were filming scenes of the film "Moskovskaya
Saga"(Moscow Saga) - scenes set as the field hospital with lots of bandaged actors.
While the dobermans were resting Ekaterina Petrakova, who is a professional ambulance
doctor, started to help the actors to properly bandage their "wounds". All in all,
everything was great and very interesting to us - usually we don't show up at
Mosfilm every day, the atmosphere was friendly, everybody enjoyed being there and
the dogs were at their best in work.
And not long time ago we met Kostya Khabenskiy at MTV Music Awards 2004 in the Kremlin,
where he was leading the procedure, and Irinland Duc Dufer participated in the
clip with Glukoza. Duc's visit to the Kremlin is a separate story. Dogs are not
allowed to go into the Kremlin, so we had to do a huge amount of paper work, fill
in lots of forms, etc. in order to get a permission to enter the Kremlin with the
dog. There was a strict requirement for the dog to wear a muzzle and a prong collar
all the time while being in the Kremlin and in the Concert Hall. We didn't have the
right to take the muzzle off, not for a single moment, and naturally it much
disappointed our sociable Duc. But in compensation Duc received lots of attention
and caress from so many stars, and his hair still keeps the touch of so many stars'
hands!
Konstantin cordially talked with us, we remembered all moments of filming. He also
felt sorry that many filmed scenes weren't included in the film. He highly evaluated
the work of our dogs.
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| Our dobermanns |
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| Irinland Tomcat Teddy |
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| Irinland Tara Tattu |
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