Friday, October 24, 2008

Cats

So, a call for help from anyone reading this! I need cat stories! My new piece is about, among other things, the relationship between an older artist and his cat. I really want to play up the dynamic between the two, and I think the cat is a great potential source of humour in the film, but ours tend to sleep more than do anything ;) (And I'm allergic which limits things a bit)
So anyone who has stories about their cats they'd like to share, and are okay with potentially ending up in a piece, please share! Any animal that random has to have some entertaining moments ;)

13 comments:

Shelley Noble said...

Too easy! I'm a crazy cat lady with self restraint. I only have three. And they crack me the hell up all day with their hilariousity.

For one thing, if your old artist tries to read anything, have the cat sit precisely where he's trying to read, preferably with the ass positioned on top of the next word in question.

Today I heard a noise in my set and went over to check behind the cardboard backdrop at one of the cats sound asleep in the sunbeams of a window. When I looked closer I noticed a little upside down gray paw peeking in and out from under the cardboard. One silly playful cat was trying to get a good game of tag going with the sleepy one, making her paw act like a mouse.

One loves a brand of crunchy dry food so much it's completely obsessed. No joke. This cat will quietly stand like a sentinel soldier next to the food bin all day waiting silently in case someone might dispense a few morsels. It's like looking at a devoted Zen monk at prayer.

I could go on all day... give me a situation in your film and I'll give you a specific cat story around that action you might consider adding in!

Best of luck!

Emily said...

Thanks alot! Our one cat practically stalks my bf - the second he comes in the house the cat is on his lap - but they're pretty low key compared to yours!
I think my artist character is definitely going to have to read something just for the cat to interfere - my dog loves doing that too! They always know just where to sit..
The whole film is going to take place in a large artists studio - one large room with a makeshift bed and little fridge - and most of the film he's doing painting experiments or building things - which will lead to a cat swatting at alot of brushes I think!

Anonymous said...

Lots of inspiration for cat behavior can be found in Cat Dance by Juliana Cox.

I don't remember if I showed you that film, but it's great to study frame by frame. She really nails the way cats move.

Shelley Noble said...

Sounds perfect! Batting brushes, dipping tails in paint, you know I saw a beautiful live action movie where a calligrapher picked up his cat, dipped the tip of the tail into black ink and proceeded to write out the heart sutre on his deck. It was both hilarious and touching.

OMG, Don! I LOVED Ms. Cox's Cat Dance film! Never saw it before, how excellent is that!

Some of her tail and body movements were brilliantly right on!

Anonymous said...

Just reading Shelley's cat stories is making me giggle and fondly remember cats I used to know..any one of those anicdotes would make a great scene...and the artist scenario will work great..Paw prints on the expensive arches paper turnes into a still life of flowers with just a few srokes etc...this is ripe with possabilities!(pawsibilities;>)

Emily said...

(pawsibilities;>)

very cute :)

This is really helping, thanks guys! I think their interaction is really going to flesh out the story - I'm excited now!

Anonymous said...

My cat, got trapped in a box and it moved along the room as if by magic when he was trying to get out.

What about the cat swallows a squeaky toy?

Edwound Wisent said...

(^ ok, this one's long: straight from my wife kitty's tale:

http://profile.myspace.com/windupwinded
(^ arg. finding Kat:

Kat's Latest Blog Entry

We have a big spider problem (view more)

I feel like I was pummel by the Puyallup. (view more)

jive talking video (view more)

jive talkin- for real;) (view more)

Very greeen grass (view more)

[View All Blog Entries]

Kat's Blurbs
About me:
I am very special!
Who I'd like to meet:
You and not smart people too.
=================

(^ ARRrrrg! whar'd it GO?!

==found it=====

Wednesday, January 23, 2008


Life is a CAT-RACE
Category: Pets and Animals

I work as a house cleaner and the client I had today (Let's call her M.) just got two new cats on Sunday. The cats are about six months old so they are slim and cute. One is orange and one is black and white with long hair. M asked me what I thought about the name Stewart for the orange one and May for the black and white. I like the name Stewart for a cat. That is a very good name.

M was very tired today because Stewart kept her up with his whining and meows. While I was there Stewart gazed out the living room window and meowed while May played with my feather duster. M was getting ready for work and hopped in the shower.

I opened the front door to set some of my tools on the front porch and SHIT! Stewart zipped past me on the porch, I grabbed at him but he zoomed down the stairs and chased him, leaving the front door wide open. I panicked. I yelled for M who I knew was still in the shower. To close the front door so the other cat escapes or to chase the orange cat before it get away? Stewart ran around the side of the house. I followed. In my stocking feet, I chased after him across the frozen lawn. He did not warm up to me one bit as I held out my vinyl-gloved hands. My socks were soaked and my heart was pounding. Stewart was threatening to squeeze away through the hedge that opened up to a busy street.

God I really hate when this kind of freakish stuff happens at work. It slows me down and I could really screw up someone's home life. Fcuk! Like the other day when I knocked over someone's Christmas tree. Now that was fun! The damn thing would not stand back up no matter what I did. I tried to get the ornaments back on and it just kept leaning on me. This kind of thing really slows down my workday. Something like that can eat up half an hour or even more. Now an escaped cat...crap that is really bad not to mention that M was already late for work.

...So continuing with the Stewart saga...

Stewart opted out of the busy street plan and dashed back into the front yard. I kept my eye on him as he zipped across the street into the neighbors yard. I ran up and shut the door and then cautiously approached Stewart as he sat on the neighbor's front porch. I took a deep breath, held out my hand and he did not back away. I patted him and then gently lifted him into my arm. I held him tightly crossing the street back to M's house.

I stuck him in the laundry room and searched to make sure the other cat was still in there. She was hiding behind the red leather sofa. Ah! Very good!

I could hear Stewart crying from the laundry room as I stepped out to my car for a cigarette and my vacuum.

Soon I was back in the house and dusted while I told M all about what happened. She apologized for her sneaky cat. We agreed I would have to adjust to the two new cats and be more careful when I come and go.

She said she is considering keeping them as indoor cats. Then she mentioned that her neighbor lets her cat, Oscar, out all day while she is at work. But once the neighbor saw Oscar almost get hit by a car on the busy street. I told M that it looked like Stewart was about to go that way.

M had to head off for work and was saying a sweet good bye to her two precious new little kitties. Then she said, " Oh my how did Oscar get in here?"

No way!

Oscar is an orange cat too!

And I know exactly how Oscar got in the house…

It was not Stewart that I was chasing all around the neighbor hood. It was Oscar! The neighbor's cat! I guess Oscar was on the front porch when I set out my tools and I frightened him. I thought it was Stewart and started chasing the damn thing all over the place while freezing my feet until they went numb. Then I dragged Oscar into the house and stuck him in the laundry room. Poor cat.

Whoops!

Edwound Wisent said...

this thing take images?

http://a370.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images01/83/l_32172d7e31776ff16f16885025d6a659.jpg

Emily said...

lol great story Prosser! If I were brave enough to animate multiple cats it would be great to have them get confused with one another - like twins who have to wear coloured bracelets!

Nofby - that's awesome, I'm definitely going to put my cat under a box for awhile! (And think how much easier the box will be to animate then the cat! ;)

Woolly Monster said...

Hmmm...cat stories....
My neighbour's cat used to steal things (mainly underwear from washing lines, but occasionally kids toys) from other people's gardens, then come in through our cat-flap and leave them in our house (stopping to eat all our own cat's food of course). Many times we came home to find a large lacey bra or pair of underpants on the doormat, and then we would have the embarrassment of trying to find out which neighbour the item belonged to. My theory is that the neighbour's cat had a feud with our cat (who was a shy, rather agrophobic creature) and was constantly trying to get him into trouble by planting evidence.

The thing that always amuses me about cats is the way they can instantly tell if a person is allergic to them (or just doesn't like cats). The cat will then make it its mission to harrass that person constantly. If the person is allergic, the cat will try to get as much cat-hair into that person as it can by leaping into their lap and rubbing its tail into their nose and eyes every time they sit down. The cat will studiously ignore all the non-allergic people in the room, no matter how much they try to distract it with toys and food.

It always makes me laugh, despite my uncontrollable sneezing and rapidly swelling eyes!

Edwound Wisent said...

(^ crackers, wooly! it's almost like you just read what I wrote burried in the tre-ent section of nofby's blog or something!
(^ cats as familiars are very different from toads and or owls.

(^ having nine lives gives them all sorts of ways to get out of bags and catch tongues.
===========knewn(^earmarker=====
(^ word verification gambit:
splck untsl = until untwist unto untrue mounts

Emily said...

hehe woolly I know what you mean - somehow my being the only one in the house with allergies means my pillow is the most desired bed in the house for our 2!