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Post by snsurone on May 28, 2019 17:16:28 GMT
While I admit that I was never pregnant, from photos I've seen, the "newborns" on the screen are definitely several months old.
In fact the only infant who looked like a newborn was Beau Wilkes in GWTW. And Bonnie Butler did look a week old when she was first seen.
You rarely see actual babies being held by adults, either. Usually, it's a heavily bundled "something".
Of course, this is all to protect the babies, but it just strikes me as so artificial.
BTW, in scenes of multiple births, it's nothing short of a miracle that the mothers survived!
What do you think?
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Post by teleadm on May 28, 2019 18:11:53 GMT
They can't have a movie crew sit around a maternity ward and wait for a baby to be born, it would probably cost too much.
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Post by snsurone on May 28, 2019 18:29:15 GMT
Then where do these overage "newborns" come from? Is there a department of SAG that deals with these issues?
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Post by teleadm on May 28, 2019 18:50:30 GMT
The following is an answer I found:
Yes. In California, infants can start working when they’re 15 days old, provided that they (or their parents) have a work permit and a note from a licensed physician. According to the California labor code, the note must attest that the child was not born prematurely, was of normal birth weight, and is, in the doctor’s opinion, “physically capable of handling the stress of filmmaking.” Also, the child’s lungs, eyes, heart, and immune system must be “sufficiently developed to withstand the potential risks.”
In some states, like New Mexico, West Virginia, and Wyoming, there are no age restrictions on acting gigs. That means babies can make their screen debuts as soon as their umbilical cords are cut. California’s standards are stricter. Along with outlawing infants under 2 weeks old, it’s also a violation of state law to cast preemies. That practice was outlawed in California in 1998 due to protestations from child-labor advocates and the Screen Actors Guild. According to a 1996 Washington Post story, for example, one child advocate alleged that 1-month-old twins who were born two months premature had been slathered with cream cheese and jelly for a birth scene. (Screen Actors Guild guidelines do cover condiment usage. Grape, red currant, and cherry jelly can be used to simulate birth-related fluids. Strawberry, raspberry, and K-Y jellies are a no-no, for fear of allergic reactions.)
There are a slew of other regulations outlining what film crews can and can’t do with a baby. In California, infants under 6 months are allowed on-set for two hours a day, but their actual workday can’t exceed 20 minutes. For every three children of ages between 15 days and 6 weeks, there must be one nurse and one studio teacher; California law also requires that a parent or guardian be in attendance. Most productions set up trailers equipped with cribs where babies remain with their parents, guardians, and nurses before their scenes.
Where do these babies come from? Like everyone else in Tinseltown, babies have agents and managers. The most desirable infant actors come in sets of two or three—using twins or triplets means a production can film for 40 or 60 minutes a day instead of 20, or that a cranky baby can be swapped out for a more compliant twin. And what are these young pups paid? According to a SAG spokesperson, infants are typically hired as “background actors” and receive a day rate of $126. If an agent or parent bargains for the child to be paid as a principal performer, the rate increases to $737 per day.
Bonus Explainer: Can newborns be in the Screen Actors Guild? Yes. Most parents don’t bother signing up their newborns, though, because children under 4 are protected under the same terms as a SAG contract even if they aren’t union members.
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Post by bravomailer on May 28, 2019 18:53:33 GMT
Coppola used his daughter Sofia in The Godfather's baptism scene.
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Post by snsurone on May 28, 2019 19:16:55 GMT
Hmmm, 15 weeks old--that's a little more than three months. Still too old to be depicted as a newborn. And most of those babies are older than that!
I believe that producers just stop trying to show newborns and blanket-wrapped dolls.
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Post by snsurone on May 29, 2019 11:52:57 GMT
Sorry, tele--I goofed. I mistook 15 days for 15 weeks.
15 days makes sense in regards to showing new babies. Which still makes me wonder why the media still employ much older (and bigger) babies in childbirth scenes.
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bess1971s
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Post by bess1971s on May 29, 2019 17:35:17 GMT
Hmmm, 15 weeks old--that's a little more than three months. Still too old to be depicted as a newborn. And most of those babies are older than that! I believe that producers just stop trying to show newborns and blanket-wrapped dolls. The producers should use Reborn dolls which are handmade to individual specifications. I recently saw several videos on YouTube of people who buy these dolls and treat them as if they were human. It was morbidly fascinating. I tried to post the link but my laptop is having issues.
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