Panic Room Credits Question

So I saw Panic Room the other day. I was sitting after the movie ended, watching the credits go by, and I noticed there was a category I really didn’t expect to see.

Puppeteers

There were three of 'em listed, I believe after the main actors and the stunts, possibly before the stunts. Regardless, it wasn’t like 150th thing listed - I didn’t watch the credits for that long.

I can’t really understand what part of the film would have a single puppeteer involved, much less three of them.

Anyone who’s seen the film know why puppeteers were involved - what scenes, what they were doing, etc? I can’t picture anything.

I can’t think of any except maybe some violent scenes like when Raul gets his hand caught in the door or homes catches a bullet in the head. Would the big steel door that shuts fast qualify? Other than that, I am not sure either.

I write movie reviews for a small group of online friends. When I wrote my review for PANIC ROOM, I ended it by challenging anyone who sees the movie to find the puppeteers and let me know how they were used. So far, nobody has done so. I’m not losing any sleep over it, but I sure would like to know.

Jodie Foster was unavailable for most of the filming due to having had a particularly unflattering haircut in the first week. As a result, she was replaced by an anamatronic puppet. I could hardly see the wires at all. Just goes to show how good Henson’s Creature Shop has gotten lately!

:smiley:
Incidentally, I thought this thread was going to be about the really cool opening credit sequence. That 3-D hanging-in-front-of-skyscrapers text effect was the best thing about this mediocre film.

An impregnable, self-sufficient bunker with lots of water but no sugary food? :rolleyes:

In the credits for Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Movie, Crow shouts over the entry for “Puppet Wranglers”:

“There weren’t any puppets in this movie!”

I haven’t seen it yet, but I’ve heard horror stories about how anally (one L or two?) well planned out this movie was, to the point of creating it in a 3D computer world first so that every camera placement and light could be worked out.

Theory: Maybe when they got down to actual shooting they used puppets for additional rehearsing of technical aspects without the actors.

Fun Panic Room Fact: (from David Fincher’s web site) “Maynard James Keenan was offered the role of Raoul after Fincher directed A Perfect Circle’s music video for “Judith”. However, Keenan was unable to accept the part because of his commitment as lead singer for the alternative rock band Tool.”

This week’s Movie Answer Man by Roger Ebert finally answers this question:

I wonder if someone from the SDMB asked Ebert that question after reading this thread…:wink: