Cat on a felt fixed roof
Arnhem, March 31, 2008

Usually, a black cat spells disaster. Yet this particular cat has a cameo (guest-appearance) on several occasions in the promo Four Corners made for Patina.

The Patina corporate flick shows in two neatly edited minutes how the self-aware roofing company Patina does its thing. The film is completely black-and-white with a specific red element playing through the scenes. The Patina-folder that is always tugged along everywhere is a bright red element that occurs throughout the film. One of the demands in the script was that a black cat be added to the mix, since the cat is also present in the pictures Patina uses in its communications. This has become a remarkable film, which completely adheres to Patina’s cinematic corporate style. There’s something you probably wouldn’t expect from a roofing company…
Vertigo killed the cat – or at least its cooperation

Never work with animals or children. This is a common and basic rule in the film-industry. But Four Corners wouldn’t be Four Corners if we would avoid this kind of challenge. So, only one option was available: be as patient as a mountain. This, oh yes, became abundantly clear at a very early stage.
O.J., our cinematographically sound and able-bodied cat on site, had no easy time of it. For as long as we were filming indoors, in Patina’s offices, everything was a-OK. However, as soon as we got O.J. up on the roof, anxiety kicked in. It took the greatest of efforts to get the beast to move. Even the fishing-line we’d taken along to invisibly fasten to its collar made no difference.
Those beautifully envisioned shots with the cat slyly prowling the rooftops kind of… well… failed dramatically. Hence, plan B: improvise. Since Improvise is our middle name, we improvised filming O.J. at ease: quiet, sleeping, and purring. And, verily, we soon had enough footage to incorporate in the film. Nothing quite beats a purring cat…