Everything fans ever wanted to know about the bat scenes on 'The Office'
If you ever discover poop raining down from the ceiling, here's a tip: Don't investigate the situation yourself.
Call a professional to come examine and identify your mysterious floor feces, because if you take a peek into the ceiling you might wind up letting a bat loose in your office like Dwight did in the Season 3 episode of The Office, "Business School."
On the latest episode of the Office Ladies podcast, Jenna Fischer and Angela Kinsey chatted about "Business School" and revealed everything fans would ever want to know about those bat scenes.
The former co-stars spoke with producer Kent Zbornak and actor Kate Flannery (Meredith Palmer) on what it was like to film with not one, not two, but three different bats on set. And yes, for those wondering, one of the on-set bats was real.
Breaking down the different bats
To get the 411 on filming the bat scenes, Fischer reached out to Zbornak, who shared that three different bats were used in the making of this episode.
Whenever you see a bat flying around the office, that was a CGI bat. The bat used in the scene where Dwight puts a bag over Meredith's head was mechanical. But a real bat was actually used in three scenes.
"The scene where Dwight stands on Pam's reception desk to look inside the ceiling. A few shots of the bat on the ceiling in the conference room. And for that shot of the bat on the ceiling in the kitchen," all featured a real bat, according to Zbornak.
"Kent hired two bat wranglers to provide us with the bat: Chad Dunn and John Baldwin," Fischer said. "And they put Chad up in the ceiling to hold the bat for that scene where Dwight peers in — the one we were just talking about."
Kinsey was sure to note that the real bat wasn't present in any of the scenes that feature people screaming. "We're not freaking out the bat. We're not screaming at him," she said.
"When Rainn sort of like pokes the ceiling up, the real bat is up there. That shot was the real bat. And we all had to be silent," Kinsey explained. "And I remember we had to be super silent as they brought the bat in and placed the bat," Fischer added.
Rainn Wilson named the bat
The fact that the Office cast had to remain relatively silent in the presence of the bat didn't stop Rainn Wilson from trying to establish a deeper connection with it, though.
"In the DVD commentary, Rainn says he named the bat," Kinsey shared. "He was talking to the bat wrangler and Rainn said, 'What's his name?' And the bat wrangler was like, 'Oh, we've never given him a name.' And Rainn was like, 'What? I'm gonna name him.' And so who Rainn named the bat, Gary."
While it's unclear if Wilson named the bat after Michael Gary Scott, Kinsey says the cast and crew referred to the bat by the name Gary all week.
That terrifying Dwight and Meredith scene
One of the most intense bat scenes in "Business School" is when Meredith finally emerges from her hiding spot in the bathroom, the bat lands on her head, and Dwight attempts to catch it by covering Meredith's head with a black garbage bag.
The Meredith scenes featured both a real bat and a mechanical bat, and Flannery had a lot to say about filming.
"Yes, we had a real bat with five handlers," she said. "But we were not allowed to make any noise around the bat. You couldn't — I couldn't scream. So even though I was screaming, I was acting like I was screaming when we were shooting because — don't upset the bat. Something with the sonar."
When it came time for the bat/bag scene, they used a motorized bat attached to a headband to create the perfect visual. And while Flannery remembers a stunt double was present, she said she acted in the bag scene herself.
"I did all of it. The motorized thing on the head. It was like, sort of like this fluttery thing, something like a headband with a motor," Flannery explained. "And yes, I could breathe with a bag over my head. We figured it out. It was fine. So I was acting my ass off. And it was one of the most fun scenes I got to do with Rainn, since he is an amazing actor and he goes for it, man."
Be sure to listen to the full podcast episode for more behind-the-scenes stories from filming "Business School."
You can stream episodes of The Office on Netflix and follow along with the podcast every week on Earwolf, Apple Podcasts, or Stitcher.
Topics The Office Celebrities
Nicole is a Senior Editor at Mashable. She primarily covers entertainment and digital culture trends, and in her free time she can be found watching TV, sending voice notes, or going viral on Twitter for admiring knitwear. You can follow her on Twitter @nicolemichele5.
