Location and conditions Cat Herders was filmed during December 1999 at
Tejon Ranch, about 70 miles north of Los Angeles. The landscape features a "dramatic tapestry of rugged mountains, steep canyons, oak-covered rolling hills, and broad valleys" and cowboys on horseback still herd cattle along the open grazing land. On set, the cats were housed in individual cages in "trucks filled with movie cats". but "the script came largely out of the improvised quips of the cowboys, replacing cattle with cats".
Cat training and filming The commercial called for differing feline skills, including running, water scenes, or staying motionless. To prepare for filming, 50 cats and their trainers travelled to Tejon Ranch a week before the crew. For the dramatic river-crossing, Art Director Dean Hanson told
Adweek, Trainers taught the cats to swim by starting them out in one-quarter inch of water, then gradually building the pool to swimming depth. . . . Since we were shooting in nippy weather, our 'river' was actually a small pool warmed by a portable heater, like a little cat Jacuzzi. Cats worked in shifts to film the herding scenes, with head trainer Karin McElhatton hiding in tumbleweeds to issue verbal directions. The illusion of cats stampeding was achieved by using clickers normally associated with food. During filming, clickers prompted the felines to run downhill, towards food which was out of shot. At other times, cats were lured by "strategically smeared tuna".
Animal welfare Monitored by the
American Humane Association, horses and cats were filmed separately in order to prevent "accidental tramplings". For scenes where both are required, a computer-operated motion-control camera is used to film the same shot over and over with each animal. The horses, background and layers of kitties are filmed separately, and each will be stripped in during post-production to create the illusion of an elaborate cat drive. ==Agency and creative credits==