Animals On Set

W.C. Fields cautioned about shooting on set with children and … animals.

So, how do you shoot a commercial when the creative calls for animals in the script? First, you hire a professional “animal wrangler”. But animal wranglers typically specialize in a group or type of animal. You have the horse wranglers, the domesticated farmer animal wranglers, the insect wranglers, the reptile wranglers, the bird wranglers, the dog wranglers and, of course, the cat wranglers.

Next, you have to “cast” your animals. Animals typically come in “teams” of similar looking animals that can substitute for each other when one get tired or fails to perform. So, you’ll have 3 grey tabbys on set at the same time.

Next you’ll need to schedule your day around their availability. The wrangler will charge you a “portal-to-portal” day, which includes travel time to and from the set. And animals typically do not work an 8 hour day.

But having a professionally trained animal on set can also be a thing of beauty. Wrangler-trained dogs will impress the client and enable you to make your day.

For all of your mission-critical video productions that require animals on set, contact Capitola Media.