FILMING THE 20 MULE TEAM

well we got up to Bishop and early in the morning we got up on Friday morning we spent the night there Thursday night and Bobby Tanner and his crew hitched up the mules and took them down the road near the Playa where we were going to shoot and pulled the wagons down into position and as you can see we are just getting into position and my nephew Jamie was shooting and you can see the mules they're pulling without the wheelers next to the wagons now here's a great shot because you can actually see the pointers pulling the tongue of the wagon now we're getting ready to turn off the road to make a right turn and Bobby purposely left the wheelers out so we could get this shot so you could see how the mules are pulling the tongue of the wagon in the opposite direction of the mules that are we gonna begin to make the turn they're up ahead and you can see they're pulling the wagons far out to the left there as the Mules in front begin to make the severe right turn now because these mules aren't officially really trained yet they were really newbies guys in training this was a whole new set of 20 black mules you can see they're using the little pole they're the outriders using the pole there to make sure that the mules stay out far enough and are pulling the wagons now here the Mules are really pulling in the opposite direction of the other of the rest of the team you can see how that works right there there's a good shot there where you can really see the ears of the Mules way out and the lead are really pulling to the right and these guys are pulling straight ahead and that gives you an indication of how and then here you can really see it here we pull out and the the pointers are facing towards us and then there you have the rest of the team heading out getting ready to make that right turn and of course one of the guys one of the mules decided it was time to jump over the chain but it really wasn't time and there you can see the the tangled mess that he made of the of the hitch they're the single trees actually the double trees there and then the the the singles he jumped over and and got it all messed up of course they thought that was cool that he jumped over but you can see right there and the close-up look how tangled that chain is and I'm sure those kinds of things happen to the guys you know way back when when they were trying to train these mules in the in the 1870s and 1880s although I'm guessing it would probably have been easier to pick up a pair of trained mules in those days because people were using them to freight a lot there you can see the really tangled chain as a result of the mule jumping over so they had to do a little unhitching of the Mules of the two pointers there's Bobby Tanner in the background the mule driver and these are his assistants the outriders they're called the the ride on the horses so eventually they they did get them there's Bobby there with the mules he's the Bobby Tanner of Redd's Meadows which is a pack station up in the Sierras that uses mules to take people into the backcountry of the Sierra Nevada mountains so here you can see they are hitching the mules back to the back to the trees there they're called those because it's a bar with two of those trees it's a double tree and the mules are hitched to that so now they've got them they've got them untangled and they're they're ready to go again so we are we're waiting now these are the these are the pointers again that are hitched to the tongue of the wagon so off we go they got the wagons situated and got the got them going down the road made the turn now that's a crane that we're using to get the shots that we need to get and this is our little that's me there this that's me your host Ted Fay here and we're getting the shots of the mules we set up a TV a 32 inch television put it under a blanket so I could actually see without the glare and of course the cameras going back and forth to get you the shot now that it's the crane on which we put the camera getting the shots that you are going to see here so that's 9 fu Jamie and of course that is the back behind the scenes of us getting the shot and then once again coming in and seeing me that's the shot on the TV that the camera on the crane is getting and I'm calling the shots they're trying to direct our cameraman to get the get the shots that we want to get so and here's one of the shots from overhead from the crane itself looking at the 20 Mule Team as it's coming towards us and these are the kind of shots that we want to get so that I can incorporate these into other programs I'm giving you a behind-the-scenes tour of our shoot at some point we'll incorporate these shots into programming there now you see the team came towards us and not a jump happened so I was a little frustrated with that shot I was going to get a jump in that shot but it's a nice shot of the team coming towards us and and the wagons now now the teeth they say put the team out now you can see whoa there's a little jump there by the mule before he was supposed to jump and you got a little caught up in the chain now you can tell out new these guys are they weren't even going in any kind of straight line and so I really tried to get him straight that mule was fine and dandy by the way after that little jump they had to get him situated though and and so now here they are you can see the wonderful straight line in which they are heading towards us as they try to figure out what the heck they're doing because these guys really are new and Bobby was really trying to get them going but there's a great shot of the jerk line you can really see the line going all the way back from the lead mule - Bobby tanner who's got the and there you can see I'm actually jerking it trying to get them to make the turn to the right and and here the pointers the pointers are are over the chain coming out towards us and and there you see them swinging swinging back towards us now that I love this shot there you can see the bells on the mules it's a great shot and of course as they got a little closer to us it went out of focus a little bit but enough of a good shot now here they're trying to swing the Mules around you can see they're they're trying to guide them so I'm trying to get a pristine shot without people in it and just Bobby Tanner the mule Skinner and the there you can see a jump right there of the point one of the pointers coming over the chain and going back over but of course the outriders in the shot because the outrider comes in and and and spooks the mule enough so that he goes back over the chain and eventually the they don't need the outriders but for right now they do so I was trying to work around the outriders and here's a shot that we just got I was we were hoping to get the camera over a little bit to the right so we could get some stuff but you know it's it's at least it's a little bit of a piece of the mules coming towards us and here you can see how they're pulling the tongue right there so this is really the usable part of the shot right in there and this nice overhead which is what we needed some of the funding for was to really give us the crane so we could get some of these overhead shots and some motion shots now here you see well there's the Sierras in the background looking spectacularly beautiful when there's a jump by the mule again as the outrider comes up now eventually that mule will associate Bobby's commands and there goes back over the chain again eventually will associate Bobby's commands as opposed to having to have the outrider come up like he did there and put the mule over so this is all sort of a big training session and there the mule goes back over the chain again and those are the most two most important mules or the mules out in front of the wheelers that really point the wagon in the direction the wagons in in the direction that they're supposed to go and I love this shot this is a great shot of the 20 Mule Team just sort of come and pass this and we were able to really get some wonderful shots that I'll be able to incorporate we'll probably be doing the whole redo of the 20 Mule Team of Death Valley this year well not probably but we'll be and putting new shots in making it high def putting some breaks in doing some more explanation and really doing the whole revised version of that video and here again is another another shot of the 20 Mule Team coming towards this was a bit of a long lens which sort of pulls in the background and there you can see the team making its way in our direction again the outrider there next to Bobby to the left of Bobby on the TV and of course the the person guiding them there but in in in the days of the original 20 Mule Team it just would have been the driver Bobby Tanner and the guy in the wagon there's it there's a nice jump by the mules but of course the the outrider and then he comes up and and gives a little bump and gets the mule back over and there's a great now take a look at the man there he goes back over again so they're really trying to get them used to to doing that now that's a good shot I can I can use that shot because the outrider was out far enough now there you can really see Bobby work in that jerk line and and there you go there's there he goes over the line now that line really he used it to sort of irritate the Mules ears that's really what that line is about and there you can see that line how he works it up and down and and there we got him going over the going over the chain there you could really see that and then you can see the jerk line and Bobby's hand and then he'll use that and and eventually that mules ears will get so irritated with that jerk line bumping up against it then you'll go I've got to get out of this I got to make my ears feel comfortable and he'll jump back over the chain so it's a combination of them learning the voice commands as well as sort of physically being irritated either having the chain rub up against their leg and they want to relieve themselves of that feeling so they jump over the chain or as you can see there bobbies maneuvering the the jerk line so that it does bump the ear of the Mules so so you really learned all these little tricks about how to work within you know how the Mules respond so here you can see there was vehicles around that we did have we of course trying to make it look as 1880s as possible and there are some tanks in the background there which which which by the way they did have big water tanks along the route for the 20 Mule Team there are shots of those where they would have big water tanks up on the up on wood planks and then those water tanks would get filled by the teams as they came back and forth with the water wagon so it wasn't that they took the water wagons all the way across the Mojave they really used the water wagons to go from a spring fill-up at the spring take the water to a certain spot leave the water wagons there and there you can see there you can see Bobby really working the ears of that mule really working that line over the top of that mule so that he there you go and there and there he did the jump by himself so so you see how they sort of get accustomed to working around that jerk line now he's got to be put back over because he doesn't quite get it yet so you can see there there's at least his head going back over the going back over the line now this these are the shots that we really wanted to get because we really felt like it hadn't quite been captured yet this this hole why how the turn is made and there's a good shot of Bobby with the jerk line and with the mule they're over the chain you can see both mules or to the right of the chain where there he goes and he jumps back over and and that would be pulling the wagons straight so this whole exercise of getting the mules to go back over the chain also now it's possible the mules in front of the pointers they're depending on how sharp the turn is the two mules in front of the pointers as well as the next two could also be put over the chain as well and that was something with Bobby and I talked about is that we we do want to do additional shoots so that we get those kind of things and there is shots of the mules making I mean photographs there's the mule jumping the chain photographs of the mules making a really sharp turn where you would where you would see the two in front of the pointers and then the next two also going out over the chain and again the outrider comes up and puts the mule over it's like as soon as he sees the horse he he figures that out that he needs to get out of the way and there yeah there's a great shot there of working the jerk line and putting the mule over so when Bobby works the years of the little little dance there so when Bobby works the years of the mules it's great they sort of get and you can see it right there so we weren't able to get some really really nice shots of the of the jumps and and that's something that we we had really focused on keep rolling keep rolling and here's the team coming at us and a nice overhead and there you can see a really good jump there by the team pulling the wagons out you see how the tongue is turned turned away from the way the rest of the team is going and and then they they come back underneath us there so that that's really the kind of shot I was looking for and we'll get it you'll see a few of those coming up here again here's the team coming towards us the the guide gets out of the way so now we have the illusion it's just the the team and the driver of course the you can see the outrider come in there a little bit and there you see Bobby wiggling the ear getting the irritating the the mule and we got the jump right there which was really the probably one of the best shots of us of the jump that we got nice and close overhead got that great got that great shot and then a nice little tilt up of the wagons there and up to the mountains and then here's from another angle and and this is from on the ground so you can see that the mule coming out towards us and and then the outrider comes back and and puts the mule well he didn't go back and go back over that no no no they do have a mind of their own that's one thing about mules for sure and it really is it really is a matter of of them being comfortable with everything now here again is is another shot of them coming towards us a nice overhead and the mule coming back over the chain and then Bobby work in the ears again and going back over so that's that's one of the best little sequences we have and there you can see how the team comes out and there's a great shot of the mule jump being back out over towards us and then then back over the chain now of course you know we would probably in to give the illusion that we would need to sort of piece this all together which you'll see in the new the new 20 Mule Team DVD coming out this year we've got a few 20 Mule Team things to release this year we'll be letting you know about but again there's the jump not quite as pretty as the other one and coming directly underneath the camera so these are the kind of shots really we're looking for well you can see how there's still a lot of use of the outrider and here the team is off in the distance and here's a couple of shots just to take you out here on the 20 Mule Team thank you all so much for helping us get these shots and once you see them incorporate it into a film it'll feel it'll feel a lot different but and as you know I'm sure you've figured out that the voice you hear calling out every now and then is me on the megaphone but again thanks everybody to the borax alumni for all of your help in putting this together [Music] come load up your way come here job to use don't mind it's a life that we've chosen we make the rules we're the teachers who all tomorrow we all do the railroad from the harmony means up from the and over every trip we'll try all of your skills with a 20 new team so load up a job use propyne when the city full it's a life that we've chosen we make the rules we're the Teamsters who hauls Aloha it's the backdoor a hell but you must go through to load wagons and a water tank to to handle he's a jerk blind must do all the death c'mon [Music] come here job you don't mind Oh it's a life that we choose we make the rules where the teamsters who halt [Music] the where's 22 tonnes but it feels like 200 before he get done than this two days to rest and you're ready for fun when you come to the town of Mohan the girls in law they'll give you if there's we'll take the chance we won't have for a new pair by the time we get out [Music] so load way come hitch up your views don't mind it's alive week we made rules where the teamsters to all the more you [Music]

Channel: GOLD CREEK FILMS

Views: 166,789

Rating: 4.7010465 out of 5

Keywords: MULES, JUMPING, WAGONS, RIDE, BORAX, DEATH VALLEY, DESERT, MOJAVE, HISTORY, HORSES, Mule (Animal), DOCUMENTARY, history

Id: jLSLqR6cAVo

Length: 21min 27sec (1287 seconds)

Published: Tue Dec 20 2011