2010-02-04

Lights, camera, action soon to be promoting Bandera

By Carol L. Smith

What began as an idea to produce a short DVD to promote local actors who recreate gunfights quickly turned into a full-fledged, full-length, potential marketing tool for the Cowboy Capital of the World.

Videographer Mike Murehend, who lives just outside Bandera, is producing a DVD depicting life in Texas during the 1800s.

The format will consist of a multi-segment video of individual scenes for each participant, tied together with one continuous story line. He will package the DVD for distribution and put it in a web format for Internet use. Murehend also intends to distribute his film to the San Antonio Film Commission to promote Bandera as a filming mecca for all things western. He will also submit his project to the Sundance Film Festival, a showcase for independent filmmakers, and hopefully at the Cannes Film Festival as well.

The DVD will be filmed in and around Bandera, with Murehend’s most recent filming at the Running R Guest Ranch on FM 1077. The vignette called “the thundering herd” will feature approximately 50 horses stampeding across an open field. Cameras in several locations set up for close-ups and long shots will capture all the action. By installing microphones in the horses’ manes, Murehend will record not only the clamor of the thundering herd, but also the sounds of the horses breathing.

Additional film settings will include a mountain man trading with Indians, throwing tomahawks and knives, Native American dances, a Faro dealer and saloon scenes with “soiled doves.” The film’s story line will be tied together by a muleskinner traveling through Texas.

Murehend approached the Bandera County Convention and Visitors Bureau for sponsorship, but was told they “weren’t interested.” However, this didn’t discourage him from continuing his quest to develop the DVD.

Murehend is currently selling sponsorship packages and looking for additional talent for his project. Anyone with a talent or idea for the depiction of period correct, western and cowboy scenes from Texas in the 1800s should contact Murehend for an interview. Period correct is all-important – no blue jeans-wearing cowboys with wristwatches need apply.

Murehend has been an independent film producer and director a quite a while, working recently with NBC on the Friday Night Lights series filmed in Austin. Although born and raised in San Antonio, he worked his way to Chicago for a career in broadcast television. “Cold weather and cold people, that’s what made me leave Chicago,” quipped Murehend, “and I ended up in Bandera.”

Filming is on-going, with scenes scheduled around participants and the weather. Those interested in participating in or sponsoring the project are asked to contact Murehend at 903-644-6832 or info@banderamusic.com.