Somewhere on the plains of Texas, my trusty RED Komodo rig helped me shoot a period western feature film called Killin’ Jim Kelly for producer Travis Mills and director John Mars in 6K R3D MQ in 2.39:1 anamorphic. What a trooper. Thank you Travis and John for making my dream of returning to my home state to film an historic western feature film come true.
RED Komodo was the camera platform, supported by SmallRig rigging, and Cfast2.0 cards made by Angelbird with the RED stamp. A JTZ mattebox, with Nisi Nano IRND and Tiffen BPM 1/4, sat in front of my set of Viltrox Epic 1.33x T2 anamorphic lenses, attached to Komodo via Letrater RF—PL adapter. Powered by 3x CoreSWX 147Wh bricks, adapted to Komodo via Tilta v-lock plate.
My 13-year-old SmallHD monitor died early in the shoot and so I ordered Portkeys ones to replace and provide a portable director’s monitor. Wireless monitoring by Cinegears Ghosteye 150M. Tentacle Sync E units kept audio and camera jammed. And of course my old school Sachtler Video 18-III on Benro normal and baby sticks did the heavy lifting. I may have done one handheld shot the entire time.
April 10, 2023 – Doing some prep work for western feature film “Killin’ Jim Kelly” that begins principle photography next week. Texas is a big wide space so I’m planning on doing this one in old school anamorphic.April 29, 2023 – What a blessing it is to be back in Texas to work on a period western feature film. Here I am with some of the cast, horse wranglers, and horses. Yesterday was the start of week 2 of principle photography on Killin’ Jim Kelly and it’s been a blast so far. We are filming somewhere near the tiny town of Santa Anna where there is a ton of Texas Ranger history.May 1, 2023 – Wrappin’ week 2 of Killin’ Jim Kelly. On week 3 we find out why they call him “killin’.”May 3, 2023 – Scoutin’ Jim Kelly. Week 3 location recce for the feature western film Killin’ Jim Kelly with director John Marrs. I’m gonna keep my hat’s red dust decor as a memento.May 5, 2023 – Mornin’ Jim Kelly. This is today’s office; somewhere in Texas.May 13, 2023 – We wrapped principle photography for period western feature film, Killin’ Jim Kelly, in Texas on May 7. I gave director John Marrs the martini slate to keep being his first feature film. We got along so well it felt like we’d already shot nine other films together before. What a great experience with a bunch of talented and creative people, with profoundly awesome locations, wardrobe, props, and stuntwork. Let’s do another one soon.
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