Texas Tales: Sodium Power Behind The Wilderness Way'

Jody EldredJody Eldred is an Emmy-winning and Directors Guild of America award-nominated Director, Cinematographer, Writer, Producer, and Editor. With 45 years in TV news and docs, working on feature films and TV dramas such as CBS' J.A.G. , NCIS , NCIS: Los Angeles , The Tonight Show, Oprah, Good Morning America & World News Tonight. Jody and the crew put Anton/Bauer's sustainability award-winning sodium Salt-E Dog power supply to work on the ranch in his latest cinematic trailer.

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Welcome to the Cowboy Capital of the World, Bandera, Texas a title earned from the legacy of the epic cattle drives of the 1800's. It's the perfect backdrop for Director and Emmy award-winning Cinematographer Jody Eldred to capture the essence of his latest project, The Wilderness Way , in an exhilarating teaser trailer.

The story follows the journey of a pastor and his family who heed a divine calling to trade in the hustle of Dallas for the tranquillity of Bandera, where they establish a dude ranch. Their decision transforms not only their own lives but also the lives of those who seek refuge in the wilderness they now call home.

In the heart of ranch life, they offer more than just a vacation spot; they become beacons of spiritual guidance and renewal. Troubled souls find comfort in the pastor's words, discovering hope and purpose in the vast expanse of nature. For the urban Dallas family, adapting to dude ranch living opens a whole new world of experiences and challenges.

Wearing multiple (cowboy) hats as Executive Producer, Co-creator, Co-writer, Director and D.P., Jody explains his vision. Our aim was to craft a trailer that exuded the depth and richness of a full hour-long cinematic episode, spanning multiple locations, with professional actors. We wanted viewers to feel like they were watching snippets from a complete narrative, yet had to do so under the extreme constraints of a very tight production schedule, small crew, and tiny budget. he explains.

The Blackmagic URSA Mini Pro 12k Cinema Camera with Sigma lenses and the DJI 4D enabled us to capture this story with the speed, excellence, and no-compromise/cost-effectiveness this project demanded. And we quickly discovered how the SALT-E Dog would also become a very important piece of that puzzle.

Navigating the shoot presented significant challenges, particularly the logistics of powering and setting up all the different shots swiftly. Jody explains, Setting up the lighting for each shot demanded meticulous attention regardless of its duration. Whether it's a fleeting three second shot or a complicated five-minute long take, the lighting setup is equally time-consuming. Despite the fast-pace, our team produced an impressive amount of work in a very short timeframe.

Dog days. Shooting in a remote location presented Jody and the crew with many challenges, not least among them, the power requirements. Instead of relying on cumbersome, noisy, and environmentally harmful diesel generators, they seized the opportunity to utilize Salt-E Dog, a 9kW sodium zero-emission electric battery solution. The innovative solution powered their on-set lighting, monitors, and more, revolutionizing their workflow.

Jody explains his first impressions of Salt-E Dog as it rolled off the truck. This is a very cool tool. It didn't take long for me to fall in love with it. I've been doing this for almost 50 years now. It's not very often that we get excited about a new piece of technology. This is something that makes your life on set easier, better, and faster.

Filming at a working dude ranch posed unique challenges, particularly with overnight guests on-site. The crew had to carefully consider logistics, especially for the night shoot. Drawing on over four decades of shooting in Los Angeles, Jody understood the importance of minimizing disruption. I've had crews in my neighborhood, so I know firsthand how intrusive we can be, and I am sensitive to that, he explains.

Jody stressed the need for quiet operation during the night shoot: I'm telling my guys, people are sleeping. Don't be slamming doors don't be talking loudly. Keep your radios down. When you're in a place like this, a resort environment, you want to have as little impact on the guests as possible.

Switching to Salt-E Dog instead of noisy generators was great it was dead quiet, easy to plug in and start working with. There are no sound issues. You can have it as close to the talent as you want. This was a huge benefit.

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The non-flammable and silent Salt-E Dog can be utilized closer to the on-set action.

Lighting up the ranch. Jody and the team had some big lighting setups which required a lot of power. He explains, The nighttime scenes required very significant lighting, an area, probably as big as a couple of football fields. We had some powerful lights. There's no way of getting around that. We absolutely had to have big, reliable, and easily accessible power there .

A key challenge was making sure there was enough power for the production to operate their lighting safely. Jody gives insight into how they approached the setup. We were

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