We’ve previously talked about the evolution of the action cam. Brands like SONY and RED are packing all their cine tech into smaller cameras, revolutionising action sequences. We saw Top Gun: Maverick minimising green screen by using the compact Sony Venice in the fighter jets to capture live action, giving the movie a real immersive feel with super realistic flight sequences. Now Devotion, a movie about naval fighter planes, has also utilised this technique, but replacing the VENICE with an “Army of [RED] Komodos” to capture its dramatic dogfight sequences. Devotion promises tons of high-flying action and gritty war drama.
Rumour has it that the producers of Devotion were looking to capture similar dog fights seen in Top Gun: Maverick, but 10 times more. To do this, DoP, Eric Messerschmidt decided that the RED KOMODO was up to the challenge. “I was really excited by the story and by the approach that J.D. was taking with the film by trying to do as much in-camera work as we can.” Messerschmidt said.
So why KOMODO?
In Top Gun, Sony’s Rialto Camera Extension System had to be used with the Venice cameras because space is very limited on the fighter planes. The Komodo, however is so compact, production could “mount the camera all over the airplanes in places you could never put a motion picture camera before” Messerschmidt affirmed.
Another reason was that the main camera that shot Devotion was the Panavision DXL2 which owns RED’s Vista Vision sensor. Hence, the KOMODO fitted seamlessly to match it, because they both output the same format as R3D files.
Looking at the sneak peek pictures recently posted by Jarred Land, President at RED Digital Cinema, three KOMODOs were attached to the bottom of the plane. The various angles mean we’ll definitely be seeing some interesting aerial action shots from the various perspectives. There were also KOMODOs in the cockpit, but no photos were supplied.
Devotion, directed by JD Dillard, is an aerial war epic telling the true story of two U.S. Navy fighter pilots, Tom Hudner and Jesse Brown, during the Korean War and their tale of heroism, friendship, and sacrifice that would ultimately make them the Navy’s most celebrated wingmen. Watch the trailer below: