Kung Fu Cowboy presents his new backyard in Lancaster, California. He and Kung Fu Cowboy Bear, his cat, are enjoying the Olympus Mountain air at 2,500 foot elevation.
At the end of 2019 Kung Fu Cowboy (Richard Del Connor) became an iPhoneographer / iPhonographer… (My spellchecker says both those versions of the word are incorrect.)
Purchasing an iPhone Pro Max 11 with 512GB plus a couple camera programs… KFC decided to shoot a photo album book of these interesting and unique Joshua Trees that are indigenous here. Driving on or off the dirt roads is not very risky. There don’t seem to be any barrel cacti here to puncture his tires.
After trying some handheld driving and walking videos of the Joshua Trees Kung Fu Cowboy decided to acquire the Zhiyun Smooth 4 gimbal. A newer model had been released so this Smooth 4 model was reduced in price… As you can see–this gimbal is working well for KFC.
Taking off his cowboy hat and putting on the PRODUCER HAT: Richard Del Connor edits the Filmic Pro footage shot at 4K and 60fps using the iPhone APP: LumaFusion. Editing directly in his phone RDC adds the titles, credits, edits, fades and sychs it to the music. Then, from his iPhone RDC uploads the 1080p version to YouTube CHANNEL: Kung Fu Cowboy. Thus Richard Del Connor is iPhoneographer discovering the new opportunities he has in his hand.
Richard was an intern editor at Roger Corman Studios in 1985. Richard Del Connor was a student at UCLA film school and got job offers and recommendations from his instructors. “I worked for several editors breifly that summer on Movieolas. I was there to hang up strips and label them with just dozens of frames per strip hanging on clips. I realized that editing as a job was not the right fit for me. But I have always been amazed and appreciative of real professional editors even before I started UCLA film school,” says Richard / KFC.
Finally, in 2020, over 30 years later–Richard has decided to be an editor, a video editor. After travelling the Southwest as a Shaolin Monk for six years, Kung Fu Cowboy is comforted by the lack of hardware required to support his new movie lifestyle. His 2-bedroom home in Lancaster has black drapes and other colors suspended from ropes to create a soundstage. His other bedroom is the office of Shaolin Pictures, Shaolin Records, Shaolin Music, and his Kung Fu school, Shaolin Chi Mantis.
Enjoy this music video, THE FIRST MUSIC VIDEO ever shot, edited, and released by Shaolin Pictures. Kung Fu Cowboy has four video shoots to be edited into five songs. Look for the other Joshua Tree videos of Kung Fu Cowboy: “Flintridge Fire,” “Cinco de Mayo,” “Don’t Push Me,” and “The End The Horizon.
The song of THIS MUSIC VIDEO: “Black Hills Ride” by American Zen. Written by Richard Del Connor/ The Hippy Coyote, Produced by Richard Del Connor. All instruments performed by Kung Fu Cowboy. Kung Fu Cowboy is an exclusive artist of Shaolin Records.
MUSICIANS: American Zen
- The Hippy Coyote (Kung Fu Cowboy): Alvarez acoustic guitar, flute
- Rory G: Fender Stratocaster electric guitar
- Steve Hixon: percussion
- Tom Calder: Rickenbacker bass
MUSIC VIDEO: “Black Hills Ride” is the first music video directed and produced by Richard Del Connor starring himself as the Kung Fu Cowboy. Richard graduated Shaolin Kung Fu in 1985 while attending UCLA film school and has been called, “Kung Fu Cowboy” ever since. As you can see from photos of Richard Del Connor, he has been wearing a cowboy hat since childhood. KFC grew up on the outskirts of San Diego, California where he hiked, fished and hunted as a kid.
At age 20, Richard Del Connor (not yet the Kung Fu Cowboy) was a recording engineer and record producer at Bonita Studio near the Mexican border. He owned a dune buggie with 12″ tires and enjoyed driving the chapparal without any roads at all for a couple years. The VW with a roll cage had a sunroof that Richard Del Connor could bow hunt rabbits from. His last outdoor sport was fly fishing with his Taoist Master Ru Zhing Shi in Northern Nevada. Although Kung Fu Cowboy may not hunt or fish any more… he still enjoys raising dust in the high desert.
