Field Season – Episode 2 Field Journal

We came to Montana to scout for horned dinosaurs, knowing the land might give us nothing—or change everything.

Field Season – Episode 2 Field Journal

Chasing Horned Dinosaurs in the Judith River Formation

After three days and four nights in the field, I was driving dirt roads early on a Sunday morning, trying to beat church traffic in rural Montana. The shoot was over, but the landscape was still doing what it does best — stretching time, slowing everything down. Even though Field Season is still in its early stages, I wanted to be out here chasing story alongside paleontologists, walking eroded hillsides and cattle pastures in the heart of the old Interior Seaway.

This dig was challenging in the best way. As Andre put it, paleontology is something you only get better at by doing. There’s no such thing as a wasted trip — every day in the field sharpens your eye, your patience, and your instincts. That idea hit close to home. It mirrors filmmaking. If you’re not out there working, practicing, and pushing yourself, you start to lose the edge that makes the work meaningful.

One night after packing up gear, I took a short hike into the Badlands and watched the stars come out. No light pollution. Just deep time and perspective. Paleontology forces you to confront scale — seas rising and falling, continents shifting, creatures walking this land millions of years before us. It’s humbling in a way that sticks with you long after you leave.

On our third day, after a sunset walk and long conversations about life and work, we found promising material — including what may be a horn from a horned dinosaur and several theropod teeth while scouting farther south on the ranch. A lightning storm rolled in that night, a massive supercell hovering above the Badlands, reminding us how quickly conditions can change out here.

This trip felt like the beginning of something larger. Field Season grew out of our work on Fossilist and a desire to stay curious and involved in the field beyond a single film. Season 1 follows paleontologist Andre Lujan and his crew across six digs over ten episodes, beginning in South Texas and moving north to Montana’s Judith River Formation.

New episodes of Field Season drop every two weeks on Thursdays on the Traverse Cinema Studio YouTube channel. More information and updates can be found at www.fieldseasonshow.com.

Field Journal - Written by Thomas Kolicko