Film Act Of Valor

[Joseph]

2024Eastman Performance Films, LLC. All rights reserved. No liability is accepted for errors. Visual renderings are for illustrative purposes only; actual appearance of windows treated with film may vary.

We viewed the tools that were available to assist us to tell this story. I had just completed a web series for Terminator Salvation, where I used the Canon 5D as a helmet cam. The members of the Resistance were getting blown up and carrying the camera around broadcasting back to base in hope of help. None arrived.

When the SEALs were hanging with their families, shooting the breeze, or getting briefed, we shot 35mm motion picture film. Then, when the bad guys were planning and conniving, it was also filmed. When the SEALs went into operational mode, we were all 5D, no matter whether it was a wide shot or a close-up. Aerials were going to be a huge part of the scope of this film.

We had unprecedented access, which made the movie extraordinary. Mouse was all about the back-stories, which got the characters to this point. He was very conceptual, and I truly believe helped get the best performances out of the active duty SEALs.

With the visual style for the film set, now we had to figure out how to do this with a very limited budget and crew. Coming off of Terminator Salvation, where I had probably 190 lighting, grip, and camera crew members working alongside me to bring that film to life, we had maybe 80 total in all departments. Most of the time it was an Elite group of 5-10 people making the movie.

The scope of this project was twelve states, five countries, and four continents. Greg Haggart was our amazing producer. He could find ways to get money from a stone and quickly adjusted to our unique shooting style, which affected the budget on every line, in a good way.

When we would head overseas, he would arrange for a liaison in whatever country we were going to. I would take at least two of my Elite Team members with me. This was absolutely crucial because when we would land and then go to the camera prep and open up our cases, the crews from foreign lands would look at our 5D package like an alien spaceship had just landed.

Traveling with our 8-15 camera DSLR package in our overhead bin space was impressive. Panavision Primo primes, Canon L series, Zeiss ZF, and Leica R glass were used in every aspect of filming. We landed in Cambodia and walked right through customs with our cases. Immediately off to the rental car where Mouse would drive and be on the lookout for our location list.

Greg Haggart would be the navigator, set up casting, book hotels, buy craft service, etc., while Scotty and I would discuss story details, view casting tapes, submit camera, lighting, and grip orders, as well as book our rocking cuisine for the evening. This movie was so different in every way. If a location worked better than what had been written in the script once we got boots on the ground, then we would change it. The story was constantly in development.

I would say that Cambodia was one of our favorite locations that we visited. It was doubling for the Philippines. It was too hot politically over there when we were filming, so we opted for Phnom Penh. Wow, what a location! The people, culture, and the food were terrific.

Moving from there to Kyiv, we were pleasantly surprised to find one of the best production crews and gear pools I have ever worked with. Thank you Radioaktive Productions in Kyiv for delivering in a huge way for us.

Every day the rigs would evolve; the crew would never settle for good enough. They wanted excellence. Imagine working on 30 commercials, and every day you came to work and you had never used this camera system before. I describe it as being punched in the face, hit in the head with a shovel, and buried alive every day. That was what it was like making Act of Valor with this still camera.

Swiss Cheese was all that came to mind as we walked up to the trucks after the melee. While all this LIVE FIRE was going on, we were all in helmets and flack jackets. But the hero of this whole live-fire exercise was my trusted underwater assistant, Andy Fisher, armed with only a swimsuit, a water noodle, and a 5D AquaTech shallow water housing. He captured some of the most immersive angles while bullets literally flew over his head and hot shells rained down. BRAVO!!!

I wanted to thank all of the vendors that believed in us to deliver this groundbreaking film. Richard Schleuning at Zeiss was there at the infancy of production, supplying us with three sets of ZF primes that we then adapted the Nikon mounts to Canon.

After we completed our color correction process at Laser Pacific with Dave Cole, we then put the finishing touches on the film. We brought in Cinnafilm and their Dark Energy Tower to do something that no other plug-in or de-noise software could perform. Ernie and Lance supplied us with the hardware and software to take this movie to another level.

Because we had shot so much mixed media from shot to shot, I needed consistency, a look that would be delivered on the DCP (Digital Cinema Print) as well as the Fuji film prints, and this was the Cinnafilm de-noise and texture management system. Imagine being able to strip all 5D compression off of the image, then add film grain to every inch of DSLR footage that matched the film grain in the movie.

This film was an experience of a lifetime. It changed the way I shoot. It expanded my creativity to view things differently, through another lens, a very lightweight, portable, nimble tool that became one of the most powerful arrows in my quiver.

Looking for mentorship in the film industry? Schedule a 1-on-1 meeting with Shane Hurlbut, ASC today! This is where you can get expert advice from an industry professional on your career or a particular project.

Rob W. Scribner, this comment is the exact reason I take the time to personally answer every question and or comment. Thank you for inspiring me, thank you for supporting us and I will continue to kick some serious ass.

I saw Act of Valor in a mostly full theater tonight in Nogales, Arizona. There are usually no more than 20 people in each theater. I stopped counting at 60. I went because I recently bought a 5d and wanted to see how it held up. I quickly forgot about the 5d and became immersed in the story.

This is a great movie! Extremely well done! Bravo!

The crowd applauded at the end. It would consider that to be a fairly rare occurrence. Congratulations to all who must have worked so hard to make it.

After atending your highly informative and entertaining DSLR video seminar at the Snader Tech Expo, I knew I had to see your complete film. Tonight, I just had one terrific cinematic experience! Because of your creative and innovative POV use of the Canon, I felt like I was part of the action. Amazing that I felt the effect of realism without 3D passive glasses or post production CG visuals. Great work !!!!

BTW: clever product ID (CU) shot during the African desert scene.

I set out to watch this film and see if I could catch any of the techiques that I knew took place in order to film it. But what ended up happening was, I became so enwrapped in the story I completely forgot to do that.

Thank you Shane.

The wait was well worth it!

And thanks for bringing us along for the ride.

And what an awesome ride it is. Not only for your movie but also for this new technology.

Thanks again.

Words will never fittingly describe, nor do justice to the adversity that each one of these guys encountered in training and faces every day of their lives. What I mean by this is the continuous training, workup and deployment cycle they go through and all they sacrifice on a daily basis that most will never understand.

Throughout the initial rescue of the CIA agent and successive operations to stop the terrorist cell, a SEAL is shot in the eye, another jumps on a grenade to save his teammates and finally one is shot dozens of times and continues to fight. These are the real acts of valor I recognized from the film.

During the filming of Act of Valor, Aaron Vaughn, a SEAL that appears in the movie was killed in the tragedy that brought down a helicopter carrying 31 service members on August 6, 2011. In case you needed a reminder that these were really active duty Team Guys who were still doing their jobs while filming.

What really shone through to me in the film is the sacrifice these guys really go through on a daily basis, which as I mentioned earlier, is hard to put into words. The balance of duty to country, duty to their teammates and duty to their families back home is an emotional roller coaster. This is what being thankful for the service of our military personnel is all about.

So live your life that the fear of death can never enter your heart. Trouble no one about their religion; respect others in their view and demand that they respect yours. Love your life, perfect your life, beautify all things in your life. Seek to make your life long and its purpose in the service of your people.

Prepare a noble death song for the day when you go over the great divide. Always give a word or a sign of salute when meeting or passing a friend, even a stranger, when in a lonely place. Show respect to all people and bow to none. When you arise in the morning, give thanks for the food and for the joy of living. If you see no reason for giving thanks, the fault lies only in yourself. Abuse no one and nothing, for abuse turns the wise ones to fools and robs the spirit of its vision.

Act of Valor is a 2012 American action film produced and directed by Mouse McCoy and Scott Waugh and written by Kurt Johnstad.[2] The film stars active duty U.S. Navy SEALs and U.S. Navy Special Warfare Combatant-craft Crewmen, as well as Roselyn Snchez, Jason Cottle, Alex Veadov, Nestor Serrano, and Emilio Rivera.

Act of Valor was released in the United States on February 24, 2012, by Relativity Media. The film received generally negative reviews from critics, but was a box office success, grossing over $81 million worldwide against a production budget of $12 million. It was nominated for Best Original Song at the 70th Golden Globe Awards.[3]

3a8082e126