Post Magazine

February 2012

Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/54443

Contents of this Issue

Navigation

Page 17 of 51

cover story Act of Valor celebrates Navy SEALs C By DANIEL RESTUCCIO dansweb451@aol.com The Navy called on Bandito to create a theatrical narrative in a realistic way. ULVER CITY, CA — Act of Valor is the first dramatic feature film from stunt men and documentary direc- tors Scott Waugh and Mike "Mouse" McCoy. By mixing "reality-style" storytelling, video- gaming sensibilities and technically embracing a cutting-edge production and post work- flow that combined Canon 5D Mark II, Arri and Panavision packages, they have cre- ated a unique work that embodies the essence of vanguard moviemaking. "We wanted to tell an accurate story about what it means to be a Navy SEAL," says Waugh. For that, they knew they needed a production technology "that could truly keep up with the speed and pace that the Navy SEALs work at." The Navy tapped them directly in early 2008 for a special mission. "It was a request for proposal," recalls Waugh, "for a studio to come in and tell their story in a theatrical narrative. They knew that we would authentically 'get' their brand and give it the accuracy that they wanted. They looked at our body of work, including Step Into Liquid and Dust to Glory. In our favor, they were big fans of both documentaries." The official email they received April 9, 2008 from the Navy — "congratulations to the Bandito Brothers, you have been selected by the panel" — effectively green lit the production. L-R: Directors Mike "Mouse" McCoy and Scott Waugh. TESTING THE LOOK Post production specialist, director and author Jacob Rosenberg had also joined Ban- dito as chief technology officer after working on Dust to Glory. Rosenberg has a reputation for taking low-end digital sources and giving them a high-end look. Rosenberg and Bandito director of technology Mike McCarthy took on the challenge of determining the optimal way to make this movie on a modest budget. "We evaluated everything from 3D to Iconix to HDV to Red One," says McCarthy. "Once Canon released the 5D Mark II it became the logical choice." With everything they tested, there were image quality issues, particularly in low light. Ultimately, it was the combination of great image and the form factor of the Canon 5D camera — small, lightweight and rugged — that the team felt was perfect for the kind of visually-intimate movie they wanted to make. Released in November of 2008, the Canon 16 Post • February 2012 camera itself is a digital SLR that uses a 36mm x24mm CMOS DIGIC 4 sensor to shoot a 21.1 megapixel (5,616×3,744) image. Canon, It shoots HD video on to solid-state CF cards at 1920x1080 by downsampling the image with proprietary circuitry and algorithms into a QuickTime (H.264 Base Profile) Movie file at roughly 45-38MB/second. for Terminator Salvation," says Rosenberg, "really was the proving ground of what we could do with the camera and the format. It harkened perfectly back to what we had achieved in post on Dust to Glory, in that we shot with the format and we solved the problem of making that work in the digital intermediate." Dust to The filmmakers needed cameras that could follow the SEALs in all sorts of environments. What Canon thought was a bonus fea- ture to their high-end still camera became the Holy Grail to Bandito Brothers. They immediately began testing it "under the most rigorous environments" Glory was shot using 35mm as well as dif- ferent HD and SD formats. After some additional collaborations, Ban- and conditions, recalls Rosenberg. But how would it do on a real-world production? Smash cut to February 2009. Terminator: Salvation director McG gave cinematographer Shane Hurlbut, ASC, the assignment of direct- ing and shooting dramatic Webisodes as a marketing device to promote the release of the feature film. They hired Bandito Brothers to do the production. When Hurlbut, Waugh, McCoy and Rosenberg met at the Bandito digs in Culver City, all parties realized how this opportunity could be a real-world test and jumped on the Canon 5D as the perfect cam- era to shoot the Webisodes. "I started out on a mission to take a still camera and turn it into a moviemaking machine," says Hurlbut. He knew he wanted the Webisodes "to be this immersive visceral experience of positioning and moving a cam- era like you've never seen before." "The first project we did with the www.postmagazine.com dito asked Hurlbut if he wanted to be the cinematographer on Act of Valor. Hurlbut read the script but was "reluctant to do another action movie." After Waugh convinced him that Act of Valor was going to "reinvent the action-movie genre," Hurlbut was on board. THE TOOLS For production on Act of Valor, Hurlbut and Bandito spec'd out a truck load of location gear that included 15 Canon 5D Mark II cam- eras, an HP DreamColor LP2480zx monitor, a Panaflex Platinum and a Panavised Arri 235 and 435, as well as multiple Arri 3 crash cam- eras and a Sony HDC-950 for aerial photog- raphy. They shot on Kodak 5219 for night exteriors, 5207 for interior day and 5201 for day exteriors. Hurlbut's assembled a guerrilla lighting package of "Home Depot practicals," rounded out with some traditional tungsten PARs, Kino Flos and a small HMI package. Principal photography for Act of Valor took 48 days over 12.5 months. The movie was

Articles in this issue

Links on this page

Archives of this issue

view archives of Post Magazine - February 2012