CLIP Two men here!
Navy SEALS are a tightknit community that doesn't really welcome outsiders into its
ranks.
But Mike "Mouse" McCoy and Scott Waugh found a way in.
SCOTT WAUGH: Being ex-stuntmen really allowed us to have a common language that we communicate
with so there was a common bond between us and the SEAL teams.
MIKE McCOY: But we've never seen anything like the brotherhood of the SEALS team, that
was almost we thought only existed in mythology.
CLIP To us and those like us, damn few.
Putting that bond on screen was the starting point for the film "Act of Valor," says co-director
Mike McCoy.
MIKE McCOY: We spent the better part of the year researching this project at Coronado,
immersed in the community, hearing the stories connecting with the men and really understanding
the depth of the brotherhood and the sacrifice that's gone on in the last ten years.
Early on they realized that the only way to make the film work was to use active duty
Navy SEALS instead of actors.
SCOTT WAUGH: When you would watch a Navy SEAL walk around and he's in full armor and kitted
out, and you just see the comfortableness he has because that's what he wears everyday.
It's real in a way actors can't imitate.
CLIP I got her, I got her...
The filmmakers wanted to create a fictional narrative but one based on real acts of valor
by Navy SEALS.
MIKE McCOY: Stories that have actually happened to men on the battlefield that are really
inspiring and truly amazing, almost unbelievable, and that really showcased the heart and the
depth of the brotherhood of the community.
Then the filmmakers had to convince the higher ups to go along with the project.
MIKE McCOY: Once we figured out a battle plan that really augmented existing training evolutions,
so no assets were diverted to the making of this film.
I think that really worked for everybody, it's also why it took two-and-a-half years
to make.
CLIP 3, 2, 1, go...
Once the SEALS were onboard, they began to take an active part in the creation of the
film.
CLIP It would be nice if I could be here while Wymie's addressing that threat... we see this
guy move... frag out.
MIKE McCOY: They would write the ops plan for every mission.
So they would design the operation, we would build the camera plan, integrate, become really
one platoon and go hit the target.
The target was to shoot the film as realistically as possible.
CLIP Action.
MIKE McCOY: We set out to make the first authentic action film.
So there's no CGI in this film, quite a bit of live fire.
CLIP Going hot...
SEAN McCLEAN: I was actually very surprised learning that it was live fire.
Former Marine Sean McClean trained as a combat photographer and is now a filmmaker in San
Diego.
SEAN McCLEAN: Everything that they did from the room clearing to the way they stacked
up to prepare to enter the room was just spot on.
CLIP Wymie, lock it down...
SCOTT WAUGH: We really wanted the audience to be immersed into their world.
Instead of sitting back and watching it we wanted to put the audience actually in the
boots for a lot of the sequences so you can feel what it's like to be a Navy SEAL from
their point of view.
SEAN McCLEAN: The way they held the shot long to show you how he came in the room and he
did his sweeps of the room before engaging the target...
When you go in there time kind of slows in a way.
The adrenaline's pumping everything going on and you gotta process a lot of information
real quick.
I think they did a lot of shots that work well to kind of put you inside the SEAL's
head in a way.
CLIP Clear, all clear.
Some are calling the film propaganda for the military.
The filmmakers deny that the project was ever intended as a recruitment film for the Navy.
MIKE McCOY: When you look at the film as filmmakers it's important to know we had complete creative
control.
And we wanted to showcase and I think they did as well the sacrifice involved with this
job, they wanted to show the risk involved.
It's a really tough place to earn a living.
SEAN McCLEAN: I think they did bring some things to the table that a lot of other films
don't bring.
They show guys going in they come back hurt, they come back dead.
But the Navy did put their seal of approval on the film and the portrait is ultimately
positive.
SEAN McCLEAN: I think this might be the patriotic movie of this kind of decade.
For those people who kind of like that lifestyle I think for that type of person that would
definitely excite and turn that person on it probably even help make that decision that
definitely this is something I want to do.
Scott Waugh says it's just entertainment.
But he and McCoy did develop a deep admiration for the men, and they hope the film may change
misconceptions about Navy SEALS.
SCOTT WAUGH: Before you think that they're just Terminator Rambos solo man going in on
his own but you realize no, it doesn't work that way it's a massive team effort.
And some people say it's kinda like a video game.
Their lives are not video games, there is no reset button.
The film avoids overt politics in order to focus on the men who risk their lives in service
of their country.
It gives us a rare glimpse into the world of Navy SEALS and while the active duty SEALS
surpass actors in their ability to execute a mission, they come up short when they have
to deliver lines.
In the end, "Act of Valor" delivers some spectacular and genuinely tense action, and makes us appreciate
the unique skill set of Navy SEALS.