Working with Real Navy SEALs

Being on set in Mississippi was the first time I actually got to meet the SEAL team that was starring in our movie.  The platoon we worked with in Key West was just a side unit for that specific mission.  And I still hadn’t seen the script, primarily because we didn’t really have one.  There was an outline for what they wanted to do, but the SEALs basically made up their own dialog as long as they hit certain key points.  Then my old roommate, who was not the director’s assistant, would review the footage that I was compiling, and transcribe the recorded dialog into an actual script.

 

The first two days were spent filming the guys trekking around in the mud and swamps, primarily at night.  After that, we split our time between shooting in the compound that they were assaulting, and filming the extensive car chase that was their escape from that location.  I did meet all the SEALs, and most of the crew over the course of the trip, but I spent most of my time processing footage and backing up files.

 

I usually didn’t get my first card to process until close to lunch, but was expected to be available any time before that, to be consulted on any technical issues that arose with the equipment we were using.  That meant I was usually headed to set by 6am.  I used the first few hours to log footage from the night before, and was usually done by the time they started rolling cameras.  So that is when I got to hang out to observe the action, and take behind-the-scenes photographs.  I then spent most of the afternoon sorting through the morning’s footage.  I didn’t usually get the last batch of footage until an hour after wrap, so I was always working late to get it backed up, and usually departed in the last van to leave set that night.  That led to a series of very long days, and nothing was open in Slidell by the time we got back, so when we wrapped before dinner, I was usually going to bed hungry.  I got good at snagging lunch before the crew got back to base camp, so I would be ready when the directors wanted to review our footage during their lunch break.  One thing I didn’t get to do, that I regret not requesting when the opportunity presented itself, was to take a ride in the SWCC SOCR jet boats.  I hear that blasting through the swamp on one of those was quite a rush.  There was one night that we an endless swarm of bugs covered the whole set, unlike anything I had ever seen before.  Every surface was so covered that it looked like a layer of fur on everything.  The swamps are definitely teeming with life everywhere you look, but some of it is just gross.

 

On the flight back, there were about thirty crew members on my flight to LA, distributed around the back of the plane.  The other people onboard must have thought it was the friendliest flight of seemingly strangers, and then wondered at the level of profanity the crew was throwing around with each other.  We all stayed onboard during the stop in Houston, and grouped together a bit once the plane emptied out.  On the next leg to LA, I was drifting off to sleep when I heard a loud noise right in front of me, followed by the sound of rushing air, and an ear piercing cry.  The rushing noise sounded like something had pierced the aircraft hull directly in front of me, so I was REAL awake real quick.  It turns out the toddler seated in front of me had been exploring a bit, and pulled the CO2 inflation tab on the life vest that was stowed under his seat.  The sudden release of energy came as a big surprise, and it took them a bit to calm him down once they had extracted the inflated vest from under his seat.  Commercial flying is always an adventure.