Act of Valor: Combining Real-Life Heroism and Cutting Edge Technology

At HP, we’re committed to providing premier technology that helps in the management of the forces protecting our nation. In addition to the real-life work we’re doing with the U.S. military and federal government, HP products are also helping to bring the stories of the battlefield to life on the big screen in movies like Act of Valor, this week’s No. 1 hit at the box office.

Check out the post below from HP’s 367AddisonAvenue blog on the Bandito Brothers’ use of HP Workstations and Mobile Workstations to create the film.

Congrats to our friends, the Bandito Brothers, for scoring a #1 box office hit with their first feature length film, Act of Valor! HP is delighted that its technology helped the Bandito Brothers create such an innovative and action packed film!

“Act of Valor,” Bandito Brothers very first feature film, is an extraordinary composite of real-life heroism and innovative filmmaking that hits theaters today! “Act of Valor” stars a group of active-duty U.S. Navy SEALs in a fictionalized account of real life Navy SEAL operations. Bandito Brothers, a small business, used HP Workstations to create a film that takes audiences on a mission to recover a kidnapped CIA operative, resulting unexpectedly in the discovery of an imminent, terrifying global threat.

Bandito Brothers is a boutique, full-service media company that creates, produces, manages and distributes audio-visual content. The small crew is comprised of filmmakers, stunt men and technologists who have come together to create some of the most successful and passionate high-action pieces of content. The crew developed innovative uses of technology to capture the striking combat sequences, up-to-the-minute battlefield technology and heart-pumping emotion for the ultimate action adventure film – showcasing the skills, training and tenacity of the Navy SEALs.

The filming of “Act of Valor” took 48 days over 12 ½ months and was shot in 12 states and in five countries on four continents, during live gunfire in harsh environments. The team overcame obstacles of operating in technology deficient locations in Cambodia, Mexico and Puerto Rico and throughout Navy training sites in Florida, California and Mississippi in order to provide realistic settings.

In the field, the Bandito Brothers had a trailer set up with HP EliteBook Mobile Workstations backing up captured footage to hard drives as soon as it came off the camera. In post-production, Bandito Brothers relied on HP DreamColor LP2480x Monitors and HP Z800 Workstations equipped with an NVIDIA Quadro FX 5800 graphics card that enhanced the software performance since Cinnafilm is optimized to work seamlessly on HP Workstations. In total, the Bandito Brothers captured roughly 125 hours of raw 5D footage (2.5TB of data) and 20-30 hours of film footage that was rendered on HP Workstations.

Check out the trailer below – I guarantee you’ll be heading to the theaters soon!