"Taking Fire" : User-Generated Footage Key To Character-Driven Story

The advent of film cameras provided early cinematographers the ability to record the soldiers’ experiences on the battle field. Ten minute newsreel clips shot during the first world war gave way to more extensive investigations of soldiers’ lives on and off the frontlines with every passing military operation. Today, advancements in camera technology and websites that host user generated content have placed the ability to capture the experience of war directly in the hands of the soldiers engaged in combat. Aware of clips surfacing on YouTube, UK based reality production company Raw Television had a brainstorm: use the footage a “band of brothers” captured to present a different vantage point of the war in Afghanistan.

Having pitched Discovery on successful series including “Gold Rush” and the current “Harley and the Davidsons”, Raw Productions brought the concept to the development team where it was reviewed by Denise Contis EVP, Production and Development, and Joseph Schneier, VP, Production and Development. Although Discovery hadn’t ventured into the military genre for some time, the development team saw the potential of transcending the war footage and focusing instead on a character study.

“Soldiers always have cameras. Recognizing these real people were capturing intimate footage, we shaped the idea into telling a very human story,” said Schneier.

Contis and Schneier first had to find a group of military men who not only regularly shot footage during their first year of deployment but had an engaging story to share. They eventually settled on members of the 101st Airborne Division who, in 2010, toured Korangal, known as the deadliest region in the Taliban-held country. After liaising with the military to ensure using the footage would not affect ongoing missions, Contis, Schneier and the production team, including Raw founder Dimitri Doganis, began pouring through a year’s worth of footage shot by multiple individuals to pinpoint the narrative thread.

“When we were looking for the narrative we didn’t want it to have a producer’s hand, and we didn’t want it to feel acquired,” said Contis. “We wanted it to feel pure.”

Placed in a life or death situation, the soldier’s hyper-awareness of their surroundings provided primarily steady, usable footage shot by GoPros affixed to their helmets and their uniforms. Focusing on material shot primarily by young recruit Joshua McCool along with his fellow platoon members Kyle Boucher, Kyle Petry, Ken Shriver and Chris Adams, Contis and the team began to peel back the layers highlighting the combat and battle looking for those moments that were most humanizing.

“We went into the editing room with the idea of ‘scraping the tape’: finding the material that makes their journey personal. When they are talking about how the area smells or feels, or the small goofs they make, things that are humanizing.”

As the episodes began to take shape, Schneier and Doganis spent September through January in Raw’s London office going over the “nitty gritty” of the stories, avoiding moments that were retrospective and turning to those that transformed the recruit’s demeanors, from scared to brave or cocky to humble. Ultimately, the producers did stage interviews with the recruits, now years out of the military, to elaborate on situations and individuals represented in their footage. They also introduced sergeants whose age, wisdom and backgrounds provided a balancing point of view that shepherds viewers through the recruits’ experiences. Maps and graphics embedded on certain scenes and material help viewers identify and understand the strategy or situation the recruits are encountering within specific shots.

“’Taking Fire’ allows viewers to look at this world of intense stakes through a relatable prism,” said Contis.

Episodes 1-4 can be found on DiscoveryGo or Discovery.com.    Be sure to catch Episode 5 on Discovery Channel (check your local listings) on Tuesday, October 11 on 10/9c.

To learn more about "Taking Fire" please visit:

http://www.discovery.com/tv-shows/taking-fire/