Fair Game Blog — Naomi Watts Training at Crucible » 30ninjas

Fair Game Blog — Naomi Watts Training at Crucible

Share on Facebook posted 07-02-09 by craigmacnee

McCann was not a large man by any means. But his aggressive efficiency of movement in every gesture made him physically imposing. In fact, his body language alone was enough to communicate to me that I should immediately turn the camera off.

However, after that, almost seamlessly, Kelly McCann became as affable and polite a host as you could hope for. He revealed to me that his initial abruptness was deliberate and was just his way of communicating who was in charge. As he went on to detail the training that Naomi would undergo, my eyes couldn’t help but wander, perusing the memorabilia of 25 years of service: knives he’s designed, framed guns, the now infamous “most wanted” Iraqi deck of cards, rubble fragments from a bombed Osama Bin Laden safehouse. It was like a visual resume.

He doesn’t usually do this kind of thing, he tells us. This place is the antithesis of those Hollywood training facilities. In fact, the only reason we are here is that a good buddy of his, a former C.I.A. operative and the technical consultant on the film, called him up and explained that Valerie Plame was the real deal. He emphasized that in order to have the most realistic experience in this short period of training time, Naomi would be treated just as a real student would. “She’s Jane Doe, as far as I’m concerned,” Kelly explains matter-of-factly.

So when Naomi arrives, we all move into the classroom — a classroom that teaches things like bomb making and “surreptitious entry.” We learn that even though Crucible teaches armed and unarmed responses to violent attacks, the overwhelming theme of their instruction is awareness, early detection, and avoidance; enabling you to sense the potential danger of a situation and get away before it turns deadly. Kelly talks a lot about what he calls pre-instant indicators; the little signs that should alert you to the fact that something is not quite right in the scene you are assessing.

He talks about how you have to be aware of the physiological reactions that can be experienced when you are under duress: increased adrenaline, diminished vision and hearing, increased heart rate, loss of voice control, hyperventilation, etc. We learn that the worst thing that you can do in a threatening situation is to seize up and do nothing. The decision-making process is akin to that made by a pilot (which Doug is): assess, decide, act. The cost of not following such a rational process is reinforced by some disturbing footage of a man being held down and having his throat slit open. Kelly explained that he hoped this image made Naomi realize the consequences that Valerie Plame faced if she was caught. As a NOC you are perhaps the most vulnerable of all clandestine officers, since you have no claim to diplomatic immunity should you be captured.

We finish on a lighter note, with Doug revealing that he used to try to escape from handcuffs as a kid. So Kelly locks him up, and he spends the next few minutes rolling around on the floor trying to unlock himself. Janet seems to be enjoying this image, and I get the feeling that she wouldn’t mind a pair of these to keep a rein on Doug.

Doug and Janet then take off and leave me with the responsibility of capturing some of tomorrow’s training for “Behind the Scenes.”

I go straight to Best Buy to get more DV tapes. This will definitely go straight into my Hall of Fame of coolest experiences ever.