It comes as no surprise that ‘Zero Dark Thirty’ is secretive, considering the theme that it deals with in the movie – the hunt for Osama Bin Laden.
Despite the research for the script being kept tightly under wraps, there have been allegations from politicians that the filmmakers were privy to confidential information.
However, in an interview with the filmmakers, a few secrets about the movie’s production were revealed to clear things up, and they are:
#1: The U.S Government was not involved
The story was created by Kathryn Bigelow, director of the Hurt Locker and screenwriter Mark Boal and which depended on the latter’s background in journalism. Of course, they only used information that they obtained from public sources and agencies.
#2: Real agents won’t make an appearance
Since all the real agents involved in the raid work undercover, they won’t be giving any press conferences anytime soon. It goes without saying that while the plot of the story and the people involved is based on real events, the characters in the movie are completely fictional.
#3: Decoy cameras and actors were used in a marketplace scene
With one scene shot in a marketplace in India, the director used decoy cameras and actors while shooting the scene a few hundred feet away from the action. Doing this resulted in obtaining an extra half an hour of footage, thanks to the script having several speaking parts that could employ several decoys.
#4: The raid scene and the helicopters were close as possible to the real thing
The raid scene was shot on a set that was constructed in Jordan based on reports and diagrams that was obtained from public sources. What the Black Hawks, used by the Navy Seals, look like is a secret, and so the filmmakers used general helicopters and made adjustments based on research.
