Set Report From Princeton Day 2

Mark has provided another set report for filming at Princeton University's Holder Hall. Sadly it appears that Sam's Transformer problem has followed him to school and chaos ensures. Thanks for the report.

The TF2 crew was shooting at Holder Hall this morning until about 1:30. The scene they were shooting today ended with Shia, Megan, and Ramon running out of the building into the courtyard, which they shot several times. Once, they ran out into the courtyard, hooked each others’ arms at the elbow, and did a little dance (clearly trying to alleviate some of the boredom of doing the exact same thing over and over). Isabel Lucas was visible at one point, but I couldn’t tell if she was involved in the shot.

Once the principals were done, the crew shot a group of about 20-30 student extras running into and out of the dorm’s western entryway (the same one that Shia, Megan, and Ramon had run out of). It was pretty funny to watch the extras run, because they were being funneled in and out of the doorway in a big circle, so the kids that had just run out of the building would circle around and run back in until the shot was over. In both cases the crew used a smoke machine in the dorm’s southwest hallway, which was visible from one of the windows.

While the extras were being shot, Shia and Ramon threw a football around in the building’s courtyard for a while. The security guards and local policemen who were guarding the main archways of the building (where the rest of the gawkers and I were standing) were very strict about pictures today. They waved off anyone who even took a cell phone out of his or her pocket. Around 1:30 the crew broke for lunch and relocated to Whig Hall, where catering had been set up.

Michael Bay walked into the building with Isabel, then came back out and sat on the building’s front steps drinking a Diet Coke and talking to one of the crew. A few minutes later Isabel came back outside with some food and Michael joined her and one other crewmember for lunch on the steps. Not long after that security started dispersing the small crowd that had gathered on the lawn opposite the front of the building.

-Mark

Update: Russell has found additional pictures (like above) on Just Jared that show Megan Fox and Shia Labeouf on campus. Of note is the picture of Shia that shows a tattoo or some marking on his lower arm. Part of the character or just a personal choice?