Sam's Parents On the Run Again

Thanks to Mauricio who found new footage by "Nosebleed" from the Transformers set in Philidephia, PA back in June that shows Sam's parents (Julie White and Kevin Dunn) on the run down an alleyway as Michael Bay directs it. It is essentially a new angle on previously footage and amazing enough has been online for 7 months now just no one was aware of it. The set is on Chancellor Street but is dressed as L'Arc de triomphe in Paris, France where the parents are on vacation before a probable Decepticon attack.

TRANSFORMERS 2

Transformers II Goes To The City of Lights

According to a poster on the Michael Bay forums, Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen production has moved from Egypt to Paris, France.

Forget the Middle East, he's in France right now...

... in Paris, more specifically.

And this is what he was shooting: L'Arc de triomphe.

Now that was weird... I was walking home from work, and just happen to see a small group of people around a camera... When I got closer, I saw that Bay was riding it (literally). The last thing I would have expected is to see Bay shooting in my neighbor.

The scene was about a news anchor from CNN doing a report... It feels like main photography is getting closer to the end.

Producer Ian Bryce was here as well.

NOTE: this is a stock photo of L'Arc de Triomphe, but from where Bay was shooting it, you will probably get the same angle, with the actor standing in front of the camera.

While this could be fake, it seems more likely that Bay and company are in France to film exteriors and other scenes they need to match the "Paris, France" footage that was shot on Chancellor Street in Philadelphia, PA back in June involving Sam's parents. Thanks to Michael for the heads-up.

Another PhillyFilmGirl Joint

In celebration of her 100th youtube.com subscriber (hmm I should look into that), PhillyFilmGirl has posted another video of filming at "Paris, France", i.e. Chancellor Street area in Philadelphia, PA. The film shows preparation with a pole that represents an unknown Transformer as it does whatever it will be doing in the street.

While filming this, Michael Bay saw us and said "Im putting a robot on your house", to which I replied "Uhhh, yea, we kinda figured that out".

From Philly, A Saturn Drive By

PhillyFilmGirl has posted a new video from the shoot that occured at Princeton back in June. She intends to post a new video each month as a lead up to the movie's release. In this video, you get a quick shot of the Saturn driving by that has been seen used in several shots including the attack by a Frenzy like Transformer. I can't exactly what is being shot but I think that is Ramon Rodriguez hanging outside the car. Or a camera guy. Just a wild guess.

Eastern State Pen TF Blog Post

As discovered by TFormers, Eastern State Penitentiary recently blogged about the Transformers 2 shoot that occured at the site and posted three photos.

We were thrilled to welcome the cast and crew of Transformers 2 to Eastern State Penitentiary!

The sequel to last summer's blockbuster recently filmed scenes in Eastern State's Cellblock 7 as well as outside in the Industrial Building Courtyard. You can see in the top photo the massive helium-filled balloon light that was used to simulate moonlight. The next photo shows the cast and crew on the set created at Eastern State. The final photo shows the car cast as "Bumblebee" exiting Eastern State during filming.

While on site, Shia LaBeouf, Megan Fox and Michael Bay enjoyed a tour of Eastern State including some areas used during Terror Behind the Walls, including Cellblock 12, the home of Lock Down.

Ghost Fun with TF2

Philly.com relates a brief story where site personnel took advantage of the ghost stories surround the Eastern State Penitentiary in Philadelphia for some fun.

Before the movie Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen visited Eastern State Penitentiary to shoot last week, director Michael Bay and stars Megan Fox and Shia LaBeouf read up on the joint.

The landmark in Fairmount has lots of tales: "Slick" Willie Sutton's escape, Al Capone's posh cell, the legend of Pep the Cat-Murdering Dog.

And ghost stories.

Between scenes Saturday - their last day working in Philly before moving to Princeton - Bay and the actors were having a spirited conversation when site manager Fran Dolan offered to take them to the third floor of Cellblock 12, which the TV show Ghost Hunters declared the most haunted, to look for ghosts.

Slowly they climbed the stairs. Whispering nervously, they stepped into the cellblock. As Dolan pointed out the spot where ghosts were spotted, out popped Jason Ohlsen, the site's exhibit and special events designer, who had slipped upstairs before them.

I hear they were good sports, even though they had the LaBeouf scared out of them.

If only there was video of that. Thanks to Russell for the link.

City Hall and Bethlehem Videos

To pass the time, here are two videos involving the location shoots for Transformers 2. The first is from the Movie Chronicles blog and show the autobot trio of Bumblebee, the Trax and the Beat driving by. The second one shows an explosion at the Bethlehem shoot that Russell found (thanks!).

As far as Princeton, shooting is occuring there today, Shia and Megan Fox have been spotted but I have not got much in regards to details.

Rodriguez at Eastern State Pen

Roxygrl has kindly provided the below photos from Eastern State Penentitenary that show an old car that apparently will get smashed, by a Transformer perhaps? Also, Shia's probable roommate Leo Spitz (Ramon Rodriguez) is on the set as the picture below show.

Thanks to Roxygrl for the pics.

Bumblebee & Friends Go To Jail

VDG has provide some great photos of Bumblebee, the green Chevy Beat and red Chevy Trax as they where brought into Eastern State Penitentiary Thursday afternoon. As one of the pics show, he was able to get a shot of the Trax's rims showing the Autobot symbol. It might be my imagination but I think the Beat has them too. He also was able to get close enough to get shots of Shia on the set. With three Autobots, Shia, Megan, and report of blast shields, it’s safe to say a major action sequence takes place here.

In addition to the pictures below, Faded Silver Screen blog has photos taken around 6:30pm for when production briefly moved to filming on Fairmount Avenue outside the penitentiary with all three cars being filmed leaving in a rush. The post says after a few takes they called it a wrap but not sure if that means for the night or for that location.

Thanks to VDG for the pictures.

Eastern State Penitentiary Base Camp

For the last couple of days Transformers 2 production has been prepping Eastern State Penitentiary for a shooting to occur today (that closed the site) and tomorrow that involves at least Shia Labeouf and Megan Fox. "Energonkid" and another source have verified that Girard College Campus is the new base camp for the shoot but its private property so usual law restrictions apply.

Also Energonkid noted some useful observations that may help in working out what is being filmed.

I couldn't get inside the prison, or get any decent pictures but I watched them unload trucks for a while. They were taking in lexan blast shields they put cameras behind when there is an explosion or sparks nearby. It seemed like an awful lot of support trucks. Tons of lighting and rigging. I would bet there will be some effect/pyrotechnics taking place, considering they've been prepping this for three days and the scope of the stuff they are taking in.

Where there are explosions...there are Transformers wrecking havoc.

More Pics of "Paris"

Below are more pictures from scenes shot on Chancellor Street by Jim C last night. He also provided a report of what he saw while he was there.

I was able to get behind security last night and take some photos of where the scene on Chancellor Street starts. While I was there they were using stand-ins for Sam's parents. The scene doesn't involve his parents being chased; it has them running away from a building collapse. While I was there they had 4 extras on three Vespas and a stunt driver in the Smart car. The Smart is just trying to get away from the building collapse as well and drives around Sam's parents. The video is of the beginning of the scene and shows the Smart car taking off as well as the extras running back and forth across the street for background footage. The coolest thing about the night was that I was literally inches away from Bay, three separate times. He actually picked me and some other girl to be extras in the scene but neither one of us was actually an extra, we both were behind the gates because we said we lived there. It was a great night!

Photo 1 is of someone setting up a floral stand outside city hall. They had about 50 extras around there at the time but we left before they filmed anything. Photo 2 is of a Toyota Yaris (I think) and a Honda Element, both with French plates that I captured in a small base area at 13th and Market. Photos 3 and 4 are of Chancellor Street before the filming. You can see the Smart Car and three Vespas as well as an older car that I'm not sure makes it in the scene. Photo 5 is of the start of where the scene takes place; you can see the older car and three Vespas. 169 is a photo of the Stunt driver in the Smart car. Photo 6 is some extras and the empty Smart Car.

Thanks to Jim C for the pictures.

Sam's Parents On The Run

Last night TF2 production moved to Philly City Hall to film a Paris scene involving Julie White and Kevin Dunn. PhillyFilmGirl was able to capture some of the filming. The first video is the pair running down a street either chased or followed by a silver Saturn Astra, with a humorous moment from Mrs. White at the end. The second video is the two having a bright spotlight shone on them from higher then human height suggesting a possible Transformer looking at them.

Additionally there are two pictures from VDG. One shows the side street in the day that is the same street from the videos and the second is Shia at the Washington and 25th chase set which was where the silver Saturn was first spotted.

I am starting to wonder if the story beat isn't the Decepticons hunting the parentals down for some unknown reason. If this theory is true then that suggests that the Saturn Astra is potentially a Decepticon.

Update: From PhillyFilmGirl, the car in the scene is a Smart car to reflect the Paris location. So I guess the car isn't after them but something is.



Thanks to PhillyFilmGirl for the videos and VDG for the pictures.

Bumblebee and Friends at City Hall

Mia has provided the below pictures and video from Philadelphia City Hall set in its role as Ecole Militarie in Paris, France. Kevin Dunn and Julie White were spotted on site as they filmed a scene as Sam's parents on vacation there. As the video shows, at some point some TF related chaos ensues.

The below pictures are various shots of Bumblebee, a green Chevy Beat and an orange Chevy Trax. The cars were spotted yesterday driving down Front Street suggesting the two concept cars are Transformer alt modes. The remaining pictures show extras getting instruction from Bay and just the general look of the scene. Last is a video that shows set planned explosion going off as the extras act scared and scatter.

A final note, Mia found out that Shia Labeouf and Megan Fox are expected to participate in the filming at Eastern State Penitentiary this Friday and Saturday. Sunday is a day of rest as production moves to Princeton, NJ to film something, somewhere at sometime in that area.


Thanks to Mia for the great pictures and video.

Front Street Chase Pics

Yesterday I mentioned that filming was done Front Street involving Bumblebee, a green car and an orange car.

Thanks to Aeriobot24, he found the blog eGM CarTech which has photos of the three. Update: The photos on the blog came from Jalopnik via their readers. As the photos below show, the green car is the Chevy Beat from the Smithsonian and the orange or red car is the Chevy Trax concept car.

At this point I am wondering when the Chevy Groove will pop up. I find it probable that the Trax is another Transformer, name unknown. Also I am starting to wonder if this isn't what "The Twins" might become since the green ice cream truck hasn't made any additional appearances or maybe part of a group of TFs similar to the "Seekers" theme for Starscream's group.

I went ahead and updated the TF Cheat Sheet to reflect this new potential Autobot.

City Hall Prep Pics

Earlier there were pictures of Philadelphia City Hall after it was transformed into a French street with cafe for use by Transformers 2 production as Sam's parents enjoy their vacation and what I assume is some event disrupting their fun. Unfortunately, security gates prevented them from getting closer.

The Philly Chit Chat blog was able to get additional shots (few examples below) that show an early stage of the Cafe set here. You can see a gallery here that shows additional French themed dressing around the set to help complete the picture of a lovely day in Paris. The blog reports that the site is being staged as the "Ecole Militaire", a station of the Paris Metro transit system.

The filming is expected to occur today and the blog reports that the area will probably be closed to the public.

Eastern State Pen, French Cafe, and Library Sets

Cheeseburger and BP have been busy today visiting multiple sites in the Philly area looking for Transformers 2 production and along the way they some pics for us to enjoy.

First they went by Eastern State Penitentiary and found the TF2 production crew preparing Cell Block 7 for filming for Friday. The block had been closed so that the electronic rigging could be done (as the photos below show) and also just some picks to give you an idea of the area. After that they swung by the Free Library to show the stairs which were part of a shoot last Saturday night after the library closed. Nice old fashion steps so they could be an exterior for many things.

Last was Philadephia City Hall where they found a French Cafe set in the courtyard with tables and a red moped with yellow French license plate outside of it. Apparently the scene involves Sam's parents, the hilarious Kevin Dunn and Julie White (confirmation of her return), as they are on vacation in Paris, France. They believe this indicates that Rittenhouse Square might be a red herring location as the actual filming is going to occur 5 blocks from there. By nightfall they basecamps signs ("E7") where removed but still places for crew parking where marked off.

One last note from Cheeseburger as she found out a chase sequence was filmed on Front Street that involved Bumblebee, a green car, and an orange car. Sadly no pics as didn't find out about until after they where done. The green car could be the same Chevy Beat spotted at the Smithsonian. I believe this is the first time an orange car has been mentioned in assocation with the TF2 filming.

Thanks for the pictures and work Cheeseburger and BP.