Transformers 4 Secretly Filmed in Utah

It turns out while Transformers: Age of Extinction was filming in the mid-west, the production made a stop in Utah for its desert landscape. From the Salt Lake Tribune:

"Now news has come out that a new blockbuster shot a week’s worth of footage here in Utah last May — Michael Bay’s "Transformers: Age of Extinction," the fourth in the series of rock-em, sock-em robot movies based on the line of toys.

Marshall Moore, executive director of the Utah Film Commission, said the film crew slipped in, shot the scenes, and were out before anyone noticed. The film company did not get any tax rebates for shooting here."

My guess is it ties into whatever they were filming in Arizona at the beginning of principle photography but no details on what they filmed, who was involved or for how long. (via Seibertron)

Transformers 4 Officially Wraps Principle Photography

This time its official per a tweet from Michael Bay.

It's a wrap on #transformers4 #michaelbay #tf4 #transformers
— Michael Bay Dot Com (@S4TE) November 5, 2013

Filming on Transformers: Age of Extinction may be complete but the work is only half done for Michael Bay and his crew as they enter the post-production phase. While the director has been editing the movie as he films and ILM has probably been working on the movie the entire time, at this point things shift into another gear as the June 27th deadline looms. Eight months seems like a lot but the more special effects a movie has, the more time it needs. On top of completing the CGI, there is recording the soundtrack, sound design, sound effects, voice recording, ADR, color correction and a whole lot more. All of which needs Bay's approval at every step of the way. The last time TF3 was complete the day of world premiere, I doubt Bay wants a repeat.

Congrats to the cast and crew. Also a big thanks to all the site readers who helped provides pictures, video, links and updates on the movie so we could follow along.

More Transformers 4 Hong Kong Galleries

No idea where in China Transformers: Age of Extinction is filming but over the weekend a few sites posted images from the Hong Kong filming that ended last week ago. Nothing new covered, shows Mark Wahlberg, Nicola Peltz, Jack Reynor, Stanley Tucci and others at work on various scenes along with another look at the sword key thingie. Links: Business Insider | The Daily Mail | TFormers

Michael Bay Discusses Filming TF4 in Hong Kong

Despite two failed blackmail attempts, Michael Bay has nothing but praise for Hong Kong after completing two weeks of filming in the city. In an interview with South China Morning Post, the director discussed some of the challenges filming in the city and a little bit of the story. Below is the major portions of the interview but you can find the full article, with videos, here.

As for the image, that was created by Jeffrey Marshall of Pixel Rally with inspiration from the Prime renders and the TF4 logo. His work was unintentionally highlighted by Age of Extinction's Sophia Myles in a recent tweet when the hotel she was at used his unofficial Autobot logo to dress up her food delivery.

“Hong Kong is a very visual city,” he said in an exclusive interview with the South China Morning Post.

[In regards to the extortion attempts], “In the restaurants, in the hotel, I must have 30 people coming to me saying ‘I’m so sorry’. But it was such a silly incident,” Bay said. He was also surprised how the incidents got looped into international news reported on BBC and CNN.

Transformers 4 (Almost) Completes Principle Photography (Updated)

Update: It looks like a little jumping of the gun on my part as a tweet from Michael Bay indicates there is still a week to go.

Thanks #hongkong Now on to #China #Transformers4 #tf4 #transformers #michaelbay

Chances are the main cast, or at least Nicola, has wrapped but the crew still has various locations to visit to complete the look that much of the film takes place in various locations in China.
---------------------------------A tweet by Transformers: Age of Extinction's Nicola Peltz indicates that after five months of filming, principle photography on the movie is finished.

That's a wrap on Transformers 4! An amazing journey!!! #transformers4 http://instagram.com/p/f_iFW6NVis/

Image, Video of New Vehicles on Transformers 4 Hong Kong Set

Despite Triad extortion attempts, filming continues in Hong Kong for Transformers: Age of Extinction. In the video and image, it shows what has identified as an Aston Martin DBS, McLaren MP4-12C, the Pagani Huayra, Argosy Freightliner and a garbage truck rolling together down the street as extras run down a sidewalk looking up. Since rolling with other very expensive cars as Autobots, could the garbage truck be an alt mode? If so my guess would be Bulkhead. As pointed out in the comments, the vehicles could be Decepticons (Stunticons?). While I assume they are Autobots because car makers (especially US ones) tend to dislike having their vehicles be bad guys, the success of previous TF movies may have got most of them to reconsider their thinking on that.

Another Extortion Attempt Made On Transformers 4 Production

Once again Hong Kong, China shows its ugly side as a crew of four attempted to extort money from Transformers: Age of Extinction production. This sounds like a repeat of last week's attempt. One of the four involved have been arrested with police looking for the other three. No violence or injuries reported. From Hong Kong's The Standard:

Police are searching for three men in connection with a second blackmail attempt on the production crew of Transformers: Age of Extinction.

One of the suspects was arrested while three others fled when police were called on Tuesday.

A week ago several men roughed up US director Michael Bay and some crew members. There are fears the incidents may tarnish the image of Hong Kong in the movie world.

Videos of Filming Transformers 4 in Hong Kong

Transformers: Age of Extinction had a productive weekend as filming continued in Kong Kong as bunch of videos found by TFormers.com show. The first video shows the entire core cast as they filmed a sequence that involved Stanley Tucci and Mark Wahlberg carrying a body bag like shape (maybe filled with those Cybertronian swords/keys?) with Sophia Myles, Nicola Peltz and Jack Reynor following close behind. The 2nd video is Bay prepping for a vehicle sequence and the actors killing time during steups. The 3rd video is the Freightliner being chased by three different colored SUVs, next is quick video of 'Bee turning a corner. Fifth video is extra's running around a corner as pyrotechnic sounds are heard and a piece of building lands in the street. After that is essentially a smoke bomb going off on top of a bus going over a curved overpass, the 7th is more of Bay prepping a scene and the last video is a slideshow of images from filming. Speaking of images, click here for another gallery images of the actors filming the body bag scene and other things.

Michael Bay and Crew Attacked on Transformers 4 Set (Updated)

The final leg of principle photography for Transformers: Age of Extinction has begun in Hong Kong, China. Unfortunately, the first day did not go smoothly. Hong Kong newspaper, Sharp Daily, is reporting that three men attacked the crew for not receiving part of the rent fee for using the location the production was at. Seibertron's translation indicates the altercation ended up involving the three suspects, three policemen and Michael Bay. I can't say surprised Bay got involved as I suspect he has a trait that (good) bosses should have - he can berate his team but beware anyone else that does it. It ended with the three under arrest and no one injured.

Transformers 4 Casting Call in Seattle

Transformers 4 may be finished in Chicago but production continues. Currently near Elma, Washington, the production had put out an "urgent casting call" for extras for filming on Wednesday and Thursday. The call was seeking 18+ male and female "clean cut, athletic, military, business types." If in the Elma area, it might not be too late to apply. Sadly not a whole lot of info to gleam from that as many of the extra notices had similar descriptions. Thanks to Wynton R. for the link.

Transformers 4 Final Day in Chicago Goes Out With a Boom

As promised, the final day of Transformers: Age of Extinction in Chicago went out with a large boom. Not "the mother of all bombs", but still a big boom that will look great once its slowed down and edited together. The set, not opened to the public, was the South Damen Avenue abandoned silo that was dressed as an unknown Chinese location. As the great images and video thanks to Colin Hinkle show, the site was dressed with China related items, silo itself was rigged with pyrotechnics, and the action was filmed from the air with a helicopter. His video was also used in local news report about the filming.

The second set of pictures near the site are from cmraseye that provides another angle on the explosion. He wrote, "The blast was concentrated at the front of the corrugated out building. Lots of debris blown into the air, bamboo sticks, 55 gal drums ...all kinds of things in the air, will probably look cool on film. ...you can see the pyro/dust bags ignited, blowing out the dust, and several barrels being launched into the air. Contrary to the captions on the Tribune photos online, there were no cameras mounted in the baskets of those lifts. It appears the lifts were cabled to support the frame of the outbuilding to keep it from collapsing on itself when they blew the roof panels off." You can find Chicago Tribune's pics of the boom here. Thanks Jeffrey Marshall for the link.

Transformers 4 Chicago Filming Going Out With Bang, New Vid and Galleries

The Chicago Tribune is reporting that Transformers: Age of Extinction's Chicago leg of principle photography is planning to go out with a literal bang. The crew will return to the South Damen Avenue abandoned silo for what their source called the "mother of all bombs". While the site will probably not be open the public, it still might be visible from a distance. Meanwhile, filming this weekend including a car flipping into a bus with other filming at the South Wacker Drive location being used as a China street. The vids below shows some smaller pyrotechnics and cars flipping for a seen further down from the bus's location.

In addition a few new pics of a Chevrolet Suburban chasing the Pagani and Freightliner suggests the return of the Decepticon Dreads from Dark of the Moon. Rather then repeat that sequence I am more inclined to think it is Harold Attinger's soldiers. Last, cmraseye has posted another 50 pics from various Chicago TF4 sets over the last month up on his flickr account. You can find those new images here. Thanks to Wynton R. and Jeffrey Marshall for the links.

Transformers 4 Adds Wulong Karst to Film Location Slate

An article in the Chongqing Evening News has revealed some of the locations that Transformers: Age of Extinction will be filming at the Wulong Karst which contains the Three Natural Bridges and Qingkou Tiankeng Scenic Area. Sounds like a nice prehistoric location to potential explain the origin of the Dinobots. Below is the google translation of the story reporting the info so you do not be surprised if some of it doesn't really make sense. For example, there is a suggestion the Chinese title of the film is "Transformers 4: Extinct Rebirth" but my guess that is the translation of a translation resulting in the weird english version that isn't correct.

Images and Video from Transformers 4 Car Through Bus Stunt, New Cast Pic

On Saturday, Transformers 4 filming continued in Chicago, Illinois at South Wacker Drive and West Monroe Street for a stunt that involved sending a car through a bus. As the video and great images from cmraseye show the location seems to be for events set in China as the bus is covered in Victoria's Secret models and Chinese characters as is the surrounding set pieces. The particulars of the piece show "pyro horns" set inside the bus that get ignited as the car is tossed through it. My guess is a sizable robot is doing the flinging. The second set of pictures are other images cmraseye posted but not entirely sure if they were from Saturday's filming. The last image is a new official picture posted on MichaelBay.com of the core cast of Mark Walhberg, Nicola Peltz and Jack Reynor as they pose in nonsensical ways in front of an abandoned gas station. If interested in more pics from Saturday's filming, The Chicago Tribune has posted their own images here. Thanks to Jeffrey Marshall for the heads-up and Colin H. for the video and links.

New Images from Transformers 4 Sets and Official Bay Image (Updated)

It has been a quiet few days as Monday and Tuesday was Transformers: Age of Extinction's weekend off and for now we don't really know where they are currently filming in the Chicago area. However, that doesn't mean do not have some interesting pictures to look at thanks to cmraseye. He has posted new images from filming at the Damen Avenue silo to go with his set from Saturday. The pics show part of an explosion set off that day but also a great look at the spacecraft prop that the cast has been filming on here and there for the last month or so. He also added a few bonus pictures that are worth checking out from filming last month. The last pic is a new official picture from Transformers 4 that shows Michael Bay in the middle of the action. The rest of cmraseye TF4 gallery can be found here. Thanks to Jeffrey Marshall for the heads-up and KennyD for corrected pic.

Update: Added few more images from the gallery, turns out it had a page 2 I missed. Also provided a flipped version of what many of figure is probably the Pagani Huayra. I am not sure where some of the photos were taken but they look cool. Most look better than the official over photoshopped, color-corrected Bay picture.

Transformers 4 Heading to South Wacker Drive

The Chicago Tribune is reporting that Transformers: Age of Extinction will be filming around 111 South Wacker Drive this weekend and that it will involve pyrotechnics. The article suggests this might be the last weekend in the city. Thanks to Colin H. for the link.

The robotos-in-disguise sequel starring Mark Wahlberg, Stanley Tucci and Kelsey Grammer will be shooting around the 111 S. Wacker Drive building from 7 p.m. Friday until 6 a.m. Monday. According to a letter sent out to businesses in the area, “Filming will involve the use of live stunts and large pyrotechnics.”

And now for the boring part: Street closures will take place on Wacker Drive from Washington to Adams, Franklin Street from Madison to Adams, Monroe Street from Canal to Franklin and Madison Street from Canal to Franklin.

New Transformers 4 Robot Images, Silo Set Explosion Video

While in their rush to grab pictures from this site of this weekend's filming at the Damen Avenue abandoned silo without giving proper credit to Colin H, TFormers did manage to find a great video (below) of the explosives going off on top of the silo that destroyed the bridge joining the two sections. The boom was big enough to set off car alarms that were not exactly close to the site. In addition, TFW2005 used my link to cmarseye's TF4 gallery to catch something I didn't (dang it) - two pictures of two unknown Transformer robots from the first day of filming in Chicago on August 24th. The first is probably Bay approving something from ILM on his Macbook while the other was on the clapper (which is held upside down for some reason).

Update: Pictures pulled at the demand of Paramount Pictures

Images from Transformers 4 Silo Set

As indicated by a notice, Transformers: Age of Extinction filming moved to an abandoned silo off of Damen Avenue in Chicago for filming Saturday and Sunday. The silos have been dressed in Chinese characters with Chinese branded trucks and the like dressing the surrounding area. In the 1st set of pics by cmraseye, you can see that a conveyor belt bridge going between the two sections of silos and has been rigged with explosives. Also on the lot next to it are the gunship and obelisk props along with two rocket pieces. The 2nd set shows the aftermath of the bridge being destroyed.

The last set, taken by Colin H., was taken after most of the day's filming was completed. Filming will continue at the location tomorrow with what I assume will be more destruction. No images or videos so far of the explosions during the day but destruction at that level can be extremely dangerous so security is probably very tight. Cmraseye has more images from movies filming in the Chicago area, including TF4, here. Thanks to Colin for the pictures and Jeffrey Marshall for the link.

Transformers 4 Bayhem Planned for This Weekend

A notice for this weekend indicates that Transformers 4 production will be using an abandoned silo site off of Damen Avenue in Chicago for "Stunts involving pyrotechnics including controlled explosions and a visible fireball will be part of several scenes." Full notice from OLN is below.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

September 19, 2013

IDOT: Filming of Major Motion Picture near 2900 S. Damen Avenue in Chicago September 21- 22

Chicago- The Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT) announced that weather permitting,

Paramount Pictures will be filming scenes for an upcoming motion picture on the following dates at the following locations:

Transformers 4 Roosevelt Road Scene Video

Last weekend the site was able to post fantastic pictures of Transformers 4 production was filming on Chicago's Roosevelt Road. The scene involves Mark Wahlberg and Jack Reynor running out of Bumblebee while a helicopter films it. Below is a video of the same scene before, during and after. (via TFormers)

The tall guy in the red shirt at 00:20 is Chicago Bulls basketball player Jimmy Butler. In the scene, you will see Mark Wahlberg and his co-actor Jack Reynor jumping out of Bumble Bee. It is shot by a helicopter. The white round ball in front of the helicopter is a camera. Later, at 02:13 you will see the same scene being shot close up from the ground. You will see the director Michael Bay at 02:18 [wearing all white]. After the scene, the actors hand out their microphones and leave. It is a great experience to watch how they shoot a scene. The whole movie team was very polite to people, so were the director and the actors. Can't wait to see it in the movie theater!