Movie Chronicles » On Set

Bus explosion in Chicago, Rollbar footage

FofR — Mon, 02 Aug 2010 08:19:09 +0000

More action from this weekend’s Transformers 3 filming has surfaced, this time showing a bus exploding and rolling towards the cameras on State St and Wacker Drive. The bus splits clean in two, as if being kicked in the middle by a Decepticon. (Thanks gopher1)

Skillet Lickers has also posted images from the TF3 set, showing soldiers (including Josh and Tyrese) battling behind a yellow cab. View the full set on Flickr.

Rollbar

Continued filming in Chicago, Optimus Prime and Wreckers close-ups

FofR — Mon, 02 Aug 2010 08:04:33 +0000

This week production moves to the Old Post Office (Monday through Wednesday, 7am-10pm), Van Buren Street is closed for the duration. There will be pyrotechnics.

Meanwhile, here are a couple of close up videos showing Optimus Prime, the Wreckers and Bumblebee emerging from their slumber for a bit of Chicago Transformers 3 filming this past weekend:

More Shia vs. Dempsey, Tyrese and Josh included

FofR — Mon, 02 Aug 2010 07:49:32 +0000

If it were in any doubt that Shia was having a major fight with Patrick Dempsey, then this image of Dempsey pointing a gun at his head should quell that. A video has also been captured, showing that Tyrese and Josh get in on the action.

Via TLAMB

New red-faced robot, “Einstein”-bot is Mercedes called Q, Nascars called “Wreckers”

FofR — Sat, 31 Jul 2010 12:22:29 +0000

Wreckers

Until now, the weaponized Nascars have been dubbed stunticons, omnibots and rallybots, all three names have been rejected by MichaelBay.com’s Nelson. Nelson has since confirmed that they are actually called Wreckers. Wikipedia provides some background on the characters:

The Wreckers are a sub-team of Autobots in the fictional Transformers Universe, functioning essentially as a commando unit.

Red Faced

Filming last week on Michigan Avenue, Chicago, the Transformers 3 crew were using more cardboard head cut outs. This time, lowfatoreo’s YouTube video has highlighted a new character, red faced and angry looking this could be the robot mode of the Ferrari, Rollbar or a Wrecker, my personal guess is that it’s the red Wrecker. Hat tip to Transformers Live for picking this one out.

Einstein, Mercedes

Until now it’s been presumed that the Mercedes was the latest incarnation of Jolt, however Nelson has dispelled these rumors on the official Michael Bay site, pointing out instead that the Mercedes E550 is the alt mode of the Einstein lookalike robot, that is called Q (“like in James Bond”).

Shia and Dempsey fight scene

FofR — Fri, 30 Jul 2010 08:20:32 +0000

A fan, ThatNewTechGuy, managed to capture some of the filming action in Chicago, showing Sam Witwicky going fisticuffs with Carly’s (Rosie Huntginton) boss, played by Patrick Dempsey.

JustJared have also posted some shots of Patrick Dempsey looking very much like a badass:

More explosions and action from Chicago’s south side

FofR — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 08:53:46 +0000

Transformers 3 production has moved to Trump Tower again, this time shooting at night and using “flame and smoke effects” on rooftops, according to ChicagoBreakingNews. It was more than just smoke and flame effects, this was “Bayhem” to its fullest, with ten or so rooftop explosions at multiple buildings. The action was filmed from a helicopter (and presumably from below as well) whilst police vehicles drove away from the action down below.

Transformers 3 has also been spotted on the south side, filming alongside the rail tracks, including Autobot chase scenes, scenes of pedestrians running away screaming, and a video showing all the vehicles lined up, including what’s presumably Skids and Mudflaps new look.

Transformers lined up on south side

Almost a full cast of vehicles here, including the Nascars, Bumblebee, Skids, Mudflaps and Jolt.

Autobot chase

The next video shows the Nascar vehicles hotly pursued by the Autobots from an angle right in the thick of the filming, by johnnyism13 who happened to be in the right place at the right time:

This video, from the same location, shows people running away screaming whilst a shiny blue car calmly drives past.

Explosions closeup

This is another view of the explosions we’ve seen already, but from a ground view, much closer. Thanks to ReidCollins.

Official and extended Chicago set report from Michael Bay

FofR — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 18:10:31 +0000

MichaelBay.com has posted an official (and now extended) set report from Chicago, showing off Bumblebee’s Camaro, the weaponized Nascars, a scene under the bridge, lots of fans, the Ferrari and the Mercedes.

Day 5, Chicago — Explosions and autobot heads

FofR — Sun, 25 Jul 2010 13:28:46 +0000

The most interesting aspect of Day 5’s filming was the photo of an autobot’s head, a grey haired character sporting spectacles and standing next to Bumblebee. These cards are used to aid the actors with line of sight, etc. Who is this new autobot? What is his alt mode? The head of Soundwave was also spotted (PixelRally got the shot), confirming his role in the movie.

The day also featured a base jump from Trump Tower and scenes below, much of which has been captured on film. Then of course there are explosions, wouldn’t be a Bay film without them. Cars flipping, Bumblebee skidding around, parachuters flying in. The video playlist below has over 15 videos from the day’s shoot:

Day 3, Chicago — Utter destruction

FofR — Sun, 25 Jul 2010 12:36:15 +0000

Transformers 3 production returned to downtown Chicago and the Michigan Street Bridge. This time the destruction sets and props went up a notch. Scenes included Sam and Carly running to escape in Bumblebee and more running, this time across the bridge with some soldiers.

Videos

Seibertron
WGN TV

Image sets

All Spark
TFW2005
TFormers
SHH
Seibertron
TLive

Filming at the Milwaukee Art Museum

FofR — Sun, 25 Jul 2010 12:00:37 +0000

A short break in the Chicago filming saw the crews head to Milwaukee, Wisconsin to film scenes at the Milwaukee Art Museum. Spotted on set were Shia LaBeouf and Rosie Huntington, along with newcomer Patrick Dempsey in an Aston Martin. There’s also a 1972 yellow Datsun, which breaks down.

Below is a set of videos from the shoot:

And Matt Schilder (flickr) has posted some shots of the Datsun, Shia and Rosie from the art museum:

And a further shot of the Datsun broken down via TFW2005: