House of the Devil Review

In the spirit of Halloween, I thought it would be fitting to review a horror film.  I could review Paranormal Activity 3, like everyone else in the world would be doing if they had to talk about one horror film right now, but I’d rather wind the clocks back to 2009 for a while and discuss a film that looks like the clocks were wound back to the 1980’s in production…House of the Devil.  Currently streaming on Netflix, I suggest you check this film out before it’s gone from the instant route, because as far as modern horror films go, it’s absolutely sublime. 

             Written, directed and even edited by Ti West, House of the Devil is a “grindhouse” type throwback ordeal.  But never once does this film try to be over the top or in it for the exploitation factor.  It’s a carefully paced, terse narrative and it’s one hell of a slow burn.  In most genres of film this is hard to appreciate.  It’s also hard to appreciate horror “with a punchline.”  Thankfully this film has none of that.  It drives along slowly, almost in real time, grinding on the nerves of the viewer and making you as uncomfortable as the main character.  There’s a fabulous sense of isolation throughout that we can all relate to having spent nights home alone and investigating the closets and under the bed at the slightest trace of noise. 

            Jocelin Donahue plays a college girl typical of the 80’s  (right down to the Walkman) named Samantha whose just gotten her first apartment.  She’s trying to pick up jobs on the side to pay for her costly new rent (300 a month respectively) and she calls a flier put up for a babysitting job.  Her friend, played by Greta Gerwig, accompanies her to a creepy old house to accept the position.  Upon arrival they’re greeted by an extremely awkward and antsy man named Mr. Ulman played by Tom Noonan.  Eventually Samantha is left alone in the house with an …unusual and undemanding baby sitting job and the tension starts to build. 

            Unlike horror movies which deliver a scare a minute with some kind of hulking monster jumping out from behind a corner, the fear here builds in silence until eventually it’s palpable.  You’ll be able to hear your own heart beat at the end of it.  Watch this alone, preferably in the dark with all background noises silent.  It’s the kind of movie where you want to put yourself in the same element as the main character to feel the full effect. 

            Something has to be said about the genius way in which the tropes of 80’s films are brought to the screen again here.  Like I mentioned before, this is faithful homage film, but it also manages to do things that haven’t been done before.  The shots are well constructed and exceedingly well lit.  A slight film grain only enhances the picture quality in this case and I’m sure the film looks gorgeous on blu ray.  A lot of natural light is relied on and the shadows often lie to the viewer as well as betray the main character.  It’s excellent work, especially for such a low budget. 

            House of the Devil represents everything I thought was dead and gone in the horror genre.  Innovation, acting and a unique style all come through in spades here and if you’re a horror fan or cinemaphile you won’t be disappointed.  I imagine the standard rage-fueled uncultured teenager looking for a movie heavy on the cheap scares would be better off taking his date to Paranormal Activity, Final Destination or the latest in the Saw series, but I respect that this one tries to go for a demographic of horror fans who know the score and remember the good old days.  

MR moves to New York! (Setstrolling should open a branch!)

My friend over in New York got some photos from the set of The Dark Knight Rises (Magnus Rex).  While these aren't my photos, anyone interested in continued coverage of the film should check back for more updates. I've decided to see it through.

John Carter Set Sign

Pixar's first live action film John Carter is set to come out in 2012. Unfamiliar with the books, I didn't know what Barsoom was, but it's apparently the fictional realm where the film takes place. Here's a BARSOOM set sign for John Carter.

My review of A Very Harold and Kumar 3D Christmas

            Trying to do an honest review of A Very Harold and Kumar 3D Christmas is difficult, because I feel like they’re dropped any and all pretense of trying to make a ‘good’ film and went straight for the exploitation of 3D and-weed humor.  That doesn’t necessarily make it bad though, and I’m pleased to say I laughed quite a bit at this film.  I was wondering throughout how far over the top they were willing to go, and the question was answered for me about three-quarters of the way through when Santa Claus fell out of the sky.  This is a movie that doesn’t even take itself seriously as a comedy.  I wouldn’t have expected any more from a movie that begins with 3D pot smoke being blown into your face by Kal Penn and Patton Oswalt as a mall santa.

            The movie opens with best friends Harold (John Cho) and Kumar (Kal Penn) having separated, now living independent lives for the past few years and no longer on speaking terms.  Kumar is still irresponsible and smoking weed at every opportunity while Harold, now married, is struggling to impress his intimidating father-in-law (Danny Trejo) who is visiting for Christmas.  A giant blunt arrives in the mail for Harold at Kumar’s apartment which inadvertently brings the two back together.  All of this “plot” feels like a thinly veiled excuse to get to the high-times and chase scenes—one of which is in trippy claymation.  This would have impressed me if Community hadn’t already done it better last year.

 

            It’s interesting that they decided to go for 3D in this film thinking that would give them the edge over other Christmas comedies.  The “mockery” of 3D has been done before in full genital-swinging glory in Jackass 3D and I feel like this movie adds nothing new to that formula except splashing the audience in digital cocaine.   There’s a scene toward the beginning where Harold is telling his secretary how 3D is getting to be a tired concept.  Just like I found problems with the meta humor in Scream 4, I don’t find it funny when a movie calls attention to its own shortcomings.  It’s like you’re showing the audience that you’re partaking in a cliché, but you don’t care that you’re doing it.  This kind of thing is better saved for television. 

            Where the movie really shines is in the mandatory scene with renowned Broadway actor Neil Patrick Harris. He appeared in the previous Harold and Kumar films incidentally as well, though I feel like he’s even funnier in this one since the release of the previous films he’s grown in fame and celebrity status. Though he’s gay in real life, Patrick Harris, who plays himself in the film, turns out to be a perverted womanizer who uses the “gay trick” as a front for caressing women in his Broadway dressing room.  This was easily the funniest scene of the film and an example of meta humor working well. 

            I laughed at a lot of this movie, which I guess is the best way to truly judge a comedy, rather than on the level of a truly good and cohesive work of cinema.  There have been some comedies that do both though, like recent Apatow vehicles. I think my biggest problem here is that A Very Harold and Kumar 3D Christmas brings nothing new to the table.  Then again, I don’t think it ever tried to.  The most innovative thing to come out of the movie is Wafflebot, the Christmas toy of the year in the fictional Harold and Kumar-verse.  Wafflebot is a stout, fiercely loyal and outspoken waffle-cooking robot and fills the sidekick role in the film.  It feels very Harold and Kumar, as does the whole movie.  At least we can’t say it’s not as good as the previous films.  The legacy of the stoner trilogy remains in intact and you can’t help but feel the Christmas spirit as Wafflebot reminds us “pancakes are f-ing gay.” 

Halloween Horror Nights...behind the scenes event coverage

As a one-time visitor to Universal Studios' Halloween Horror Nights, I couldn't help but think at the time about the process and how much fun it would have been to have worked there and have been a part of the scare-experience. This year I ended up working at a booth at Halloween Horror Nights for NBC promoting an upcoming show.  It was an eye opening experience into the whole process and what goes on backstage for sure.  While my pictures of this even were few and far between (since it was dark and I didn't want to raise eyebrows on the backlot), I can provide now as detailed an account as possible working there for a weekend.

From Universal City Walk, there's a semi-secret entrance for employees into the back areas of the theme park.  My name was a list which permitted me access into this section for all three days.  It's something of a miniature city back there, with walk ways, the back of sets and of course no one roaming about except park personnel.  The best thing about it was the "monsters" (guys in costumes who are paid to frighten people) were sitting around chilling, talking and rehearsing behind the scenes as they got ready.  While I didn't interact with too many of them, it was fun seeing them out of character.

While I had planned on video taping my walk through of the backlot, I was joined by a curious employee right as I was about to hit record who asked me all about my company and what it did.  I got the distinct feeling all three nights that people "didn't believe me" when I said I had proper security clearance.  The NBC badges got a bit worn out eventually from how many times I had to flash them at other people working in the park.  For those who think that theme parks are dangerous places...I now know for a fact they are safe as can be.  Security is extremely tight at any place like this and if there's a hair out of line, they'll be on it with 4 fat guys wielding flash lights quicker than you can say "John Carpenter's The Thing."

Setting up our booth every night took 2 hours.  This was a laborious process, made even more laborious by the anal-retentive micro management of park staffers who didn't allow us to carry more than one metal pole or tent spike at a time in fear that we'd behead wayward civilians.  When the set up was through, I had free roam of the park, and I was able to circumvent all of the lines with a flash of my NBC badge.  This meant that I ended up visiting all the "scare zones" (haunted house walk throughs) except 2. Allow me to describe them in great detail as you read on with rapt interest.

But first take a gander at our Grimm NBC Booth.

La Llorona 
I don't know why they went with a title for this one that nobody can pronounce and that no one's heard of but maybe as someone contributing to the "white" demographic statistic I'm considered out of the loop here.  Basically the premise of this (from what I could gather from context and signs that I didn't read) is some woman eats babies or something. This was actually one of the better haunted houses.  You start walking past a pond with dead bodies floating and make your way through rooms of carnage.  By far the most lasting image from this house (and from ANY of the houses for that matter) was a giant rubber monster witch head eating a child with dated animatronics.  I actually said aloud while walking through the event "damn that's cool."  Something about that giant child-chomper resonated with me.

Alice Cooper 
I didn't realize before I worked here that 1. Alice Cooper was in fact, not a woman despite his name and 2. that anyone gave a shit about his music anymore.  I thought that it was just some band or crazy woman with some kind of dying following like Gwar or something that everyone just shakes their head at nowadays, but apparently people still dig the Coop.  This also ended up being a great haunted house. Particularly because there was nothing particularly Alice Cooper about it. If there was, I didn't pick up on it.  It's funny they chose visuals like piles of human meat and people being sawed in half to interpret angry music.  People who make those types of mental associations are usually worried about in the public school system. Anyway this was one of the best houses. Worth checking out if you go. I'd still have preferred an Anderson Cooper house of horrors...with real wind gusts over 70 mph.

Rob Zombie 
Another horror-inspired musician with a haunted house. Geez you'd think they were giving them out to EVERYBODY these days.  Next thing you know Slipknot will have a haunted house. Anyway, this one was special because it was "3D."  3D is actually laymans terms for "we'll color everything in with blue and red lines."  Nothing was particularly 3D or shocking about it. Kudos to them though for actually having recognizable characters from the films such as Captain Spaulding, Otis and Dr. Satan. House of 1000 Corpses and Devil's Reject fans will be pleased.

Scream Tram 
Actually the first one I went on.  This is a mess. You get on a tram car which is a "backlot tour" which bombards you with movie trailers for Scream and The Thing and then takes you to an outdoor trail lined with unscary people in bad costumes.  It just felt thrown together, and less than the quality you'd be accustomed to from the rest of the haunted houses.  It seemed like something you might encounter on a hayride for a pumpkin patch with a ten dollar admission...not a universal horror nights production.

Hostel 
Apparently Eli Roth himself gave his blessing to this haunted house and enjoyed it.  What can I say?  This was probably my favorite non-ride attraction looking back.  I liked the hot girl imitating the foreign accent in the beginning, I liked the movie accurate costumes and the squirting blood. I haven't even seen Hostel but I think this Haunted House exhibit had all of its "ducks in a row."

Jurassic Park 
So I'm not sure how the ride is different from how it normally is during the day, but it's the Jurassic Park ride....and there's raptors.  That has to count for something?  This is a water ride, so unless you want to be rudely snorted water on by animatronic dinosaurs, you should skip it.  It never goes particularly fast or gets scary, but toward the end there is something of a drop.

The Mummy
By far my favorite thing at the park that was open during horror nights. I rode it 3 times. I'm convinced NOTHING was changed about it from the day time regular rides, but it's a roller coaster in the dark.  The only other one of those I can think of is Space Mountain at Disney.  I'm not sure which of these rides is longer (even though I've rode Space Mountain a disgusting, indulgent amount of times on my disney trips) but this one was fun for a movie themed gimmick.  I don't care about the motif, the mummy or Brendan Fraser, but this was a fast moving, real roller coaster that kept me interested.

Well there you have it, my experience at Halloween Horror Nights. I'm borderline delirious and I'll edit this with pictures in it soon, but it was a fun weekend.  I wish I had only gone one or two nights, instead of 3 because by the third I was totally desensitized to rubber scream masks, but overall it was a good time.  If you like getting drunk and having people jump out at you behind hanging fake corpses in movie themed haunted houses...you've probably been there already.

Setstrolling on the Universal Lot

Yeah I've been on the Universal backlot all weekend. Why? I've been working at Halloween Horror Nights. It's fun getting that sort of clearance and seeing the inner workings of such a large establishment.  You'd be surprised how despite having a badge your presence still gets called into question at a million points of entry.  At one point, a particularly ugly and dumpy short woman wearing a ridiculous themed outfit tried to have me removed from the park.  I think it's kind of funny when people try to get off on a modicum of authority.  You're not there as a creative or anyone with some kind of talent, you're there because you're a low-level employee. I'm grateful for the access I have and I don't pretend to be anything above a peon when I'm there either.

One final video cut together from MR

My final compilation of clips from Magnus Rex which I was able to shoot on my camera. Big Thanks to my youtube subscribers and my video hits (over 50,000 now!)

14 days and a helluva ride. Here's to what's next.  Good luck New York!

My Podcast now available for download!

Over the summer I hosted my own radio show where I talked about movies and gave set reports and insight into some of the newest films on Emerson radio. I have decided to continue this podcast with updates on this blog. The format will be shorter and more geared toward set visits (with LIVE reports from sets) but I think I'll keep it under the umbrella of the same show. Enjoy.

http://www.mediafire.com/?1c1kai714178rfy

My favorite podcast and favorite website

You guys need to check this podcast out. I don't know the guys but I'm giving them a plug anyway. They're extremely informative, their opinions (while I often disagree with them) come from a well defended perspective, and they have a humorous approach. As someone who makes podcasts myself, I HIGHLY recommend you check these guys out:

http://www.nowplayingpodcast.com/

And now for a link to my favorite site.  It's not necessarily having to do with visiting film sets, or film itself so much as the "underbelly" of pop culture. X-Entertainment embodies the glorification of everything from cheap latex monster masks, to seasonal cereal.  As a promotional food enthusiast, I can relate to this.

http://x-entertainment.com/

It's Argo week.

A new set begins. 14 intense days of visiting MAGNUS REX will be hard to top but I'm just throwing it out there that today begins a week of outdoor exteriors and stunt shoots downtown for Ben Affleck's new film, ARGO, a political thriller.

Current shows to follow:

This is my current watch list on television. Is this too much or just right? Is anyone else a fan of any of following shows? I'm looking into set visits for the ones that I actually like (which isn't all of them, I'm just a television addict).  How much TV can one man watch in a year?

My favorite shows: 

• Community 
• Parks and Recreation 
• Boardwalk Empire 
• Bored to Death 
• Happy Endings 
• South Park 

Shows I follow and enjoy: 

• The Office 
• How to Make it in America
• The Walking Dead 
• It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia 
• Archer 
• Homeland

Shows I'm giving a chance: 

• Whitney 
• New Girl 
• American Horror Story 
• Terra Nova 
• Hung 
• The League 

Canceled shows: 

• How to be a Gentleman
• Free Agents 

Shows in the off season (or over): 

• Entourage 
• Curb Your Enthusiasm 
• Wilfred 
• Louie 
• Game of Thrones 
• Eastbound and Down 
• Jon Benjamin has a Van 

Upcoming shows: 

• Grimm 
• House of Lies 
• Locke and Key 
• Hell On Wheels 

Im starting a collection

Who knows if I'll get more of them though? These were just a lucky find waiting to be thrown out. I think they fit the theme of the blog pretty well.

Public stunt shots in Los Angeles and more MR

Another day...another Batman shoot (DAY 14). As you can see though, this one went well:

Often times these big visual effects shots can be tricky to pull often, and more often than not they become the defining moments of the set visits.  Obviously not every set requires bit flashy stunts, But when you do happen to see them you have to keep in mind what they mean to the overall movie.  The following Los Angeles sets will all have big upcoming stunt projects that require the use of doubles:

-The Bourne Legacy
-Justified
-Sons of Anarchy
-American Horror Story

These are all high budget television shows or films.  Are they made better overall just because they have the inclusion of stunt shots and heavy visual effects?  in the case of Glee, which is also filming in Los Angeles) though primarily on backlots, is it made better because it's the opposite of sparse, and everything is flashy and overdone?  Are these sets open to the public more so than others, not because they have to be done outdoors but because they want to attract attention and buzz for the project they're working on?

I'm asking you, the readers which of these sets I should visit next yet again. Help send me to a film set.

I should also note, that I now own yellow filming signs. Pretty cool. I picked them up off the street after The Dark Knight Rises filming last night.

SET STROLLING XTREME...and the payoff

There was a lot of meticulous planning that went into the shoot of "Magnus Rex" (The Dark Knight Rises) at the Biltmore hotel. This included google earth mapping all the surrounding buildings and staking it out for days ahead of time. I knew something would go down there...and I certainly didn't want to miss it.

DAY 12. 

I got to the location, avoiding it directly at around 6 or 7ish and I found my way into the adjacent Hilton Checkers hotel which overlooked the Biltmore. There was tons of buzz around the movie filming with casual bystanders and a guy in the elevator (which I did not hesitate to say which floor I was on to look like a hotel guest) told me the best view was from the pool area. Bingo. So I went up to the pool area where I found other guys watching the shoot who WERE actually hotel guests.

One thing leads to another and pretty soon they gave me a beer and we were watching together. As guests, they were allowed to stand in FRONT of the hotel on street level despite the PAs. We went down there and got to watch Christian Bale doing takes hobbling out of a stylish Lambo and into the hotel. Here's the lambos:

When they finished doing takes of this, my next endeavor was to get INSIDE the Biltmore hotel...which was able to by once again feigning innocence and saying I was a hotel guest. I managed to run into some of the extras in the bathroom, but nothing too significant. I went home feeling satisfied with what I had seen, but also a bit disappointed I didn't see even more. Call me spoiled.

DAY 13. 
I have to say, I'm immensely pleased with last night's events. When I arrived at around 7, we were told that photography (as long as no flash) was allowed for the first time ever and the PAs were really cool and fun to talk to. We mingled in the Gotham Police and Swat officers, got our pictures in front of the swat cars and then got some good video of the Batpod screeching to a halt several times right in front of us (though a crane was in the way).

Then the unthinkable happened. Wally Pfister the oscar-winning cinematographer was coming toward us. "Hi Wally!" we started shouting out. He seemed thrilled that we recognized him and said hi back to us before going back to work. Then we got to see the Batwing swooping in and out over the crowd:

Joseph Gordon Levitt was present and we watched him do a few takes from a Gotham Police car. 

Chris Nolan started heading toward us for the bathroom. My friend managed to eek out a "Hey chris" and then on his way back from the bathroom I said "hi Chris" to which he responded with "hey" looking at us before heading back to set. It wasn't much but it was still amazing.

When Nolan was leaving, he nodded at us from his car. Can you say "best night on set ever?"

What have we here?

Come on readers...take a guess.

Send me to an LA set

Simply drop a comment on which set I go to and report on.

Here are the choices:

1. The Closer 
2. Gangster Squad 
3. Glee 
4. The Dark Knight Rises 
5. Scandal 
6. House 
7. Chuck 
8. Free Agents 
9. CSI Miami 
10. Prime Suspect 

MAGNUS REX: PART 2

DAY 6. 
MR Day 6 was kind of a bust. I didn't even get pictures at that particular location.  This was officially the halfway point though for the intensive Los Angeles shoots, most of which included vehicle stunts.  Day six took place at 133 Spring Street in Downtown. It was interiors and there was nothing to see. Some cranes and SWAT trucks on the street, but nothing worth risking my position for. My camera sadly wasn't as well concealed as I'd like either.

DAY 7. 
This day began the shoots at Grand Avenue. For a sunday afternoon, I sure did see a lot and get pretty close. I'll let these close up shots of the HEMTT truck, which plays a major part in the movie describe how close I got...

 I also got this shot of Christopher Nolan on the phone...

As far as the takes, they dropped the HEMTT truck through grand ave onto lower grand. I didn't get to see it though. I did however get to see bullets blasting off the sides of the truck. I managed to get some videos from that day as well:

DAY 8: 
The latter half of the above video was actually taken on Day 8. This was a pretty exciting day and ranks among my favorites. I was watching the action from a Subway with some friends (which was in the shot actually so during takes we had to stand up against a wall).  Marion Cotillard was right in front of me in the HEMTT truck as I walked past. She seemed intensely concentrated on the scene. At one point Christopher Nolan went into the subway right after I had left...if only I had stayed a few more minutes. After that I crossed the street to the MOCA on grand ave and saw takes of the Hathaway stunt double on the batpod. Everyone started cheering as she went by. I can't quite describe the energy and pure excitement in the air as one of the major stunts on a film like this is accomplished right before your eyes, but it was pure magic. One of the things that will stay with me for sure, and among my favorite things I saw on the set...but nothing could prepare me for ...

DAY 9: 
This was by far the best day I spent on set. Something unforgettable occurred. Most of the day was spent inside the Subway against the wall during takes of 3 tumblers, the HEMTT truck and the Batwing mid chase. It wasn't a full Batwing but rather a cockpit. Before this action started I was sitting at the tables outside the subway when Christian Bale walked right past me on the sidewalk in the full bat costume. Gave me the chills. I got some videos of these takes as well...

But that was just the beginning...the pics I got that day were the first close up pics of Banes Bomb in the back of the HEMTT posted on the web.

I also walked right past the Tumblers on the sidewalk and got lucky to snap pictures before I was  told not to.

The real highlight of the day, and also the entire shoot for that matter was after a take with the Batwing, when it was backing up, I jumped up and waved at it. Christian Bale as Batman waved back at me from the cockpit. That's something that will stay with me forever. It was incredible and he stayed in character the whole time. He gave some of my friends who were present a thumbs up.  As a fan, it was a spectacular moment.

DAY 10. 
Day 10 was a bit rough in terms of PAs beginning to get more aggressive in the prevention of pictures.  Even so, from the Citi bank plaza I was able to see the Batpod very clearly.  This escalated into a cat and mouse game of me trying to get videos of the Batpod in action as it jumped up a car ramp and shot at cop cars and the PAs trying to stop me at every turn. I ended up getting most of my best shots of Batman on the batpod with a body in front of him riding an elevator up and down on the exterior of the Westin Bonaventure hotel in front of the shoot.

 

I also managed to snag a video of the Batpod shooting at the cop cars... 

This wasn't taken from the elevator though. I was directly across from the shoot hiding in the shadows when I took this video.  

DAY 11. 

This is when it started getting really hard. The PAs at this point were cracking down and making it harder and harder to see things...even if those things were swarms of GPD Cop cars and SWAT trucks in hot pursuit of the Batpod. I did get a great look at Christian Bale during this shoot with my binoculars and I did get to witness some helicopter shots, but I was unable to get videos or pictures of either of those things with how tight the security was.  I was however able to get this video which shows the scope of the chase scene adequately with about 30 plus cop cars chasing the Batpod...

I went home frustrated after this point with how tight and fussy the security was and how bad the vantage points were, but still satisfied with all that I'd seen. For as much as I've written in the past two entries, I still think it doesn't really reflect just how much of the filming I've seen and how close I've been to the set. For the many hours spent there it's impossible to detail everything, but there are still days of shooting to come...and this certainly isn't the last entry for MAGNUS REX. Expect part 3 soon... 

MAGNUS REX PART 1

Living in Los Angeles there's ample opportunities to visit film sets...but there will only be one more Batman film directed by Christopher Nolan. Enter...THE DARK KNIGHT RISES, "the epic conclusion to the Dark Knight legend" (as the teaser so aptly puts it).  When I heard that I would be in town in time to see some of the filming of this spectacular film, I was extremely excited.  I thought maybe I'd get the opportunity to see a Gotham Police car or maybe a Batmobile at best.  The things I've seen though have exceeded my hopes and expectations.  It's been a wild ride...and there's still nearly a month left.

To do this entry properly, I've decided to divide it into parts, and within those parts, I'll divide it into the days I spent visiting the set. 

DAY 1. 

My first day visiting the set was the shoot at the 3rd Street Tunnel in Downtown LA.  The 3rd and 4th Street Tunnels have been used in many film shoots over their long history, including in the Terminator franchise.  Most of the streets were blocked off for this location shoot, but I started getting excited as soon as I saw the smoking wreckage of Gotham PD cars piled up outside the tunnel and the "Magnus Rex" crew signs and trailers.  Magnus Rex, "A futuristic dinosaur film with Paulie Shore and Carrot Top" is the alias for The Dark Knight Rises, to not draw attention to the project.  Not much to see from the first night I visited...still enough to pique my interest though. 

DAY 2. 

My second day on set still ranks as one of my favorites so far. I returned to the 3rd Street Tunnel location only to find that they had slightly moved over into an adjacent blocked off parking garage. Nothing online had been posted or known about this particular shoot, and the only way to get at it was through the parking garage of the West Promenade Hotel.  Then I came upon these Batpods...

I was able to snap this pic quickly before the PA told me no pictures.  This kind of startled me, but I'm used to PAs attempting to assert some kind of authority (of which they have none) at this point.  From the West Promenade 4th floor Balcony was able to get a good look at the shoot in the parking garage across the street. I was treated to a look at Anne Hathaway doing some takes saving a boy from a thug and Christopher Nolan directing her to do so. There were also piles of destroyed GPD cars outside the 3rd street tunnel.  After the shooting we saw Christian Bale leaving the set.

DAY 3. 
The filming moved on day 3 to Sante Fe and the 6th street tunnel location.  This was a good day...

The mysterious new vehicle of the movie, The Batwing was out in full view underneath the 6th street bridge. Hundreds of cops and squad cars stormed into the tunnel after it as we watched a few takes. Christopher Nolan was at the helm of the IMAX camera like the captain of a ship. 

To the right of the set was a wall of fake rubble and destruction on wheels. 

My fellow onlookers and I watched patiently before I had to call it a day. I returned the next day and got a clearer pic of the tunnel where they were shooting. A pedestrian access tunnel...but I had no idea what all this scene would entail yet. 

 

DAY 4. 

DAY 5. 
This was a long day, one of the longest ones I put into the shoot. A rewarding one though, and the first time I got to see Christian Bale in the batsuit on set. When I first arrived, they were doing takes of the Batwing swinging under the bridge o its cables and firing mortars extremely loudly.  They did this six or seven times and then started shooting dialogue under the bridge.  It was an unrewarding business trying to get picture of any of this. Christian Bale sat in the batsuit getting his makeup applied about 100 feet from me and I was able to get an extremely clear view of the whole process.  When he walks around on set in the cape and cowl, there's a certain magnetism to his presence and you just know it--he's Batman.  The difference between Bale and a stuntman is instantly clear just in the way he carries himself on set. A platform of ice was built under the 6th Street Bridge where the dialogue scenes were shot.

While I'd already seen great things on my 5 days on set, the best was yet to come...and it might still be yet.