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...