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?"