quidamling | Mission Mech Stalk: Accomplished!

Phew. Day two of stalking the Transformers 3 set was a go. I thought I might have burned myself out yesterday, but muses and buddies and self were all rather demanding of more mech hunting. So back downtown I went. ♥

I took a different train line, one that runs aboveground (the Elevated bit of Chicago's "L") parallel to the set. I saw something worryfull... they were starting to clean up the rubble from yesterday... oh dear.

But! I got off the train (Wow, at a damn sketchy station, not shocked I had never gotten off there before...) and headed back to the set.

That sinking feeling did continue a bit. There were the same fleet of Paramount trucks along the edge of the set, but everything was really, really quiet.

I zigzagged the blocks becoming more and more sad panda... until I came to the spot of yesterday's Bay-splosion. And I see brooms.

Now, a thing I have learned, this might not be universal, but Bay likes his kabooms messy. And I doubt actors like just random dirt thrown at them. So at least on TF3, the explosions shoot potting soil at the actors. I saw carts, full of bags of potting soil. And come to think of it, I remember shots in the first movie of Lennox with dirt all over his ears from an explosion. So yeah. Movie guys, apparently go to home depot, and use the gardening section for movie props. Now you know. ♥

So they are sweeping up all that massive amount of potting soil, and I think I am out of luck. But I recognize the crew guy that had been really nice yesterday during waiting for the Bay-splosions, so I ask him what the deal is.

Me - "Are they done? They're cleaning up, huh?"
Nice Dude - "They are cleaning up here, but they might be doing more filming somewhere else."
Me - *fangirl perk*
Nice Dude - "I can't say specifically where *POINTED LOOK TO HIS LEFT* but if you wander around, you'll find the excitement."
Me - *bounces and starts trotting off* Thank you!

~*~*~

So I discovered foam rubble. Which is not nearly as hilarious in still photo as in actuality, but trust me, imagine these "giant slabs of concrete" wobbling and jiggling as the the truck drives down the street. It's giggle worthy.

Then, oddly, when in doubt, follow the rubble!

And find more rubble!

So there is active filming, stuff on fire, and the camera boom rolling around. It's the thing on the left. :3

Once again, other fans to the rescue. Someone said Ironhide and Ratchet were the next block over. \o/

I scurry over, see Ratchet first, then omg, yes. Mission accomplished! The Mech, the Myth, the Legend.

Ho boy, he eats light. All that shiny black.

And he is a frickin' BEAST. I'm 5'5", closer to the camera by about 3 feet, and standing on the curb. Yes, truck bed still looks eyeball height. Honestly, I was about eye height with the wheel well bulge.

(I also apologize, I can only hold a genuine smile for a camera for about 3 seconds. Then I do this Chandler Bing terror face.)

>.> *fondles smokestacks*

Mmmm. NEST logo on license plate. *purrpurr* "IF I TELL YOU - I HAVE TO KILL YOU"

Autobot tramp stamp! \o/

Ratchet was guarding Ironhide's rear quarterpanel. I think it was just that no one wanted to parallel park Hummer butt, but the placement was cute.

Ratchet's emergency emblem. Should not have used flash, stupid stupid stupid. The one without flash was blurry. Stupider, stupider, stupider.... >.<

Hummer is a drama llama, and refuses flash photos. All that you get is glaring reflective paint. But san flash... now there is the CMO we know (sorta recognize) and love!

I like big Hummer butts and I cannot lie. ♥

Then I wandered to the side corner of the active filming. They were very intently filming this building. Like, this chopper circled the building closely (a bit of impressive piloting...) repeatedly. I was trying to imagine a mech climbing up the walls. :3

And just about as this poor little stalker was running out of gas, it started raining. Again. -_-

I was about to head home when at the last second I decided to sneak into a parking garage to look from higher up.

Blown up, abandoned cars, rubble... Yup. It's a Bay Movie.

And looking down at the little plebes. *shrug* Iunno. I was tired and punchy by the time I got to this point.

Shia was apparently around. Meh. >.> (Don't bite me.) And so was Tyrese Gibson. But no dice on finding actors. Still, hope you liked the explorations!