Post by nick86 on Nov 8, 2008 0:51:08 GMT -5
Well as some of you know, two years ago I was able to watch the filming of a scene in the latest GET SMART! film. 
I've posted about it before but there's no use in joining a Get Smart forum without posting about it right? 
It kind of sucks actually because I spend 30 minutes talking about it to a guy at work tonight (I work at a video rental place) that I almost don't feel like telling the story all over again. but I must!
Well I live in Montréal, (Québec) Canada. It's the second largest city in Canada (after bloody Toronto!
) It's very common for big Hollywood films to be shot here because of it's European look and the cheap cost of filming. Kyvan (may I call you Kyvan?) will tell you that they almost shot The Pink Panther 2 here as well.
So the story begins with me finding out they were filming a movie in old Montreal. Being sucha fan on film making I looked it up and found out that Steve Carrel and Ann Hathaway were in town for the production of Get Smart. First thing I did was apply to be an extra, and the second thing I did was track down filming locations!
As it turns out I was called to take part in what would turn out to be the filming of the bakery/factory explosion scene. Unfortunately they realized they had enough extras for that scene and asked if I'd rather take part in the filming of another unknown scene two days later. I would have said yes, but it was a night shoot which meant I'd have to be on set from 5PM - 5AM and then head to my final physics exam at 8AM. I was sad, but I figured I'd head down to the set even if they didn't have a job for me!
At the time I had no idea what the scene was about but after a quick trip tot he set a day before shooting I got to see all the signs become Russian, and an entire abandoned building turned into a Russian Bakery/apartment complex. I returned to the set the next day but it was closed. They were obviously preparing for the scene and wouldn't allow any unauthorized personnel in. There was however one security guard so bitter with those bloody Hollywood fat cats that he let me in on a few little secrets.
He told me to return that night because they were going to blow up the bakery! I went back that night with my friends and saw how well put together the whole set was.
They had a giant cube of light about 12 feet X 12 feet hanging in they from a crane about 100 feet high to simulate moonlight. They had set up sheets behind each window with dozens of amber lights flashing in random order to simulate the glow of fire. They had another crane which I later found out was used to perform the "missed it by THAT much" stunt and suspend the actors midair.
Well, of course I couldn't get on set but the guard let me in on some good news. He said he'd lose his job if he let me in, but his shift was about to end and what happened during the shift change was none of his business.
I waited for the shift change and as a new guard was putting some sort of flashy vest on my friends and I ran toward the set. Luck was with us, we were not caught! (mind you this was about the 12th attempt)
when we were finally on set we tried to act casual as if we belonged. My friend Chris took a seat behind the directors chair and the booth for viewing raw footage. I stood near the crane that was used for the stunt. (unfortunately the stunt was over by the time I arrived) and my other friends were just standing around.
by this time they were filming the "Max, you're just a few feet of the ground, relax" part. By this time I was standing off camera, where max and 99 walk after realizing they aren't dangerously high. After the last take however, someone forgot to let poor Steve off the hook and he was just suspended in the air. I seemed to be the only one who noticed, because nobody was letting him down. He caught a glimpse of me laughing at his misfortune and started flapping his wings like a bird in an attempt to get someone's attention and let him down! I really wished that part made it to bloopers, but the copy of the DVD at my rental place didn't seem to have any.
So...back to the story...
After that shot filming wrapped for the night and everyone who belonged there suddenly had something to do. I on the other hand, was trying to look busy. People were starting to notice we didn't belong. One man asked my friend is he was working there. My friend replies "I'm tech" with a smile that mostly resembled this guy: ;D The enquirer must have been busy because he just shrugged and walked off. I was caught a few minutes later standing a few feet closer to a live flame than anyone with any technical experience would have been. A man told me it was a dangerous place and I should leave (he pointed toward an exit). I replied that I lived the other way, so he just told me to go home and walked off. I was off the hook pretty easily.
Just after that I bumped into Ms. Hathaway, who excused herself with a "sorry sug" or "sorry hun." I can't remember but I used it to rub it in my friends face because he kept gloating about how she smiled at him.
so by now you must be thinking... wasn't there supposed to be an explosion? Well yeah but apparently there are laws that prohibit demolition past 3AM in Montreal I asked around and they rescheduled the boom for the next night.
The next night I was back on the set. Only this time I dared not sneak in. Explosions are dangerous, and the producers were nice enough to set aside a safe area for people to watch. So I sat back and watched the whole thing unfold. It took hours of preparation with: film glass, fake bricks, fake wood, dust, flames, smoke all set to go off.
I don't think it appears in the movie but there were extras (I should have been one of them!
) running from the blast on the street below. Well those poor guys had to run from an actual blast, which was pretty cool for us as the audience.
The science behind the explosion was very interesting. They rigged each window to an air cannon, that would shoot out debris, smashing everything and causing the boom. At that moment they had flamethrowers or something shooting out flames to make it seem like an explosion as coming from inside the building, when in reality the only fire was outdoors.
If I recall they did three takes. One for each set of separately wired windows. The blast shook the ground and I was a good five hundred feet away!
In the end it was a great experience. It was even better to see how it turned out on film.
For some extra info, these were also filmed in Montrél:
The ballroom dancing (some abandoned hotel downtown)
86 smashing through the front doors in his car (that was actually Mcgill University. I plan on attending once I finish College)
Oh and I have sneaky pictures too!
The exploding building, before the boom. Notice the bakery where th scene was filmed.
The crane that was at the time holding up the stuntmen for the "Missed it by THAT much" shot.
Tired man in Russian police car waiting for his cue.
Russian fire truck racing toward the "fire"
I may have some more images, but they have not been uploaded and are on my old PC. I'll take a look next time I'm on there.
Well I hope you enjoyed my adventure!
I've posted about it before but there's no use in joining a Get Smart forum without posting about it right? It kind of sucks actually because I spend 30 minutes talking about it to a guy at work tonight (I work at a video rental place) that I almost don't feel like telling the story all over again. but I must!
Well I live in Montréal, (Québec) Canada. It's the second largest city in Canada (after bloody Toronto!
) It's very common for big Hollywood films to be shot here because of it's European look and the cheap cost of filming. Kyvan (may I call you Kyvan?) will tell you that they almost shot The Pink Panther 2 here as well. So the story begins with me finding out they were filming a movie in old Montreal. Being sucha fan on film making I looked it up and found out that Steve Carrel and Ann Hathaway were in town for the production of Get Smart. First thing I did was apply to be an extra, and the second thing I did was track down filming locations!
As it turns out I was called to take part in what would turn out to be the filming of the bakery/factory explosion scene. Unfortunately they realized they had enough extras for that scene and asked if I'd rather take part in the filming of another unknown scene two days later. I would have said yes, but it was a night shoot which meant I'd have to be on set from 5PM - 5AM and then head to my final physics exam at 8AM. I was sad, but I figured I'd head down to the set even if they didn't have a job for me!
At the time I had no idea what the scene was about but after a quick trip tot he set a day before shooting I got to see all the signs become Russian, and an entire abandoned building turned into a Russian Bakery/apartment complex. I returned to the set the next day but it was closed. They were obviously preparing for the scene and wouldn't allow any unauthorized personnel in. There was however one security guard so bitter with those bloody Hollywood fat cats that he let me in on a few little secrets.
He told me to return that night because they were going to blow up the bakery! I went back that night with my friends and saw how well put together the whole set was.
They had a giant cube of light about 12 feet X 12 feet hanging in they from a crane about 100 feet high to simulate moonlight. They had set up sheets behind each window with dozens of amber lights flashing in random order to simulate the glow of fire. They had another crane which I later found out was used to perform the "missed it by THAT much" stunt and suspend the actors midair.
Well, of course I couldn't get on set but the guard let me in on some good news. He said he'd lose his job if he let me in, but his shift was about to end and what happened during the shift change was none of his business.
I waited for the shift change and as a new guard was putting some sort of flashy vest on my friends and I ran toward the set. Luck was with us, we were not caught! (mind you this was about the 12th attempt)
when we were finally on set we tried to act casual as if we belonged. My friend Chris took a seat behind the directors chair and the booth for viewing raw footage. I stood near the crane that was used for the stunt. (unfortunately the stunt was over by the time I arrived) and my other friends were just standing around.
by this time they were filming the "Max, you're just a few feet of the ground, relax" part. By this time I was standing off camera, where max and 99 walk after realizing they aren't dangerously high. After the last take however, someone forgot to let poor Steve off the hook and he was just suspended in the air. I seemed to be the only one who noticed, because nobody was letting him down. He caught a glimpse of me laughing at his misfortune and started flapping his wings like a bird in an attempt to get someone's attention and let him down! I really wished that part made it to bloopers, but the copy of the DVD at my rental place didn't seem to have any.
So...back to the story...
After that shot filming wrapped for the night and everyone who belonged there suddenly had something to do. I on the other hand, was trying to look busy. People were starting to notice we didn't belong. One man asked my friend is he was working there. My friend replies "I'm tech" with a smile that mostly resembled this guy: ;D The enquirer must have been busy because he just shrugged and walked off. I was caught a few minutes later standing a few feet closer to a live flame than anyone with any technical experience would have been. A man told me it was a dangerous place and I should leave (he pointed toward an exit). I replied that I lived the other way, so he just told me to go home and walked off. I was off the hook pretty easily.
Just after that I bumped into Ms. Hathaway, who excused herself with a "sorry sug" or "sorry hun." I can't remember but I used it to rub it in my friends face because he kept gloating about how she smiled at him.
so by now you must be thinking... wasn't there supposed to be an explosion? Well yeah but apparently there are laws that prohibit demolition past 3AM in Montreal
I asked around and they rescheduled the boom for the next night. The next night I was back on the set. Only this time I dared not sneak in. Explosions are dangerous, and the producers were nice enough to set aside a safe area for people to watch. So I sat back and watched the whole thing unfold. It took hours of preparation with: film glass, fake bricks, fake wood, dust, flames, smoke all set to go off.
I don't think it appears in the movie but there were extras (I should have been one of them!
) running from the blast on the street below. Well those poor guys had to run from an actual blast, which was pretty cool for us as the audience. The science behind the explosion was very interesting. They rigged each window to an air cannon, that would shoot out debris, smashing everything and causing the boom. At that moment they had flamethrowers or something shooting out flames to make it seem like an explosion as coming from inside the building, when in reality the only fire was outdoors.
If I recall they did three takes. One for each set of separately wired windows. The blast shook the ground and I was a good five hundred feet away!
In the end it was a great experience. It was even better to see how it turned out on film.
For some extra info, these were also filmed in Montrél:
The ballroom dancing (some abandoned hotel downtown)
86 smashing through the front doors in his car (that was actually Mcgill University. I plan on attending once I finish College)
Oh and I have sneaky pictures too!
The exploding building, before the boom. Notice the bakery where th scene was filmed.
The crane that was at the time holding up the stuntmen for the "Missed it by THAT much" shot.
Tired man in Russian police car waiting for his cue.
Russian fire truck racing toward the "fire"
I may have some more images, but they have not been uploaded and are on my old PC. I'll take a look next time I'm on there.
Well I hope you enjoyed my adventure!
