Diary of Day 82 of Transformers
Revenge of the Fallen on Location at the Pyramids in Cairo
9 AM We are crossing a busy road over the placeNile on the way to the set of Transformers: Revenge Of The Fallen. The streets are packed nose to bumper with vehicles. It’s like any other hectic and overcrowded city scene. Then it as though we have been transported to the Ancient World. The Pyramids appear through the morning heat haze. It is an awesome sight. The feeling of going back in time is increased when two riders on camels pass by.
9.45 AM This is certainly a film set with a difference! Filming is going on in the shadow of the Pyramid of Cheops. It is also just a stone’s throw from the Sphinx. Here Transformers: Revenge Of The Fallen is being created by a relaxed and chirpy director Michael Bay [he is wearing a baseball cap from the first smash hit Transformers movie] and his team. It is Day 82 of a shoot that has seen stars Shia LaBeouf, Megan Fox, Ramon Rodriguez and John Turturro travel the world. They have jetted from Pennsylvania and New Mexico to Shanghai and Egypt and soon will go on to Jordan – to bring this latest epic adventure to the screen.
9.46 AM…. The action that’s to be filmed is taking place at a once elegant palace that was built for Egypt’s King Farouk in the 1930s. Now the building is battered and slightly crumbling but still manages to be impressive. On either side of the doors are huge replicas of Ancient Egyptian gods. While the camera is being set up John Turturro looks cool and at ease. It’s amazing he is so relaxed since he’s running about in the baking heat dressed in a leather bomber jacket with a fur collar!
9.50 AM Shia and Megan are filmed running into the palace, followed by John. We don’t know why they are in such a rush. All will most likely be revealed after the special effects are added to this sequence. And it doesn’t take a Mastermind to figure that their swift movement involves some robot action. The camera stops rolling, much to Michael Bay’s surprise. “I don’t recall saying… Cut,” says Michael. “Oh, NOW we’re rolling,” he adds as his team slips back into gear. “Let’s get some of that Scorsese stuff,” adds the director.
10.18 AM Time for the yellow Camero – the car that is the robot Bumblebee – to be on camera. As it speeds past the palace there are choking clouds of sand and Michael Bay yells his approval.
10.30 AM Bumblebee has been joined by two more vehicles… little yellow and red Chevrolet cars. This is the first sighting of two new characters in Transformers 2. They are being referred to as The Twins because it seems no-one is sure what names they will have in the movie. But Michael Bay, while not giving very much away, reveals that they are a couple of Transformer robots who behave like a pair of naughty kids and that they will have quite a bit to do in the movie.
10.31 AM Shia, is bouncing up and down on the spot right beside the green Chevy. He does this so that when ‘Action’ is called he’ll be able to make it look as though he’s just dashed into shot.
10.35 AM Members of the crew, armed with brushes, sweep away the tyre tracks left in the sand by the cars, as Michael Bay gets ready to shoot the speeding vehicles again from another angle.
10.46 AM The cars fly by again. The clouds of dust seem even more impressive this time. “That was excellent – let’s do it again,” says a grinning Michael Bay.
11 AM There is a break. Shia strolls over towards Michael Bay; the young star crouches on the ground and eats some candies from a packet of Haribo gums; a sugar rush during a morning of action scenes.
11.20 AM Time to move on to work on a new scene. The crew and cast are told they’ll be setting up to shoot at another Pyramid and the crew starts dismantling the gear.
11.40 AM After the set is cleared, suddenly all you can hear is the Imam calling the Faithful to prayer. It’s another reminder that a placeHollywood blockbuster is taking shape in a very different and ancient culture.
11.55 AM All traces of the movie have now been removed from outside the palace. None of the cast or crew is there anymore. All that remains are a couple of Egyptian police, dressed in white uniforms with black berets. The have automatic weapons. The armed cops lean against a wall of the building.
1.15 PM Lunch in the open air – which is a selection of traditional Egyptian treats – at a restaurant that overlooks the Pyramids and the Sphinx. If a chariot carrying a Pharaoh sped by you would not be surprised.
2.25 PM A bus drive along a bumpy track to the second Pyramid, where the latest sequence is being filmed. In front of the Pyramid, tourists queue for camel rides. The going rate seems to be 30 Egyptian Pounds for a 10 minutes ride.
3.15 PM One crew member is carrying a long metal rod, which has a vital role to play in Transformers: Revenge Of The Fallen. The rod is the stand-in for robots like Optimus Prime – which are obviously going to be computer generated. The rod is used to give the stars something to look at so that the scenes when they are supposed to be talking with a robot will be convincing. “It’s a window washing pole,” reveals a smiling ILM boss Scott Farrar, of visual effects wizards ILM. “I believe in low tech for high effect.”
3.35 PM A 49 foot crane with a camera on the end is being used to zoom in on John Turturro as he scrambles up the stone blocks of the Third Pyramid. Being allowed to clamber over the Pyramid is a big deal because there are signs – in English and Arabic – warning that climbing on the Pyramids is forbidden. Police are on patrol to ensure that anyone ignoring the `keep off’ signs is dealt with. Special permission has been granted for John to do this big scene. Michael Bay, who has arrived at his spot in an armour-plated Humvee, laughs when he’s asked if the scene might be dangerous. He says that it’s actually John’s double who is up there. Bay is doing some leg-pulling because the actor’s double is actually standing near the director, watching John scampering up the Pyramid for take after take.
3.50 PM As he climbs up the Pyramid, John is delivering lines into a walkie-talkie radio. Apparently he’s talking to a warship out at sea. “Holy mackerel, Wow!” shouts an almost breathless John as though he has just seen some heavy duty robot action on the Pyramid. What he is supposed to be reacting to is guess work because a teasing Michael Bay insists that the plot will remain secret. Secrecy is key on the production. Bay has even had fake call sheets left around so that nosey folk will be given a very wrong indication of the plot of Transformers: Revenge Of The Fallen.
3.58 PM After a brief rest and some sips of water, John Turturro is off again, climbing over blocks of stone on the Pyramid. As he finishes, the sun drifts behind a large cloud and the action stops while everyone waits for it to return.
4.33 PM The best of the sunshine has gone. But there is more filming that can be can be done in the half-light. The order is given for everyone to ‘bale out’ and move on to shoot another sequence involving Bumblebee and The Twins. A squad of eight Egyptians use muscle power to help drag the giant crane through the sand and on to the road.
6.13 PM The visit is to the world of Transformers: Revenge Of The Fallen is over but crossing back over the Nile, there is a last sighting of the Pyramids, now lit up and glowing against the dark night.
Production notes provided by DreamWorks Pictures.
Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen
Starring: Shia LaBeouf, Megan Fox, Josh Duhamel, Tyrese Gibson, John Turturro, Isabel Lucas, Rainn Wilson
Directed by: Michael Bay
Screenplay by: Alex Kurtzman, Roberto Orci, Ehren Kruger
Release Date: June 24th, 2009
MPAA Rating: PG-13 for some intense sequences of terror and disturbing images.
Studio: DreamWorks Pictures
Box Office Totals
Domestic: $401,555,453 (48.3%)
Foreign: $430,216,422 (51.7%)
Total: $831,771,875 (Worldwide)