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Chapter 9: Filming Locations Location manager Ilt Jones likes to joke. “When Ian hired me, he never prepared me for the seventh ring of hell, but in fairness, we went way beyond that, so even though I've worked on some tough shows, this one set the Olympic gold standard,” he laughs. “I think dealing with the military and all the government-run facilities was the most complicated because of the climate we now live in post 9/11. It's had a profound effect on my job.” Jones and his staff worked closely with the Department of Homeland Security throughout the production, not only when it came to working at government sites, but also in terms of working in high-traffic tourist areas, handling fly zones for helicopters and camera ships, bringing weapons to public places for many of the big action sequences and on many other issues formerly the purview of local authorities. His staff also worked closely with the Department of Defense to move the entire shooting company onto different military bases throughout production - not a simple feat. Filming commenced on April 19, 2006 with a pre-production shoot followed by full production start up on April 22 at Holloman Air Force Base, home of the 49th Fighter Wing, in Alamogordo, New Mexico. The film company spent the majority of their time on the White Sands Missile Range, test site of the first atomic bomb, which abuts Holloman and is the property of the US Army. For years the Missile Range has been used jointly by the Army and Air Force to train troops for combat. Jones, along with assistant location manager Burmeister, who oversaw the Holloman shoot, and DreamWorks Safety and Environmental Consultant Jim Economos hired UXB International, one of the largest and most respected explosive ordnance disposal companies around, to search for live, unexploded mines and lost missiles. “They swept about 28 acres for us,” Jones states, “at a depth of about four feet so that we could build our Bedouin village (and ironically blow it up) without fear of someone stepping in the wrong area.” Jones also made special arrangements for the film company to bring in their own special effects explosives. “We had to make sure that our humble bombs were tested before we brought them on base,” he laughs. “And when we did blow something up, their FOD [Foreign Object Debris] personnel were on hand to make sure it was assiduously cleared and nothing left behind. They checked out everything, from the radio frequencies on our walk-talkies to crew members who weren't US citizens.  We just had to make sure that filming didn't interfere with their day-to-day operations.” It is important to note that the production company paid for all services rendered, all fuel costs as well as salaries for military personnel who worked on the film.  The men and women who volunteered to be extras worked on their off-duty hours and any shots of working military hardware were filmed during routine military activities and test missions.  There was no cost to the US taxpayer in the making of this movie. “We dovetailed filming of certain sequences with planned military operations,” Jones says. “It was a natural symbiosis.  The Air Force constantly practice and practice with various aircraft and we'd make sure to catch them at the right time.  We needed shots of C-130s, for example, so we went to Kirtland to shoot the transport planes as soldiers were boarding so in the movie it will look as if troops are being deployed.” The company also traveled to Albuquerque to shoot in an old train yard and an adjacent industrial area that hasn't been renovated since the early turn of the century. The size of the sets, not to mention the real-life locations, enthralled the cast and crew, many of whom had never been to Hoover Dam before the company shot there.  For LaBeouf, Fox, Duhamel, Turturro and Taylor, filming was their first visit to this architectural wonder. Built between 1931 and 1935, Hoover Dam was originally called Boulder Dam when it was dedicated by President Franklin Roosevelt on September 30, 1935. Located on the border of Arizona and Nevada, about 30 miles southeast of Las Vegas. It is one of the most popular tourist destinations in the United States and has not been made available to any film or television crews since September 11, 2001. When the “Transformers” company moved in, it was the beginning of peak summer tourist season. Named after President Herbert Hoover, who was instrumental in its construction, the site takes on a more ominous role than that of power plant in the film. For writers Kurtzman and Orci, the dam was the perfect structure to imprison an alien creature from another planet -- an imposing concrete barrier, Hoover Dam not only houses the cryogenically frozen Megatron the government calls “The Iceman,” it also serves as the secret headquarters for a covert military unit, Sector 7, and their clandestine operations. Unbeknownst to most people, there are nine different “Seven Wonders of the World” lists.  Hoover Dam is one of the “Seven Forgotten Modern Wonders of the World.” Although Jon Voight had visited the Dam before, both he and Turturro used the drama of the location to fuel their performances. “It's like playing with my kids,” explains Turturro. “Everything around you helps create that reality.” The film's dramatic final sequence was shot in sections on the Universal back lot and then, over a period of six weekends, on the downtown streets of Los Angeles. As if by magic, the art, transportation and special effects departments would dress several blocks to look as if they'd been through Armageddon. Week after week, they would cart in seemingly endless loads of debris, build craters in public streets, fashion smoking, burned-out piles of rubble, overturn vehicles and create ruin as far as the eye could see, while a fascinated public stood gawking at cordoned intersections. “Transformers” was the first film permitted to shoot at the newly remodeled Griffith Park Observatory.  The planetarium, which closed in early January 2002 for a major renovation that was supposed to have taken three years, was scheduled to reopen to the public less than a month after the film shot on the grounds. Because they were behind schedule, officials were worried the film company would slow the process even further, but luckily the construction crews left just as the production moved in.  Jones and the company owe a debt of gratitude to city councilman Tom LaBonge and certainly to Dr. E.C. Krupp, director of the observatory, for even entertaining the idea of filming at the landmark. Other locations used on the 83-day shoot include the intersection of the 110 and 105 freeways, the Adams district, one of the oldest neighborhoods in Los Angeles where the Witwickys lived; a defunct power plant in Redondo Beach sets the scene for Sam and Mikaela's first major foray with the Decepticons; City Hall stands in for various areas at the Department of Defense; Bobby Bolivia's used car dealership was located in Pasadena; Maggie finds Glen at his grandmother's house in the San Fernando Valley, and Long Beach sets the stage for a robot/car chase sequence. A reduced crew also traveled to locations in Detroit, Washington, D.C. and Alaska to complete important scenes. “Long Beach was my Waterloo,” says Jones.  “That was the trickiest location I've ever had to put together.  We shot literally at the crossroads of the Port of Long Beach, the Port of Los Angeles, and the City of Long Beach, not to mention that we also dealt with the Union Pacific Railroad, the Burlington Northern, Pacific Harbor Lines and Cal-Trans. I think there were 17 different agencies that all had a say. We shot there for three nights, which will be but a micro-second in the film.  But at least it was an important scene where the Autobots® rip off the top of an SUV to rescue Sam and Mikaela, so at least we knew it wouldn't end up on the cutting room floor,” he laughs. Next Page: Bringing Transformers to Life