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Wednesday, August 13, 2014

Watching Film Grow

I watched some filming of the movie Pixels when I was in Toronto. I could watch it from my hotel room, actually.

It is boring to watch a movie being made. Lots of quiet and then some action. The stars (including Adam Sandler) were there but not obviously doing much). But this was mostly about using extras for crowd panic scenes.

I'm not a huge Sandler fan (and couldn't believe the middle-aged man next to me yelled out "We love you, Adam!" Please. Now if Sarah Michelle Gellar was there ... and there'd be no "we" dilution, either) but the plot does sound interesting. Me with extensive 1980s arcade experience, after all.

Here's a wrecked SUV:


It's been pixelated. Here's the inspiration:



It was interesting to see all the support functions just outside range of camera shots that keep the filming going.

Also interesting that the extras had to be reminded not to smile and laugh--because, you know, alien attack.

Some tourists unfamiliar with the area were a little lost since that section of University was re-signed as Constitution Avenue (Washington, DC).

I'll admit I was perplexed when I first ran into the street signs, telling myself, "I know I'm on University" and then putting the proliferation of American flags and the movie set stuff all together.