‘Maarten’ has sent us another great update from the Ghost Rider set in Melbourne:
I went down with my brother to the Little Lonsdale Street set today for what I was told is the last day of filming for the site. It was well worth the trip because the set was PACKED out with onlookers, extras, and crew running around getting things ready.
First off we started at the Elizabeth St end but a camera crane, ambulance and fire engine were obstructing our view. I did point out to the super-friendly security staff when I spotted the producer of “Master & Commander” walking around.
My brother and I then snuck up to a section were we could get a better look of the set, until the security staff asked us to move along.
What we did see were a lot of cars flipped on their roofs, on both sides of the street. As well as a sheriff’s motorcycle, Texas State policecars, and I believe some news report vans.
We saw a female news reporter, yet it wasn’t Eva Mendes. I spotted Nicolas Cage’s stunt double, and my brother saw the stuntcycle, so obviously there was something going on with Nic in that scene.
We saw a lot of Texas State police officers and Texas State fire fighters walking around, and they were obviously extras.
Before we moved along we saw the crew put up all the lighting boards and position the cameras and what-have-you.
I must say the security staff have been fantastic on this site. Instead of moving us along, they advised us the best spot to watch the scene without getting in the way, which we did. We had to move aside once the filming begun of course, but we got to be very close to the fire fighter extras as long as we “switched our mobiles off, kept the cameras away, and didn’t make a sound.”
I respected them on that because they’re still there now and they must be sweating up a storm. It’ll definitely look like Texas, because it’s at least 35 degrees Celsius outside today, with not a cloud in the sky.
I feel sorry for the news reporters we saw in full suits, and one fire fighter in particular who we overheard commenting to a security staff, “I’m sweating my … off!” Brilliant!
As I wrote above, it’s the final day of shooting at Lt Lonsdale Street and I’m not sure where or when they’ll be shooting next, so this might very well be my last report on the movie.
I’ll attempt to stay in contact with the movie to bring you all more info as it arises. If and when that happens though? Who knows.
All in all, ole’!
And ‘Misskaos’ got a chance to check out several sets as well:
About 2 weeks ago now I was driving past the Melb. Cemetery at about 10pm and there was MASSIVE lights in the centre, so I went to check it out. Anyway, they were filming for Ghost Rider – they had a fake moon set up and it looked absolutely AWESOME. Apparently they had built a small hut in the centre as well which I couldnt see but there was lots of movement and cameras and all.
ALSO EVEN BETTER!!! Yesterday (Sat 12th March) my dad and I went to the Queen Vic Markets, and they had a huge set up of vans, marquees, and trucks in the carpark. We asked a guy there if it was for ghost rider and he said yes-they were filming tomorrow morning (Sunday 13th). So today (sunday) at 8am my dad and I went into Lt. Lonsdale Street and checked it all out. We arrived at 8am to find the area was blocked off so we walked around until we could find a good spot. There was a building which had been done for the movie, painted black with lamp posts etc, lots of cars on their roofs, texan numberplates, american police cars, fire trucks and a LOT of people. The rubber strip mentioned in one of the other stories was there still. I asked a guy who I think was pretty important what was goin on in the story and he told me they had filmed at this location a couple of nights ago and the strip was made to look like the road had been torn up by the speed of the motorbike. The scene will show the motorbike speeding down the street burning up the road with fire coming out beind him. However, today they were filming a new part of the story. It’s the day after this incident and the fire brigade and police are looking at the damage of the road and surrounds, as well as news reports and people taking photos.
My dad and I finally found an AWESOME spot in a little laneway, which opened right into the middle of all the action! We watched the stunt double practice riding the bike a few times. The bike is a huge old-school style, purple with yellow flames. We were only about 1 1/2 metres from him. We had heard earlier that Nic Cage was meant to be there at 730am, but it was now 9am and still no sign. We had also heard where he was going to be arriving, but we couldn’t get near to that spot, so we stayed where we were. Soon after, a black 4wd drove up, parked right in front of where we were standing out who gets out? None other than the man himself – Nic Cage! I was gobsmacked at just how close we were to such a big star – no more than 2metres!! We saw them shooting the scene with him riding down the road – they did about 5 takes of it. It was funny how white his hands were and how dark his face was because of all the makeup. He also looked a lot like Ben Stiller in the movie Zoolander – as if he was finding it hard to move his face because of the makeup. I found it quite amusing…
Source: Maarten, Misskaos
