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This series had its genesis when I began 麻豆传媒映画area location shoots in the summer of 2010 to get over a post-Olympics funk. Film and TV productions like聽Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol, Fringe, Supernatural听补苍诲听The Killing showcase our city in similar fashion and sometimes put a celebrity actor or two in the frame. |
Director Zach Snyder is so secretive about his new Superman movie that crew must check their cell phones before entry into Mammoth Studios in Burnaby and paparazzi had to climb trees in Ucluelet last month to catch glimpses of the filming.
So it came as a shock last week to see the Man of Steel himself and shirtless to boot on a big green screen set on the North Shore. Henry Cavill, the first non-American to play the iconic role of Clark Kent/Superman, is best known to me for playing Charles Brandon on The Tudors. While聽Brandon is聽a handsome rake聽he didn't look聽buffed-up like聽this so kudos to Cavill and his trainer Gym Jones. These aren't CGIed muscles as some of the abs in Snyder's聽300聽are rumoured to have been.
Man of Steel filmed in the small town of Plano and the big metropolis of Chicago, Illinois, this summer聽before heading to 麻豆传媒映画for the autumn to film mainly in studio. Local paparazzi haunted Mammoth Studios in Burnaby in the early weeks but聽only Russell Crowe was spotted on a smoke break dressed聽in Kryptonian costume as Superman's father Jor-El. Crowe's presence in 麻豆传媒映画is well-documented by his almost daily workout tweets, like this one on September 24th -- "24 km bike out to Horseshoe Bay. This place is beautiful" -- and by his surprise appearance on stage with his Aussie pal Keith Urban at the country star's Rogers Arena concert.
So where was Henry Cavill? August casting calls in聽Ucluelet and Nanaimo foreshadowed that聽the 麻豆传媒映画Island west coast town would play an Alaskan fishing village and that a聽Nanaimo dive hotel would play an Alaskan loggers bar. In early October,聽Cavill and crew聽spent time battling the ocean swells off the coast of Ucluelet in boats. Two enterprising 麻豆传媒映画paps snapped him聽on land as Clark Kent (no black glasses)聽 in a grey sweatshirt working on a fishing net.聽From Ucluelet, Man of Steel moved to Nanaimo on the east coast of 麻豆传媒映画Island聽to film at the old, turquoise-roofed Cassidy Hotel, with four prop logging trucks parked outside. I know that hotel, having spent a summer during university working as a surveyor on the Island highway outside. And in another strange coincidence, I arrived on a ferry to Departure Bay for the Thanksgiving weekend just as Henry Cavill and Man of Steel crew聽wrapped filming there.
Man of Steel is said to have filmed at Whistler the following week but I haven't seen any photos or any聽confirmation of that yet. Meantime, someone tweeted that she'd spotted AF signs (Autumn Frost is the production codename for Man of Steel) on lower Lonsdale and that was the first indication聽of the green screen helicopter pad being built east of 麻豆传媒映画Drydocks on 麻豆传媒映画Ports private property. On October 19th, ace photographer John Biehler put up a photo of the under-construction set on his Flickr page. I checked it out two days later聽in the rain and put up the photo below on my聽Flickr page, later damaging my Blackberry by trying to force it in the downpour.
So I was without a working Blackberry on Tuesday morning聽when a friend told me that someone had tweeted聽about a U.S. Coast Guard helicopter flying at the Man of Steel green screen set. Filming had begun. I headed for the seabus not expecting to find more than the usual green screen stunts with no cast.聽When I got there late morning聽I spotted two paps below me on the Lower Level Road arguing with RCMP about their right to be there.聽Man of Steel had hoped聽they could keep photographers back up where I was by citing safety concerns, but the paps won because the roadway is public property.
I soon understood why the paps had fought for that vantage when a shirtless man appeared on set. I聽 photographed the Henry Cavill rescue scene as best I could for about twenty minutes, maxing out at聽48 x digital zoom on my Canon compact, until聽Cavill聽retreated to his trailer next to the railroad tracks聽(on the right of the photo above). The Man of Steel set photographer got the closeups of Cavill's amazing physique.
I haven't been able to confirm but the scene looked like a rescue from a floating Alaskan oil rig. Between takes, Cavill wrapped himself in a big black coat, hanging out below the stage with the extras.
At lunchtime, the Coast Guard helicopter turned itself around and crew started laying out green screen cloth on the tarp for the next scene. I retreated to Lonsdale to find wifi and spotted a filming notice on the way. I checked #yvrshoots and discovered two tweets about the Man of Steel filming but nothing about a shirtless Henry Cavill so I uploaded two photos around 1 p.m. and then left the North Shore to see what was going on at the University of British Columbia with the Robert Redford film The Company You Keep.
I don't often scoop the paps with my compact camera on things that matter to them but I knew聽it wouldn't be long before they sold their photos and the feeding frenzy began (I have a policy of not selling聽my set photos).聽Paparazzi multiplied at the green screen set that afternoon as聽filming resumed with more shirtless Henry Cavill. I should have known it would.聽Director Zach Snyder is a noted perfectionist, said to have聽spent聽18 to 19 hours here one day to film just a page and a half of script. Production is at least week behind already.
Now there are hundreds and hundreds of high-resolution聽photos of shirtless, scruffy聽Henry Cavill online. On the second day of filming at the green screen set,聽Cavill did more shirtless rescue scenes in the聽pouring rain and gloom. It must have been well lit because I've seen some beautifiul photos (and a video from Ken Redekop)聽of him pumping up by聽doing chinups before a scene where he lifts聽a cross of steel girders to get the men out.
On the third day of filming, Man of Steel moved to their burning building set at the same location. I dropped by to see it, expecting fireball explosions high in the air, but they kept the explosions inside set so I didn't stay.聽On the upper road I found half-a-dozen paps with their 300m to 500m lenses (and extenders) trained down on the west side of the burning 聽building where Henry Cavill entered and exited. John Biehler took a better photo of them from below which showed the lenses and tripods.
I do know and am on friendly terms聽with most of the local paps. It's hard not to know them聽if you go to location shoots regularly like I do,聽where I usuallly run into one or two at most聽not half a dozen lined up side by side.
The next day -- a week ago -- Man of Steel abandoned the green screen and burning build sets to film聽on Mount Seymour in the fog and the rain. Someone spotted them at a cabin, probably @Reel_Cabin, the log cabin regularly used for filming聽by local productions from Twilight to Fringe. On Halloween night, Man of Steel returned to Mount Seymour to film a聽stunt sequence with an overturned logging truck.
Man of Steel continues filming here until early 2012 so here's hoping there will be more Alaskan fishing, logging and oil rig scenes to see before it wraps.聽There can never be enough shirtless Henry Cavill photos in my opinion.
Man of Steel is expected in theatres in 2013.
