More Than Meets The Eye

Here's a little more scoop on the Transformers shoot in downtown Chicago:

This weekend, LaSalle Street will be closed from Jackson Avenue to Wacker Drive from 8 p.m. Friday to 5 a.m. Monday, according to the release.

From 6 a.m. Saturday to 5 a.m. Monday, Washington Avenue will be closed from Wells Street to Clark Street and Randolph Street will be closed from Wells Street to Wacker Drive.

Residents should also expect brief intermittent closures of intersecting street at LaSalle Street, between Jackson, Adams, madison and Monroe avenues, according to the release....

Also on Saturday and Sunday, helicopters and stunt parachutists will be in the vicinity of Willis Tower, the LaSalle Street Financial District, East Randolph Street and Daley Bicentennial plaza for brief periods between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m., according to the release.

Police and fire officials will supervise special effects and pyrotechnics used on set, according to the release. Residents with questions or concerns about the special effects can contact 311.

And here are a few pix from the staging site for large props:

Vehicle parts...

... and more vehicle parts...

... and office furniture (??? Very strange stuff in the middle of all the fake asphalt, brick, etc.)

Old CTA bus shelters. How much to you want to bet they don't survive the weekend?

Walls of styrofoam... made to look like brick.

See?

I fear for these trees, too!

Fake! It's all fake!

Numbered fake!

A truckload of fake!

Michael Bays' trailer. How do I know? I was listening to the crew figure out which ones go where.

And where can you find these cast and director's trailers? On the north side of Randolph Street between Franklin and Wells. They're tucked in between the Walgreens and the Chinese food joint.