Transformers 4 Update

Thought I’d take a look at what was left of the Transformers 4 set in Grand Circus Park in downtown Detroit today. Not much! I shot these with my iPhone from the People Mover.

 

It looks like a construction company was wrapping up a demolition project.

Here’s more debris:

Even though a lot has been removed, there’s a long way to go until the area is clear.

I know I said it before, but when you total the cost of multiple sets/locations like this throughout the country (and world) it’s easy to see how this film will easily burn through its $170 million budget.

Man of Steel Shot in Detroit?

Big time rumors are flying around regarding Detroit being used as the location for the Man of Steel sequel. The other buzz is that Ben Affleck is playing Batman in the movie. The announcement should come out next week. If the movie is indeed shot here, I’ll get as many set photos as I can and post them on this blog.
Here are a couple of links for more info:
http://www.mlive.com/entertainment/detroit/index.ssf/2013/08/detroit_to_get_man_of_steel_se.html

http://www.freep.com/article/20130823/COL36/308230117/superman-batman-detroit-man-steel

 

Elmore Leonard Visitation

I was going to go to Elmore Leonard’s visitation today, which is in walking distance from where I live. I stayed home out of respect for the family’s privacy. It turns out the hundreds of people showed up.

Link here: http://www.detroitnews.com/article/20130823/ENT09/308230074/Hundreds-attend-visitation-crime-novelist-Elmore-Leonard?odyssey=tab|topnews|text|FRONTPAGE

It just shows how loved and revered Elmore Leonard was in these parts. He will be sorely missed.

 

 

Elevate the Arts Festival

I’ll be at the Elevate the Arts festival at Clawson Park in Clawson, Michigan on September 8th from 10:00am to 2:00pm. I hope to see you there!
Heres the link: http://elevatethearts.vpweb.com/Arts—Authors-List-2013.html

Update: Detroit

In a cascading email that worked its way through the Detroit Police Department, the height, weight and bra size of around twenty female officers was unintentionally circulated throughout the department and ultimately leaked to the Detroit media outlets.

This caused a big brouhaha (or brahaha) throughout the Police Department and Detroit TV and radio stations and the Internet. What was behind the email? The measurements were taken so the female officers could be properly fitted with bulletproof vests.

I’m familiar with cop humor and I’m sure this made the department locker room and watering hole rounds, but it points to a much more serious matter, and it’s not based on sex. Thirty people were shot last weekend in Detroit, and thirty the weekend before that. That’s nothing to laugh about. All humor aside, possessing a properly fitting bulletproof vest can save an officer’s life.

In many areas of Detroit gun violence is out of control. Standing in the line of fire is the risk DPD police officers take every day when they go to work, male or female. I hope their vests fit to a tee.

DIA (Detroit Institute of Arts) Appraisal

Here’s a story that I hope doesn’t play out the way it’s trending. The first step in liquidating the Detroit Institute of Arts assets was taken by Detroit’s Emergency Financial Manager by hiring Christie’s Appraisals. Christie’s will appraise “a portion” of the DIA’s art collection and will “assist and advise” how to derive value from the 60,000 piece collection.

Recently a tri-county (Oakland, Macomb and Wayne) millage was passed to keep the DIA open. That will be invalidated if the artwork is sold, wiping out $23 million in operating funds which would probably force an immediate closure. Here are a couple of quotes. The first is from L. Brooks Patterson, the Oakland County Executive:
“If Kevin Orr (Emergency Financial Manager) moves in any way to reduce the quality of the DIA’s collection, I can absolutely guarantee we will go to court to seek suspension of that tax, which was imposed to support the museum as presently constituted. We are not going to pay once some of the finest works are sold.”

The second quote is from Macomb County Executive Mark Hackel:
“Why would we continue a millage for something that no longer exists?”

I see the end coming to the DIA. As of August 6th, Detroit Police and Fire Department lieutenants and sergeants took a ten percent pay cut including cuts in overtime and other pay. What does the average Detroiter want? Police and fire protection or to occasionally look at art? The former, I suspect.
I hope I’m wrong about the DIA, but it seems to be just another indicator of cultural decline.

THE DETROIT TRANSFORMERS 4 SET

I walked down to Grand Circus Park in the heart of downtown Detroit today to check out the set for Transformers 4. This is as close as I could get.

The set is a replica of a portion of Hong Kong.

 

The set was cordoned off and there was no action or activity.

I was impressed how elaborate the set was- debris everywhere, building size ads and realistic structures. The budget for this film is $170 million and you can tell, just by this set alone, how that amount of cash can be burned through like a stack of old newspapers.  Maybe it’s a bellwether of the future: co-financing with China. Transformers 4 is being co-produced the China Movie Channel and Jiaflix Enterprises, along with Paramount. Movies of this magnitude and genre play well and make a lot of money in China. Just look how Pacific Rim is doing there.

Yes, the Transformer franchise is made for kids, but it’s interesting and very impressive to see the production from a technical point of view. A lot of objects and props on the set could have been rendered with CGI (Computer Generated Imagery) alone, such as the massive piles of rubble, destroyed buildings and full building size ads. But they weren’t.

When CGI is added in post-production the real props will make a huge difference.  I’m going to try to get some better shots from beyond the pagoda later this week before the set is torn down and will post them here.

The Transformer series has developed into a huge franchise, and it’s satisfying to see big films shot in Detroit again.

 

Creating an Audio Book

I’ve uploaded The System – A Detroit Story and The Day Detroit Went Dark to ACX to create audio books to be made available through audible.com.  A lot of people really like audio books and have been asking for them, so I thought I’d give it a shot. ACX and audible.com are owned by Amazon.com, so that made it really easy to get started. You, the author or copyright owner, log in through your Amazon account and go from there. I found out about ACX via Hugh Howey’s blog. Hugh is the author of the WOOL series.

It works like this: you upload a sample of your book and actors and producers audition for the audio book. You, the author, choose who you like and the rest follows from there. There are essentially two ways of getting your book produced: A) you pay up front and then keep the profits if and when your book sells or B) split 50/50 with the producers  and pay nothing up front. I opted for plan B.

This is my first experience with audiobooks, ACX and audible.com. I will keep everyone posted how it goes.

Here are some links: www.audible.com

ACX: http://www.acx.com/