On Film

There are little orange signs all over the area today - because they are filming a movie!

When we got back on Sunday night (really, Monday morning), we saw signs for something called "Date Night." I knew nothing about it, didn't know they had been filming around the city, didn't know who was in it, and for whatever reason, didn't look it up. I think it's because I see the little signs up all the time, and never see anything. The closest I've gotten is seeing some people hanging out on the street with their equipment when it was supposed to be Gossip Girl, and a cameraman filming a random person walking down the sidewalk when it was supposed to be Fringe. That second time, no one even paid any attention. Maybe it wasn't even the Fringe crew.

I didn't notice anything out of the ordinary near home this morning, except a sign taped to a building explaining that it was a 20th Century Fox movie, that they were setting up all over the area (giving street names) and that they were filming on THAT block. Really? It's not just for the trailers?!

Not so the block near work. That one was covered on both sides with big trucks and trailers. Didn't see anything except the food spread when I left work.

But in Times Square...

It was really crowded on every side of the triangle. The crowd was packed in, and being short, I couldn't see a thing. It was late so I didn't try that hard, but the crowd reminded me of NYE. Ick. But it did look like they were actively filming something with recognizable people. Otherwise, why would all those people be packed in there staring??

I kept walking home, saw a lot of cop cars diagonally parked outside a building like they do outside the police station except there is no police station on the block, and I realize they have changed the exterior of the school into a police precinct. I felt weird trying to take pictures with all the security people and PAs around, and my hands aren't very steady and it was dark, so it would probably just have been blurry anyway.

I looked up the movie and it apparently stars Tina Fey and Steve Carell and a whole bunch of other peole. Now I kind of wish it hadn't been so late and I had tried to get a better look. Or that I were taller. Or that I could tolerate crowds better.

But I wonder - do they like filming in NYC? It's so crowded and there are always so many people just staring and watching. How do you keep anything secret? How do you get around with all those people everywhere? It just seems like a nightmare.