Thursday, July 12, 2007

What about some news from the Indiana Jones 4 filming ? Photos and lot of videos from the set !

That's the movie we are all waiting for: the "Indy 4", schedule to be released on May 22, 2008. Although it's not a typical theme park news, as there is currently four Indiana Jones attraction in Disney theme parks around the world ( yes, four, as the Tokyo Disney sea version of Indiana Jones adventure have different scenes than the one in Anaheim )i thought that news about this highly awaited sequel could find its place in Disney and more.

And of course, we want to see images right now, don't we? And we mean "moving" images!
So, the good news is that you will see lot of videos all along this article, thanks to the youtube directors who were there during the filming in New Haven, Connecticut.

But before, what do we do know, right now on this very secret filming?
About the cast, that the young Shia La Beouf will play Indiana's son, that Kate Blanchett and John Hurt are starring in it, as well as Jim Broadbent and Ray Winstone. And we know also , that the great Sean Connery was asked to reprise his role as Henry Jones, Sr. from Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. But Connery turned it down because he did not want to come out of retirement, very unfortunately for all of us...Don't worry, Sean, we still love you!

About the "time" of the movie, we know for sure that it is set in the early 1950's. But about the story line, it is still a big secret , although, as we will see below, some rumours may tell us more about it.

But there is always a "day one" when you're filming a movie, and here is a video with these good old Steven ( Spielberg ) and Georges ( Lucas ), alive, and well, precisely on the first day of shooting.

And, by the way, "where is the man with the hat", this other good old fellow, Indy?
Ah, good, here he is, on this short video released, like the previous one, by the production. ( Photo above from Indiana Jones.com )

As i told you the young Shia La Beouf - currently playing in Transformers - will play Indiana Jones son. But what does he really think about his "father" ?

So, on July 5, 2007 the cast and crew of Indiana Jones IV traveled to Essex, Connecticut to shoot a scene or two for the upcoming movie. Filming in Connecticut took place between June 28th and July 6th, mainly in New Haven and Yale university.
And one thing is sure: the property master had a really lot of work transforming some of the city's streets so they look like a 1950's street. All the shops, windows, were changed, and here is a video by Marty Weiss who will give you a glance at how it looks. ( photos above by Madogvelkor )

That's not all: the cars also were different, and a major chase scene needed to have a LOT of 1950's cars everywhere! Let's have a look with pictures and a slide-show video about them.( photo above by Tom Tomorrow )

The New Haven Register has find out more on where filming did take place: "There have been classroom shots, exterior shots and the prerequisite chase scene that includes the Old Campus, Phelps Gate and Yale's library,".

Did they talked about a "chase" scene? Yes! a looong chase scene with Indy and his son on a motorbike - Indy's son is driving - being chased by cars. And here is a short video of it. Note that it's hard to say if it is the actors that we can see on the motorbike or stunt men. Probably the stunt men.

Always in New Haven, as we"ve said above, they've filmed on day 3 some scenes at the Yale University Campus. Here is a slide-show video that let you see more of it, as well as the Chapel street 50's theming where dozens of extra walked around all dressed with 50's clothes. ( photo above by MattKP )

And here is a short video of the filming of a Yale scene.

On July 5, the crew moved to film an Essex Steam Train Scene, and here is another video with a slide show of images shoot on the location.

As you've understood, lot of people - not part of the movie - were close to the set.
But it seems that Spielberg took this not too badly, as this video below show us.

Then, after Connecticut, the main unit moved on to the final location shoot in Hawaii. Steven Spielberg, cast and crew arrived in Eastern Hawaii this past weekend and they’re currently already shooting. After a couple of weeks in Hawaii, they’ll be returning to the Los Angeles area for sound stage work before rushing headlong into post-production.

But what about the story itself? Well first, there is an interesting point in the name of the character play by John Hurt: Abner Ravenwood. Does this name tell you something? It should, as Abner Ravenwood is supposedly the father of Marion Ravenwood, the character played by qKaren Allen in the first movie "Raiders of the lost ark". Yes, he was the one searching for the Ark before Indy arrive and find it in Egypt, as we know. But he was also supposed to be DEAD...well, may be he is still alive, after all...
But if the man who supposedly had spent a big part of his life searching about the Ark of the Covenant is alive, what does THAT mean? It's here where i must leave Quint from the Aintitcool web site tell you more about what he think about the plot:

"...The rumors I have been getting say that the big object being searched for is not Atlantis. It is not the Spear of Destiny. It is not a shard of Noah's Ark. This time Indiana has to go back to square one. There is nothing he can possess that can not be taken away.

What I hear is that he is searching, once more, for the Ark of the Covenant.

The rumor is that the warehouse we see at the end of Raiders is in Groom Lake (aka Area 51) and the Russians are trying to find it in order to one-up the American military might.

That would explain Abner being involved in the story. That would further my theory that INDY 4 will act as a bookend to the series, RAIDERS on one side and INDY 4 on the other."

Mmmmh...what do you think about that? The Ark of the Covenant mixed with the Area 51? Doesn't it looks really a little bit too much? I must add that Quint is also saying that all of this is still a rumour...on the other hand the aintitcool web site is often well informed...

There is also another strong rumour, this time revealed by the IGN web site:
" There are new hints about a possible wedding scene that may appear in the film. Could Indy be tying the knot after all of these years? We don't know, but filming for the rumored on-screen nuptials is taking place outside the First Congregational Church. A New Haven Public Works employee told the Register, "It's my understanding there is supposed to be some kind of wedding inside the church." The actual wedding scene, whoever it includes, will reportedly be shot in Hollywood."

We will probably know more about the real storyline later, but in the meanwhile, if the Ark of the Covenant makes its come back, remember: don't look inside the Ark when it will be open!