Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Entertainment/2010 February 12

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February 12

Motorway closed in 28 Days Later?

I noticed that in 28 Days Later, they show the taxi heading along an apparently empty motorway.

Four options occurred to me:

1. They managed to find a completely empty UK motorway
2. It's special effects
3. They had the motorway closed
4. It's not really a motorway

Of the four options, I thought 2 unlikely (too hard to be convincing) and 1 impossible (even in the early hours, there's always some traffic on the UK's major roads, and they'd hardly go to the expense of setting up an outdoor shoot if they couldn't be sure of the shot).

That leaves three and four. Surely even Hollywood's money can't persuade the authorities to close motorways. In which case, I'm left with 4. Is it filmed on a defunct or not yet open to the public stretch of road? --Dweller (talk) 12:29, 12 February 2010 (UTC)

The answers you seek are given in the very article you link to, see 28 Days Later#Production. --Richardrj ^{talk email} 12:44, 12 February 2010 (UTC)

Indeed, although there is a fifth option that is often employed, i.e. they find a section of motorway that has not yet been opened (as in Withnail and I). This was easier a few years ago, but few new motorways are being constructed in the UK now.--Shantavira|^{feed me} 14:15, 12 February 2010 (UTC)

I believe that they did this for Speed where they needed empty roadway for the bus to be crashing around. And then there's the point in the story where they "actually" are on an unfinished road and have to jump a gap with the bus. Dismas|^(talk) 14:51, 12 February 2010 (UTC)

And of course they could always have used the M96 if they could arrange access (they used it recently for The Day Britain Stopped). Nanonic (talk) 14:32, 12 February 2010 (UTC)

Thanks. Odd I didn't think to look there. I cannot believe that Her Maj's constabulary agreed to doing such a thing. How odd. Why would they put the public to such a disservice for the benefit of a filmmaker? If I'd been stuck behind the roadblock, I'd be furious if I knew why I was late for a meeting. --Dweller (talk) 14:33, 12 February 2010 (UTC)

I seem to remember reading somewhere that they did it early in the morning when there was little traffic about. They could have done it after sunrise in summer and there wouldn't have been much disruption. Or maybe there were special effects used to lighten the look of it, if it was filmed in relative darkness. --Richardrj ^{talk email} 14:40, 12 February 2010 (UTC)

This gives more background: "One of the biggest challenges during the production was filming on a deserted motorway. The production got permission to shoot on the M1 on a Sunday morning between 7.00am and 9.00am. With the help of the police gradually slowing the traffic both ways, and using 10 cameras, the filmmakers managed to capture a minute of emptiness as Frank drives his cab toward Manchester. “It was a technical nightmare but a fantastically weird scene,” says Boyle. “It makes you feel that the whole of Britain has been abandoned.”" Ghmyrtle (talk) 14:59, 12 February 2010 (UTC)

This is not unique. Roads are closed all the time for movies. I would be rather surprised if there isn't a road, somewhere in the world, that is going to be closed for filming today. -- kainaw™ 14:44, 12 February 2010 (UTC)

Consider that the money gained from allowing a film crew to film there could pay to reduce delays more than the filming itself caused. (Does this sentence make sense?) Vimescarrot (talk) 14:47, 12 February 2010 (UTC)

Indeed they are closed. Every once in a while, if you're watching on the of the US late night talk shows like those of David Letterman, Jay Leno, etc., either the host or their guest will complain in some off hand remark about the traffic being bad due to them being blocked off for filming. David Letterman is especially happy when he can get the street outside his studios closed off for some stunt. He'll often compare the frustration of the drivers in having to find an alternate route to his desire to have some childish stunt pulled off on the street. Dismas|^(talk) 14:56, 12 February 2010 (UTC)

To be fair, there is a bit of a difference between closing a highway and closing the 1 block in front of the Hello Deli (which probably increases foot traffic into the Hello Deli - which I think has a maximum capacity of 5 patrons). It can be annoying as well. I was driving from Laughlin to Palm Springs and took a "shortcut". After about 30 minutes of drive through the desert, the road was closed for 3 days (yes, 3 days), to film some stunt for Fear Factor. I had to circle back another 30 minutes and take the longer route which was much longer with the added hour. -- kainaw™ 15:03, 12 February 2010 (UTC)

The Letterman bit was more of an aside. Sections of New York and LA are often closed for films was the point that I was trying to get across. Dismas|^(talk) 16:11, 12 February 2010 (UTC)

I'd love to know the basis on which the police agreed to do this. Vimescarrot, your comment doesn't make sense, as even if the police charged Boyle for their time, that money would not be used to help anything other than fund the police's time. --Dweller (talk) 15:23, 12 February 2010 (UTC)

I think Vimescarrot's point (which may or may not be the case) was that the film-makers may have had to pay the Department for Transport for the privilege of filming on the road. --Richardrj ^{talk email} 15:28, 12 February 2010 (UTC)

That is correct. You have to pay whomever is in charge of the road - which is not the police. It will be some city or county official. -- kainaw™ 15:32, 12 February 2010 (UTC)

Ah. So, if I paid whoever it is enough, and it's my guess that it's the Highways Agency, would they close the M1 so I could indulge a whimsy to dance a jig across the six lanes, while accompanied by the massed bands of the Grenadier Guards? Who on earth decides that it's acceptable to discomfort the public in exchange for a bung? There is never a time, day or night, on any day of the year, when the M1 is not a pretty busy road; it's usually insanely busy. --Dweller (talk) 15:34, 12 February 2010 (UTC)

A 'bung' in UK English usually means bribe which is not what's going on here. I think the point is that the money can be used to benefit the road users - perhaps by improving the road (and thus reducing the delays at other times) perhaps by reducing the taxes that are used to maintain the road. Plus the actual length of closure doesn't have to be very long. The shot can be set up while the cars are going through, then it's closed for a few minutes while the shot happens, then it opens again while the shot is reset. DJ Clayworth (talk) 16:27, 12 February 2010 (UTC)

It takes money and a reason. To be more exact, it takes a LOT of money and a very GOOD reason. -- kainaw™ 15:39, 12 February 2010 (UTC)

(e/c) I would have thought it would be on a case-by-case basis. If you're an internationally recognised film director like Danny Boyle, you're going to have a better chance of getting co-operation from the authorities than if you're just some film school kid with a camera. Plus, we're not talking about closing the M1 entirely. It was a mobile roadblock. Personally, I'm glad the Agency has the flexibility and commonsense to agree to this kind of thing once in a while. Getting to one's destination on time isn't everything, and the scene was memorable and effective. --Richardrj ^{talk email} 15:43, 12 February 2010 (UTC)

The Government backed UK Film Council[1] would be able to pull a lot of strings to make things happen, I imagine. Alansplodge (talk) 16:16, 12 February 2010 (UTC)

Googling "film permit road closure" yields actual fees for filmed road closures in a bunch of places. This page from York, Canada says the fees depend on how much interference with the traveling public occurs, and it looks like it's C$1000 if you shut off one lane. Of course, that's not a complete shutdown of the whole fricking M1; that must have cost a bundle. As for inconveniencing the public in return for a bung, most cities are eager, extremely eager, to do this, and have people in charge of trying to attract film crews to the city, because the bung is not only to the local government but the local economy in general — the cinematographers, production assistants, actors, and hangers-on do drink local coffee and eat local donuts. Comet Tuttle (talk) 19:25, 12 February 2010 (UTC)

• Wrong York, Canada; that one doesn't exist any more. The page is from this one. --Anonymous, 00:03 UTC, February 13, 2010.

Thanks. Comet Tuttle (talk) 00:14, 13 February 2010 (UTC)

I think it was on NPR that I heard a story a few months back about how Los Angeles is trying to persuade filmmakers to actually make films in their city. Directors have been shooting in other cities because it's cheaper to go to another city and shoot instead of staying in LA. Dismas|^(talk) 19:33, 12 February 2010 (UTC)

This link says feature shoots in the LA area have fallen 32% since 1996, citing Film LA, "a non-profit group that arranges local film permits". The latter's website said last month that "on-location filming across all categories declined 19.4 percent in 2009 compared to 2008, the steepest year-over-year decline since tracking began in 1993". They're doomed. Comet Tuttle (talk) 22:48, 12 February 2010 (UTC)

I remember that two Hollywood movies of about 10 years ago featured scenes showing completely empty main streets in New York. In making Vanilla Sky (2001) they actually did close the streets, but in the other one they filmed the street with normal traffic and eliminated the traffic with special effects. I think that one was The Devil's Advocate (1997), but I can't find a confirmation of that. --Anonymous, 00:09 UTC, February 13, 2010.

And then there was I Am Legend (film). Comet Tuttle (talk) 00:14, 13 February 2010 (UTC)

One anecdotal example from 30 years ago: The filming of The Blues Brothers, in which downtown Chicago (which is fairly quiet on weekends anyway) was repeatedly closed during Saturdays and Sundays in the summer of 1979, which is how the stunt driver could take the Bluesmobile along under the L tracks at 80-100 MPH without fear of a horrific accident. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 05:43, 13 February 2010 (UTC)

Did you mean the part on Lower Wacker Drive? 75.41.110.200 (talk) 18:12, 13 February 2010 (UTC)

That, and where they were on the surface, zooming along under the L tracks. The entire downtown was closed off for filming these stunts as well as the final scenes at the Daley Center and the Cook County Building. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 01:08, 16 February 2010 (UTC)

...and they trashed a real shopping mall (albeit closed down), which is pretty cool.--Shantavira|^{feed me} 09:18, 13 February 2010 (UTC)

I don't have a source but I imagined they used a rolling roadblock for this. Three police cars manouvere so they are parallel to each other in the three lanes of the motorway and slow down to around 30mph forcing the traffic behind them to slow down. The faster moving traffic in front quickly outdistances them, leaving an empty gap in the traffic flow. You then shoot some footage, remove the rolling roadblock and allow the backlog to clear and repeat as required. From the normal drivers point of view they might have a five or ten minute period of slow traffic - hardly a major inconvenience. Exxolon (talk) 14:19, 13 February 2010 (UTC)

You are correct, it says that in the article. --Richardrj ^{talk email} 15:58, 13 February 2010 (UTC)

Option 5. being "Unopened road" per Shantavira, our OP missed option 6. "Build your own road" which is what I believe was done for the 2nd(?) Matrix film. --220.101.28.25 (talk) 05:04, 14 February 2010 (UTC)

Who is this actor?

Below is a link to a blooper reel from 1936. I have linked the video to start at 1:56, because I am wondering who the actor is in the three scenes starting at that point. I think that it could be Edward G. Robinson, but I wondered if somebody could please confirm or, if it isn't him, tell me who it is.

Blooper reel

Many thanks in advance. Blooper Watcher (talk) 21:09, 12 February 2010 (UTC)

[Best Robinson impression] Yeah, that's him, see. Clarityfiend (talk) 22:12, 12 February 2010 (UTC)

Beautiful. Interesting that "breakdown" was the popular term then. "Blooper" is a little less judgmental. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 05:55, 13 February 2010 (UTC)