Midwest Movie Maker

The quick answer? No. Filmmaker Chris Peplin (right) talks to director of photography, David Litz But there is a movie being made tonight at the corner of Detroit Avenue and Lakeland. The film is called Beautiful Garden . The film is by Cleveland native Chris Peplin, who wrapped  Beautiful Garden   earlier this year, and is now doing pick-ups (extra shots) to complete the film. Peplin grew up in the Cleveland area and, at an early age, realized his calling. He studied film at  Cleveland State , worked a few internships and then decided to fast-track his career by moving to L.A. to attend  The New York Film Academy . After completing the 12-month program, he carried the filmmaking torch back to the Midwest. Peplin wrote, produced and directed  Beautiful Garden . And it’s independent film at it’s best. With little budget, short schedules and never enough help, it’s the love of the craft and the need to tell a story that pushes small productions lik...

I took a trip downtown during my lunch hour today and was treated to a full hour of Avengers  action. As soon as I parked my car and walked down to the E. 9th set, the street exploded and the ground shook. Yes, another day of Joss Whedon and company blowing up Cleveland. Soon after the explosion, I was able to find a good spot to watch Chris Evans, as Captain America, rehearse a scene the crew would shoot a little later in the afternoon. Here's the video: You can see the scene in this great video from hschneider0917: You know what this looks like to me? Like the scene the production was rehearsing in Parma early last week. That's when we first saw a picture of Captain America's shield. Evans, most likely, was standing atop a car in that photo, looking much like he does here. In the above video, we get a glimpse of our baddies. Sort of. We actually see two stunt men dressed in motion capture suits. That's what all those white dots are. Which means they wil...

Some news we haven't read yet, but just floated into our mailbox from a female friend in the news biz: local Channel 19 Action News anchor  David Wittman  will get a shot at making the big screen in The Avengers. The production is expected to shoot at or near the station in the coming days. What's his role? Well, we're guessing newscaster, of course. What will he report on? Probably the massive explosions on 42nd Street. Those took place on the E. 9th New York City set today, much to the delight of spectators.   Cleveland.com has great video of the explosion, but we like this cell phone video from inside an office overlooking the set, from @kuriousrangiku. Finally, a few shots from the smaller set the Avengers  crew is building on Public Square. I can't quite figure out what this is supposed to be. Any ideas? Oh, and apologies to the prop department. I took my seven- and three-year-old to see the set this weekend, and my daughter did what three-year-olds ...

Here are a few simple Avengers  tidbits we've discovered in the last few days, just by reading the local papers and by doing a little searching online. First, Samuel (Nick Fury) Jackson was not the only actor to film in Sandusky at NASA's Plum Brook Facility. Jeremy (Hawkeye) Renner was the there as well, according to The Morning Journal , Lorain County's daily paper, along with Tom (Loki) Hiddleston and Clark (Agent Phil Coulson) Gregg. Speculation? Holding cell for Loki? In the preview at the end of Captain America , we see Loki marched in under guard. With these three in the scene, alongside the king of all liars, it would seem that way to me. Total guess, though. Another total guess that seems way off now? Our guess that the structure built early on for the E. 9th set in downtown Cleveland might be Stark Tower? Seems a bit unlikely now. Unlikely because the set, doubling for 42nd Street, is looking a lot like 87 E. 42nd Street - Grand Central Terminal . If you Ma...

More information is trickling in about the soon-to-shoot Avengers  film. One great resource is Cleveland.com's official Avengers page.  Part of The Plain Dealer , Cleveland's daily newspaper, the site is connected to the production in a way that only daily metropolitan newspapers can be. It's here we first learned that the E. 9th Street set is a replica of New York City's 42nd Street. I've been scrolling through Google Earth to see if it's an exact replica, but I can't find restaurants like "Grand Central Bistro". (Let us know if you can find the real place, if it exists.) We also learn more about The Avengers'  production in Sandusky at NASA's Plum Brook facility . Plum Brook is home to the world's largest space environment simulation chamber . It's designed and constructed to test both nuclear and non-nuclear space hardware in a simulated low-Earth-orbiting environment. Word is only one Avengers cast member is shooting at NASA...

I know, I know. You can't compare these to Christian Bale in Bat fatigues battling Bane on the streets of Pittsburgh. But then again, they haven't started filming The Avengers  on the streets of Cleveland - yet . Though we originally thought filming would start on Aug. 8th along E. 9th and Euclid, it turns out that shooting actually begins on Aug. 15.  Though filming has begun in Sandusky, Ohio, at a NASA facility located there. Past news reports explain that this facility can approximate outer space (we'll do a little more research to figure out exactly what this is/means), which worked well for the film. In the meantime, here are a couple more pictures from set construction downtown. These come from a friend who works nearby, who has promised more shots in the days and weeks to come. Here we see some rubble (woo-hoo! rubble!) and a better shot of the building facade. I'm still betting this is the front of Stark Tower, but no confirmation on that. My extra-frie...

Trailers are parked and the sets are built. It's time for The Avengers  to start shooting in downtown Cleveland. Officially, Monday, August 8, is the start date, but rehearsals began as early as Saturday on East 9th Street near t he mysterious Stark Tower (or not so mysterious, if it turns out not to be Stark Tower and just some facade of any old building in New York City). A friend is excited to be an extra on the shoot, but he's sworn to secrecy, so we want to respect that. What we can tell you is a lot you probably already anticipated: there will be explosions downtown, there will be a big battle downtown, and that battle will turn up on film somewhere near the end of the movie. We also know that Joss Whedon's already working. The writer/producer/director was on hand for rehearsals and, my friend says, was cheery and friendly to cast and crew. He also said he learned the cast (including Robert (Iron Man) Downey, Jr ., Chris (Captain America) Evans , Samuel L. (Nick ...