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Recreating the most famous
chase scene for the Alcatraz series
created a lot of attention and fun in the streets of San Francisco.
Anthony Bologna was again there and joined the team as close a possible, met Sarah Jones there, the main actor and send us some short movies of the actual filming. A very thrilling adventure, Anthony has a good
story with it to share with you:
How history has come a full circle with the
Bullitt chase coming to life after 44 years ago......Yes 44 years! Where
has the time gone!. My neighborhood was alive with Director Jack
Bender,assitant directors,trailers, lights, camera equipment, and film crew.
Posted on
the chase route buildings was an announcement that a car chase with
professionals was going to be filmed for a couple days. The cars
needed to moved and the film crew would be very cooperative with the
inconvenience.......
As, I'm walking
around the set,I noticed all the stunt drivers including Shauna Duggins
(2013 Mustang GT) and Jack Gill (2013 Charger) with Director Jack
Bender,and camera operators, had drawn a chalk story board on the
sidewalk with miniature cars displaying how the action would unfold......(see
first picture)
All of the stunt drivers had communication in
their cars, so that they knew when the director called ACTION or CUT.....or
safety was an issue everything came to a complete halt......The first of
many takes were at slow speeds, so that everyone knew what to expect of the
cars and how merciless the hills of San Francisco were on the
cars
The director and
camera crew from the Fox series "Alcatraz" spent hours filming
on Columbus and Taylor street trying to recapture one of the most iconic
scenes ever filmed in San Francisco. The chase from the 1968 film has been
called one of the greatest chase scenes of all time. "To be a part of something, that's paying respects, that I feel good about." said actress Sarah Jones. "But no one can fill Steve McQueen's shoes." ... ( KTVU) Jones plays detective Rebecca Madsen in the show, but her stunt double (Shauna Duggins) tackles the chase scenes. The Ford Mustang has the honor of being involved with perhaps the most iconic chase scene in history, with Steve McQueen piloting a 1968 Mustang Fastback in the movie Bullitt. The chase scene has had many reenactments although none can really capture the magic of the original. The Fox television series Alcatraz will be doing their very best to replicate the Bullitt chase in an upcoming episode March 26,2012. The show recently filmed various scenes of the chase in the streets of San Francisco using a brand new 2013 Mustang GT .
The series, in which a
group of investigators track down former "Alcatraz" prisoners who
somehow re-emerge in the present day, finds star Sarah Jones -- in Steve
McQueen-style turtleneck -- chasing a suspect through the same hilly streets
McQueen drove down . The Mustang is newer with better brakes airbags etc,
and a stunt woman, Shauna Duggins, does the actual driving
“We’re just trying
to recreate every single shot and add some more -so a lot of sliding around
the corners, a lot of getting close to things,” says stunt driver Jack
Gill. “It’s really easy to drive around slow, but when they say come
around it at 70 miles an hour, it’s a little different.” said Gill. (KTVU)
On a sad note, two
2013 Mustang GT cars were used for the chase.... The modified
one for the chase and jumper car will be destroyed when production is
done, while the hero car will still be around for future production......I
was told by the special effect crew on the set that the car will not be on sale
on Ebay or sold to the general public because of the modifications of
the engine,suspension, brakes,and add on's to protect the driver,
was not part of the Ford's original plan production or authorization of the
modifications.
You can also few some professional TV reporting on the making of...
KTVU.com local channel and website
report on the actual filming
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 The stunt drivers created a scale model scene to discuss the filming first. Rails indicate also the SFO cable car way. Blue Mustang on right and Charger in front.  Sarah Jones took time off to take a photo for our "Bullitt" web-site
More details from Anthony: |
