ECNS.cn has a few more details on the reshoot at the Chongqing's Wulong Karst National Geology Park in China. As before there was no mention of cast and crew so it seems the filming mostly involved getting establishing shots and plates for CGI purposes.

The final cut of this scene is about 2 and a half minutes. The shooting is mainly for a bird's eye view of the two bridge-like landforms, and a fight scene between transformers takes place under them. Then a transformer walks out from below the two "bridges". Huang Daosheng, Manager of Wulong Karst Landform Co., said.

Because the bridges are part of a world natural heritage, the film crew did a thorough test to make sure the shoot would not damage the bridge. The shoot has also lured a number of curious tourists to the site.

China's ECNS.cn is reporting that a Transformers 4 crew returned to Chongqing's Wulong Karst National Geology Park for some reshoots. The area was one of the locations Michael Bay and company filmed at back in October 2013. The article doesn't indicate if Bay or any of the cast was on hand but it sounds like 2nd unit coverage to assist with a CGI sequence.

Due to the recent script alterations, the crew was forced to once again visit the Three Natural Bridges scenery of Fairy Maiden Town in Wulong County on Monday, and used two helicopters to get several grand aerial shots of the tiankengs (giant dolines) and naturally formed bridges on Tuesday and Wednesday. The scenes they shot will be used in "Transformers 4" to add visual impact.

(va TFW2005)

Chinese website M1905 has posted a bunch of video from the various Hong Kong sets of Transformers: Age of Extinction. Sprinkled in the set are interviews with some of the cast. Most of the videos are in Mandarin but you can catch a lot of behind the scenes stuff as Michael Bay, Jack Reynor (Shane Dyson), Mark Wahlberg (Cade Yeager), Nicola Peltz (Tessa Yeager), Stanley Tucci and the crew work. TFW2005 was able to gleam a few story tidbits (below). The full set of videos is here. As for the sword image to the left, that was found by GabrielPrime and seems to an image of the Cybertronian sword that Mark Wahlberg's been carting around on many of the film's sets.

- Reynor: Shane is secret Irish race car driving boyfriend of Tessa's due to dad's no dating rule. Gains trust of Cade by saving Tess and Cade's life early in the movie.
- Tessa's mother is dead, result is Cade being over protective of her.
- Cade and Optimus become friends due to their (similar) code of ethics.
- Prime forced into situation of choose doing the right thing over his own life while Cade must choose between himself or his daughter (guessing translation problem because choice is always obvious for hero characters, Prime especially)
- Li Bingbing's character is owner of a factory in China (guessing something to do with the rumored Chinese Transformers)
- One Cybertronian speaks Mandarin only.
- The movie's third act takes place entirely in Hong Kong.

No idea where in China Transformers: Age of Extinction is filming but over the weekend a few sites posted images from the Hong Kong filming that ended last week ago. Nothing new covered, shows Mark Wahlberg, Nicola Peltz, Jack Reynor, Stanley Tucci and others at work on various scenes along with another look at the sword key thingie. Links: Business Insider | The Daily Mail | TFormers

Once again Hong Kong, China shows its ugly side as a crew of four attempted to extort money from Transformers: Age of Extinction production. This sounds like a repeat of last week's attempt. One of the four involved have been arrested with police looking for the other three. No violence or injuries reported. From Hong Kong's The Standard:

Police are searching for three men in connection with a second blackmail attempt on the production crew of Transformers: Age of Extinction.

One of the suspects was arrested while three others fled when police were called on Tuesday.

A week ago several men roughed up US director Michael Bay and some crew members. There are fears the incidents may tarnish the image of Hong Kong in the movie world.

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Transformers: Age of Extinction had a productive weekend as filming continued in Kong Kong as bunch of videos found by TFormers.com show. The first video shows the entire core cast as they filmed a sequence that involved Stanley Tucci and Mark Wahlberg carrying a body bag like shape (maybe filled with those Cybertronian swords/keys?) with Sophia Myles, Nicola Peltz and Jack Reynor following close behind. The 2nd video is Bay prepping for a vehicle sequence and the actors killing time during steups. The 3rd video is the Freightliner being chased by three different colored SUVs, next is quick video of 'Bee turning a corner. Fifth video is extra's running around a corner as pyrotechnic sounds are heard and a piece of building lands in the street. After that is essentially a smoke bomb going off on top of a bus going over a curved overpass, the 7th is more of Bay prepping a scene and the last video is a slideshow of images from filming. Speaking of images, click here for another gallery images of the actors filming the body bag scene and other things.
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The final leg of principle photography for Transformers: Age of Extinction has begun in Hong Kong, China. Unfortunately, the first day did not go smoothly. Hong Kong newspaper, Sharp Daily, is reporting that three men attacked the crew for not receiving part of the rent fee for using the location the production was at. Seibertron's translation indicates the altercation ended up involving the three suspects, three policemen and Michael Bay. I can't say surprised Bay got involved as I suspect he has a trait that (good) bosses should have - he can berate his team but beware anyone else that does it. It ended with the three under arrest and no one injured.
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Transformers 4 production is on the verge of starting back up in China. New images show various Transformer cars, including a maybe new one, showing up in the country to prep for around a month's worth of filming. The cars spotted in China are Bumblebee (2014 Camaro), Hound, Corvette Stingray, Bugatti, Pagani Huayra and a new red vehicle identified as a 2014 Ferrari 458 Italia Speciale (left pic).

In Dark of the Moon, the Transformers called "Dino" (or Mirage) was also a 458 Italia but I would be surprised if that character returned considering his near non-existent part in the last film. Also the car looks too much like the Pagani (right pic) to a non-car aficionado like me and most movie goers. The range in vehicle colors is no accident as it is a design choice to make it so requires only a glance for viewers to know what character they are looking at regardless of the make and model of the alt mode. The addition breaks that formula so guessing it serves some other purpose than a TF alt mode. It is also possible the car arrived on the same ship (or plane) as the other vehicles but has nothing to do with TF4 production.
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An article in the Chongqing Evening News has revealed some of the locations that Transformers: Age of Extinction will be filming at the Wulong Karst which contains the Three Natural Bridges and Qingkou Tiankeng Scenic Area. Sounds like a nice prehistoric location to potential explain the origin of the Dinobots. Below is the google translation of the story reporting the info so you do not be surprised if some of it doesn't really make sense. For example, there is a suggestion the Chinese title of the film is "Transformers 4: Extinct Rebirth" but my guess that is the translation of a translation resulting in the weird english version that isn't correct. Read More »

As part of the co-production agreement with China, Transformers 4 producers participated in a reality show called "Transformers 4 Chinese Actors Talent Search Reality Show" to find four additional actors to appear in the movie. The show has now ended its run and the winners have been announced as (l-r) Austin Lin (as a computer geek), Teresa Daley (as Loli), Bryon Li (as a Kung Fu fighter) , and Candice Zhao (as a "sexy goddess"). The four were chosen from a starting pool of 70,000 applicants. The extent of their roles is unknown but probably just a few lines here and there when scenes are filmed on mainland China sometime in October. (via Seibertron)

Thanks to Daavaaad's channel, we have a total of twelve videos that give you a look at the downtown Detroit set that represents part of Hong Kong, China for Transformers 4. Yesterday's video captured a scene being filmed underneath the People Mover. The 1st video gives you the street level view of that scene with Mark Wahlberg in the passenger side of a blue SUV as it drives in reverse towards what all the extra's are running away from. The 2nd vid is more of the extras running while the 3rd and 4th is Wahlberg's stunt double and crew prepping for a scene with the SUV. After that we have the 5th vid with a close-up look at the People Mover covered with Asian advertisements while vids 6 and 7 are an aerial views of the set from the same Mover. From there we have vids 8 through 11 give you a look at various areas around the set and all the Asian details added to it.

Last but not least is a great look at Bumblebee (2014 Camaro), two green 2014 C7 Corvette Stingrays, and Hound (Oshkosh Tactical Vehicle). Not sure why there are two of the Corvettes. Maybe one is the "hero" car and the other is the stunt car, maybe they are the Revenge of the Fallen Twins in new alt modes?


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Jerry B. is at again. This time with another video from filming in downtown Detroit from earlier today. The snippet of the scene takes place under The People Mover after the subway car had been "knocked off" the rail (see 2nd video here). According to Deadline Detroit, "a blue SUV races backward while an off-camera crane drops debris and a car near them -- presumably thrown by a Transformer to be added via computer-generated imagery." The part we seen is people screaming down a section of road as pyrotechnics go off followed by a car and debris being dropped onto the road. The site also said that Thursday will be the last day of filming before heading to Delta Township. Thanks to Wynton R. for the link.

A set of images posted by Andy on the Hot Fudge Detroit forums has revealed the first look at the head of one of the Transformers characters that will appear in Transformers 4. The pictures show a "bearded" pipe smoker that suggests Kup but could also fit for Hound since his vehicle has been on the set. The head on pole trick is used to give actors proper line of sight to the characters for when they are digitally added in post production. The head pics are part of an aerial view set that gives you great look of the action that seems to involve a wedding party. I thought the pics were from Wednesday based on the forum post date but it actually seems to be from today based on a new video from Jerry B. Below are some of the photos, the whole set can be found here. Thanks to Matt B. for the link.

Transformers 4 has invaded Detroit as filming has begun at the China set in downtown Detroit. Thanks to Jerry B. we have this interesting image of Mark Wahlberg carrying a Cybertronian sword (or Cybertronian key?). He also filmed the scene below that Jerry noted took about three hours to setup. The brief scene involves Bumblebee, Hound and some Bayhem as Mark runs through the set with sword as explosions go off. This is definitely not a US side scene as the cars are not something you normally see in the States. Michael Bay is the guy in the white shirt.

Jerry also said that the explosions were big enough to send debris to his location requiring him to duck. Also, somewhere in that chaos is Stanley Tucci and Jack Reynor each holding a strap on a large black bag that must be heavy since have to share the load with crew members carrying back for the reset between each practice take. Update: Added another video that shows same thing from a completely different angle.
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Thanks to Jerry B. here are video and more pictures of the China set in downtown Detroit. The pictures show Transformers 4 crew adding elements to the set including Chinese vehicles and a Chicago subway car. The 1st video one provides a nice overview of the China village while the other shows how easily the crew can place the heavy subway car onto its side to appear as if knocked off the People Mover (or whatever the Chicago equivalent is). Michael Bay and company are supposed to start filming at the site today.

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Starting today Transformers 4 production hits Detroit, Michigan starting at the China set location that has been under construction for over a month Taking advantage of the People Mover that goes nearly through the set, below is a video that gives you a nice view of the set. I am not entirely sure but I think the location is really three or more sets combined. One section looks like a Chinese village, another like a shopping center (or mall facade, not really sure), and another might fit near shipping docks with a cave structure built out of cargo containers.

After over a month of building, Transformers 4's China set is about to get used and abused as filming at the site begins on Monday. As the pictures from Jerry show, the set seems to be the aftermath of a battle that eventually be edited with actual footage filmed in Hong Kong. In an an interview with TF4 producer Ian Byrce to the Detroit Free Press, a little bit more info was provided on what the set will be used for.

“Next week, we begin in Detroit on the big set we’ve built underneath the monorail,” says “Transformers 4” producer Ian Bryce, referring to the Asian-style structures that have been constructed next to Grand Circus Park — near the People Mover.

Detroit will be portraying Hong Kong for the shoot, which is expected to run through the second week of August.

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When we last got a look at the China set being built in Detroit for Transformers 4, a blue circular shape thing was being built. The use of blue suggested it was for CGI elements. As the new images taken today by Jerry B. show (below), it is really a piece of a building that broke off and crash landed on the ground, probably related to the battle-damage the set has built into many of its elements. In addition across the street they have re-dressed with Chinese store fronts and are bringing in a destroyed and damaged cars, some with Chinese writing on them, to help dress the set further once they complete construction. MLive.com has also posted their own gallery of the set that was probably taken last week as the roof thing was still blue. Thanks to Jerry for his great pictures and @mikewayland for the link.
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In a new update from the China set being built in downtown Detroit for Transformers 4, Jerry B. discovered a new addition to the set (his previous pics here and here). A blue styrofoam cylindrical contraction is being constructed on a large wooden base. Usually a blue prop is a signal that visual effects will be used to fill out the rest of the piece but it is needed as the actors will be interacting with it physically in some way. In the past that include a blue portion of Prime's shoulder being built or a blue mock-up of the Decepticon ship that Shia LaBeouf rode on in Dark of the Moon.

So what do you think? A new space ship? Portion of a Transformer and if so what character? Maybe a portion of a building for when TF4 production moves to China? I doubt the film stars will be sent to China so maybe it is a means of filming those scenes without actually setting foot in the country. It will be interesting to find out. Thanks to Jerry below are more pictures of the blue prop along with a good look at some of the built in damage to the set as well as subway car that apparently plays a part in whatever the set is for.
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It seems the China set that Transformers 4 is starting to come together based on new images from MLive.com. The set, located near United Artist Theater on Bagley at Clifford Street, has been under construction for over a month now. The last update showed some of the details coming together, now a lot more detailing has been added clearly showing a mini replica of some Chinese location coming together. No idea on when filming will start at the location. The full gallery of the set can be found here.