Don’t Let Captain America Snarl Your Summer Semester.

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 CLICK on map graphic to see road control and closures full screen. Graphic courtesy of The Greater Cleveland Film Commission
CLICK on map graphic to see road control and closures full screen.
Graphic courtesy of The Greater Cleveland Film Commission

Road Closures… Boo; Watching Movie Magic Happen… Yay!

By Jeremy Hopkins
Western Campus Associate Editor

Keep your tempers in check because movie filming continues to tie up traffic this summer.

For ease of navigating around tie-ups, The Greater Cleveland Film Commission has a schedule of when and which streets are affected.

CLICK table to see daily road closures or restrictions full screen. Courtesy of The Greater Cleveland Film Commission
CLICK table to see daily road closures or restrictions full screen.
Courtesy of The Greater Cleveland Film Commission
We all know about the Detroit Shoreway being closed off, which is not helping students get to the Metro campus. On June 14, road restrictions due to filming goes East side when Cedar Avenue will also be unavailable between Overlook Road and Murray Hill. Another street by the Cleveland Clinic will be closed that same day. And East Boulevard between Bellflower and Wade Oval will be closed on Thursday, June 20, as well as Thursday, June 25.

Obviously this affects commuting to school and work. It’s suggested commuters plan an alternate route accordingly. Even RTA has a list of affected bus routes, although their service certainly relieves some of the stress of traffic. You can find the list of affected routes on RTA’s website at www.riderta.com/captainamerica.

Both the film commission and RTA have a proposed schedule of dates that show filming is wrapping up around June 26. Regular traffic should resume to normal conditions at that time.

However, right now, there are no published listings of open shoots scheduled. If you happen to find yourself near a location that is filming, and the crew does not mind onlookers gathering, there are a few things you should take into account.

Film Watching Etiquette

1. Be Polite

Remember, this is their job. And while it might be a cool job, or a fascinating event, their primary focus is on getting the shot they are looking for, not herding onlookers. Don’t interrupt them, don’t take anything, ask before you touch, stand politely and quietly out of the way, and realize they may ask you to move. As much as you don’t like to be interrupted at work or studying, they don’t always appreciate distractions or interruptions either.

2. It’s Not All Excitement on Set

Filming a movie is not as exciting as it might sound. Rarely are the shots done in one take. In fact, it often requires multiple takes to get one complete scene. Even portions of scenes are spliced together over a period of several days. Long after you might get bored, they are still filming the same 30-second scene.

3. Don’t Mug for the Cameras

Film is not cheap. Even filming digitally costs, as there are things like salaries of actors, crew, police, security (often paid by the hour), and permits to the city. Often, film crews are given a permit of certain hours to shoot — having to redo a scene because someone walked into a shot that wasn’t supposed to be there can set the occasionally tight schedule behind. While this might be an inconvenience, as some filming areas are preventing people from going to lunch or returning to work or class, they will try to keep these interruptions to a minimum.

4. Be Careful Where You Park

Just because the filming is going on in that parking lot doesn’t mean that others are open. There was recently a settlement between the production company filming here and a parking lot operator, which resulted in limited access to one lot that had been blocked from use. The parking lot needs to remain open for business, but the production crews need a certain amount of space and privacy. Also, if you are parked in the wrong place, your car can be towed and impounded, which will certainly put a damper on anybody’s day.

5. Be a Good Representative for Cleveland

Remember that the film cast and crew are visitors to our city. They already filmed one Marvel movie here, and we have more movies coming each year. We want them to come back. Being a good host will help Cleveland get more films. While I’m not suggesting it will happen, if we leave a good enough “taste” with the production crew, it is possible that we might be accorded some media presence for a movie premier. It was not that long ago that Will Smith premiered a movie in Cleveland; it’s not unreasonable to conclude we might be able to attract others.

Happy film watching, safe driving in snarled roads, and when the movie is released, take pride that your hometown was featured for the world to see — Made in Cleveland.

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