Transformers 3

OK, let’s get this straight: so, doing 100mph in a Chevy on the National Mall and setting off a lot of explosions near the White House, even fake ones, is bad? Right, OK, got it. Michael Bay and his crew have been planning to do quite a lot of shooting in Washington D.C. for Transformers 3, but the city isn’t so keen on some of the production’s plans. I bet this Roland Emmerich would never be subject to such indignity.
The Washington Post says the production had scheduled 14 days of shooting in the city, with quite a bit of prep and wrap time associated with those active days, but is now scaling back that schedule because the National Park Service isn’t game for some of the stuff the producers want to do.
Like what? A spokesperson for the Park service says producers “have asked to do some things that simply are not done on the National Mall,” including shooting a car race or chase scene on the Mall’s gravel paths. “A lot of this could be more appropriately shot in a Hollywood studio,” he said. “The National Mall is not an area in which Americans come to see high-tech action movies being shot.”
Then there are the “simulated explosions and pyrotechnics” on Pennsylvania and Independence Avenues. Can’t the gov’t just lock it up for a couple hours while Bay pretends to blow stuff up? Maybe this would work: disguise the shoot as a Tea Party rally.