Yesterday Londoners got a fright when they saw a double-decker bus explode on a bridge over the Thames River. Some people immediately thought it was a terrorist attack. Thankfully it was just a scene for a new movie starring Jackie Chan and Pierce Brosnan.
Production crews attempted to give some residents in the area warning that they were filming a movie, titled The Foreigner. But some people took to social media to complain that there weren’t adequate procedures in place to let everyone know that this was all a movie stunt.
The visibility of this bridge to so many people in London can make giving proper notification difficult. That being said, simply saying that a bridge will be closed arguably isn’t enough warning:
When you live in a place like Los Angeles you more or less get used to streets and buildings being blocked off from the public for movie stunts. And residents are often given warning about the specific nature of the filming so that people aren’t alarmed when they hear gunshots or explosions:
According to IMBD, the tagline for the film is, “The IRA took his family. The police looked the other way. Now he must get revenge.” Perhaps next time the producers will think about shooting the bus scene on a studio in front of a green screen.
[WSJ]