Scream 4 Exclusive: On-set photo of Ghost Face revealed, new filming location & a Q&A with Bananadoc

Today, Scream Franchise Examiner has an exclusive photo of Ghost Face (obscured in silhouette) taken on the set of Scream 4 Monday night. Also, breaking news concerning today’s filming location and an insightful interview with Bananadoc…

Last night, Before The Trailer revealed that production will move to a private residence located at 1781 Arlington Blvd. in Ann Arbor today. This is said to be the town’s final location to be used for filming. The shots will be interiors—“’stabbing’ stunts and a scene with a breakaway glass door,” to be exact.

Also, R.J. Torbert of Fun World unleashed yet another tantalizing Tweet yesterday: corresponded with Wes Craven this morning. Filming still has about 1 month to go. While it has been rumored that production will continue through mid-to-late September, the location(s) have not yet been revealed.

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And now, Scream Franchise Examiner has the honor of presenting an exclusive interview with the infamous Bananadoc, a resident of Michigan who has been a frequent Scream 4 set observer. His reports (and photos) have delighted fans, who hang on his every word—and have also attracted the attention of sites such as Rolling Stone/Brazil, joblo.com, and starpulse.com. You can view his work at Michigan Movies and More. Bananadoc is also a regular guest contributor for Scream-Trilogy.net.

1) What has the community's response been to having SCREAM 4 film locally?

It's been overwhelmingly positive. Everyone is excited that movies are being filmed here. Everyone has their story of who they've seen at what restaurant, what pictures they've taken, or that Wes Craven came to their house. It's obviously a hot topic of conversation. I've spoken to the people whose homes have been used, and they've all had good things to say about the production team. Obviously they're being compensated, and they also get their house redecorated any way they want when filming is finished. Neighbors also get some financial compensation for the 'inconvenience' but most seem to think this is amusing, because they would have loaned their driveway/garage for free! No one has told me yet exactly how much they are getting paid! This is mostly small-town Michigan, so movies are pretty exciting for us. Everyone loves what the actors have been doing to promote Michigan--David Arquette with his regular Tweets about Ann Arbor and Michigan have made him very popular around here.

2) Can you tell us what the atmosphere appears to be like on set? How do the actors interact with each other between filming? Do they ever interact with the fans?

From what I've seen, it looks as though the cast is having a lot of fun. The 'youngsters' clearly seem to get along well and laugh and joke a lot together. They hug all the time, and are very 'touchy.' I saw Nico give Hayden a long neck rub on set the other night. Hayden and Emma hug a lot. Neve always seems to be laughing and smiling. Can you tell I have a small crush on her? When they are running through scenes before filming, there's also a lot of laughing going on, even though these night filming schedules must be exhausting. The watching crowd is only a few feet away, but the actors pretty much behave as if they aren't there and get on with their jobs. Occasionally, they will wave when arriving or leaving the set. Once or twice I've seen them come over to sign an autograph. The most sociable of the actors are David and Adam, who do really make an effort. They often come across later in the night shoots for autographs and photos with fans.

3) Security has tightened up recently. Can you share your experiences and/or observations in regard to this?

The Security Guards have a tough job to do and I don't envy them, but this has to be one of the easier gigs as the Ann Arbor crowds are pretty tame. Obviously they don't want people taking pictures, publishing them and giving away secrets of the movie. I respect this and I've done my best to tease rather than reveal when others have spilled the whole story. There are photographs I could have taken but didn't and I have a lot of photographs I haven't published because they reveal more than I think would be fair. Essentially I try to be unobtrusive, polite and courteous when taking photographs, and I don't want to cause any kind of disturbance or trouble on the set. Nor do I want to make them put everything behind wraps so no one else gets the chance to see the movie being filmed. On Thursday night they filmed a scene on the street behind screens for the very reason that they didn't want pictures going up on the internet.

Honestly when I started this, I was just taking pictures of my town and the process of movie making because it was so cool. I took a couple of shots I was proud of, and things kind of went crazy from there. I didn't anticipate the buzz around the Scream Trilogy or how far my pictures would be taken up and spread across the internet. I'm not the paparazzi, I'm not making any money out of this (despite being offered some!), and I have no wish to do anything but increase excitement over the movie. I hope that every picture I've taken increases the hype and helps the franchise make more money. Clearly I have been a little naive. To me a picture of blood on a bedroom wall was an awesome shot, but not a spoiler. I mean... it's Scream, people! A lot of people are going to die and there's going to be blood. I didn't tell anyone who died in the room even though I saw--along with everyone else in the crowd that night. But I totally hadn't considered the way in which Scream fans would analyze and debate the photograph.

4) You have witnessed some pivotal scenes being filmed. Without revealing any spoilers, can you tell us a bit about what you have seen? Also, do you think that being privy to this will damper the movie-going experience for you?

I've watched scenes being filmed now in Northville, Plymouth and Ann Arbor but honestly I haven't seen that much. Anyone who's been on a movie set knows how long it takes to film one small scene, and mostly I've seen those small snippets that don't mean that much out of context and out of order. The most fun of course is when Ghost Face is around. I've seen him a few times now, and seen maybe two deaths--you can't ever be sure in a Scream movie if the death is real, or if the person is actually dead, so the jury's still out on that. Obviously it's great when the actors are there, but it's fun just to watch the process of a movie being made. The bigger street scenes are most interesting to watch because there's a lot of stuff going on. Seeing the movie filmed definitely won't ruin it for me. In fact I would never have gone to see Scream 4 in a movie theater if I hadn't been involved like this. Now all my friends are planning to go in a big group and it will be a crazy night in the movie theater.

5) What inspired your visits to the set? How have the fans responded to the exclusive photos & reports that you have published?

Wes Craven was in town months ago scouting for houses to use, so that's the first time that Scream 4 entered my mind. I'd had coffee at the Next Chapter bookstore, and the buzz around them filming there was huge. I didn't go to any of the earlier shoots at the school and the courthouse, but when they came to my town I wandered down to watch and of course, took my camera. I managed to get a few good shots and after that I was hooked. The response to the reports and photos have been overwhelming and not anything I could ever have anticipated. The internet is a scary thing.

6) What is your greatest hope for SCREAM 4? Your biggest concern?

I hope it is a huge success and makes a ton of money for everyone so that they come back to make Scream 5 and 6 in Michigan! My biggest concern is that the movie will be too gory for me to watch. I never watch horror movies because I'm really squeamish.

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With thanks to Bananadoc for sharing his insider’s perspective…

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If you missed Scream Franchise Examiner’s exclusive interview with R.J. Torbert, Director of Licensing/Product Development of Fun World (the company that changed the face of fear forever with the inception of GhostFace®) , you can now read an updated, full-length version here.

Got an inside scoop that you’d like to see appear in print? Email Scream Franchise Examiner at OyeJohn52@aol.com…

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