'Transformers 2' wraps on-campus filming

Filming of the movie Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen took place on campus last weekend, drawing large crowds of passersby struck by the Hollywood scene and hoping to catch a glimpse of the film's director Michael Bay and star actor Shia LeBeouf.

"This is the first big studio motion picture that's been filmed on campus proper," said University spokeswoman Phyllis Holtzman.

During filming, Penn's distinctive "Love" sculpture was camouflaged by a leaf net, fueling a widespread campus rumor that the college of choice for the film was not Penn but long-time rival Princeton University.

Despite the rumor, producer Lorenzo di Bonaventura said that the school featured in the film would remain unnamed.

Filming took place at the Psi Upsilon fraternity house, also known as "The Castle," - chosen for its distinguishable appearance - as well as in the Quadrangle.

Dozens of lighting fixtures surrounded the entrance to The Castle and the front of the house was covered in a black sheet. A mock advertisement for a fraternity party was displayed above the entrance during a portion of the filming.

Late Friday afternoon, the transformer "Bumblebee," a yellow Chevrolet Camaro, was escorted onto the scene by Philadelphia Police. A beige tarp covered the body of the car, its chrome rims sparkling from below.

The production crew was "overwhelmed" by their reception, said Holtzman. "From all accounts, they were thrilled with the filming," she said, noting that their willingness to film during the summer "made it much more viable."

Though Di Bonaventura is a 1986 Wharton graduate school almunus, he says that his degree did not play a role in selecting Penn as a filming site. Rather, a location scout chose Castle and the Quad because their characteristics satisfied producers' wants and because of Penn's central location for filming, which is also taking place in Bethlehem, Pa., Princeton, N.J. and Washington, D.C.

An executive at Warner Bros. Pictures for seven years, di Bonaventura also produced the first Transformers film, among other films. He credited his ability to "disseminate large volumes of information" and handle "lots of things going on simultaneously in multiple locations" to his Wharton education.

Dreamworks Pictures compensated the University for filming on campus, paying a location fee and reimbursing for expenses, Holtzman said.

Transformers 2 is not the only movie that has been filmed at Penn. The 1993 drama Philadelphia, starring Tom Hanks, famously portrayed Penn's Fisher Fine Arts Library as a law library. Franklin Field was used in the 2000 film Unbreakable and the 2006 film Invincible, and the filming of 1995 picture Twelve Monkeys took place at the University of Pennsylvania Medical Center.

Transformers 2 is scheduled for release in summer 2009.

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