McG is insane!!

McG is typically enthusiastic, Carpenter keeps him grounded and focused on the set up and design of many shots. Some scenes that look more fake and CGI were actually filmed practically.

McG had an ambitious wishlist of locations, to include Colorado and Hawaii, but mostly they shot in and around sets in the LA area, often in parking lots. The partnership between the more experienced Carpenter and McG as a first time director is often mentioned. McG is thankful that Carpenter was willing to run with and achieve some of the wild ideas contained within the vision of the film.

McG wanted a storybook feel, each scene would be similar to turning page and seeing distinct colors.

McG reveals his inspirations, influences and hommages, some of which were more obvious than others. The Matrix, John Woo films, Iron Monkey, True Lies, Bond, John Hughes filsm, Scorsese! and Boogie Nights.

They started filming without a locked script, which aided to collaboration, particularly to ideas from Bill Murray. They used multiple cameras on Murray to capture any improvisational gold that he might not duplicate in subsequent takes.

Crispin Glover had many notes and thoughts for his character.

The Townsend Detective Agency was on the same street set used in Back to the Future. They used the same house that was featured in E.T., completed with a movie poster and Reeses Pieces.

McG seems to be a car buff, pointing out some history of cars used - backup vehicle for Bullitt, pace car for Indy 500, etc.