UPDATE 2! Officially Star Wars: Episode 7 Filming Has Started in Abu Dhabi! Filming to Last for 2 Weeks?

star wars

The game is officially on! The picture has been posted on Bad Robot’s Twitter Account…



Few days ago I told you that I expect them to release an official picture from the set when they start filming. May 16th will be a day long remembered. Begun the new trilogy has!

I love the little hint with the sand on the clapperboard. They’re filming in Abu Dhabi, not Pinewood as some other rumors suggested.

#dayone pic.twitter.com/18jtSH7xYM
— Bad Robot (@bad_robot) May 16, 2014

UPDATE!

Here’s an article posted by the GulfNews yesterday confirming that filming will start on Friday May 16. Looks like they were right. They also revealed that according to their source filming will last for 2 weeks:
From GulfNews:
A person with knowledge of the film confirmed to tabloid! exclusively that filming will begin on May 16, contrary to several reports stating that it began on Tuesday.
The source added that filming would last for about two weeks, bringing the duration of the Abu Dhabi desert shoot up until the end of May.
Filming in the UAE is likely being supported by local production company twofour54, most recently responsible for the filming of action flick Fast & Furious 7 in the capital city. Production company twofour54 are also the local production partners for Bollywood film, Bang Bang. 
So their source was right about the start of filming so I guess the 2 weeks filming period has to be considered very probable.

UPDATE 2!

Just a slight clarification on the letters and numbers on the clapperboard:

AL40 – name and number of the shot (let the speculations begin)
N(D 0.)6 – filter of the lens
5.8 – lens aperture

36 – number of the scene 


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Founder of SWNN, MNN and The Cantina forums.

Born on April 24, 1980.

Val Trichkov (Viral Hide)

Founder of SWNN, MNN and The Cantina forums.Born on April 24, 1980.

65 thoughts on “UPDATE 2! Officially Star Wars: Episode 7 Filming Has Started in Abu Dhabi! Filming to Last for 2 Weeks?

  • May 16, 2014 at 5:29 am
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    Here we go!!!

    • May 16, 2014 at 9:14 am
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      Or as Jake Lloyd would put it, “Yippee!”

    • May 16, 2014 at 2:19 pm
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      That’s sooooo WIZARD!!!

  • May 16, 2014 at 5:46 am
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    WELCOME BACK VIRAL! A solid post…

  • May 16, 2014 at 6:15 am
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    Or maybe Bad Robot’s twitter account was hacked and they updated a fake pic. Yep, that’s probably what happened. Ok, enough moronicness!

    HOORAY!!!!!!!!

    THIS WILL BE A DAY LONG REMEMBERED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

  • May 16, 2014 at 6:18 am
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    Fuck YEAH!

    So AL40… is that the type of lens they’re using? Any gear heads here that care to fill us in?

    • May 16, 2014 at 12:19 pm
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      I’m not cool or rich enough to use those Panavision toys but that’s a close focus lens.

    • May 16, 2014 at 2:06 pm
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      Useful if you’re focusing on a character’s face when they find something wondrous amongst the remains or rubble from a great battle, perhaps.

    • May 16, 2014 at 11:19 pm
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      … or ALREADY we’re being exposed to Abrams’s bullshit with those stupid, frequent extreme close-ups.
      First fuckin’ shot & we’re already doomed ….

  • May 16, 2014 at 6:22 am
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    thank goodness they didn’t feel the need to change the look of the Star Wars logo… also thats a pretty standard T-Stop.

  • May 16, 2014 at 7:07 am
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    You were spot on with the Abu Dhabi reports VIRAL. The mystery at-at foot a month ago

  • May 16, 2014 at 7:08 am
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    How many hours ahead is Abu Dhabi from EST?

  • May 16, 2014 at 7:10 am
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    Awesome!!!!!!! Thanks for the killer post VH! I wonder if that is the canonical SW logo or the EU SW logo? 😉

  • May 16, 2014 at 7:11 am
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    Yeah for the record it was an Aussie bloke who discovered the at at foot! Me! Search the IP, you know it to be true.. btw Thats def sand on the clapper, Abu Dhabi alright

    Redski

  • May 16, 2014 at 7:34 am
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    Here goes nothing!

    • May 16, 2014 at 8:11 am
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      Anyone can edit IMDb. Not only that but even there it says “rumored”. This rumor is as good as all the hundreds of cast rumors we’ve already heard. I’m sure soon this will be pulled down.

    • May 16, 2014 at 1:59 pm
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      Maybe somebody at Lucasfilm is messing with our heads! Colin Baker was a Timelord who could regenerate and travel through time. Nexus means the centre or the focus. It can also mean a connection between people or things.

    • May 16, 2014 at 9:13 am
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      hehe ” they didn’t hire me they hire me minus 35 Pounds “
      wonderful humor
      Can’t wait to she her in the new movies.

    • May 16, 2014 at 11:05 am
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      Her weight is OK now, but decades of smoking have sadly wrecked her voice. Perhaps they can do some digital magic nowadays and bring it closer to what it once was. Frankly, I would rather have some other actress overdub her than hearing “Leia” talk like this.

      I guess this would be sacriledge to some fans, but the result would easily sound far more like classical Leia than what Carrie Fisher can deliver nowadays.

    • May 16, 2014 at 3:23 pm
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      I am fine with her voice. It thought it had already gotten “smoky” by Return of the Jedi. A lot of the Endor scenes it can be heard.

    • May 16, 2014 at 4:46 pm
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      Poor Leia. The Princess should have stayed off the death sticks, though her vice was mercifully never shown onscreen.

      If you pause as she goes “No-o-o!” when Tarkin is about to blow up Alderaan, you can tell that her teeth are already yellow (that is, her FRONT teeth are still nice and white — presumably the only ones she bothered to brush). But we can assume that the trauma of losing her home planet contributed to her excessive death stick consumption in the following years.

    • May 16, 2014 at 9:43 pm
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      Shit I must be the only motherfucker who’s attracted to her more now than how she looked when she was younger.

  • May 16, 2014 at 8:55 am
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    hi from Abu Dhabi . It has been a great day at the star wars filming area

    • May 16, 2014 at 8:59 am
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      Nermal, is that you?

    • May 21, 2014 at 1:58 pm
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      too hot . I wiish I was ben . But im not

  • May 16, 2014 at 10:35 am
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    YES!

    Two weeks sounds about right since E7 will probably take place in many different places. 🙂

    Awesome!

  • May 16, 2014 at 11:04 am
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    I’ve got a bad feeling about this…..

  • May 16, 2014 at 11:27 am
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    Here we go – May the force be with them….

  • May 16, 2014 at 11:47 am
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    FINALLY! Game on!

  • May 16, 2014 at 11:57 am
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    WOO-HOOOOOOOO!!!!!

  • May 16, 2014 at 12:42 pm
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    Quote Gus Tano:WEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

  • May 16, 2014 at 12:47 pm
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    I’m still not convinced filming has not already been underway. Secrecy lies in deception, you know.

  • May 16, 2014 at 1:45 pm
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    scene 36 that is around the where Han Solo meets Jabba in a new hope.

  • May 16, 2014 at 2:06 pm
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    Nice job Viral, you called it. This is good stuff! We finally have regular official news. No more gut feelings, recast nonsense, and fake breakfasts. Since they are filming, we can anticipate some more casting announcements.

    • May 16, 2014 at 2:09 pm
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      Not just casting announcements, but possibly even concept art, teaser images, etc. This is where the news gets real!

  • May 16, 2014 at 2:12 pm
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    This shit just got real! Yes!!!

  • May 16, 2014 at 2:13 pm
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    I heard that Luke Skywalker will have a Mini Me. Any truth to that I wonder..

  • May 16, 2014 at 2:49 pm
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    N6 is actually the lens flare they use. Like eskimoes with snow, JJ has over 100 classifications.

    (I kid, I kid!)

    • May 16, 2014 at 3:53 pm
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      I effing cringe every time I see someone use a quote or reference from Phantom Menace. “Now this is pod racing.” just brings back those awful memories of realizing just how bad the movie was after you saw it the 2nd, 3rd time. Then it started to become an abomination. It was a great movie, it really was…for me to poop on. Back on topic, childish complaining over!

  • May 16, 2014 at 3:11 pm
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    Woot! Great news!

    I would like to point out that ‘5,8’ isn’t focal length. It’s an F-stop, a measure of how open the shutter is. (Focal lengths are spoken of in millimeters).

    • May 16, 2014 at 3:15 pm
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      It’s a T-stop aperture value(a True Stop), from a de-clicked iris ring that is more accurate than an F-stop.

  • May 16, 2014 at 3:13 pm
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    Is it true that Colin Baker (the sixth Doctor) as won a small role in
    Episode VII?

  • May 16, 2014 at 3:40 pm
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    Just recieved word from the Star Wars official facebook page that filming began today at Pinewood…

  • May 16, 2014 at 3:43 pm
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    Meanwhile Latrino Review is scooping us again.

    • May 16, 2014 at 4:02 pm
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      I’m going to pass on that one. Let’s us fully enjoy this day.

  • May 16, 2014 at 3:47 pm
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    SO EXCITING!!! Can’t wait for more pics!! 🙂

  • May 16, 2014 at 3:51 pm
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    TIMES UP, LET’S DO THIS…LEEEERROOOOYYYY JENNKIINNNSSSS!!!!!!

    • May 16, 2014 at 5:12 pm
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      Hahaha. Nice!

    • May 16, 2014 at 5:27 pm
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      ^ – said Harrison coming out of his dressing room this morning :p

  • May 16, 2014 at 4:32 pm
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    Anonymous @4:15pm,
    Right you are. T-stop it is.
    (…but to the writer of this post: neither f-stops nor t-stops are focal lengths).

  • May 16, 2014 at 6:02 pm
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    According to this arabic newspaper, AbuDhabi was chosen due to the “unstable political situation in Tunisia”. You know Tunisia is where the “arab spring” started before egypt & libya.

    http://elaph.com/Web/Politics/2014/4/894475.html?entry=articleTaggedArticles

    Also the article mentions that Tunisia have announced a campaign of collecting donations to save the original “mos espa” & looking to get 160,000US$.

  • May 16, 2014 at 7:09 pm
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    More pics or it didn’t happen….

  • May 19, 2014 at 3:26 pm
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    Totally unnecessary detail but it’s a t-stop of 5.6 not 5.8.

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