Exclusive: Chicago Police Break Up Harvey Dent Viral Marketing Campaign For ‘The Dark Knight’

HollywoodChicago.com — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 10:07:13 -0600

CHICAGO – As we reported would happen on March 12, 2008, “The Dark Knight” enthusiasts indeed congregated in Chicago (as others will across the country on various other dates on this “Dentmobile” tour) to show their fictional campaign support for Harvey Dent – played by Aaron Eckhart in the July 18, 2008 superhero monolith – running for district attorney.

Those familiar with the film’s extensive viral marketing campaign enjoyed keeping “in character” and confusing uninformed Chicagoans who weren’t aware that the charade was actually in support of a storied politician within Hollywood. We feature below exclusive photos of the morning campaign from longtime HollywoodChicago.com source Vlkers54.

The morning campaign, which was supposed to run from 8 to 10 a.m., was cut short due to a Chicago police breakup after three minutes flat. Vlkers54 has provided us with the following detail about the morning.

Hey, Adam! Cops kicked us out!

I was at the 8 a.m. stop. I got there at 7:30 a.m. and I sure am glad I did. At 8:03 a.m., the cops came and kicked us out! Only me and another guy showed up, but we did end up getting a lot of free stuff [including] bumper stickers, posters, buttons and a T-shirt. You should have seen the people as they were coming out of the train station:

“Who is Harvey Dent?”
“What is this all about?”
“Is this for that movie?” (We responded: “What movie? ‘No Country For Old Men?’ That’s a movie!”)

We kept “in character” and promoted Harvey Dent for [district attorney] as if he were a real person. Confusing people was a lot of fun. Some people did catch on to what was going on. Even middle-aged men who knew who [Harvey Dent] was were excited, [asked] for buttons and filled out the petition forms.

It was a lot of fun, but let’s hope the cops don’t ruin the 11 a.m. and 4 p.m. sessions. I can’t make the 11 a.m., but I will be at the 4 p.m. trail.

~ Vlkers54

From 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., the Chicago campaign will be meeting at Jackson Street and State Street. From 4 to 6 p.m., the Chicago campaign will be meeting at the Canal and Madison commuter station. A full list of other viral marketing cities, locations, times and dates can be found here.

“The Dark Knight” viral marketing site IBelieveInHarveyDent.com is publishing photos like the above from across the U.S. here.

Click here for our full “The Dark Knight” image gallery!

10:16 p.m. update on March 13, 2008: We have learned that yet another new viral marketing site for “The Dark Knight” just went live: GothamElectionBoard.com. Why? You guessed it. There will be an actual election process for Harvey Dent with real voter registration cards sent in the mail. See this comment below for more information. A screenshot of the new site is below.

10:43 p.m. update on March 13, 2008: When it rains in “The Dark Knight” land, it usually pours. We just learned of yet another new viral site related to this campaign: GothamCityClerk.com. It announces the formulation of competition for this election campaign and implies the launch of even more viral sites. Read more about this in this comment below. A screenshot is below.

By ADAM FENDELMAN
Editor-in-Chief
HollywoodChicago.com
adam@hollywoodchicago.com

Details Surface on July 1, 2007 ‘The Dark Knight’ Shoot in Daley Center Courtroom

HollywoodChicago.com — Mon, 02 Jul 2007 13:46:00 -0600

CHICAGO – The same anonymous reader who shot the Navy Pier boat pictures has submitted to me thorough details about “The Dark Knight” shoot on July 1, 2007.

The filming location was the Daley Center at 50 W. Washington in Chicago. This was a scene shot in a small courtroom on the 15th floor. Warning: This can be perceived as spoiler information.

The many different scenes were shot in a courtroom on Sunday. The premise was a montage of all the scum being cleaned up from Gotham City.

In one scene, all the gangsters (the Maroni gang, the Rasta gang, the Humble gang, the scarecrow and miscellaneous gangsters) were on the right side of the courthouse with their defense attorneys seated next to them.

There were regular pedestrians on the left.

In the center aisle, Gotham City Department of Correction officers seperated the gangsters from the pedestrians. Eric Roberts as Sal Maroni was with his attorneys at the front of the room at the right side of the table.

On the left, there was Aaron Eckhart as Gotham City district attorney Harvey Dent. The assistant directors (Nilo Otero and Brandon Lambdin) gave all the direction with Chris Nolan supervising from the judge’s bench.

They cramed all the gangsters into this small courtroom to give the shot. They said it was a “comical” look with so many gangsters being arraigned at one time. The gangsters would stand up staggered by a number they were assigned by Otero.

The female judge would then begin reading the outrageous charges to all the gangsters. She asked: “How do you plea?” Then the prisioners and their defense attorneys would all scream different dialogue.

There were numerous takes done with the gangsters at different angles.

10:15 p.m. update: I received this follow-up e-mail from the same scooper:

By the way, Eric Roberts was very cordial and friendly to everyone he was near on Sunday in the courtroom. He was saying “hello” and “how ya doing?” to the extras who were close to him.

He had a smile on his face the whole time. At least on this day, this was totally different than the image of a hothead that is portrayed in the media.

By ADAM FENDELMAN
Editor-in-Chief
HollywoodChicago.com
adam@hollywoodchicago.com