Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire (Chapter 08)

Chapter 08 has Melody getting a message, Trevor Spengler trying to trap Slimer, Lars Pinfield demonstrating the Orb of Garraka, and Nadeem Razmaadi getting checked out.

Cast[]

Listed as they appear in film.

Entities[]

Equipment[]

Items[]

Orb of Garraka

Vehicles[]

Ecto-1

Environmental[]

Places/Locations[]

Plot[]

The chamber where the brass orb was held began to frost up. A wave of cold traveled up through Brooklyn, through the Washingto Square Arch, and attacked the Firehouse basement a second time. Melody paused in the middle of the street. The lights went out. The wave of cold stopped at her. She claimed she was going as fast as she could then asked if it had to be Phoebe. The voice replied. Melody stated she understood. The lights around her came back on.

The next day, Trevor used Cheetos to lure Slimer from his trash pile to a Trap partly concealed with more Cheetos. Trevor had a clean shot but the Firehouse suddenly rumbled. Slimer saw Trevor and charged. Callie came into Phoebe's room and ordered her out of bed and to the basement immediately. The Containment Unit and basement was in even worse shape than before. Large holes were visible in the wall and the unit was further frosted over but still operational. Phoebe admitted she never saw anything like it.

Trevor, Ray, and Podcast returned to the Paranormal Research Center and learned about Lars's findings regarding the brass orb. Lars lit a fire under the orb only for it to be extinguished with extreme cold. He informed them it was near absolute zero, the degree at which all particles stop. Ray called it the suspension of life itself and found it exquisite. Ruth Myers tested a Slime Blower and doused another in Psychomagnotheric Slime. Lars used a grabber claw to pick up the orb and placed it up against the Puft Terrarium. Lars theorized whatever was inside the orb was controlling other entities with mind control. The Mini-Pufts inside jumped towards the glass, smashing themselves flat. Podcast recorded it with his phone. While everyone watched the Mini-Pufts, Possessor's Proton Field was sabotaged by an extreme cold. It escaped through the cracks in its glass, jumped into a mop leaning against its enclosure, and hid in Podcast's audiovisual gear. Ray was amazed by extreme thermodynamic excurions and thought transference and knew whatever was in the orb was dangerous. Trevor asked where they got the orb from.

Lucky, Lars, and Trevor went to Nadeem's apartment. Nadeem peeked outside and stated no refunds. He let them in once Lars clarified that was not the reason for the visit. Nadeem told them he had a lot to sell and he was a licensed third party reseller of sneakers. He asked Trevor what his shoe size was. Trevor answered he was a ten. Nadeem offered a size eight to no avail. Lucky took a liking to Nadeem's grandmother's favorite art because of the "nipple stuff." Nadeem recalled it was his grandmother's favorite so he couldn't part with it then asked what her offer was. Trevor asked what his grandmother's deal was. Nadeem recalled they weren't close because she found him unambitious but he asked who was braver, his brother who went to engineering school or he for forging ahead with no education or future prospects. Trevor favored the latter and Nadeem lit up in agreement.

Lars steered the discussion to the orb. Nadeem remembered that was from the secret room where all the really good stuff was but he was not supposed to let anyone in. He showed them the secret room behind the pantry. Lucky complimented him on the "sex dungeon" and for his grandmother's taste. Lucky looked at a pair of horns. Nadeem offered to sell anything they were interested in. Lucky asked Lars if the whole room was brass or copper. Lars recalled brass was believed to be a magical alloy that trapped demons and tales dated back to the time of Solomon. Lucky scanned the armor. Trevor played a string instrument and noticed the room had no echos like a dead room. Lucky teased grandma could be as loud as she wanted. Nadeem asked them to stop making sex jokes about his recently deceased grandmother. Lars speculated the room kept the orb quiet. Everyone became concerned when Lucky picked readings off Nadeem with a P.K.E. Meter. He asked what that meant. Lucky looked over at Lars then stated it meant Nadeem was coming with them.

Meanwhile, at Ray's Occult Books, Phoebe informed Ray she found a rotting carrot on a shelf. Ray revealed it was a human pinkie recovered from the old state hospital for the criminally insane in Pennsylvania before any ghostbusting equipment was built. She had a question for him.

Trivia[]

At the 45:04 to 45:07 mark, the scene starts with the camera on Havemeyer Street (to the right of Broadway) and heads towards the entrance of the Williamsburg Bridge Plaza Bus Terminal on Havemeyer between Broadway and South Fifth Street in Williamsburg, Brooklyn.
Melody talking to Garraka on the street was filmed outside C&S Beauty Supply at 87 Peachtree Street SW, Atlanta.
Washington Square Park was recreated using Lidar scans and photogrammetry. The matte painting team blended in blue screen plates with film tiles of cars in motion, photographs, and moving lights. Additional layers like the park bench and foliage provided an additional layer. The background by Melody was pre-treated with heat distortion and slightly desaturated and tinted. Melody was added in then color corrections were done. The team then worked on Melody's final look in the scene. Lastly, Phoebe and a blend of computer generated and practical chess pieces were composited on top.^[1]
The Firehouse attic was a set at Farnborough Film Studios in the United Kingdom.^[2]
The Slimer blue-screen was filmed at Winnersh Film Studios in the United Kingdom.^[3]
It took some convincing for Frito-Lays to give permission for the use of Cheetos in the second attic scene.^[4]
For the filming of scenes like the Cheetos one, Kevin Mangold was put in a harness and lifted into the air.^[5]
The Firehouse third floor set was at Winnersh Studios in the United Kingdom.^[6]
The Firehouse basement were two sets at both Shinfield and Winnersh Studios.^[7]
The Paranormal Research Center set was at Winnersh Film Studios in Wokingham, United Kingdom.^[8]
While Lars moves the Orb of Garraka around with a grabber claw, a scientist in the background tests a Slime Blower. The scientist was named after one of the movie's costume designers, Ruth Myers.^[9]
The name of the actor blasted with the Slime Blower is Duncan.^[10]
Nadeem's apartment was a set at Winnersh Film Studios, Winnersh, United Kingdom.^[11]
A last second addition, the cat on Nadeem's front door was drawn by Gil Kenan based on a doodle his wife used to do for their daughter Una and later a quilt business called Hopewell.^[12]^[13]
Nadeem claimed to be a licensed third-party reseller of sneakers.
Nadeem's video game is a modern take on Thou Art Dead, which appeared in Gil Kenan's first movie "Monster House".^[14]
Trevor's shoe size is ten.
Nadeem reveals he wasn't too close to his grandmother and his brother went to engineering school.
Nadeem mentions Pop-Tarts.
The Ray's Occult Books set was at Shinfield Studios in the United Kingdom during Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire production.^[15]
Ray reveals he, Egon, and Peter took a human pinkie with them from the "old State Hospital for the Criminally Insane in Pennsylvania" back when none of their ghostbusting equipment was built yet. He is alluding to the Farview State Hospital.
The human pinkie found by Phoebe was inspired by a mummy workshop Gil Kenan's daughter, Una, went to at the Natural History Museum in Los Angeles. Children were taught how to create their own mummies using carrots and foil. Una brought hers home and lost it. Two years later, Gil Kenan found it in badly deteriorated condition.^[16]^[17]

References[]

↑ Sony Pictures Imageworks – VFX "Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire | SIGGRAPH 2024 Production Session" 18:00-19:50 10/2/2024 Ben Aguillon says: "For the chess match, since it was shot against a blue screen in London, we ended up recreating Washington Square Park from lidar scans and photogrammetry. Our matte painting team led by Andrew Bain who's joining us here today. He'll share with us a little bit later. They did a great job putting everything together. They blended film tiles of car motion, photographs, moving lights, and other features to keep the background alive. They also provided additional layers like the bench and foliage on 3D cards to help with parallax during camera moves and then our comp team jumped in and pre-treated the background with heat distortion from the effect sim and slightly desaturated and tinted the area behind Melody then Melody was extracted from the blue screen plate, color corrections from the temp plate were added with slight adjustments to compensate for background changes and to keep continuity. A little bit of heat distortion was applied to her. Not too much. Mostly around her edges. And then an ethereal treatment was added, driven by the flame sim and brightness changes in the actor's plate which created those elongated highlights. A smoke pass was added strategically to add or reduce contrast in specific areas. And to finish off her look, the flames were added including occasional warm color accents for contrast. You can see our compers added peachy hues in some of the flames. And finally Phoebe and a blend of CG and practical chess pieces were composited on top."
↑ horacestunts instagram 4/4/2024 Kevin Mangold writes: "The Firehouse Attic Farnborough Film Studios, Farnborough, UK."
↑ horacestunts instagram 4/10/2024 Kevin Mangold writes: "The attic set was only at Farnborough, but the Research Center, Melody’s Diner, and the roof were at Winnersh. Also, that’s where the Slimer blue screen stuff was shot."
↑ Gil Kenan (2024). Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire- Commentary (2024) (Blu-ray ts. 47:10-47:20). Sony Pictures. Gil Kenan says: "In fact, I feel like we had to convince Cheetos... to let this disgusting, slimy spud pick up their snacks."
↑ Report All Ghosts! YouTube "GHOSTBUSTERS: FROZEN EMPIRE - Slimer - Kevin Mangold Interview" 29:43-29:55 4/2/2024 Kevin Mangold says: "I don't believe in 1984 Mark Bryan Wilson was ever put in any kind of harness. I don't think he was ever lifted. And I was. That's how I did the Cheetos. I was kind of flying."
↑ whitelock_design_limited 4/21/2024 Luke Whitelock writes: "Secondly this set was built at Winnersh studios and my ground floor set was based at Shinfield which was a 10 minute drive away so I couldn't oversee both sets and another Art Director (Tom Weaving) came on board to take over and oversee the finishes."
↑ whitelock_design_limited instagram reply 4/26/2024 Luke Whitelock writes: "there were two sets of the basement one at Winnersh and one at shinfield."
↑ horacestunts instagram 4/6/2024 Kevin Mangold writes: "Research Lab Winnersh Film Studios, Wokingham, UK."
↑ emilyngxx instagram 3/24/2024 Emily Ng says: "Since I've been in this industry, I never thought I would get the call to be a scientist for code name 'Firehouse'. Thank you so much to my agency, the casting team, for choosing me and big props to the director Gil Kenan. I absolutely loved my costume! The cast was amazing, and speaking to Bill Murray was so cool! He's such a nice person among everyone else. But I can't believe I got a picture with Paul Rudd!!! My experiences on set I will never forget, and that slime gun was epic! The crew was fantastic and really looked after me on and off set. Plus, catering was 5* It was a pleasure to play Ruth Myers."
↑ Gil Kenan (2024). Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire- Commentary (2024) (Blu-ray ts. 48:55-49:05). Sony Pictures. Gil Kenan says: "I remember that guy's name is Duncan. He was amazing. He was a day player, never had a line, but the guy who got slimed. Did it fearlessly, take after take."
↑ horacestunts instagram 4/9/2024 Kevin Mangold writes: "Nadeem's apartment Winnersh Film Studios, Winnersh UK."
↑ Gil Kenan (2024). Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire- Commentary (2024) (Blu-ray ts. 49:11-49:12). Sony Pictures. Gil Kenan says: "I drew that cat."
↑ Gil Kenan (2024). Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire- Commentary (2024) (Blu-ray ts. 49:16-49:24). Sony Pictures. Gil Kenan says: "It happened seconds before I rolled camera on this first take. Something was missing on this door for Nadeem's apartment, so I ran in and drew it. It was loosely inspired by a cat face that my wife used to draw, first for our daughter, Una, and then with a quilt business that she had called Hopewell."
↑ Gil Kenan (2024). Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire- Commentary (2024) (Blu-ray ts. 49:51-50:12). Sony Pictures. Gil Kenan says: "The game that Nadeem is playing on his TV there is a modern sort of PS5 version of a video game that I first invoked in my first film, Monster House, called Thou Art Dead."
↑ horacestunts instagram 4/8/2024 Kevin Mangold writes: "Ray’s Occult Books - Shinfield Studios."
↑ Gil Kenan (2024). Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire- Commentary (2024) (Blu-ray ts. 52:11-52:30). Sony Pictures. Gil Kenan says: "Another quick storytelling aside, that human pinky that Phoebe casually just dropped down there was inspired by an activity I did with my daughter, Una, at the Natural History Museum in Los Angeles, when she was a little kid. There was a mummy workshop for kids."
↑ Gil Kenan (2024). Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire- Commentary (2024) (Blu-ray ts. 52:35-52:55). Sony Pictures. Gil Kenan says: "And they used carrots to teach kids how to create their own mummies. And my daughter brought hers home, a carrot wrapped in foil, and proceeded to lose it immediately. And I found it, like, two years later on a bookshelf and opened it. It was the nastiest, most slimy, crooked, little black piece of organic matter."