Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire (Chapter 14)

Chapter 14 has the Ghostbusters, past and present, preparing for Garraka's attack on the Firehouse.

Cast[]

Listed as they appear in film.

Entities[]

Equipment[]

Items[]

Hammer of Truth

Vehicles[]

Environmental[]

Death Chill

Places/Locations[]

Plot[]

Gary asked where the Proton Packs were. Lars and Lucky unloaded Ecto-Z of newly modified Proton Packs as well as Traps and Compact Throwers. Phoebe approached Ray about using copper to improve the Proton Streams but Janine revealed vagrants stripped all the copper out of the Firehouse in the 1990s. Phoebe thought of brass. Ray keyed on it as the Orb used to imprison Garraka was brass and noted brass that was psychically charged would be especially useful. Phoebe took out the Proton Pack she hid under her bed and hack sawed a piece of a fire pole from the third floor. She used a blow torch and melted the brass down then brass plated components of her pack. Ray admired the improvements to the packs just as Winston arrived. Lucky and Trevor monitored the city from the roof. Winston, Ray, and Janine guarded the front door. They slowly opened it after there was a several knocks. It was only Peter. He took notice Janine was in a flight suit, too, and took a bottle of schnapps out from a hiding spot panel and offered liquid courage to anyone else interested in some. Lucky spotted a tricycle pedaling itself to the building then radioed Winston. Ray knew it had to be Possessor. They headed downstairs and Trevor implored Nadeem to keep practicing and promised they had his back. Nadeem noticed the ice storm and asked if any adults could help, too.

Possessor possessed the front doors and tore them off the hinges then made its way into Ecto-1. Winston, Ray, Janine, and Peter ran as it backed up towards them. Possessor entered a filing cabinet and shot up to the second floor in a paper airplane. Lars heard a window shatter in Trevor's bedroom and armed his Particle Thrower. He was relieved it was only Pukey but he was slimed. Possessor entered Lucky's Particle Thrower and took aim at Trevor. Gary ran down the stairs and sacrificed himself but instead Nadeem redirected the Proton Stream outside. Podcast quickly smashed up the Proton Pack with his Hammer of Truth. Possessor tried to hop away in a pizza on the kitchen table but Slimer suddenly appeared, ate the pizza, and flew up through the ceiling. Trevor exclaimed he knew him. Callie arrived and asked where Phoebe was. They all ran down to the ground floor except Nadeem. He wished them luck. Phoebe confronted Melody in the basement and asked if any of it was real. Melody joked she really did beat her at chess. Melody stressed she never wanted to hurt her and she just wanted to be with her family again. Phoebe pointed out her family was upstairs and it was not too late to do the right thing. Melody disagreed and sensed Garraka had arrived.

Trivia[]

The Firehouse ground floor scenes were filmed at Shinfield Studios in Reading, United Kingdom.
The Firehouse second and third floor sets were at Winnersh Studios in the United Kingdom.^[1]
There was a more expansive concept at the start of the third act with a lot of action spilling out.^[2]
The Upgraded Proton Pack has over 20 new upgrades and additions.^[3]
Four options were made for the Upgraded Proton Pack's new bumper. Ben Hall chose one, sprayed it with hazard yellow paint, and Gil Kenan approved it.^[4]
The padding on the Proton Pack is made from lagging for insulation.^[5]
The part used for Upgraded thrower's Muzzle Arrestor cost $300 each.^[6]
After going through four different suppliers, prop team found a suitable tape without white backing they could use for the back padding.^[7]^[8]
The Upgraded pack's thrower has a hook on the underside so it can hook to the belt like Bill Murray requested in the first movie.^[9]
Lars alludes to Garraka and suggests the Proton Streams didn't work on him because he is an ancient god from another dimension so his atomic composition could be different than a standard ghost.
Janine reveals the Firehouse was stripped of copper by vagrants in the 1990s.
Phoebe mentions Garraka.
Lucky brings up when she fought Garraka at the Paranormal Research Center.
Phoebe's bedroom is the same room used as a darkroom during the events of Ghostbusters II.^[10]
Phoebe alludes to the Fire Masters.
Ray notes Lars managed a faster decay of split time and narrowed the stream intensification for the upgraded Proton Packs.
The charcoal flight suits seen in the lockers were loaned from the Yes Have Some podcast during reshoots in Georgia.^[11]
Janine suiting up was a spontaneous decision Gil Kenan made when costume designer Alex Forte asked him what she would be wearing during the battle against Garraka.^[12] The notion of Janine suiting up was influenced by "Janine Melnitz, Ghostbuster" from The Real Ghostbusters.^[13]
The mirror Janine looks at when she puts on the flightsuit is Ecto-1's rearview mirror.*The "Z" stands for "Zeddemore".^[14]
In the final battle in Frozen Empire, the costume department also made a hat with flaps on the side but it was not used because Podcast looked too bundled up compared to the rest of the cast.^[15]
In the final battle, the scarf Podcast wears is based on a vintage Liz Claiborne found in a thrift shop. The costume department recreated it after finding matching yarn.^[16]
The Firehouse roof scenes were sets at Winnersh Film Studios in the United Kingdom.^[17]
Gil Kenan asked Bill Murray which spirit Peter would have hidden in the garage bay in 1989 and he answered, "Apple Brandy."^[18]
The tricycle possessed by Possessor was a nod to horror movies, including Jigsaw's bike in the "Saw" movies and the one in The Shining", as well as to the first scene in Gil Kenan's "Monster House".^[19]
The sound effects of the tricycle in "Monster House" was re-used for Possessor's. Will Files still had it saved on a hard drive.^[20]
On January 11, 2024, armorer Doug McCarthy revealed the shot of the Firehouse door being smashed off the frame was done by him pulling a snatch line with their wire rigger and all the door furniture was fired off in sequence.^[21]
Since the Firehouse set's floor had to be raised about ten inches to match the street built outside, a trench was prebuilt into the floor for when Garraka causes a crack in the ground floor. Art Director Luke Whitelock consulted with Gil Kenan about where Garraka lands in order to finalize the trench's position because it had to bisect the timber supports in the floor. A six inch space below it to allow for the special effects team to run dry ice pipes through a trough. A lid with pre-drilled holes allowed the dry ice to escape. The crew then back filled and packed it down with pre-gravel and the cement floor was laid over it all. The cement screed sets were followed with a Flemish bond stamp to stamp the pattern into the concrete, then following the wet cement was dusted with a powder dye achieve a red color in the floor. The rest of the dressing was wax ice of the scene.^[22]^[23] The build from start to finish took 12 weeks with a small team of 4-6 carpenters, 3 painters, 4 plasterers, and a 2 riggers.^[24]
The possessed Proton Pack was a lightweight, breakaway version with a lot of rubber components and sparks for when it is crushed.^[25]
The possessed pizza's movement was achieved by inserting two rods into a pliable disc.^[26]
According to Kevin Mangold, the prop used for possessed pizza was going to be a rubber one initially but the movement did not look right so real pizzas were used.^[27] According to Senior SFX Technician Doug McCarthy, it was a prop pizza with real toppings glued on.^[28]
Ray gives Podcast an official name patch between scenes.^[29]
The Firehouse basement were two sets at both Shinfield and Winnersh Studios.^[30]
At the 1:32:24 mark, some of the Phoebe/Melody confrontation on the stairs was filmed at a set in Trilith Studios in Georgia during additional photography.^{[Note 1]}

Notes[]

↑ According to a private email correspondence on July 10, 2025 between Ghostbusters Wiki administrator Mrmichaelt and Ghost Corps' Eric Reich, the scene with Ray, Podcast, and Nadeem in the Firehouse basement at the 1:10:58 mark, some of Phoebe and Melody talking at the basement stairs at the 1:32:24 mark, and reversing the polarity of the Containment Unit at the 1:41:01 mark of Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire was filmed at a Trilith Studios set.

References[]

↑ 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."
↑ The Wrap "‘Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire’ Director Explains Why the Firehouse Was Key to the Sequel’s Story" 3/27/2024 Gil Kenan says: "We had a more expansive concept earlier on where a lot of the action at the beginning of the third act spilled out much wider. But the idea thematically goes back to the search for home that I was mentioning earlier and the Spengler family drama is a struggle to find a cohesive center."
↑ Yes Have Some YouTube "The New Proton Pack - Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire" 0:23 3/22/2024 Factoid reads: "The Frozen Empire Proton Pack has over 20 new upgrades and additions to the packs featured in Ghostbusters & Ghostbusters 2."
↑ Your Geek Fix YouTube 6:21-6:33 5/24/2024 Ben Hall says: "I redid that--the bumper because we had four options and I thought "Well that one looked the best" so I just made it up and sprayed it yellow and stuck it on a pack and Gil loved it"
↑ Your Geek Fix YouTube 27:52-27:58 5/24/2024 Ben Hall says: "Lagging insulation. You know, the pipe insulation lagging that you get that goes around copper pipe?"
↑ Your Geek Fix YouTube 18:36-18:40 5/24/2024 Ben Hall says: "They were quite expensive. They're about $300 each."
↑ Yes Have Some YouTube "The New Proton Pack - Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire" 2:00-2:14 3/22/2024 Lee Newell says: "So this back pad here, which I made just for a bit more comfort because they are quite heavy. Even though this is the traditional Alice frame back, which we all know and love, the Ghostbusters has made it themselves. So rather it being something that was stuck."
↑ Yes Have Some YouTube "The New Proton Pack - Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire" 2:20-2:32 3/22/2024 Lee Newell says: "It took four different suppliers to find the exact tape because we couldn't use tape that had a white backing because then if it peeled off right, we didn't want to see the white."
↑ Yes Have Some YouTube "The New Proton Pack - Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire" 1:44-1:59 3/22/2024 Lee Newell says: "The original design of this is we put the hook on. As per the 84 ones, where Bill could hook it onto. Hook it onto his belt. So that was a request from Bill to basically make them have that feature."
↑ Gil Kenan (2024). Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire- Commentary (2024) (Blu-ray ts. 41:21-41:35). Sony Pictures. Gil Kenan says: "This bedroom where Phoebe has sort of made her room, was made out of what, in the earlier films, was a dark room in the old firehouse."
↑ Yes Have Some YouTube "Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire Q&A - Your Questions Answered!" 4/8/2024 Craig Goldberg says: "They did some reshoots last year-late last year-in December in the Atlanta area. We live in said area that I mentioned earlier, in Atlanta, and we got a call from production and it was basically like 'Hey, we want to include some Ghostbusters II flight suits in some of the lockers. Ray and Winston's lockers, for some pick up shots and do you have that? Do you know anybody who does?' and I was like Oh..."
↑ A Trip to the Movies with Alex Zane YouTube "Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire - Spoiler Talk with Director Gil Kenan!" 6:00-6:34 3/21/2024 Gil Kenan says: "And Alex Forte, one of the two costume designers on the film who did a brilliant job creating the costumes, she came to me – she loved asking a lot of questions. Every day, there was a clipboard with basic questions. Just the sort of things you have to answer but never think about while you're writing. And the question 'well everyone else is getting suited up for this big battle-the siege-what's Janine going to be wearing?' And I sort of answered without really thinking about it, it felt so natural Janine needs to have a flight suit."
↑ A Trip to the Movies with Alex Zane YouTube "Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire - Spoiler Talk with Director Gil Kenan!" 3:00-3:16 3/21/2024 Gil Kenan says: "Well, it's been revealed in some of the material. So far that Janine becoming a Ghostbuster was an image that we first saw in the series. I think the episode's called "Janine Melnitz is a Ghostbuster" or something."
↑ Narrator (2024). Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire Home Entertainment Releases, Easter Eggs Unleashed (2024) (Blu-Ray ts. 05:48-05:53). Sony Pictures. Narrator says: "Have you ever noticed the Ecto-1 has no rearview mirror? We found it here, in Janine's locker."
↑ Countdown City Geeks YouTube "Alexis Forte Interview - Ghostbusters Frozen Empire Costume Designer" 19:35-19:56 3/29/2024 Alexis Forte says: "And someone like Podcast, we had all these different-we had sarves and gloves and this cute hat with little flaps on the side that we had made for him but some of that stuff gets cut like you never even end up seeing the hat because on the day we decided it's to much. He looks too bundled up compared to everyone else."
↑ Countdown City Geeks YouTube "Alexis Forte Interview - Ghostbusters Frozen Empire Costume Designer" 20:50-21:24 3/29/2024 Alexis Forte says: "Like the scarf that Podcast wears is this great vintage Liz Claiborne scarf that I found at a thrift store that I loved and I loved the pattern and I loved the design so we had it on fitting and we decide 'Let's recreate this' so it's finding all the yarns that can match. Maybe we change a little bit of the design to fit more of what I wanted then finding a knitter who has a machine who can create a similar knit to the original scarf and recreating that.."
↑ 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. 1:28:21-1:28:35). Sony Pictures. Gil Kenan says: "And, um, I asked Bill what kind of spirit, no pun intended, Venkman would have hidden in 1989. And without missing a beat, he said, "Apple Brandy." So there you go."
↑ Gil Kenan (2024). Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire- Commentary (2024) (Blu-ray ts. 1:28:43-1:29:16). Sony Pictures. Gil Kenan says: "Oh, and this, uh, tricycle, the, uh, vehicle that the possessor spirit, who I haven't talked enough about yet, but I'll get my chance, arrives to the firehouse in, and through a sort of Trojan Horse of an arrival is a, uh, reference to, well, every horror film ever made, including, um, the Saw films, Jigsaw's bike, obviously The Shining, but also to the first scene of Monster House."
↑ Gil Kenan (2024). Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire- Commentary (2024) (Blu-ray ts. 1:29:26-1:29:38). Sony Pictures. Gil Kenan says: "Uh, we use the same sounds of the tricycle that Will Files has had on a hard drive since that film, to bring the tricycle to life."
↑ Ghostbusters Fans PukieDoug post 1/11/2024 PukieDoug says: "The last trailer had our door being smashed off the frame ? I was pulling a snatch line with our wire rigger and all the door furniture was fired off in sequence , hard to see with the CGI smoke cloud though."
↑ whitelock_design_limited 5/7/2024 Luke Whitelock says: "Designing the practical crack in the firehouse floor was an interesting challenge. Due to the fact we built the street outside we had to raise the floor inside the firehouse approximately 10" to allow for the natural dip down and camber of the road. So, we came up with an idea to create a trench that would be prebuilt into the floor and revealed when we shot the frozen scenes at the end of the schedule. Several versions can be seen here in various zig zag patterns, I had to nail down Garrakas positions with the Director (where he lands upon entering the firehouse and where the crack would end) from there we could pin point our trench position which had to bisect all out timber supports in the floor. With various level changes factored in to the trench as well the idea was to box it out, create a 6" space below for SFX to run their dry ice pipes, this was then given a lid with pre drilled holes to allow dry ice to escape. Then we back filled and packed down tight with pea gravel and laid our cement floor over the top. Then when we dressed the firehouse in ice (Wax dressing over a weekend) we had a team come in and chase the Chanel back out, lay our vac formed brick sheet around the edge, add real mortar and dress real bricks on top and add the wax ice to finish. It looked great and I was really pleased with the finished effect."
↑ whitelock_design_limited 5/8/2024 Luke Whitelock says: "So usually when we come up with an idea we make a sample first, mainly to get clearance from the Designer and Director. Our Construction Manager came up with the idea for this practical effect. It had to be completely hidden by our cement floor before we channeled it back out. Slide 1 - The finished sample dressed with real bricks and plaster sheets to get that turned up brick effect along the edge of the crack Slide 2 & 3 - zoom in! Here you can see the cross section which explains to all departments involved exactly how we would achieve this - notice how tightly packed the sand and pea shingle is, allowing us to install our cement layer on top. Slide 4 & 5 - more close ups on the sample, once channelled out the plaster sheets of turned up bricks are dressed on top, these had full brick depth on the edges which could be hand finished. Slide 6 & 7 - constructing the wooden trough to hold SFX smoke rigs, the plaster department then wadded and sculpted the crack inside the box. Slide 8 - once dried the whole crack is backfilled and packed tight ready for the concrete screed to go on top Slide 9 - as the screed sets we follow behind with a Flemish bond stamp to stamp the pattern into the concrete, then following behind that we dust the wet cement with a powder dye to get the red colour."
↑ whitelock_design_limited reply 5/8/2024 Luke Whitelock says: "the build took approximately 12 weeks from start to finish, on stage I had a small team of carpenters I think about 4-6, 3 painters, 4 plasterers and a 2 riggers."
↑ Spook Central "Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire Production Notes" 3/22/2024 John Van Der Pool says: "We created a lightweight, breakaway version of that pack, so that Podcast can come in and smash it to pieces with his Hammer of Truth. A lot of rubber components, a lot of sparks, and the actors could be right next to it."
↑ Spook Central "Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire Production Notes" 3/22/2024 John Van Der Pool says: "Even though it is just a rubber pizza on the end of two sticks, it shows the subtle nuances that a puppeteer can add to a character. At one point, the pizza flicks off the little plastic pizza table -- the thing that separates a pizza from its box -- and runs off across the counter. It's just those little touches that bring it to life."
↑ Extraplasm Podcast "Episode 80: Extraplasm Gets Slimed With Kevin Mangold of Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire" 1:18:21-1:18:43 4/17/2024 Kevin Mangold says: "It was rubber. It didn't really look right. So we rehearsed it that way three or four times and we had a whole stack of real pizzas there so it was pretty much always assumed we were going to at least try the real pizzas."
↑ Ghostbusters Fans Doug McCarthy post 4/27/2024 Doug McCarthy says: "I made the moving pizza from whit plastazote foam, I made and attached the puppeteering rods ( removed in post production) I painted it to match the on set real pizza and we used real pizza topping and glued it on . It WAS used in set and you see it in the final film . He wasn't even there."
↑ Yes Have Some Podcast YouTube "Logan Kim Returns to chat Ghostbusters, Megadeth, and Senior Midterms!" 35:19-35:41 12/11/2024 Logan Kim says: "Well, throughout the movie there's a scene where Ray is like, "You deserve this now. This is for you," and he gives me the patch and it's a really sweet moment and I'm like--Podcast is excited and he's elated because he's now an official Ghostbuster and so he gets his patch for the first time. He's really excited and the next scene you see him, he has it on."
↑ 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."