It's been a wild summer in Chicago these past two months as director Michael Bay closed down large portions of the windy city to shoot next summer's blockbuster Transformers 3. Okay, it won't actually be called Transformers 3 but for lack of a better title let's just stick with that for now.

Movies are being shot all over the country, the world even, so what's so special about the TF3 Chicago shoot? Well if you know Bay's previous work you know he's not exactly the subtle type, check out the video I've edited and you know what I mean. Cars, helicopters and an endless staccato of explosions were only few of the treats the inhabitants of Chicago got to enjoy. If businesses weren't put on hold due to closure for filmmaking, life as we know it came to a halt anyway as people couldn't help but observe the spectacle unfolding outside their doors.

While productivity might have slowed in throughout the city Paramount has also boosted the economy quite a bit creating some 200 jobs, and compensating businesses for lost revenue and damage to their facilities.

Little is known about the plot of this latest Transformers installment. Sam (Shia LaBoef) now works in Chicago and has a new love interest Carly (Rosie Huntington-Whiteley) who was brought in once Michael Bay and Megan Fox chose to go different paths after only a few days of production. Some people have criticized Bay for replacing Fox with a Victoria's Secret model accusing him not to care about acting skills at all. Well, I beg to differ. Michael Bay has shot all of the Victoria’s Secret commercials and has worked with Rosie Huntington-Whiteley before. (She appeared in the 2010 spot) From what I've seen so far Whiteley possesses more class than Megan Fox and I'm curious to see what she brings to the table. Other new cast members include John Malkovich as Sam's boss, Francis McDormand as National Intelligence Director and Patrick Dempsey.

The big surprise of Transformers 3 is that it will indeed be in 3D even though initially Bay wasn't keen on it, stating his razzle-dazzle shooting style might be just be too intense for 3D. Well, looks like he's changed his mind and wants visually to "educate" us! On the Chicago sets they've used all kinds of cameras, film, some digital, 3D and 2D. So TF3 will be partially shot in 3D and some shots will have to be converted. Bay and his team did tests how well flying debris like dirt and dust will translate to 3D and were obviously content with the result. Usually I'm not a big fan of 3D conversions but Michael Bay cares so much about his visuals that I'm positive it'll look good once it's all done! Principal photography is still in progress, the movie is scheduled for a theatrical release on July 1st 2011!