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Out of Biz is the twenty-first chapter on the DVD of Ghostbusters. In this chapter, Walter Peck has the Containment Unit shut down, causing the ghosts to escape along with Vinz, who begins his search for Zuul among the chaos.

Cast[]

Equipment[]

Locations[]

Plot[]

On Friday morning, a police car from the First Precinct and a Con Edison van followed by a red car drove up to sidewalk outside the Firehouse. The man in a coat turned to look at them then continued walking past the Firehouse. Walter Peck walked towards the cars. The driver of the red car, a bald man in a business suit, got out and walked over then handed Peck a manila envelope. A couple walking past the Firehouse got nervous and kept walking. A Con Edison worker and a police captain got out of their respective vehicles. Inside the Firehouse, Janine was making coffee in a dedicated area near the lockers. The police captain stepped in through an inner door on the front door followed by the Con Edison worker and Peck. The Con Edison worked closed the inner door. Peck told them to follow him. They walked on. The Con Edison worker looked up at everything and lost pace with them. Janine cut them off. Janine held out her left hand to stop but they kept walking. She kept saying, "Excuse me" but they kept walking. She asked them where they thought they were going. Peck told her to stand aside or he would have her arrested for interfering with a police officer. She cut him off and recalled from TV that he needed a warrant, a writ or something to come inside. Peck raised the manila envelope and listed off the contents: A Cease and Desist All Commerce order, a Seizure of Premises and Chattels, a Ban on the Use of Public Utilities for Non-Licensed Waste Handlers, and a federal Entry and Inspection order. They continued on. Janine stared.

Egon Spengler looked through parts on a shelf in the basement. Louis Tully was with him. Egon told him there was one more test he wanted to perform. Peck, the police captain, and the Con Edison man came down the stairs. Janine ran down the steps after them and beat the Con Edison man. Janine told Egon she tried to stop them but Peck said he had a warrant. Egon held out his right arm. Louis mimicked him. Egon stated they were on private property. Peck ignored him and pointed at the Containment Unit and the panels then ordered everything to be shut off. Egon pointed at them and warned turning off the machines would be extremely hazardous. Louis mimicked Egon and pointed, too. Peck was not swayed and told him the Ghostbusters were facing federal prosecution for at least half a dozen environmental violations. He again ordered Egon to shut everything off and threatened they would shut them off for him if he did not. Peter paid the driver of a yellow taxi cab outside the Firehouse. A police officer leaning on the squad car watched. Peter noticed the vehicles parked by the entrance. Back in the basement, Egon, Janine, and Louis were now planted in front of the control panels. Egon tried to explain it was a high voltage laser containment system and simply turning it off would be like dropping a bomb on the city. Peck thought was being patronizing and stated he was not grotesquely stupid like the people they bilked. The Con Edison man stared at the Containment Unit.

Peter Venkman came down the stairs. He softly patted the police captain on the back. The captain turned his head to Peter. Peter introduced himself and tried to defuse the situation by stressing it was a slight misunderstanding and he would cooperate in any way that he could. Peck was not buying it and pointed out he had his chance to cooperate but chose to have fun and be insulting. Peck declared it was his turn. Egon informed Peter that Peck wanted to shut down the protection grid. Louis looked at Egon with a slight grin. Peter quickly stated they were not going to be held responsible. Peter and Peck began talking at the same time. Peck told him they were going to be held responsible. Peter disagreed. Peck ordered the Con Edison worker to shut it off. Peck walked to the Con Edison man. Peter told him not to. The Con Edison man turned to Peter and Peter pointed his right index at the Containment Unit. Peter warned him. The Con Edison worker pointed out he never saw anything like the Containment Unit before and he was unsure. Peck was not interested in his opinion and told him to just shut it off. With unease on his face, he turned to walk to the control panels. Peter got in the Con Edison Man's face and told him not to be a jerk. The police captain leaned in and made space between the two. The captain ordered Peter to step aside. Peck told the captain if he did that again, he could shoot him. The captain took offense to being told how to do his job. Peter thanked the captain. Peck yelled at the Con Edison worker to shut the grid off. The Con Edison man looked at Peck then the captain then at Peck again. Peter looked over to Egon. The Con Edison Man went to the control panels. Egon stepped away and mimed an explosion with his fingers and mouthed "Boom." Peter, Egon, and Janine made their way to the stairs. Louis watched the Con Edison Man up close. The Con Edison Man pulled a gray lever down. The lights dimmed and several alarms went off. The red light above the Containment Unit flashed.

Dana Barrett started panting faster on her bed.

The D.C. Microamperes gauge plummeted from 100 to 0. The Con Edison worker, police captain, and Peck looked around. The Con Edison worker realized he made a terrible mistake and swore. The walls of the basement rumbled. Peck backed away. Steam erupted from between the bricks. The Con Edison worker ran. Louis was thrilled. Everyone ran for it. Bricks popped out of their place. As everyone ran outside, Egon yelled out to anyone else to clear the building. Louis ran out last. Sparks and smoke poured out of the front doors. The roof exploded. People around the area paused and looked at the Firehouse.

Dana suddenly jolted awake.

A pink beam of psychokinetic energy streamed out of the hole in the Firehouse's roof. People ran off. Peter shielded his face and exclaimed. Louis proclaimed that was the sign. He walked past Janine, who stood in front of the Con Edison van. She agreed it was a sign, a sign they were going out of business. Ecto-1 slowly drove up with its siren on and parked on the street. A crowd gathered behind the police barricades at N. Moore and Varick. Ray got out the driver's side. Winston got out of the front passenger side, now in his civies. Police officers ran towards the Firehouse. Louis walked past them down White Street, walking east to West Broadway. Two police cars drove down White Street. An officer pointed out the pink beam. Ray hopped over to Peter and Egon by the Con Edison van and red car. A man asked an officer what was going on. Ray asked Egon what happened. Egon informed him the storage facility blew, pointed at Peck, and revealed Peck had the protection grid shut off. Ray was beside himself. Winston guessed that was bad. Ray confirmed and nodded. Peter asked where the Keymaster went. Egon swore and could not believe they lost him. The Ghostbusters were about to take off in search of Louis but Peck, the Police Captain and some police officers barred their way. Fire fighters from 509 had arrived and readied a hose. Peck ran to the Ghostbusters and told them to hold it. Peck wanted the Ghostbusters arrested. He told the captain they were in criminal violation of the Environmental Protection Act, and the explosion was a direct result of it. Egon exclaimed, "Your mother!" in response then lunged forward and grabbed Peck's collar. Police tried to keep order. The civilians behind the barricade cheered on the scuffle. Peter chimed in and asked if the police heard what Peck called him.

One of the building across from the Firehouse bore a Stay Puft Marshmallows ad. All the ghosts captured by the Ghostbusters were free again. A snippet of "Magic" played. The streams of P.K.E. flowed over New York City. From a point of view atop the RCA Building, at 30 Rockefeller Plaza between West 49th Street and West 50, the stream clearly flowed uptown from the Firehouse to 550 Central Park West, past the Empire State Building.

Dana rose from her bed and began walking to her living room window.

Louis walked past a subway tunnel entrance at Broadway & Murray Street. He bumped past an African-American man. He was offended but Louis kept walking. Papers flew around. Everyone ran off. The man at the Empire Stakes stand abandoned his post. A ghost flew up from the tunnel and shrieked.

P.K.E. flowed up from the sewer into a taxi cab's exhaust on Madison Avenue, between East 61st and East 62nd Streets. A businessman entered the cab and told the driver he wanted to go to the Columbia Building on 57th Street. He emphasized he was in a hurry and told the driver not dawdle. He was unaware the driver was actually a taxi driver ghost that resembled a zombie. He accelerated and made a U-turn. Other cars swerved out of his way into the sidewalks. A man dived. He turned onto East 62nd Street. A car swerved into trash and planted trees on a sidewalk to miss him.

Louis looked up at the sky as the walked through Broadway.

A vendor freaked out in front of the Rockefeller Center's McGraw-Hill Building at 1221 Avenue of the Americas. Slimer was inside his Sabrett hot dog cart and popped his head out with many dogs in his mouth at once. A Bearded Collie dog nearby looked concerned.

Dana walked into her living room, staring at the windows.

Two streams of P.K.E. flowed past buildings.

Louis crossed the street near the WienerWald Austrian Restaurant at 1560 Broadway. He gazed up at the sky.

Dana approached her balcony. The P.K.E. streams flew up along the side of the Shandor Building. The balcony exploded.

Louis paused in Duffy Square. The George M. Cohan statue was in the mid-ground to the left of Louis and the TKTS booth was in the background. Pigeons scattered.

The dust and smoke cleared from the remains of Dana's balcony and living room. She was still standing in the same place from before the explosion. She was unfazed and staring off. Her hair blew in the wind.

See Also[]

Trivia[]

Ghostbusters (1984) Trivia[]

  • The exterior Firehouse scenes were filmed outside Hook & Ladder #8 in New York.
  • The police car seen at the start of the chapter is accurate in terms of its precinct. The First Precinct covers Tribeca.
  • In the July 6, 1983 draft, on page 95, Ray and Winston are driving back and see a fire trucks driving towards a huge column of energy shooting out of a building by the river. They realize it's the Firehouse, flip on the lights and siren and race after the firetrucks.
  • In the August 5, 1983 draft, on pages 94-99, Peck is accompanied by the Con Edison worker and a County Sheriff. The sheriff lists off all the documents he requested. Janine scans Peck's documents and equates it to 'what happened in Poland.' Egon implores Peck to look at the video monitor of the Containment Unit but he refuses. Peter grabs the Con Edison man before he reaches a switch then the sheriff pulls him away. After Ray and Winston return to the Firehouse, he alludes to being in love with the ghost at Fort Detmerring and laments she's been dead for 150 years.[3]
  • In the September 30, 1983 draft, on pages 95-99, the shut down of the grid is much like the previous draft but with the Police Captain now in place of the County Sheriff. Janine now has her line it's a sign they're going out of business like in the movie.
  • After Peter arrives in the basement, Peck alludes to his meeting with Peter in Chapter 15: E.P.A. Man.
  • When the Containment Unit is shut down, the effects were practical. Lights, dust, and wind were used. Technicians stood behind the wall and shook the individual bricks.[4]
  • In the August 5 and September 30, 1983 drafts, Egon takes questions about the ecto material from the fire department until Peter asks where the Keymaster is then they get arrested.
  • At around the 1 hour, 17 minute mark of the Preview Cut, included first in the 2022 Ghostbusters Ultimate Edition, after Janine predicts this is the sign they are going out of business, a firefighter asks Egon is the residue contains PCB or tailings from styrene esters. Egon replies, "No." He asks if there are any Polyfluoric groups. He is also asked if any kind of solvents or any kind of concentrated sulfurs are stored in the firehouse. Ray swears and tells Winston to come one. Janine, wearing a fireman's jacket, starts to give her statement to an officer. Ray being informed the storage grid blew follows. After Peck states the explosion was a direct result, he is called a fascist. The Ghostbusters insist on finding possessed Louis and describe him as "a little guy with a very determined look on his face." Peck does not listen and accuses them of using drugs. Egon's "Your mother!" follows.
  • When Ecto-1 arrives, the civilians stand on the other side of Varick Street, across from Hook & Ladder Company #8, in the area in front of 18 North Moore Street in New York.
  • Ray's leg hose being completely detached when he arrives at the Firehouse.
  • Louis leaves the scene walking down White Street, walking east to West Broadway.
  • The fire truck that the fire fighters arrive in is Engine 509, part of the FDNY's ready reserve apparatus fleet.
  • In the January 20, 1983 draft:
    • The "Stays Puft, Even When Toasted" slogan for Stay Puft Marshmallows originated in the original script.[5]
    • When ghosts were released from the Containment Unit in Jersey, a 25 acre sinkhole is created which disrupts a long inactive fault line which somehow transforms most of northern New Jersey into an inferno.[6]
    • One of the manifestations in the original script was a skeletal biker terrorizing residents of a small town. This entity became the skeletal cab driver in the final script.[7][8]
  • In the July 6, 1983 draft,on page 96, Ray and Winston arrive outside the firehouse and talk with everyone. They meet Louis/Vinz. Vinz mentions he's looking for "the Gatekeeper" which rings a bell for Peter and as he starts to question him but Peck and the Police Chief come over to arrest them. Before the Ghostbusters are read their Miranda Rights, a lieutenant comes over and alerts them that the Mayor has requested they come to City Hall because "the whole island is going crazy."
  • In the August 5, 1983 draft, on page 101, after Peck accuses the Ghostbusters of being on drugs, Egon threatens to rip out his septum.
  • In the June 6, 1983 draft, rather than making an aerial passage uptown, the ghosts descend into an all but deserted subway station. As a transit cop chats amiably with a female cashier, the subway turnstiles begin spinning unaccountably. Investigating, the officer discovers a huddled mass of ghosts and vapors hovering directly over the tracks. When a speeding express train passes by, the spirits hitch a collective ride uptown -- taking over the cars en masse and sending everyone from motormen to muggers fleeing before them.[9]
  • While the explosion of ghosts out of the Firehouse was an optical effect, the smoke and debris was a practical effect.[10] Three cameras were used for the shot. This led to a lot of miscommunication, premature detonation smoke bomb detonations and cast members running out the firehouse.[11]
  • An expanded version of the street near the Firehouse was rendered in matte painting form by Matthew Yurichich. This included the Stay Puft Marshmallows billboard.[12]
  • The part where the Firehouse's roof ruptured was actually a miniature Firehouse shot at Entertainment Effects Group.[13]
  • When the crew started spraying water to simulate ecto-material raining down on everyone outside the Firehouse, someone from the wardrobe department ran out onto set telling the crew not to get Egon's suit wet because what was the only set they had.[14]
  • In the second montage, when the escaped ghosts shoot towards the Shandor building, film crews shot from the apartment next door.[15]
  • A snippet of "Magic" plays after the ghosts escape.
  • The shot of the streams of P.K.E. flowing over New York City was filmed from a point of view atop the RCA Building, at 30 Rockefeller Plaza between West 49th Street and West 50, to show it was going uptown from the Firehouse to 550 Central Park West. During the New York shoot, Richard Edlund led a unit that filmed background plates for optical effects that would generated later on at Entertainment Effects Group and composited into the scene.[16]
  • A $3 million insurance policy had to be bought when the crew visited the roof of the RCA Building to film the New York landscape.[17]
  • The scene with the Subway Ghost was shot in October 1983 before principal photography.[18] It was a subway tunnel entrance at Broadway & Murray Street.
  • The Subway Ghost puppet was filmed in a large water tank in order to have it float properly. It was filmed in in reverse. This was achieved by attaching monofilament to the tail and pulling the puppet backwards. By reversing the film, they made it appear as if the ghost was flying towards the camera.[19] The filmed material then went through additional diffusion and optical alteration. It was then composited into the corresponding live-action scene shot in New York.[20]
  • The creation of the Zombie Taxi Driver animatronic was essentially Steve Johnson's job interview. Boss Films had two weeks before they had to be in New York to take part in filming and they still needed to make an animatronic of the Zombie Taxi Driver. Johnson was tasked with making it from the ground up, going to New York, and being on set. It worked out and Johnson was hired by Richard Edlund.[21]
  • The scene with the Zombie Taxi Driver was also done during the first week of shooting on Madison Avenue.[22][23]
  • The Businessman in Cab mentions the Columbia Building on 57th Street. This was better known as the CBS Broadcast Center on 524 West 57th Street. It housed Columbia Records, Columbia's "Studio B" on the second floor and "Studio E" on the sixth floor.
  • In the August 5, 1983 draft, on page 103, the Businessman in Cab asks to go to the Gulf and Western Building. The gag is followed up on page 105. The Businessman is oblivious to the mayhem and reads his Wall Street Journal.
  • The Zombie Taxi Driver turns on East 62nd Street.
  • After the 1 hour, 17 minute mark of the Preview Cut, there is a bit more of the Zombie Taxi Driver driving away, causing cars to crash and a motorcyclist to lose control. Slimer's reappearance is followed by the hot dog cart rolling away. Possessed Louis steps on gunk just before the appearance of the Subway ghost followed by a few more shots of scared citizens.
  • The scene where possessed Louis walks and just before Slimer appears in the hot dog stand was shot in Broadway. It was also one of the very first things shot.[24]
  • The Sabrett Hot Dog Vendor's scene was one of the first things shot for Ghostbusters.[25][Note 1]
  • Since Slimer in-universe was much smaller than the actual puppet used for filming, the crew had to make oversized hot dogs for the hot dog cart gag. Mark Siegel poured liquid foam through a plumbing pipe and cut them apart and dug out the ends of the rubber then tied the ends together with bits of thread to mimic an actual sausage link.[26][27] On the filming day, Siegel pulled the mono filament connecting the hot dogs together to simulate Slimer swallowing the hot dogs.[28][29]
  • The Sabrett Hot Dog cart was at the Rockefeller Center; specifically in front of the McGraw-Hill Building at 1221 Avenue of the Americas.
  • The Sabrett Hot Dog cart had Coca Cola, TaB, and Sprite cans on display.
  • In the 8/5/1983 draft, the Vendor chases after his cart and Slimer into the Sedgewick Hotel.[30]
  • After the hot dog cart scene, and the shot of Dana walking out of her bedroom, but before WienerWald, the black skyscraper that the two streams of P.K.E. fly past is Park Avenue Plaza on 55 East 52nd Street. To the right of the plaza is the Seagram Building on 375 Park Avenue. To the left of the plaza is the 399 Park Avenue building.
  • In the July 6 and August 5, 1983 drafts, the Mink Coat manifests during a fashion show after the Containment Unit was shut down.[31] The idea is used in Ghostbusters II.
  • Louis crossed the street near Embassy Theater and the WienerWald Austrian Restaurant at 1560 Broadway.
  • The photo backdrop used for Dana's view of Central Park is of Central Park Loop.
  • For the scene when the possessed Dana stares at the waves of ghosts, Chuck Gaspar's team filled the wall with balsawood bricks and breakaway glass. 15 air mortars were mounted and filled with wet sand. Once fired under pressure, it would behave like invisible shotgun pellets and blow out the wall and windows. Sigourney Weaver actually stood there in the shot.[32][33] Having a sense it would be a powerful shot, Ivan Reitman used a big tight lens, at about 300 or 400mm, in slow motion on Weaver for the close-up.[34]
  • Louis paused in Times Square's Duffy Square at West 46th Street & 7th Avenue & Broadway. The George M. Cohan statue was in the mid-ground to the left of Louis and the TKTS booth was in the background.
  • In the August 5, 1983 draft, on page 104-105, possessed Louis scares off would-be muggers in Central Park. The deleted mugging scene involving the possessed Louis was cut because there was simply no time left in the production process and Richard Edlund had no time to do effects.[35][36] It ended up in the Deleted Scene: Louis Encounters Muggers.
  • An unused concept by Thom Enriquez for the montage was a "pizza ghost," a demonic pizza deliveryman with cheesy flesh dripping from its face.[37]
  • In the July 6, 1983 draft, on pages 97-101, and August 5, 1983 draft, on pages 103-104, a ghost molester harrasses typists in the accounts department office pool of a major corporation. It reached the storyboard stage but was one of the sequences excised from the montage.[38][39][40]
  • In the July 6, 1983 draft, on pages 97-101, and August 5, 1983 draft, on pages 105-106, ghosts appeared in a theater room at St. Mark's Playhouse near Second Avenue. The ghosts are mistaken as part of the 3-D movie. It also only reached the storyboard stage and was excised. It would have been a very expensive and time consuming major effects sequence. An old theater in Glendale was chosen for the sequence. Since Entertainment Effects Group was too busy with everything else, the scene was deleted.[41]
  • There is also a sequence involving a motorcycle stunt that was filmed but deleted during editing.[42]
  • Zuul and Vinz Clortho's meeting was cut between the City Jail and City Hall scenes. A scene was added to the end of the montage to link the ghosts with the apartment - the stream of ghosts streaming past Dana's apartment up to the temple and the wall explodes outward.[43]
  • In the script, Dana's apartment was destroyed by Zuul and Vinz' consummation.[44]
  • At the start of Chapter 22: Holding Cell, Winston alludes to the explosion at the Firehouse.
  • When Ray talks to Mayor Lenny in Chapter 24: Biblical, he mentions when Peck shut their system down and Peck mentions the explosion.

Ghostbusters: Afterlife Trivia[]

  • Zuul and Vinz Clortho both display the ability to take the form of the P.K.E. wisp seen after the Containment Unit was shut down in the first movie. In Afterlife, Zuul takes on the form at the start of the movie as it flees the Farmhouse. Vinz takes it on as he returns to the Temple of Gozer after being released from the Trap and when he enters the Summerville Walmart.
  • One of the video ads on the side of the video of the first Ghostbusters commercial is a thumbnail of the pink P.K.E. wisps flying through the New York City skyline after Walter Peck had the containment grid shut down in Chapter 21: Out of Biz.
  • Another ad, for the video titled "The Ghostbusters: Where Are They Now?" by ParanormalWatch has a thumbnail taken from a candid on-set photo of Dan Aykroyd and Bill Murray.
  • Phoebe Spengler's impulsive emotional outburst in the police station mirrors when Egon had an outburst against Walter Peck.
  • Possessed Callie Spengler breathes heavily just like possessed Dana did in bed when the containment grid was shut down in the first movie.
  • The P.K.E. wisps flying out of the sacrificial death pit and around the city mirrors the first movie after the Containment Unit was shut down.
    • The crew found the original special effects 70 mm footage of the pink P.K.E. streaks flying through the city, scanned them, and re-used them for shots in Summerville.[45]
  • Ecto-1 drives by a big Stay Puft Marshmallows mural.
  • The Miner Ghost was inspired by the Zombie Taxi Driver.

The Real Ghostbusters Trivia[]

IDW Comics Trivia[]

Ghostbusters: Answer The Call Trivia[]

Tertiary Canon Trivia[]

  • On page 7 of Egon's Journal, a supplement of the Hasbro Haslab Ghostbusters Plasma Series Spengler's Proton Pack, there are several references to Chapter 21: Out of Biz:
    • Peck presenting a ban on the use of public utilities for non-licensed waste handlers.
  • On page 16 of Egon's Journal, there is a reference to Chapter 21: Out of Biz:
    • The photo of the Ghostbusters was taken between filming of the scene at the Firehouse.

Notes[]

  1. According to private correspondence with Eric Reich of Ghost Corps on July 18, 2020, the scene filming during pre-principal photography day. "It appears this was part of the pre-production filming done before principal started. So in the lined script the hot dog scene was shot during pre-shoots but it doesn't have Louis in it."

References[]

  1. Spook Central - Times Square Locations
  2. Spook Central - Times Square Locations
  3. Aykroyd, Dan & Ramis, Harold (1983). Ghostbusters (First Draft August 5, 1983) (Script p. 99). Ray Stantz says: "She's been dead for one hundred and fifty years."
  4. Ivan Reitman (1999). Ghostbusters- Commentary (1999) (DVD ts. 01:07:29-01:07:39). Columbia TriStar Home Video. Ivan Reitman says: "Again, we did most of this practically. We're just using lights and a lot guys shaking individual bricks from behind. And dust and wind."
  5. Shay, Don (November 1985). Making Ghostbusters, p. 138 annotation. New York Zoetrope, New York NY USA, ISBN 0918432685. Paragraph reads: "A large billboard -- rendered in matte painting form by Matthew Yuricich -- appears on one of the buildings adjacent to the firehall. Featured on it is a representation of the Stay-Puft marshmallow man and the words "Stay-Puft Marshmallows -- Stays Puft, Even When Toasted -- an advertising slogan lifted from Dan Aykroyd's original script."
  6. Shay, Don (November 1985). Making Ghostbusters, p. 165 annotation. New York Zoetrope, New York NY USA, ISBN 0918432685. Paragraph says: "A sinkhole of much grander scale was included in the original Dan Aykroyd script, when the accidental release of the Ghostbusters' incarcerated spirits triggers a twenty-five acre sinkhole around their gas station storage facility. The sinkhole, in turn, disrupts a long inactive fault line which somehow transforms most of northern New Jersey into a blazing inferno."
  7. Shay, Don (November 1985). Making Ghostbusters, p. 146 annotation. New York Zoetrope, New York NY USA, ISBN 0918432685. Paragraph reads: "One of the many supernatural manifestations encountered in Dan Aykroyd's first script was a skeletal biker who has been terrorizing the residents of a small upstate town.'"
  8. Shay, Don (November 1985). Making Ghostbusters, p. 146 annotation. New York Zoetrope, New York NY USA, ISBN 0918432685. Harold Ramis says: "Often, in early drafts of a script, you have one scene with good dialogue, another scene with a great visual impact, and yet another scene that makes a really expositional point. But what makes a really dense comedy is when you can take the good dialogue and the physical business and the raw exposition for all these different scenes and load them into one strong scene with a definite reason for being. That's what happened with the skeletal biker. It was a wonderful concept, but it was too far removed from the main story. With the skeletal cab driver, we were able to save the visual effect from that original scene and put it in a place where it made better sense.'"
  9. Shay, Don (November 1985). Making Ghostbusters, p. 145 annotation. New York Zoetrope, New York NY USA, ISBN 0918432685. Paragraph reads: "The flying fish-like ghost which flits out of the subway entrance was a mere reminder of a much more elaborate introduction to the montage conceived by Ramis and Aykroyd in their first collaboration. In that draft, rather than making an aerial passage uptown, the ghosts descend into an all but deserted subway station. As a transit cop chats amiably with a female customer, the subway turnstiles begin spinning unaccountably. Investigating, the officer discovers a huddled mass of ghosts and vapors hovering directly over the tracks. When a speeding express train passes by, the spirits hitch a collective ride uptown -- taking over the cars en masse and sending everyone from motormen to muggers fleeing before them."
  10. Shay, Don (November 1985). Making Ghostbusters, p. 141 annotation. New York Zoetrope, New York NY USA, ISBN 0918432685. Paragraph reads: "Although the explosion of ghosts through the firehall rooftop was inserted optically, a physical effect -- involving blasts of smoke and harmless debris -- was also employed as the building's panic-driven occupants pour out into the street."
  11. Shay, Don (November 1985). Making Ghostbusters, p. 141 annotation. New York Zoetrope, New York NY USA, ISBN 0918432685. Joe Medjuck says: "We were shooting outside the firehouse in New York. And because of the special effects and the fact that we were using three cameras, it took a long time between takes to set up. When everything was ready to go, Ivan would signal for cameras to roll and then wait for confirmation from each before yelling 'Action!' -- which the people inside the firehouse could barely hear. Richard Edlund and his crew were up on the roof of a building across the street; and on one take, when Ivan asked if cameras were up to speed, Richard said, 'No, we're not ready.' So Ivan stepped into the middle of the street and yelled, 'Hold it!' But everyone on the inside somehow thought he'd said 'Action!' The smoke bombs went off, the doors burst open, the cast came charging out into the street -- and there's Ivan standing right in their midst. Everyone was horrified. It was like the worst filmmaking nightmare come true. But Ivan just burst out laughing."
  12. Shay, Don (November 1985). Making Ghostbusters, p. 142 annotation. New York Zoetrope, New York NY USA, ISBN 0918432685. Paragraph reads: "An expansive lower Manhattan street setting, rendered in matte painting form by Matthew Yuricich. When photographed, the firehall would be inserted into the undetailed center section as a live-action element. On a neighboring building is a billboard advertisement for Stay-Puft marshmallows."
  13. Shay, Don (November 1985). Making Ghostbusters, p. 142 annotation. New York Zoetrope, New York NY USA, ISBN 0918432685. Paragraph reads: "The rupturing rooftop was shot in miniature at Entertainment Effects Group."
  14. Joe Medjuck (1999). Ghostbusters- Commentary (1999) (DVD ts. 01:08:06-01:08:14). Columbia TriStar Home Video. Joe Medjuck says: "I remember this stuff coming down. Someone ran out from the wardrobe department and said, "Egon's suit, it's the only one we have. Don't get it wet.""
  15. Joe Medjuck (2005). Ghostbusters- Commentary (2005) (DVD ts. 1:09:01-1:09:13). Columbia TriStar Home Video. 'Joe Medjuck says: "I love this shot. This was taken next door from 55. I remember Ivan, we went up to the apartment building next door to 55 Central Park West and shot as high as we could to photograph this view. "
  16. Shay, Don (November 1985). Making Ghostbusters, p. 143 annotation. New York Zoetrope, New York NY USA, ISBN 0918432685. Paragraph reads: "The ghostly multitudes streaming uptown from lower Manhattan would ultimately become the first shot in the ghost montage - a whirlwind assemblage of scenes featuring supernatural entities of various forms and demeanors running rampant through the city. Background plates for the panoramic view were shot from atop the RCA Building by Richard Edlund and his crew. Spectral imagery - as with the firehall 'ghost geyser' material - was generated and added later at Entertainment Effects Group.'"
  17. Greene, James, Jr., (2022). A Convenient Parallel Dimension: How Ghostbusters Slimed Us Forever, p. 42. Lyons Press, Essex, CT USA, ISBN 9781493048243. Line reads: "A staggering $3 million insurance policy had to be purchased by the filmmakers when they decided to visit the roof of the RCA Building to obtain a shot of the city's skyline (a plan to shoot the film's finale on top of an actual skyscraper was quickly discarded)."
  18. Ivan Reitman (2005). Ghostbusters- Commentary (2005) (DVD ts. 1:09:26-1:09:30). Columbia TriStar Home Video. Ivan Reitman says: "This is all part of that very early shooting we did back in October as I remember. "
  19. Craig Caton-Largent deviantArt "Ghostbusters Subway Ghost" 7/7/13 Paragraph reads: "The Subway Ghost from Ghostbusters inside the cloud tank. This was made from hot melt vinyl with an armature constructed from brass and aluminum and was painted with pearlescent powders. The shot was filmed in a "cloud tank" in reverse by attaching monofilament to the tail and pulling the puppet backwards. After reversing the film, it appeared to be swimming towards the camera."
  20. Shay, Don (November 1985). Making Ghostbusters, p. 144. New York Zoetrope, New York NY USA, ISBN 0918432685. Paragraph reads: "To achieve a suitable floating effect, Jon Schreiber maneuvers the finished creation - cast in a flexible vinyl material - through a large water tank. The resulting image would then undergo additional diffusion and optical alteration before being composited into the live-action scene shot on location in New York.'"
  21. Steve Johnson (2019). Cleanin' Up The Town: Remembering Ghostbusters (2019) (Blu-Ray ts. 17:36-18:05). Bueno Productions. Steve Johnson says: "The animatronic cab driver wasn't even done at Boss Film. It was basically my audition. It was when I met Richard Edlund and all the higher ups at Boss Films. They said, 'Ok, we got two weeks. We have to be in New York, on location filming. A fully animatronic zombie cab driver. You go away and make it, then go to New York and shoot it. And if it works, we'll give you the job. And so I really did everything on my own. I sculpted it. I did the engineering on it. I did the hair work. I painted it. Everything."
  22. Ivan Reitman (2005). Ghostbusters- Commentary (2005) (DVD ts. 1:09:40-1:09:45). Columbia TriStar Home Video. Ivan Reitman says: "Also from the first week of shooting on Madison Avenue. "
  23. Ivan Reitman (2019). Cleanin' Up The Town: Remembering Ghostbusters (2019) (Blu-Ray ts. 17:16-17:35). Bueno Productions. Ivan Reitman says: "The first day shooting was a car crash because some skeletal-like ghost had taken over a taxi cab and so we did the stunt. The very first day of shooting."
  24. Joe Medjuck (2005). Ghostbusters- Commentary (2005) (DVD ts. 1:09:53-1:09:54). Columbia TriStar Home Video. Joe Medjuck says: "This is Broadway, I think. "
  25. Shay, Don (November 1985). Making Ghostbusters, p. 146 annotation. New York Zoetrope, New York NY USA, ISBN 0918432685. Joe Medjuck says: "The hot dog vendor was one of the very first things we shot. It was included because it provided an opportunity for us to reintroduce the Onionhead ghost from the hotel - again eating and belching. Not only that, we thought, ' How can we shoot the streets of New York without including a hot dog cart?'"
  26. Mark Siegel (2019). Cleanin' Up The Town: Remembering Ghostbusters, Deleted Scenes (2019) (Blu-Ray ts. 11:16-11:40). Bueno Productions. Mark Siegel says: "The Slimer character is much smaller than the puppet was. In order to have his mouth stuffed with hot dogs, we had to make oversized hot dogs. I took along plumbing pipe and I just poured liquid foam into his long tube then I cut them apart, kind of dug out the ends of the rubber and then tied the ends together with little bits of thread so they were made as an actual sausage loop was made."
  27. TCU Collectibles facebook "Mark Siegel (Creature Shop, Ghostbusters/Ghostbusters 2) Interview" 56:19-56:33 9/14/2020 Mark Siegel says: "So because of the scale of it, I had to make hot dogs this big, this big around and this big so they would be in the proper scale to work with the puppet."
  28. TCU Collectibles facebook "Mark Siegel (Creature Shop, Ghostbusters/Ghostbusters 2) Interview" 56:39-57:47 9/14/2020 Mark Siegel says: "And how I came up with making the hot dogs is really fun and very ingenious. I think I took a link. I figured out what the scale would be to get the hot dog's proper diameter and then I took a long piece of PVC pipe. You know polyvinyl chloride like plumbing pipe that have the right interior diameter. We mixed up a batch of foam latex that was pigmented, pre-pigmented in a hot dog color and poured it into this long tube and then back it in the oven, so I could pull out this long hot dog diameter—hot dog colored tube and then I cut it. The proper lengths and then just like they make real hot dogs, I would cinch the ends together and tie them so that they look like sausages on the end, made a whole group of them and then I tied them on some mono filament. So I'm behind—I can't remember exactly where I was—I might have been under the puppet at this point with the hot dogs in his mouth."
  29. TCU Collectibles facebook "Mark Siegel (Creature Shop, Ghostbusters/Ghostbusters 2) Interview" 58:18-58:21 9/14/2020 Mark Siegel says: "As he's chewing, I'm pulling this bouquet of hot dogs in through his mouth."
  30. Aykroyd, Dan & Ramis, Harold (1983). Ghostbusters (First Draft August 5, 1983) (Script p. 102). Paragraph reads: "It belches loudly at the gaping spectators, then flits past the Doorman into the hotel with the pushcart following under its own power. He [The Vendor] shouts and chases it into the hotel."
  31. Aykroyd, Dan & Ramis, Harold (1983). Ghostbusters (First Draft August 5, 1983) (Script p. 102). Paragraph reads : "She starts down the runway in a very exotic furcoat. She reaches the end of the runway and pirouettes for the customers. Suddenly a yapping mink head pops out of the shoulder of the coat, then another and another until the whole coat is a mess of writhing, yapping rodents. The model screams and throws the coat off.""
  32. Shay, Don (November 1985). Making Ghostbusters, p. 147. New York Zoetrope, New York NY USA, ISBN 0918432685. Paragraph reads: "While the possessed Dana stands transfixed - staring out her window as the wave of ghosts sweeps past - the forces of Gozer blast out an entire wall in her penthouse apartment. To achieve the shot, John DeCuir designed and constructed the set as it was to appear after the explosion. Then Chuck Gaspar and his crew filled it in with balsawood bricks and breakaway glass. Inside, fifteen air mortars were mounted and filled with wet sand - which when fired under pressure acted like invisible shotgun pellets to blow out the wall and windows."
  33. Ivan Reitman (1999). Ghostbusters- Commentary (1999) (DVD ts. 01:10:14-01:10:21). Columbia TriStar Home Video. Ivan Reitman says: "This is an actual set, that we sort of cut in. And Sigourney actually stood there, through this following explosion."
  34. Ivan Reitman (1999). Ghostbusters- Commentary (1999) (DVD ts. 01:10:26-01:10:41). Columbia TriStar Home Video. Ivan Reitman says: "She's there and I've got a big tight lens, at about 300 or 400mm on her for this close-up... in slow motion, because I had the sense that if we could capture... in slow motion, because I had the sense that if we could capture... her like that, it would be very powerful."
  35. Shay, Don (November 1985). Making Ghostbusters, p. 148 annotation. New York Zoetrope, New York NY USA, ISBN 0918432685. Joe Medjuck says: "It would have been a good scene to include a little earlier in the movie because it reveals that Louis, as the Keymaster, possesses extraordinary powers. Unfortunately, there just wasn't time for it at this point in the movie and it had to go."
  36. Shay, Don (November 1985). Making Ghostbusters, p. 148 annotation. New York Zoetrope, New York NY USA, ISBN 0918432685. Ivan Reitman says: "I cut the scene between Louis and the muggers before we ever had a screening. Richard Edlund didn't really have time to do the necessary effects; and frankly, I didn't think I'd handled the actors very well in it. But I know if I'd ever screened the movie with that scene in it, I would have kept it in. There'd have been no choice. Louis is a favorite with the audience, and to see him pay back a bunch of scary guys would have been a natural cheering point."
  37. Wallace, Daniel (2015). Ghostbusters The Ultimate Visual History, p. 16. Insight Editions, San Rafael CA USA, ISBN 9781608875108. Line reads: "An unused "pizza ghost" concept by Thom Enriquez for the montage sequence in Ghostbusters, showcasing a pizza delivery demon with cheesy flesh dripping from its face."
  38. Shay, Don (November 1985). Making Ghostbusters, p. 147. New York Zoetrope, New York NY USA, ISBN 0918432685. Paragraph reads: "Pino VanLamsweerde storyboard panels for the deleted 'ghost molester' sequence."
  39. Shay, Don (November 1985). Making Ghostbusters, p. 148 annotation. New York Zoetrope, New York NY USA, ISBN 0918432685. Harold Ramis says: "Ghost sex is a classic supernatural phenomenon, so we thought it would be funny and sort of naughty to have an invisible ghost molesting all these typists - tickling them and goosing them and ripping their blouses open. The more we thought about it, though, the more adolescent and tasteless it seemed. We had much more material than we could possibly use for the ghost montage, and there were other things we liked a lot better, so we never even shot it."
  40. Shay, Don (November 1985). Making Ghostbusters, p. 148 annotation. New York Zoetrope, New York NY USA, ISBN 0918432685. Ivan Reitman says: "The whole idea of the ghost molester seemed like something of The Invisible Man or Topper - it just didn't fit into this movie. It probably would have gotten a big laugh, but we didn't need it. More importantly, we didn't have time for it."
  41. Shay, Don (November 1985). Making Ghostbusters, p. 151 annotation. New York Zoetrope, New York NY USA, ISBN 0918432685. Joe Medjuck says: "The theater sequence was in and then out, and then in and out again. We all loved it and we knew the audience would, too. But finally, we decided to cut it. It would have been a major effects sequence - very expensive and time-consuming - and the effects people already had their hands full. We did go as far as scouting locations for it, and found in old theater in Glendale that we were going to use: but ultimately, the plates were never shot."
  42. Eyes On Cinema Tweet "Ivan Reitman in the editing room of Ghostbusters" 4/8/2020
  43. Shay, Don (November 1985). Making Ghostbusters, p. 160 annotation. New York Zoetrope, New York NY USA, ISBN 0918432685. Paragraph reads: "As shot, the long-delayed joining of Zuul and Vinz took a somewhat different form and was cut into the film between the Ghostbusters' release from the holding cell and their arrival at City Hall. Since it was decided earlier that a definite link needed to be established between the ghostly disturbances and the apartment building on Central Park West, a scene was added at the end of the ghost montage showing the possessed Dana looking out her window as clouds of disembodied spirits stream up from lower Manhattan. As they swoop past her penthouse apartment, en route to the rooftop temple, the wall between them explodes outward."
  44. Shay, Don (November 1985). Making Ghostbusters, p. 160 annotation. New York Zoetrope, New York NY USA, ISBN 0918432685. Joe Medjuck says: "In the film, the apartment is already demolished when Louis arrives. But in the script, it is the force of Zuul the Gatekeeper and Vinz the Keymaster consummating their passion that blows the place apart. That was their purpose in coming together - make love. And then, on a second level, there's the comic irony that under his bizarre set of circumstances - which neither of them will remember - Louis finally gets to make it with Dana."
  45. IGN YouTube "Ghostbusters: Afterlife - Exclusive Trailer Breakdown with Director Jason Reitman" 07:12-07:25 7/26/2021 Jason Reitman says: "We actually found the original special effects 70 mm footage and scanned it, so, again we were always attempting to go back to the original recipe and recapture as much as humanly possible."
  46. TomWaltz Tweet 6/19/18

Gallery[]

Selected Screengrabs[]

Secondary Canon[]

Behind the Scenes[]

 
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Chapter 20: Keymaster Chapter 22: Holding Cell
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