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The incidents, however, were staged scenes to be included in "Time Machine," a film adaptation of the classic H.G. Wells novel of the same name, which is being produced by DreamWorks and filmed in various parts of the Capital District.
DreamWorks crews redecorated the Monument Square, including Second Street from Broadway to State Street, for the movie set this week. The city depicted New York City in 1899 for the film.
At the break of daylight this morning, Troy's two days of fame came to an end and the city began to be put back to normal. But not before many area residents and downtown store owners caught a glimpse of Hollywood.
Mary Lourdes Genevive, owner of Fleur de Lis Florist at 15 Second St., has spent the last two days and nights inside her downtown shop, which hosted an indoor shoot this weekend.
She says it was worth the brief inconvenience.
"It was awesome," Genevive said Saturday, following the first overnight taping.
"It was very interesting to see all that goes into making a film. I don't think the general public realizes how much goes on behind the scenes."
Fleur de Lis' front section was fitted with fake walls, which were then draped in antique wallpaper for the indoor shoot. Flowers and decorations to be seen in the movie were supplied by Genevive.
During last night's taping, actor Guy Pearce, who stars in the film, enters Genevive's store to buy some flowers for his love interest, who is played by Sienna Guillory. While he is inside, Guillory's character is apparently the victim in a fatal carriage accident.
Unlike many of the other downtown stores, the Fleur de Lis name was kept for the film. Next door, the front of Counties of Ireland was transformed into a sewing machine outlet.
Owner Robin McDonough spent Friday and Saturday night with Genevive in the flower shop. She said she needed to be available if the movie crew needed to alter anything in her store.
"It was great to watch the city transform, and I am amazed at how meticulous the crew guys are," McDonough said Saturday. "For something that is going to take four minutes, they have spent two weeks preparing."
Both store owners said that business slowed a bit during the transformation and taping. They added, however, that interested passersby have made up for the loss and Genevive expects people will seek out her store in the future as a result of the indoor taping.
Some 50 painters, carpenters, designers and machine operators converged on Second Street to install fake facades or alter the real things and change or alter business signs.
The city, at a cost to be reimbursed by DreamWorks, removed garbage cans, street lights, street signs and anything else that depicted the 21st century. Blocks of ice were also shaven on the streets to create an image of snow during the shoot.
Jeanne Couture and Dean Fagan, of Lansingburgh, were two of many people who descended on Troy this weekend to scope out the movie-making process.
Couture said she recently purchased a book on Troy's history and that many of the buildings redone for the movie resemble the way they looked in the past.
Michael Guenette and his 8-year-old son, Peter, of Saratoga happened upon the set Saturday while purchasing theater tickets. Guenette, a Troy native, said the taping is good for the city's economy and morale.
Today, the DreamWorks crew left Troy and headed for Schenectady, the third and final Capital District shooting location. Tapings in downtown Albany took place Thursday night and Friday morning.
"Time Machine" is being directed by Simon Wells, the great grandson of the novel's author, and will star Jeremy Irons in addition to Pearce and Guillory. DreamWorks officials do not yet know when the film will open in theaters.
This is at least the fifth time Troy has been host to a major motion picture. Scenes from "Ironweed," "The Bostonians," "The Age of Innocence" and "Scent of a Woman" were shot here in the past.
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