Unless you’ve been living in a cave (not a Batcave), you probably know that one of the most anticipated films of the summer is The Dark Knight, and Hongkongers have a special reason to brave the queues on opening weekend. For a few surreal weeks last autumn, the production set up shop on our fair isle to shoot a few scenes – and I was lucky enough to help out as a lowly assistant and watch some of the action. The film was shrouded in more secrecy than some military operations, but I can at last share a few inside tidbits from behind the scenes.

First off, wasn’t Batman supposed to jump from a plane into Victoria Harbour, a stunt that was cancelled due to water pollution? Well, no. The official word was that the scene was cut because of script reasons, but perhaps it was because the Hong Kong government was too rigid on flight altitudes and safety regulations (which do you think is the most diplomatic answer?).

Batman does, however, stand on the top ledge of IFC looking down over Hong Kong – a feat accomplished by some expert safety-rigging and a very trusting Christian Bale clad in rubber mask and Batsuit (which, incidentally, travels in its own sleek black box the size of a small elevator.) As a clearly relieved Bale stepped back onto the main deck after a take, one cameraman chuckled: “Everyone is going to think it’s CGI anyway!”

One shot that is unmistakably verité was filmed on the Mid-Levels Escalator – and if you were anywhere in the neighborhood that day, it was hard to miss. What seemed like thousands of people were magnetically pulled to stand beneath the escalator, lean off of bamboo scaffolding, snap pictures on their mobiles, try to sneak past the security lines in Batman costumes… all for a glimpse of Bale (in Bruce Wayne daywear) and Morgan Freeman chatting innocuously on the rampway.

The Center and the Peninsula Hotel helipad also make appearances, as does that more questionable piece of the Hong Kong landscape we used to take for granted – Edison Chen. All I can say is that he seemed a bit pouty and that most of the Hollywood imports weren’t fawning over him.

Finally, Hong Kong is shot as Hong Kong, not some strange substitute for Gotham. Director Christopher Nolan seems to have quite a fondness for the city, and he supposedly wrote some of this script while shut up in the Hong Kong Four Seasons during a typhoon. Which is why everyone spent days at the West Kowloon Helicopter Pad, preparing aerial shot after aerial shot of the island and harbour (using special camera-equipped helicopters brought from the US – it’s nice to be a big-budget production).

Of course, it’s not like you need another reason to see The Dark Knight. But getting to watch a superhero roaming the streets where we run errands is pretty hard to beat. Samantha Culp