Today I went with some fandom friends to see the filming of Black Mass, the film Ben is doing with Johnny Depp here in Boston. It was a wonderful, squeeful day, and though we didn't see him up close we still SAW HIM and that was enough to make me happy. Read more if you like, it's nothing too exciting, but I wanted to get it down and have it available to point a few folks to. I mean, how can you be a Sherlock/Benedict fan and NOT post about seeing him in person?!? I'M SORRY BUT I'M DAMN EXCITED. It's going to be ridiculously long and detailed, and that's mostly for my own benefit of remembering, I certainly don't expect anyone else to care.I knew I wanted to take a day to see the Black Mass set, since they are filming in and around Boston. I live about 50 mins north of the city, so it's an easy enough trip. Last week my fandom friends (wearitcounts and scullyseviltwin on tumblr) and I had decided that Monday would be a good day, since one of them had the day off already. I wound up having to call in sick to work but hey, BEN EMERGENCY. We found the shooting location via reddit and a location site, and knew they'd be in Lynn filming an outdoor parade scene (recreating the Southie St. Patrick's day parade). We didn't know for sure if he'd be there (rumors are saying Tuesday is his first day), but we knew we had to try. Plus, Lynn is up my way and closer than the city, so how could I not go? I like the idea of visiting the film set anyway, even if Ben wasn't there. Though, quite obviously, we were hoping he would be.We met at the train station at 8:30, and since filming was actually right around the corner (they had several small blocks closed in the center of town), we parked right at the train station and walked over. It was quickly apparent that the ends of the blocked streets were all guarded by PAs and cops, so you couldn't get in to see anything up close. They were doing wide outdoor shots and couldn't have modern-dressed folks wandering around in the background (as it was they had to reshoot a few different things because peeps were accidentally in the background - it was usually the cops). Just about 30 feet in from the mouth of one street was a small Diner that was open, and they were letting people in who wanted to go there, so we said we were headed there and popped in. We wound up sitting outside in a cute little deck area and having coffee - you couldn't see anything since we were tucked into an alcove courtyard, but we could hear the bagpipes and marching band and cheering, and that was fun. Our waitress was totally cute and cool with us just bumming around and not eating. (We felt bad about it, but tipped her well when we left.) The place was not crowded and just had a few locals, many of whom could not have been less interested in the goings-on.There was a PA right by the diner entrance, making sure nobody went the wrong way down the street, and we decided chatting him up was our best bet for ideas on what to do next. So Leslie began that, talking to him for a few minutes before returning to the table, and then we just continued to sit and then pop down and watch around the corner (we could see down the street and a part of the action) and chat with him. His name was Rex and he was awesome - we talked about regular stuff (he's trying to get into 'the biz' and quitting his job as a wildlife documentary maker down on the Cape) but also asked questions about the production. He pointed out Johnny Depp to us at one point and we were all kind of like 'yeah cool thanks BUT...' Then Rex confirmed Benedict was in the next shot, so we had our eyes peeled. It took only a few seconds to figure out that a man in a white shirt and tie was Ben - all thanks to his distinct way of standing and what he does with his arms (through the course of the day we saw the thigh grabbing, the hair rubbing, the hand clasping... it was glorious). We got a few long-distance shots and then Rex suggested we try another spot, so we went off in search of a better view, promising to return later. Rex thanked us for helping make his day a bit less boring. :) [oh! and let me just say that that whole movie set was full of cutie-pies. The PAs were cute, the cops were cute, everyone was cute and nice, it was just a day full of good-looking people!]Around the corner there was a broad street taped off with crime scene tape (we giggled), and we could stand there along it and watch. That's where we saw Ben doing his head-of-the-parade gig - it was the same vantage point as all the photos that have been coming out. (we did see some paps, we think - at least some shady, assholish folks with humongous cameras, who else would that be?) I took some shots with my long-lens DSLR before it callously decided to run out of batteries (SIGH). Ben was hamming it up during filming, grinning like an idiot and swinging his arms as he walked with the staff. We just about melted into little fangirl puddles. We caught the last take they did of him at the head of the parade before they spent a LOT of time just doing reshoots of the second half of the parade without him. It was funny to watch the band and crowd and bagpipers all miming that they were making noise - they must have been capturing dialogue then? We all got a bit bored at that point, and walked around, saw craft services and one trailer that turned out to be Depp's, but nothing too special. Lots of locals yelling at the PAs to get through the barricades, which was entertaining. There were a lot of Lynn residents that were plain pissed that this whole production was interfering with their lives. We had to laugh. I used to work in Lynn... folks there are a bit rough around the edges. ;)We visited Rex again and poked around, took a photo with an old Boston cruiser and flirted with the fake cop standing next to it, then went back to the diner for lunch. We felt better about actually ordering food this time! We killed the afternoon off without too much to tell about, just poking around, trekking to Dunkin Donuts for a coffee and to charge our phones for a few minutes.Leslie had to leave at that point - it was about 5 - and then Allison and I returned to the crime-scene-tape-location to keep watch out again. They wound up re-setting up the initial scene we'd seen, with Ben at the head of the parade, and they filmed that several times so we got to see him go back and forth for each take. He was probably about 50 feet away. He did some adorable standing around, some adorable interacting with hair and makeup (he kept bending his knees so she could reach his hair and face), and some VERY Ben-like adorable waving about of hands. We could just imagine him saying something goofy. He also endlessly twirled and played with the staff/sceptre he carried as parademaster. Did I mention he was adorable? We also chatted with some other fans of his - it was nice to get a break from everyone assuming we were there for Johnny (not that it matters much, but it was a bit of a point of pride that we weren't).They finally wrapped, and we thought about staying at the barricade there to see if Ben just might come over, but everyone took off down the street out of sight so we figured that was probably it. The crew came out in droves to start taking down decorations. We walked around the block again, caught the very very end of Depp getting into his car and driving off, and then that was kind of it. We returned to our original starting spot to thank Rex for being so cool and fun, but we only saw his boss 'Sherm', who was nice enough and seemed to like us. I told him thanks for letting us bum around and for making the day so fun, and he shook my hand and said we helped make it fun, so that was really nice. And, with that, we traipsed off into the sunset. :)It was by no means a super-special fan encounter, but it was really nice to see Ben at work and know that we weren't being creepy or sneaky in any way as we tried to catch sight of him (I'm not opposed to being sneaky, on the whole, as long as it's done right... but there's something relaxing about not partaking in that particular brand of fangirling). Everyone was so nice, and it was neat to see some of the film set goings-on (I've been to a few movie sets with my dad, but nothing that large). Going into the day not knowing if he would be there made it all the more gratifying to learn that he was there and then to ultimately see him several times.He's here filming for at least a few more weeks, so here's hoping I get another chance before he's gone to try to see him again. One never knows. :)This is one of my best photos - as you can see, much like the published ones that appeared online today (only those are closer up and clearer!). But this one's special since I took it myself. :D The rest of them are posted here