Whatever it was, whoever it was, it caused quite a buzz around North Jersey on Friday.


Commercial film crews parked trucks and trailers on Skyline Drive in Oakland this week. As drivers in the area reported the conspicuous vehicles and traffic backups, word spread and rumors flew on Twitter and Facebook, filled with residents’ speculation.


Victoria Baker, 18, saw the tweets and went to see for herself Thursday night along with friend Olivia Sohn.


“We saw several large trailers parked in the parking lot at the top of Skyline Drive as well as near the bottom,” said the Ringwood resident, who posted a grainy photo of the lit-up staging area on Twitter.


The girls saw a police officer in one parking lot and several large trailers, including one that said “movie catering.”


Baker heard the rumors that the trucks were there for filming of “The Hunger Games: Catching Fire,” starring Oscar nominee Jennifer Lawrence as Katniss. Or perhaps it was for “Winter’s Tale,” a movie starring Russell Crowe and Will Smith that is scheduled to be released later this year.


So what was the film crew doing deep in the woods of Ringwood State Park and Ramapo Mountain State Forest?


Contradictory information added to the mystery.


“The movie wrapped several weeks ago,” said a source close to production of “Catching Fire.” “They are not shooting there. I can tell you that definitively.”


Something was happening and some clues pointed in Katniss’ direction. A state Department of Environmental Protection spokesman said a movie was filming in the area. A permit was filed with the state for a commercial film shoot at Ringwood State Park and Ramapo Mountain State Forest for GGX Productions under the film name “Idiom.” GGX has been connected to casting and production of “The Hunger Games,” and it was widely reported that casting calls and earlier filming of the sequel at Georgia locations were done under “Idiom.”


From www.northjersey.com