Chicago has become familiar with the sounds of explosions and gunfire - as Michael Bay continues to shoot Transformers 3 in the downtown area. Today was no different with the cast and crew on location filming the movie's climactic Midwest battle.

Similar to our coverage from the early July shoot, we've got exclusive video and photos detailing the action.

Paramount has done a fair share of damage control with Transformers 3 already. It has run into a few dilemmas from last-minute casting changes to a flip-flop explanation on the role of the Twins. But the production in Chicago has gone well as far as officials are concerned.

Shia LaBeouf, Rosie Huntington-Whiteley, Josh Duhamel, and Tyrese Gibson were all on set today for another action piece. Earlier in the day, cars were thrown from the top of a parking structure as debris rained down from above.

When I arrived near the set, there were multiple public venues to use as observing areas. I watched from the nearby train station, giving a nice overhead look at the action. But when it came time for the explosions, the station was cleared and I went across the street for the best possible view - see the video below for footage.

The rest of the day was spent snapping photos of the on-set action. But action on a movie set is a rare occasion. Instead, you'll find mostly shots of Shia LaBeouf and his stunt double preparing for a wire-rigged stunt or Rosie Huntington-Whiteley waiting for her cue to look frightened.

There were multiple cameras rolling at all times, but none appeared to be 3D. We learned Transformers 3 would be shooting in 3D, but no evidence so far has proven that to be the case. More photos will surely crop up this week from the set and hopefully one will give us definitive proof of the format.

I also ran into LaBeouf's stunt double just off set and noticed Huntington-Whiteley reading the latest Vogue Magazine, while LaBeouf was reading over a script. The pictures of today's action can be found below and we will continue to search for Chicago locations to show you the latest. My apologies for the quality of some photos as they were taken from my cellphone.

Michael Bay has explained his intention to showcase Chicago as much as possible throughout its portion of the film. Some movies film on location, but turn it into someplace completely different. For instance, The Dark Knight and Batman Begins have turned Chicago into the fictional Gotham City.

Instead, Bay has used major landmarks of Chicago and will incorporate them into the film. Yet, with today's location, a large sign had Asian writing on it that might suggest it was not intended for a Chicago scene. At the same time, the green garbage truck is a well-known American company, Waste Management.

In addition, away from my visibility, there was a Goodyear truck and a school bus upside down in the alleyway.

It'll certainly be interesting to see which of these vehicles become CGI robotic aliens in post production.

Transformers 3 will release on July 1st, 2011.