A Transformer Wrap Poem

Diabetes over at the Don Murphy forums has posted a rather odd poem marking the wrap of principle photography on Transformers. If your not a fan of the movie then the poem is probably for you. In short, its blames Director Michael Bay for bad decisions and Dreamworks Head of Production Adam Goodman for giving Bay total control, resulting in making a movie that is "still loads of crap." An example would be indications that Bay has final say on all casting decisions.

While the film script I read and Bay's recent history isn't exactly a confidence lifter, I have hopes he will tap his "The Rock" past and create a kick-butt movie and abandon his attempts to prove what an artist he is when trying to explore the human condition. That isn't his thing and he needs to quit trying to make it so. Any case, I still have hope for the film. There may be more to the poem but it seems a bit insider for my understanding so if people have a clue, please share.

The poem:

The film is a wrap?
Wow how about that!
It’s still loads of crap.
And the Stooges swallow this pap?

Murphy and Desanto lead the cheerleader charge
While Skorponok takes credit by and large.
The fact is today
There is nothing okay
The content of the film’s not fit for a barge.

Let your sugary friend answer the clamor
All you sweet kiddles want in on the drama?
The trouble beginning to end
Is named A-D-A-M Goodman

New studio head Snider
Decided him to fire
But then in a Hail Mary pass
Goodman kissed the right piece of ass

“Do not fire me, no do not please”
The chubby young Goodman said on his knees
I can do something you don’t want to do
I can control Michael Bay just for you.

New studio head Snider
Knew he’s a liar
But decided to stay out of the mess
“Sure Mr. Chubwon, you control Bay-san
And keep this boy’s movie shit off my dress”

Then dumb Mr. Goodman
As only a dunce can
Proceeded to hide in the sand
For the first time in history
It was a complete mystery
How one director had ALL of the power!!!!!!

The film is what it is and that’s all that it is
Most trufans will want to take a long whiz
And though valiant and Brave Tom Ian and Don slaved
Fact is Goodman gave the keys to the Kingdom to Bayed.

If you hate the dumb story
And realize the characters are a worry
And wonder how Bay could screwup so bad
Remember the missive that Sugarboy brought you
It wasn’t just Michael but Goodman too!

Thanks Shan for the link.

Bunches Of Move Related Pics

There is a pool of Transformers pic over on Flickr. The pool is a mix of old, new, of set visits, vehicles in the wild, and so forth. Really its probably the current one shop stop for pictorial viewpoint on all the TF movie related info out there.

The most recent pics is of the Optimus Prime trailer being filmed out in the desert or at least in an large area of sand.

The pool of pics is here.

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Casting Call in Detroit for Extras

Transformers production is holding casting call in Detroit. The article info:

Paid extras needed for major motion picture "Transformers".

The movie is directed by Michael Bay with Steven Spielberg acting as executive producer.

Extras 16 years of age & older are needed to work outside for the 2-day scene currently scheduled for the first week of Oct. 2006. If you are interested in possibly working as a paid extra in the film, please send information immediately.

Mail To: Wendy Washbrook/Extra Casting
"Transformers"
5600 Campus Center Drive
Bungalow 1
Playa Vista, CA 90094

Or Email Photo and Info To: Wendy Washbrook/Extra Casting: wwashbrook@verizon.net
No phone calls. Photos will not be returned.

Good luck to those that try out. Thanks SR for the link.

Brief Michael Bay Update

Nelson over at the official website for Transformer director Michael Bay has posted an update.

Spoke to Bay...

1.- Movie will finish filming in four days.

2.- Bay & small unit will go around the country to film stuff in DC, Boston, Detroit, Chicago, Alaska, and other places.

3.- The animations are looking awesome. He's very confident with what they've done so far.

4.- And...

...there is no "Razor". Shia meant to say "Raptor". The F-22 has been filmed very little (or not at all) for the big screen.

I guess referring to the AICN interview with Shia from a few weeks ago. I think the F-22 is the alt mode for Starscream. This bit also supports the recent report of a bus terminal in Detroit being used for filming.

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Optimus Prime's Back End

TFormers.com has posted two pics of the vehicle mode of Optimus Prime sitting out in a parking lot on 6th and Broadway (LA I guess). Apparently it was being cleaned and a reader of the site took a few cell phone pics (hence the pic quality). Thanks Julio M for the link.

Jazz Robot Designs

The news drought, for now, has ended. TFW2005.com has posted a pic of a potential design for the robot mode of Jazz. White is apparently his favorite color. Actually I am liking the design, its not bad at all. Now if only tfw2005 would stop with the enormous watermarks that mess up the actual picture visuals. The images are not theirs anyway (technically they are Dreamworks) so to mark them up to ruin is overkill. Use a watermark, just stick it somewhere it doesn't cover a chunk of the pic visuals.

Emperor Optimus Prime

Its not movie news, but its interesting none the less. Turns out it isn't just the United States or Japan that loves Transformers. China has also felt some love for them, even going so far as to build a giant 40 foot statue of the Autobot leader Optimus Prime.

Apparently back in the 80s, the communist regime decided that Transformers was suitable for public consumption since it was non-political and generally non-geographic in nature. So now located in southern China, in a province of Yunnan, sits a statue of the great leader waiting for others to visit. Or you can save a crap load of money and look at the pictures.

The full article is here.

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John Rogers On Transformers

John Rogers, in an interview with Newsarama (great site btw) briefly talked about Transformers. He was the original writer for the movie before current writers Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman took over.

NRAMA: On the subject of your films, you wrote a script for the upcoming live-action Transformers movie. Knowing that screenwriting is a particular sort of collaboration, how much resemblance will the finished movie bear to your original concept?

JR: Yep, I wrote the first draft. I've seen the shooting script, and it's about half and half. They've moved one of the storylines a little earlier, and they've increased the big military aspect, whereas I had focused on some of the smaller, personal stories. Yeah, you know, I get a credit, we'll see. We'll see what it looks like eventually. It goes from me, to the other guys, who work quite extensively with Michael Bay, so using what he needs to get his vision across. The characters are the same, the rough plot's the same, and I've seen the mock-ups of the battles and it's gonna be frickin' huge. It'll be a lot of fun to see.

Thanks to Joe P. for the tip.

Transformers Shooting in Detroit

An old, abandoned train station off Michigan Avenue in Detroit, Michigan is going to be used for shooting for the Transformer movie. Dreamworks just recently signed a deal with the city for its use. Apparently the building and area in front of it will be used for a chase sequence but exactly in what way or what scenes wasn't disclosed. I guess time will tell. Thanks Julio M for the tip.

The full article is here.

Bumbleebee on Cover of Hot Rod

The Camaro that is the vehicle mode for Bumbleebee is the cover car for the November 2006 issue of Hot Rod Magazine. Almost no spoiler movie wise, but decent info about the car itself as provided from "rtype" on the Shoot for the Edit site and provided by tformers.com.

It's not really a camaro but a pontiac gto with fiberglass molds from the concept. Built by Saleen, it has faux wheel covers/rotors and anything else that is "billet aluminum" is also made of fiberglass. pretty cool stuff. they have pics of the chassis, camaro - fresh out of the paintbooth masking paper still on it, and prelim test fits of the white fiberglass molds.

The dash, and outer body panels are from the concept. the chassis, LS-2 V-8 engine, and suspension are GTO.

- Barricade (still referred to as Brawl in this article) is considered a Saleen, not Mustang, Ford not wanting the Pony touted as a villain. They alluded that this will make it easier for Hasbro to license it as a toy.

- Bumblebee's side windows are plexiglass and won't roll down.

-Even though Saleen modifies Mustangs, it was tapped due to it's expertise in building show vehicles.

- GM, not Saleen applied the final racing stripes, to closely resemble the '69 camaro stripes.

- "Old" Bumblebee was originally gonna be a '69, but ended up being 3 1976 camaros. the team was going for believability in terms of spike finding a crappier camaro as opposed to the more sought after '69.

- new movie camaro is automatic (Heard this is quite common for stunt driving purposes. -bwbm)

- the new camaro trunk fills up with smoke when doing burn outs, it's bare bones hollow and houses the fuel filler cap.

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Transformers Toy Stuff

Another day, another day without movie news. So instead I will recommend some links to check out upcoming Transformers toys.

My favorite is the must have "Masterpiece Starscream". Sucker just looks great and probably fun to play with to. Its designed the same way as the 20th Anniversary Optimus Prime from last year was. Besides, who can pass up a version that features that Starscream smirk. Pics are here and here.

Hasbro has recently updated its site with news of the next planned Alternator, the Honda Civic SI, called Rumble. Yes its named after the cassette Transformers Rumble and when in robot mode is clearly modeled after him with the chest plate and the hammer arms. The Alternator line is simply Transformers at its best. Is a perfect model of the car that turns into a fully articulated TF robot that usually looks awesome in any mode. If a fan from the past, its worth your while to hit a toy isle and give them a look-see. The info on Rumble is here.

For you Generation One (G1) fans (original TF from the 80s), comes the Classic Line for the holiday season. Its basically the original Transformers updated using current toy technology which means more detailed look, better articulation and even better no stickers! Click here for a few pics of Hot Rod, Starscream and Bumblebee.

A final bit of news is a rumor that the planned release of the Transformers movie toy line is June 2nd 2007. The site claims its direct from a Hasbro rep but I have my doubts. One reason is usually movie line toys are released 2 to 3 months ahead of the movie. Another is toy lines are not like DVD release schedules where they only get put on sale after a certain date. In fact I have never heard of a "release date" for a toy. Basically the manufacturer (Hasbro) makes then and ships then and its entirely up to the stores on when they stick them on the shelves. Toys R Us is famous for sitting on entire toy lines while it tries to clear out the old (rather then just put em on sale and get rid of them). Its one of the many reason why that company has been hurting for years. Even now, its really not recommended to look for the latest release there but instead hit the local Wal-Mart and Target. Any case, I say keep an eye out starting in May.

As the above shows, the next year in Transformers toys is bright and sweet with no less then three lines planned for the fans and the nephews alike. Oh and a warning for the TF newbies, don't be fooled by different colors. Hasbro is famous now for releasing the every Transformers about 3-4 different times and the only difference is its name and color scheme.

Bumblebee in a Truck

The leaks continue to not occur from the Transformers movie set. No news but here you go, a headless Bumblebee sitting in a truck from superherohype.com. Not really news but figure it would interest some.



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Someone's Photoshop Fun with Seekers

No news for last couple days, so figured post a link of someone having some fun with the F16's, TFs and Photoshop. Click here for a few other pics.

No Ark Appearance?

Based on a leaked script and unconfirmed rumors, its looks like the Ark, the ship that brought the Transformers to Earth, is not apart of the movie continuity. As one of the script writers Roberto Orci asked "One of the questions we always had about the ark: Why would aliens who moonlight as vehicles need other vehicles to travel inside?"

I could come up with many of reasons. One being that interstellar travel isn't really apart of the Transformers capabilities. Another is power and speed. Bigger ship, bigger weapons, faster the travel, usually things that those at war like to have. Finally, the original ark was both a home, base, repair bay and recharging station. Even robots need that.

Final reason is it would explain that annoying hole in the script of why Megatron gets iced in the 1800s but the rest of the Transformers don't go looking until the 100+ years later. The Ark crash landed and everyone was in stasis. Nice, neat and would make a pretty nifty opening pre-credits.

I am sure fans could come up with dozens of practical and not so practical reasons for the use of a spaceship by transforming sentient robots from another world. Have at it in the comments.
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More Transformers On-Set Footage

Additional footage of the LA shooting of Transformers has shown up on YouTube. At first might think its fake but really its just been spruced up a bit. The footage clearly matches previous pictures and television footage of the same set. It shows just a hint of the Bumbleebee robot and a few stunts involving crashing a tow truck into a car along with a view of the various set pieces on the street. Spoiler wise didn't really see much of anything but figured the curious might find it interesting.

Click here for the video and here for the site of the person that posted it.
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Ironhide and Ratchet Pics; Bumblebee Face Closeup

Seibertron.com has once again scored some more pics of the Transformers. One of the back side of Ironhide and one very nice pic of Ratchet. I am envious of the Autobot engraving on the back of the truck and that search and rescue logo on Ratchet is a nice touch. Also check out the closeup of Bumblebee's furby face with the outcroppings on his skull that are analogous to his horns from the cartoon days. Thanks to the TransformersLive blog reader for the vehicle tip in the comments and Joey Cagle for the Bumbleebee link.




Update: Additional pics of same things, only really big and great quality is here.

9/11: Five Years Later

A slight change in normal Transformers posting. Its been five years. Wow, sometimes thats hard to believe. I hope your day goes well and for all the sadness for this day, I think hope should be the message.
7 Days In September
Changing of the Guards
Jon Stewart 9/20/01

Another Frontal Bumblebee Pic

seibertron.com has posted another image of Bumblebee robot used for filming that is one of the best pics taken of the yellow one so far. Thanks Julio M. for the link.

Tranformers Battle Scene Mock-Up Pics

Seibertron.com has posted two pics that appear to be mock-up of a battle scene between the Decepticons and Aubobots in downtown Los Angeles. The images show a possible cut-out robot views of Megatron, Frenzy, Starscream, Ratchet, Bumblebee, and Jazz to scale with the surrounding cars and building. Useful in determine what the scale of the Transformers will be to the average car and skyscraper (basically about 2-3 stories tall).


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Set Pics of Something Going Boom

"hatchetgirl" has posted some pics of Transformer sets in Los Angeles on flickr. Based on the leak script this is part of the ending of the film but exactly what is going on is up in the air. Still worth a look see for the curious. Might even want to call this a spoiler warning except don't know what it might be spoiling.

Click here for the pics.

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Even More Optimus Prime Pics

TFormers.com has posted two additional boards of the plans for the movie version of Optimus Prime. The pics are both a repeat of those released yesterday and additional images of Optimus with his gun. The status is listed as "work in progress" so possible that his final design could be different then what currently see. Also congrats to them for doing the watermark in a more logical manner.


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PVP Weighs in on Megatron

PVP, hilarious daily strip, gives their opinion on the Megatron designs and fan reaction. Click link or the below pic to make it large enough to read.

More Bumblebee Pics

Or at least a view of Bumblebee's tires. As he sits in a truck. Hey he is big though. And yellow. OK not terribly exciting but something to look at while debating whether you like those Optimus Prime pics.


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More Pics of Movie Optimus Prime

AICN.com has posted a front, back and face pics of Optimus Prime. These images are much clearer then the previously released pics. At first glance, I can't say I liked the design, but the more I look at them, the more I am digging them.



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AICN.com Shia LaBeouf Interview

AICN.com and MTV.com had a sit down with Transformers star Shia "Sam Witwicky" LaBeouf to discuss the movie. The MTV.com article was just a fluff piece to keep TF on everyone's mind. AICN.com article is a bit more in depth and much longer.

- "Megatron’s crutch now is that he's frozen. But it's modernized. You can't have a toy gun. You've got 9 year olds watching this movie and yes, we're creating mythology, but you can't make a toy gun your antihero and then have Hasbro go out and sell toy guns with the little yellow cap on it, you know? It'll look [f'ing] ridiculous to have Megatron with a yellow nose, you know what I mean? It'd look retarded."

Can't say I disagree with that. The reason why is its now illegal to make a realistic toy gun. As a result Megs can never be re-released stateside in his original form. Still, Megs frozen for most of the movie? Can't really say that warms the cockles of my heart.

- "The fact that it's a Razor, a plane that nobody's seen before, that the military is giving us... that nobody has filmed or seen. I mean, CNN has not seen this plane and we're filming it. It's cool. It gives it that edgy shit. People have seen guns before, but to make Megatron something that nobody's ever seen and make it an edgy presence..."

Does that mean that Megatron's Earth form will be the Razor? A military secret jet turned into a toy, isn't politics and Hollywood grand.

- "The engine of Sam, for the film, essentially he is the liaison between the robots and the humans. ...the reason Sam is able to communicate with the robots... It's not because he knows some [f'ing] alien language. Sam Whitwicky comes from a lineage of explorers. Captain Archibald Whitwicky was his great, great grandfather, a 19th Century Seaman, who, during a search, an exploration of the arctic circle, fell upon an ice cave. Fell into the ice cave and into a hand; the hand of Megatron. What he saw when he turned was an eye which burned a laser into his eyeglasses, which was a map of where the Energon Cube is being stored."

Still not sold on the "Energon Cube" name. Still on sold on selling a family heirloom on eBay. Still no idea why Megs land on earth in the late 1800s (and even though evil smart bad guy, gets trapped in ice) and its takes a hundred plus years later for rest to follow. I hope they explain either in this film or the next why the time lapse and other questions that gets raised in that scenario.

- Shia later describes the film as being nonstop, "There is no let-up and the only let up there will be is the humor of it. Even the romance is action-driven."

I take that as a good sign. Transformers should be all action. If they can get some character in there, all the better, but if they freeze everything and then poorly shoehorn in character, then why bother (the mistake Bay has made on his previous films). I am not looking for a diatribe on the human condition, just a highly entertaining popcorn flick worth watching again and again.

- "If you're not confused, you're not paying attention."

I just liked the phrase. But the gist is the film is so massive that the cast etc loose track of what is happening.

Above is really where most of the Transformers info was. The rest of the interview was mostly an ode to Michael "General Patton" Bays and how much work is it to do the film of the Transformers size. All in all, an interesting read which you read in it entirety here.

Ain't It Cool News Set Visit and Interviews

AICN.com has posted about a set visit by Quint. He previously visited the set several months ago when the shoot had just started. Once again it’s the Los Angeles, end of movie shoot that has been talked about in set visits by other sites. He was able to see a couple takes get filmed and sat down for an interview with various cast members. One thing though, the leaked February draft of the script is darn close to what they are using as the shooting script. They may have reworked some lines and maybe tweaked pacing but the main fight sequences and FX heavy parts, I think out of prep time necessity, most of the script was left mostly intact as written.

In the brief interview with Quint, Josh Duhamel claims to have been a TF fan as a kid, but I have my doubts based on the sum total of various interviews I have read. Not important but does make you wonder why bother to lie or at least exaggerate your interest. This is his chance to break out and join the movie big boys and leave his Las Vegas TV salary behind. Can't blame the man for being ambitious and the potentially certainly is there (if he chooses his projects carefully). Any case, I recommend he get someone to hook him up with some old eps, the cartoon movie, and a few toys. This way when on the promotional press tour next year, he will have some anecdotes to help sell his "childhood" interest in Transformers. He can then claim he still has some of those toys from his childhood and whatnot. Do a house tour and boom, instant props.

Michael Bay commented on his vehicle choice for Optimus Prime (which personally I don't see the problem), "The reason I went with the flames was to be able to define Prime's mid-section when he's a robot." The flames act as sort of the defacto grill/ribs for Prime while the long-nose truck was chosen for additional mass which I assume means he looks taller and a better match to Megatron. Additionally, the Skorpinok film opening sequence has been fully rendered. I am thinking that some of that will be used in the Thanksgiving trailer.

Bay also expressed that he is pleased with choice of Peter Cullen for the voice of Optimus Prime but that they plan on hiring actors to help create video reference for the animators to work with. He stressed it wasn't motion capture, and sounds to me more like how traditional cartoon animators, especially Disney, use to capture human expressions on their cartoons by often filming their voice actors while doing ADR and let the animators copy them as they saw fit or just using a mirror and so forth. Bay should pick of a few of the older Disney flicks and watch their making of bits to see how it was done.

The article picks on Megan Fox a bit (with reason I think, again based on sum of articles seen and read) and so I shall pass on the opportunity because she is hot and in our world that means everything (joking a little). Bay also expressed some concern over not having a bigger presence at the San Diego Comic-con, ala Spider-Man 3. Personally I don't think it mattered since the film is still a bit a ways and the true momentum doesn't really matter until about three months before opening cause of the ADD of the average consumer who don't even know what a comic-con is.

The article had no new information to reveal about the movie. It’s mostly just touches base with the set and gets a feel for things. Like AICN.com, I have high hopes for the movie and unlike most of fandom, I am mostly pleased with has come out about the movie. I hope the shooting script is more polished the February version as far a dialogue, humor and some of the setup. I also hope that this desire to emphasis the alien-ness of the Tranformers is lightened some. I understand where the Bay and co are going with it, but there is a reason Sci-Fi gives the aliens a touch of humanity visually. It’s not just to save money, its helps to create a connection (or disconnection) with the characters for the audience. Starscream and his sneer is a classic example. Show his face to anyone, fan or no fan, and once they see that smug sneer, they instantly know his character. The movie Megatron for instance, screams evil, but I am afraid that he will develop him into such an over the top evil that he becomes a characture. My point is to follow the Darth Vader and Sci-Fi Rule of Alien Characters - allow some humanity to leak out in words, actions AND visuals.

Full article here.