First 3 Minutes of Transformers

First we get the Megatron voice for the first time, now can see (through a video camera in a theatre) the first three minutes of Transformers. It starts with the voice of Optimus Prime explaining the Allspark and goes right into the movie, no long title credit sequence. Thanks to the unknown person for the link.

"Before It's Too Late" Music Video

YouTube has the "Before It's Too Late" by the Goo Goo Dolls for the Transformers soundtrack music video. Thanks to Trailer for the link.

Michael Bay Message

In a message from Michael Bay over at his forums, he talks about the hard work of doing Transformers, especially the robots. He always talks about the influence or rather the lack of influence that Tom DeSanto and Don Murphy had on the movie. The original post is here, or was rather as it seemed to have been pulled.

Update: Pulled text of post by request. Decided to out of fairness to respect the request.
Another update: It appears based on recent mentions of the Wrap Poem and posting of Bay's message on another site (Defamer) that if it becomes news I will repost the text.

Luckily someone over at Seibertron.com had already grabbed the entire message. This is the Hollywood behind the scene stuff I like, the politics and intrigue that goes on cause the public face is shiny happy people and with the money and egos involved there is no way that is the truth. Thanks to Chad for the info over at the blog forums.

The message:

The movie is over.

Wow that was a hard one, but I must tell you it was so much fun. The most difficult actors I’ve ever worked with, besides Bruce Willis, are Optimus Prime and Bumblebee. They took every single one of my days for a year. But they are well worth the work. I’ve just traveled 36,000 miles around the world (in two weeks) and had the most amazing premiere at the Taormina film festival in an ancient, Greek-built theatre that existed well before the birth of Christ. I loved seeing the reactions to the film from so many different cultures. This movie really travels around the world. I’m so excited for everyone to see it. Thanks to all you that supported me on this film.

Just so I set the story straight, my budget started a $145 Million it crept to $150 and some change – I’m very proud of that – the fact that we are half the cost of all these other summer blockbusters. I see people doubt that out on the net, but anyone want to challenge me I’ll put a ten thousand dollar bet down on the table right now.

Even when the studio tried to ship me out to Canada or shoot down with Aussies - I looked but I knew we were dead up there. I needed my crew that I have been loyal to for years, they are the best in the world. Besides I believe American movies that portray America, should be made in America. I cut my fee 30% so I could make this at home. I knew this was right for the movie so I asked the other producers to join – Ian and Lorenzo did, and the two others (that came attached to the project) Tom Desanto and Don Murphy did not. That was my introduction to them – they did not want any part of their fee going to make a better movie. Things like that don’t usually sit well with me.

Now that the movie is done I get strange questions from the press. Like “how did Tom control the set”? What? “ How did Tom and Don control you?” What the fuck. “How was it working with Tom and Don who knew Transformers so well?” “We heard Tom wrote the story – he had a 90 page treatment, right?” Okay stop. Let me take you back in time. Tom and Don are very nice guys, but let’s get some facts straight.

Tom had one creative meeting with me for one hour and ten minutes to be exact about a year ago. He told he was the über fan boy and was going to protect me from the minefields. The type of minefields on the Net like “Damn you Michael Bay” “You wrecked my childhood Michael Bay” and other various web death threats I received. Tom proceeded to tell me how much he had problems with the robot designs and script issues. I realized he was worlds apart in my vision. I said thank you very much, and then showed him my office door - I never really spoke to him again other then to mutter hello. He would occasionally come to the set with guests like it was some theme park. I never spoke creatively with Don. I read his notes kind of trashing the script and making me and the writers feel like a big shit pile. But during production Don was nice to me, he knew I was not going to talk creative with him.

One day not too long ago, the writers of our movie Alex and Bob called me in a panic saying all of a sudden after the movie was almost finished in post that Tom was applying for writer's or story credit. I was appalled because neither the writer’s nor I ever saw any treatment. Well, he applied for credit, but the Writer’s Guild shot him down, denied him.

But what made my blood curl was something that was on the Net with Tom at the Saturn awards on IESB.net where they interviewed him about the movie – a movie I might add he had not seen yet. He acted very much like he did. Check it out as he vamps through the questions, and how Hugo put his “thumb print on it”. Give me a break the guy was lying through his teeth - he had seen nada, nothing until the press screening.

So that’s the real truth, I had to say it, cause I'm tired of answering these questions.

What these guys did do was stuck with a ‘silly toy movie’ and pushed it around town and kept the faith after everyone turned them down, always with the hope that maybe someone somewhere would make it. Now I commend them on that. Hats off to them, but trying to taking creative credit in the press let me just say it – irks me. Too many credits are given to too many people who had nothing to do with the movie. Hell even investment bankers with not the slightest idea of how to make a movie all of a sudden are big producers in town.

I guess that’s how it goes in Hollywood.

Bay

Update: I re-added the message because this letter is indication of a problem between Bay and Don Murphy and Tom DeSanto that ultimately removed those two form the Transformers II as producers.

"Live from the Web Carpet" Interviews

That Megan Fox and Shia LaBeouf interview posted about earlier turned out not to be only one they put it. All the interviews are up they used for the webcast and as a whole they are pretty interesting. Its a mix of the usual questions with a few new ones. Its also about the only time going to see Rachael Taylor in an interview it seems and she is just as hot as Megan Fox.

Movie Clip: Megatron Speaks

Thanks to the ever diligent Tigerclaw, there is footage on YouTube of Megatron (Hugo Weaving) speaking. Its a clip that aired during Shia LaBeouf's interview on the Late Show with David Letterman on Friday night. Its good footage but I have a feeling the voice will be an issue for many Transfans. I can't even tell its Hugo Weaving doing the voice which either is kudos for him or the sound mixers, not sure which.

Transformers: HBO First Look On YouTube

The U.S. HBO First Look at Transformers has been posted on YouTube for all to see. A lot of it is the usual cheerleading style that's designed to sell the movie. Most of the movie footage has already been seen in previously released clips and trailers but there are small new bits. There is a good amount of behind the scenes footage, explanations of how the Scorponok stuff is done, and some of the training the actors did to prepare.




This is probably the most seen of Rachael Taylor yet who has kind of disappeared because of the spotlight shown on Megan Fox. Not sure why, would think throw both eye candy at the press for selling the movie. Maybe she is doing the overseas press stuff.

As a whole its fine for trying to sell the movie, but I am really hoping that when do the DVD extras its a real behind the scenes deal that was shown in some parts only much longer. If people bought the DVD, they don't need another cheerleading "watch this movie" session. They have already been sold, now they want information. Thanks to Trailer for the links and "jombyd" who uploaded it on YouTube.

Today Show Shia Interview

MSNBC has posted a video of the Today Show hosts interviewing Shia LaBeouf with the Optimus Prime truck in the background. Its a sales pitch of the movie and apparently Transfans are really called Trannies. News to me.

To view it, click here then click "Transformesr star Shia LaBeouf". Tried to get the direct link but not with any success. Thanks to HotRod for the heads-up.

Sector 7 Site Update

Sector 7 site has finally updated with some new content under the password DECEPTIBOT. The info under most of the harddrives remain the same including the second one remaining locked. However, last one contains 3 more "Operation: Hungry Dragon 2" files. Those new videos are humorous viral videos that show expresso machine, toy robot, and grill auditioning to be in Transformers. Its just goofy.

On the bottom bar though there is some new content. The "I" symbol, the 6th and 7th floor of the building schematics are finally unlocked so the design of the entire headquarters of Sector 7 is now viewable. Also on several floors the "surveilliance video" has returned. Specifically floor 1 section 3 (1-3), 4-18, 5-8, 7-2, 7-9, 7-8 (Megatron).

Under the Yield symbol is a video of soldiers investigating a helicopter crash. A helicopter that happens to look exactly like Blackout. The suggestion is this where he gets his form and might play into his sequence in the movie.

The final updates are with the Global Tracking Data (the globe) and SETI (the satellite). Under the satellite is a long bizarre sound file that frankly makes no sense to me. I am guessing that the implication is the pattern of sound suggests intelligent attempt at communication rather then just normal solar noise. Beats me though.

I wonder how many updates are left, whats under the second harddrive, what happened to Dr. Howard and Agent whathisname, and whats in the world is the point of the surveillance videos especially 7-9 with its now 147 days of safety. Thanks to Maximus for pointing out the update.
Under the globe is the more intersting bits. Its a layout of the world, with X marking the spots of possible NBE (Transformers) sightings. About half the videos are UFO vides of the strange light in the sky variety. Some have been seen before on this sight but I think the newest one is North California which shows a flash card transforming into Laserbeak. Pretty slick.

Two Shia and Megan Video Interviews

JoBlo.com has posted a video interview with Shia LaBeouf and the lovely Megan Fox. No new information is reviewed they just pretty much talk about how amazing the movie will be. Also good indication of Shia's humor as he mimicked Megan (I think).

JoBlo.com Interview

The second interview was done for webcarpetlive.com as is pretty much more of the same. Its gets a little bit more into the actors rather then the movie. Megan talks about that Marilyn Monroe tattoo (what was she thinking?). She also lets her geek flag fly for a moment regarding Lord of the Rings.

Its actually amusing to watch these interviews because the actors are in the same outfits, same backgrounds because its a press round robin. Basically its a line of interviewers that have X minutes to ask a few questions and then be on their way. You just now by the time this is over the actors are ready to strangle someone the next time asked "what was it like working with Michael Bay?". Thanks to Hotrod for the YouTube link.

International Readers Opinions of Transformers?

The movie has has its world premiere in Italy, its US premiere in the US, its Botcon bow at where ever Botcon is being held. Several countries around the world can now go to their local theatres and take a look. So for all those find folks that got to see it before the US, UK and other countries, tell us what you think. Did it suck, not suck, whatever. Just keep the spoilers to minimum, warn of spoilers and so forth.

Oh yeah forgot to mention, be sure to check out the Transformers Live Message Boards. Great place to discuss the pros and cons of the movie and pretty much anything else.

USA Today's Transformers Articles

USA Today has posted several articles about Transformers that was actually interesting, informative and accurate. For instance I didn't know that then Marvel Comics Editor in Chief Jim Shooter was involved with the creation of Cybertron for the Transformers. Basically the articles are treated as straight up "here is some information about Transformers" rather then the usual eye roll tongue in cheek thing the media tends to for these kinds of things.

Transformers: From toy story to serious art? - Covers origins of the Transformerse line into development of the movie
Transforming 2007 into the summer of Shia - Piece about rising popularity of Shia LaBeouf
Evolution of the shape-changers, from Japanese toy to big screen - Overview timeline of Transformers

Transformers TV Spot 15

I think its 15 anyway. There have been so many starting to lose track. Its short 15 second one with only about 1 seconds of new footage.

Transformers 2 Already Greenlit?

According to reports on various websites, the sequel has already been greenlit. Which seems a bit early without a script. Nor any clue on sales. Chances are, based not only on all the reviews and anecdotal evidence, this is going to be a grandslam sales wise. Usually studios wait until the first weekend to approve these things.

I hope its true but so far the "proof" has just been "I think I saw on ET that the sequel has been greenlit!!!". No indication of who said it to who in the program. It could have just been speculation. Hopefully the Michael Bay blog or one of the producers will pop up online and confirm or deny the news. Even better would be YouTube footage.

The box office sales will ultimately make the final decision but with the so-so reviews of Die Hard 4 and Harry Potter until a week later, Transformers is about to have 10 or so days of box office ownage. With previous confirmations of the cast locked for sequels and scripts being discussed, a sequel is pretty much a foregone conclusion.

GM Blogs About Transformers and the Camaro

GM has a blog. Who knew? Anyway they posted two videos about cars of Transformers. From their blog comes two video.

The left video is with Micah Jones, Interior Design Team for the Camaro, who discusses how the Camaro is a fit for Transformers since its "a bridge from the past to the present." Actually a pretty good argument if listen. Course I am biased as I think not using a Beetle was a smart decision. He also just discusses his enjoyment of Transformers in general and comes across as a genuine Transfan.

The right video is a shorter and goofier video with Tom Peters, Director of Exterior Design for the Camaro. He talks about why he thinks the Camaro was chosen as the car for Bumblebee. Thanks to Mary for the link.

Update: At the request of Paramount, GM removed the videos. Personally I don't see what the issue was. The videos talked about the Camaro and why they think it was a good choice to be in the movie. Nothing Paramount owned was even in the video (the Camaro I would think is GMs).

Sounds like over zealous lawyers cause I get the feeling there is major crackdown on anything that even sniffs of potential copyright infrigement (so beware you bittorrent folks) as they don't want to lose even 1 penny of potential sales. Course I am thinking that if your satisfied with a crappy copy of the movie on your computer screen chances are you didn't plan on going to pay and see the movie to begin with, but the lawyers, they work on the 1:1 ratio belief, ie every copy downloaded is 1 sale not made. Not true, but anyway.

FHM Megan Fox Interview

FHM (For Him Magazine) sent email and email pointing out their online brief interview and photos of the gorgeous but oddly tattooed Megan Fox. Basically its her looking hot with a few quotes.

You can find more pics here.

Live Webcast Random Thoughts

Watching the "Live from the Web Carpet" webcast for Transformers. Its mostly pre-taped interviews lightly mixed with red carpet interviews. While watching, here are some random thoughts and notes at least until get to bored. If hit the site, along the top are some links, under "Videos" is the pre-taped video interviews they used.

- Turns out DeSanto collects comics, 35000k worth. He needs to hit me up as I could add another 10k to that size. Make it something really brag worthy.
- Rachael Taylor has a sexy accent and looks.
- No new movie clips shown that haven't already been online.
- Funny, at one point the host is right next Peter Cullen and doesn't know it. He isn't a known "face" so not really surprised missed him.
- Already tired of hearing "Live from the Web Carpet" said over and over.
- Linkin Park "We like to focus on many things." when it comes to music. The difficulty in spitting it out makes me thinks its more of "I listen for opportunities for some green." Can't blame em, I would to.
- I am thinking ET or E! will have a more concise summary of the sales pitches and the "look at me"s of the red carpet on their shows tomorrow. Not sure if slogging through those programs is worth it though.
- Why talk about who is walking around if are not actually talking to them? Typical red carpet interview style just strange to me.
- Megan Fox, also hot, still not digging those bizarre tattoos she has. I suspect those are cost her jobs as its something that has to be dealt with on any project she does, ie cover em, figure way to explain via character, and see most casting directors just deciding not worth the trouble.

Well obviously I got bored. No new ground was covered. All the clips are online and the interviews where the same information repeated. Not knocking the site though, if didn't have this blog, it would have lots of new info so for newbies playing catch-up it was probably be darn good.

Update:
TFW has a post from someone that attented the premiere. Click here to read, has spoilers. Probably the part that is most important "one shall stand, one shall fall". Oh yeah, probably very much to the annoyance of Hasbro, Brawl is still named Devastator.

Transformers Reviews

The LA Red Carpet Premiere (live webcast here)is starting soon and in the next couple days Korea, Australia, Taiwan, Mayaysia and other countries will get a chance to hit the theatres. So between all the screenings and various premieres around the world, reviews have started hitting the web.

The overall theme of the reviews is highly entertaining movie with great CGI. Some complaints of lack of depth but thats reviewers for you, always thinking every movie should strive to be an instant classic. Spoiler warnings for the reviews.

EmanuelLevy.com - B+ "what could have easily been the equivalent of a crowded and loud amusement park, full of attractions and rides to choose from, turns out to be a more unified and slightly more involving film than is the norm with summer flicks"
Sideshow Toys - 4.5/5 "it's a pretty straightforward, balls-out, big explosion, cheesy dialogue, effects-laden summer blockbuster"
Dark Horizons - "a quite effective thrill ride. It's the ecstasy of Summer movies - the first time is a rush, but each subsequent hit has less effect and proves ultimately futile after the first few times"
Variety - "Big, loud and full of testosterone-fueled car fantasies, Michael Bay's actioner hits a new peak for CGI work, showcasing spectacular chases and animated transformation sequences seamlessly blended into live-action surroundings."
Jalopnik.com - they felt it was basically a very entertaining extended advertisement for GM cars. Its a car site so might be a little bias. "cargasm" came up a few times.

Transformers Related Random Stuff

Tonight is the premiere in LA (webcast here) and figured good time as any to post various humorous clips and whatnot from readers been sitting on. Also the picture in the top left of this corner is a 1280x1224 wallpapoer created by Kevin, a site reader. Thanks Kevin.

The first video is a comedy short from Gabe of FAYM Productions staring Soundwave. The second video is an Optimus Prime cake. The last one is Gobots: The Movie from Black20 Pictures that paradies the TF trailers among other things. Thanks Kaya for the link.

Soundwave: The Touch

Optimus Prime Cake

Gobots: The Movie

Sector 7: G1 Starscream Video

The Sector 7 podcast updated with a new video called "The lies began in 1982". It then shows footage of a plane flying and then transforming into G1 Starscream. Very slick looking. The model they used is the Masterpiece Starscream toy that came out last year in Japan.

I tried to figure out a direct link to it but was unable. Use your favorite podcast software and look for "Sector 7 Must Be Stopped" to find it. If someone finds a YouTube of it or an easier way to download be sure to comment about it.

Update: Ultra Marcus has kindly provided the direct link to the movie file. If its gets converted to YouTube please post the link. Just do a right-click then save as. Thanks!
Masterpiece Starscream CGI Video

Another update: YouTube now has the video. No sound which is a shame but its not that important. Thanks to Darkfire for the link.

Burger King Commercial

The commercial use of the Transformers continues. I guess this means they have gone mainstream. Does that mean Transfans are no longer geeks? Anyway, its a cute commercial and overall it seems like the advertisers are having fun with the concept as using it in pretty creative way overall. They don't come across as boring. Thanks to Maximus for the link (and all the others she kindly provides).

Justin TV Live From Transformers Premiere

According to a post on TFW2005, if your a fan of Justin TV, Mooncricket Films is broadcasting from the LA premiere of Transformers as of now. No telling what may or may not see. Could just become a wall of heads, who knows but if your bored maybe something interesting will happen.

Click here to find out more.

MSN Video Movie Clip

MSN has a new clip called "Perfect Day" that is an amusing chat between Josh Duhamel, Tyrese, Zack Ward and that guy from Prison Break as they fly somewhere. The scene doesn't actually show any of the Transformers themselves. Sadly have to watch a commercial before the clip. Thanks to "Trailer" for the link.

MSN Transformers Clip

Transformers Chevy Commercials

Chevy has introducted two new commercials involving Transformers to advertise "Transform Your Ride" deals. The commercials are amusing and one involves Optimus "my bad" Prime and the other Blackout. Thanks to Maximus for the links.

With Blackout

With Optimus Prime

With Megatron


Update: Thanks to Trailer and Maximus for pointing out another ad, this time featuring Megatron. Also here is another Megatron commercial. The only difference to the above is the advertised vehicles and its a man picking up the car from the valet.

CBS Radio's Live Webcast for Transformers Premiere

CBS radio sent an email to me about a new website they are launching called "Live from the Web Carpet." After reading about the site figure site readers will want to know about it cause the first installation will be from the red carpet premiere of Transformers with interviews from the cast and producers outside the Mann National Theatre. Sure its basically an extended advertisement for the movie (as all press filled premieres tend to be), but I will happily eat that junk up cause seems like might be fun and interesting.

The webcast starts on June 27th at 9:30 EST / 6:30 PST at Web Carpet Live.

The full press release:

CBS RADIO LAUNCHES "LIVE FROM THE WEB CARPET,"
A SERIES OF ONLINE SPECIALS BROADCAST FROM THE MOST TALKED ABOUT MOVIE PREMIERESExclusive Video Presentations To Include Interviews With The Stars, Behind The Scenes Footage And Clips From The Featured Film

Debut Webcast From Premiere Of "Transformers," The Michael Bay Film Starring Shia LaBeouf, Tyrese Gibson And Josh Duhamel, On Wednesday, June 27

Earth has become the battleground pitting good versus evil in the highly anticipated Michael Bay film, “Transformers,” debuting in theaters this July. CBS RADIO stations will serve as the online destination for complete coverage of the movie’s Los Angeles premiere on Wednesday, June 27 (6:30PM, PT) as part of the Company’s latest series of web specials, “LIVE FROM THE WEBCARPET.” The half-hour program will be streamed live on more than 100 station websites spanning all CBS RADIO markets and formats, and available on-demand following the broadcast.

Hosted by Leo Quinones, host of the popular Film Freak radio show broadcast in Southern California, the debut episode of “LIVE FROM THE WEB CARPET” will capture all the excitement of the long-awaited premiere of “Transformers” and feature interviews with cast members including Shia LaBeouf, Tyrese Gibson, John Duhamel, John Turturro, and John Voigt, celebrities attending the premiere at the Mann National Theater, highlights from the movie, commentary from Executive Producers Michael Bay and Steven Spielberg, behind the scenes footage and a look at some of the spectacular props.

HBO Asia First Look At Transformers

"0JazzMeister0" of TFW2005.com has uploaded the 20 minute long version of HBO Asia's First Look for Transformers. The file is 266mb in size. Click here for U.S. HBO First Look schedule.

Be aware that historically the First Looks are more extended advertisements then behind the scenes, where everyone talks about how exciting the movie will be, the difficult stunts the actor committed to (forgetting to mention insurance company has to sign off on it so probably very safe) and generally take turns patting themselves and each other on the back. Between all that thought there might provide some behind the scenes stuff that might be interesting. This also means that when Transformers pops up on cable in about a year it will be on HBO and Cinemax.

HBO Asia First Look file

Transformers The Game Out At Retail

Today is the day that Transformers The Game is out for the game consoles, you know the XBox 360, PS3, PS2, and Wii. The DS and PSP versions hit last week. In general, if your really hyper about getting the game, wait until after 2:00pm as sometimes stores don't get a shipment until later in the day.

The real question though is we know the game has great graphics and pre-rendered movies, but is the game any good? Based on some reviews, maybe not. The games for the Wii, 360 and PS3 are identical accept for controls and graphic tweaks so review for one system basically applies to the other systems.

IGN PS3 Review - 5.7/10 Lack of depth and poor mission design but points for cool Decepticon mission design.
Gaming Trend 360 Review - 497/600 or 83% Liked the graphics and voices, thought the missions could use some work and more depth.
Gamespot 360 Review - 6.0/10 Same pros and cons of the other reviews, ie great voices, great graphics, so-so missions and too short a game. This one does mention camera problems also occuring and overall says pass on purchasing.

New International Trailer from Japan

International Trailer #2 has hit the web today. It has lots of scenes we have seen from the multitude of US trailers and TV spots but also lots of scenes who haven't seen before. Overall, a very nice trailer.

You can also find various resolution links to the trailer here. Just go down to "Intl Trailer #2". You can also try this link, provided by Maxiumus for direct access to Hi-Res version. However, for all those links, results may vary, as the files are in .ASX format which is not a commonly used U.S. codex so don't be surprised if it doesn't play.

Mark Ryan Confirms Bumblebee Voice Work

As previousily reported via movie pre-screenings, Mark Ryan is the voice of Bumblebee in the movie. On his website he had confirmed he was cast as the voice of Ironhide for Transformers The Game and not the movie. No mention of Bumblebee was made so no connection was made at the time.

The other day though, Mark Ryan finally was able to confirm that he is doing the voice of Bumblebee in the movie. Bumblebee doesn't have a voice box thanks to Megatron (see prequel comics) so I would assume that the lines are very few, maybe one or two. Thanks to Maximus for pointing the update.

From Mark Ryan's site:

Folks!

I know there's been a lot of speculation about this issue online, so Paramount Pictures has given me official permission to now confirm that I am voicing Bumblebee in the new Transformers movie.

I was asked by studio publicity boss: Carl Williams, not to do interviews or reveal what actually happens until after the US release and I don't want to spoil the surprise for anyone! So my lips are sealed on that front!

Recent rumors that I actually look like BB under my clothes are however misguided, although I have been spotted walking like an Autobot at various conventions in the past...

I can say on a personal note that I like Bumblebee, as he's portrayed in this film very much. Michael Bay and ILM really succeeded in bringing him to life and imbuing him with so many human qualities and emotions. The relationship between Sam and BB is developed extraordinarily well and is both hilarious and moving. Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman gave him so many human facets, including heart and humor that leap out from the screen.

Bumblebee's trademark characteristics as the loyal, courageous and dedicated warrior-scout were already enshrined in Transformers lore and the relationship with Sam is developed so well in this film, in terms of his befriending this "alien human' ally and finding common elements, both romantic and humorous, that it's a pivotal part of the plot. I think it's an experience that people will personally be able to relate to.

In an odd twist of personal fate, my Bumblebee experience also mirrored the journey with Nasir from Robin Of Sherwood (a character close to my heart of course) as the quiet and stoical "stranger in a strange land." I'll talk more about that later...

I did however recognize early on, the simple human traits of compassion, sacrifice and humor that Bumblebee depicts and thought: “This is one very cool dude.”

I also think the new Camaro is pretty damn awesome as well...."

So! In other news I just finished playing “Boris” a dodgy Russian character for my old pal: Michael Monks. Michael makes his directing debut with “Joe And Brodie” and I'm very pleased for Michael as he's a very respected and experienced actor and coach, as well as a dear friend. This is an independent movie filming in LA and Michael's intelligent and insightful skills will be brought fully to bear as a director, I have no doubt. It's a very funny script and I wish the crew all the best for the shoot.

I can also now also announce I'll also be attending Comic Con in San Diego with Green Arrow pal: Mike Grell. We will be making an announcement regarding a new joint Graphic Novel project that we've been working on for about fifteen years!

And for those who asked very interesting questions on the mailing list and have been patiently waiting for the answers, I'll be working on them this weekend and will post replies during the coming week.

Thanks again to Mary for all the hard work and also for keeping the "Bumblebee issue" secret for all these weeks!

Best wishes to all,

Mark

Transformers for 48 Hours

According to Mania.com, Transformers will play 48 hours straight at the top 10 theatres in the country. Neat idea, only problem is the failure to mention what 10 theatres and what to days.

The article:

We already knew that Transformers was getting pushed ahead of its release date to Monday, July 2nd. This gives Pixar's Ratatouille only 3 days and Live Free or Die Hard 5 days (Six if you include midnight showings). It seems to go beyond that for Transformers though. They're literally invading theaters planning to overrun the box office competition.

A source inside the industry has informed me that while Transformers opening on Monday gives it a sizeable advantage over its competition, it also has something else going for them.He goes on to tell me that Paramount & Dreamwork's film will also have 24 hour straight showings in the top 10 movie theaters in the country for 2 days straight.

Yes, that's correct. The top 10 theaters in the country will be showing Transformers around the clock for 2 days straight from Monday thru Wednesday. 48 straight hours of coverage on all their screens.

This is going to be an invasion, Maniacs.

Wired Magazine Transformers Articles

Wired Magazine has posted multiple articles about Transformers that make for some interesting reads. Some are about the movie and others are just about the Transformers brand and its history.

- The Rebirth of Optimus Prime
- How an Obscure Collection of Japanese Action Figures Change the Way We Play
- Everything I Need to Know About (Real) Robots I Learned From Transformers
- Small Gallery

Megan Fox Clip and Interview

Megan Fox appeared on the Today Show presenting a new clip from the movie in a conversation between her and Sam. Also Sci Fi wire posted a brief interview (below clip) with her regarding the movie.

The article:

Transformers' Fox Kicks Butt
Megan Fox, who co-stars with Shia LaBeouf in Michael Bay's upcoming Transformers movie, told SCI FI Wire that she was glad her character knew cars and got to kick butt. "Both of the female characters in the movie were very strong characters," Fox told reporters in Beverly Hills, Calif. "Rachael [Taylor]'s character's very intelligent, and I felt that they were representing women very well."

Fox plays the high-school crush of LaBeouf's Sam Witwicky, a popular girl with a secret past who finds herself caught up with Sam in an epic battle between giant robots on Earth. Fox got to do a lot of her own stunts, which had its costs.

"I lost my two big toenails at one point," Fox said. "Not to, like, a specific accident. It was just the constant running in the wardrobe boots, which rubbed my toenails off."

One big challenge was acting opposite giant robots that weren't there but would be added in post-production as computer animation. "All of the robots were represented by window-washing poles," Fox said. "And they were all height-appropriate to each character. ... We were looking in the right direction. And sometimes they had attached ... I never had a tennis ball, but ... [Industrial Light & Magic] has these red glowing ... balls. They would attach them to the top, and that's the face. And the rest you sort of create [in your imagination], and we have to create together, because we have to move at the same time, like we get approached by the same thing, so it was difficult." Transformers opens July 3. —Patrick Lee, News Editor

Dark Horizon's Roberto Orci Interview

Dark Horizons posted an interview with Transformers writer Roberto Orci regarding Transformers, Star Trek and other projects. No real information is revealed (other then Trek script finished and filming starts in November). I left in the Transformers stuff, removed the rest, so if want to read the whole article, click here.

The article:

Question: What is the balance you have to strike between the needs of characters and creating visual set pieces for Michael Bay?
Orci: The hardest balance actually was tone. Honestly, people are going to come at this thing. It's a cartoon, it's a toy line, it's for kids. It's not a movie. One of the ethics was trying to make it as realistic as possible. And yes, it's Transformers and there's a long history of fun in it so it all had to be fun. Those two, realism and fun, are complete opposites so the hardest part was walking the line in tone.

Question: Was the comedy the most fun you had?
Orci: That was fun. But it was also hard. It was the icing on the cake. Everything else had to be sort of in place before we could kind of get to that moment. We had to make sure that the structure of the movie was a solid paradigm that you could hit with a hammer and it wouldn't fall apart before we fully committed to what the humor could be. But it was always implicit in the process. It had to be fun.

Question: Was it your intention to cross age groups?
Orci: Certainly that was the studio's intention. From our intention, it was to try to be true to what the situation is which is you have this boy and everything that he brings to it. You have this world event happening in terms of how the government would react. If the kid's there, he's got parents so a lot of the things are dictated by- - as opposed to trying to fit some kind of a formula, it was more about starting from where we're starting from and trying to extrapolate it realistically and yet as fun.

Question: What would happen if there were snakes on a Decepticon plane?
Orci: I think we'd have a bigger hit. I should have thought of that.

Question: Is the military pleased with this film? What was their input?
Orci: First of all, it was amazing to get their help. The production value makes it such that the production value is far and beyond what the actual budget is thanks to their help. I was a little bit surprised by the fact that they were willing to jump in so readily because there is a slight thematic complexity in terms of what the military's role is. They get a terrorist scenario wrong. They assume it's the wrong people. They blame the wrong people. The only person who figures it out is a woman among all the men. So that was definitely part of something that we wanted to bring to it. So for them to jump on was very, I think, gracious. However, obviously, they also get to show off their stuff so I think both of us got something out of it.

Question: Did they have script approval?
Orci: They didn't have script approval. They can decide if they- - they suggested a few little things but nothing- - there's nothing they wanted to change pretty much that compromised too much. At the very end, the one thing that we went at them over was at the very end, we were going to say that the Defense Department had decided to hide everything. I'm not even sure what's in there now. The wording was such that it sounded a little more sinister than it turned out to be. Put it that way.

Question: How do you write for a director like Michael Bay?
Orci: The first great step is to make sure that he's not involved until you've written two drafts. So we wrote two drafts before we actually showed him anything. That was in order so that we would be confident that again, the structure would be solid enough that he could come in and play and we wouldn't be developing something based on an idea that was half formed. Also it helps when you have Spielberg as the producer. This is our second movie with Bay so we got to know him pretty well. We are able to predict essentially and very much we wrote this movie in a way for him and for Spielberg and for ourselves.

Question: How much did you take from the John Rogers draft?
Orci: We kept the idea of going after the Allspark. The basic idea that they're fighting for this artifact was in his draft but we kept that idea.

Question: Did Michael bring the "boy and his first car" idea or was that you?
Orci: That's something we came up with with Spielberg. Spielberg asked us to do the movie and we were very concerned it being a giant toy commercial with no humanity. We came in and we said, "Listen, we'd love to do the movie but we don't know what it is. Take your movie Close Encounters. It's a great alien movie but it's actually about a guy whose family is disintegrating through his obsession. Do you guys agree that this is a human thing?" And he said, "Yes, and here it is, a boy and his car." That's all he said. That was enough for us to go, "Ahh, okay, now I know what it is." Thus we developed a draft off of that.

Question: You address every possible fanboy thought, but why not try an EMP blast?
Orci: Well, there was an EMP blast at the bass. Not against, because everyone uses an EMP. They use it in Oceans 11. The minute you're in Vegas with an EMP device, aliens... So we did think of it. Maybe you're right.

Question: And there's no reason the aliens wouldn't be impervious.
Orci: Exactly. We considered EMP and we're like, "Nah."

Question: Is this a pre-9/11 action movie?
Orci: In our conversations, that same conversation with Spielberg, when we got off on Boy and his Car, we were like, "Well, we love"- - this is something we'd been wanting to talk to him forever, "We love the old Amblin days. The movies that I saw when I was targeted for this age group, when I was between 11 and 15, Back to the Future, ET, all those kinds of things." So we had literally a conversation about trying to bring back the old Amblin ethic. In a way, this movie was primarily written for what we wanted to see, what we thought Spielberg would want to see and what we though Michael Bay would want to see, hoping that if we succeed in all three that then the audience would want to see it. It's very much a mix of Spielberg/Amblin in a way and Bay/modern day action. That's kind of where it ended up.

Question: Was it good to have certain producers off Transformers?
Orci: No, I love them. We learned everything from them.

Fan Event In Hollywood, CA

FYI for those out in California from the producer of Bay's Touch (hilarious fan film)in regards to a fan event for the first screen of Transformers:

My name is Justin, producer of Bay's Touch

We are planning a great fan event at Arclight Cinemas in Hollywood, CA on Monday July 2. Producer Tom DeSanto will be greeting the fans, and bringing some of his TF friends along to say hi. Live Music, a TF costume contest, TF trivia contest, and appearance by Stan Bush are also in the works.

Please help get the word out: Arclight Cinemas Hollywood is the place to be on opening night! http://www.arclightcinemas.com

Cheers,
Justin Sewell
Slave Boy Films

Transformers Via Satellite AT LA Film Festival

ENEWSI.com is reporting that the LA Film Festival will screen Transformers via a satellite feed. This will apparently be one of the first times a digitial feed has been done for a film. The screening will be on June 27th at 8:15PM in four theatres at the Westwood Village.

From the article:

L.A. Film Festival -- Microspace Communications Corporation (Microspace), the leading distributor of digital cinema via satellite, today announced that it will deliver the North American premiere of DreamWorks Pictures and Paramount Pictures' release of "TRANSFORMERS" to the L.A. Film Festival on June 27, 2007.

The exclusive pre-release screening of "TRANSFORMERS" will represent the first time a motion picture has been delivered via satellite to the L.A. Film Festival. The distribution will be one of the largest film premieres in history and will be screened simultaneously to thousands of viewers.

"Digital delivery is a key element in the change to digital cinema," said Jim Tharp, president, domestic distribution for Paramount Pictures. "We are so pleased to partner with Microspace for satellite delivery of TRANSFORMERS at the L.A. Film Festival."

"Satellite delivery of motion pictures continues to gain significant traction among studios and exhibitors as return-on-investment is realized," said Curt Tilly, manager of digital cinema distribution at Microspace. "The quality and reliability that digital delivery yields, enables both studios and exhibitors to feature the highest quality presentation the first time and every time."

Microspace collaborates with studios, content preparation companies and exhibitors to utilize satellite distribution and its benefits. The proven workflow and electronic delivery of Microspace's satellite distribution provides the industry with a turn-key solution for content delivery and minimizes the potential issues and costs associated with physical delivery. Through the use of two discrete satellite systems, movies and keys are delivered on-time, every-time at Microspace connected theatres.

The North American premiere will be open to 4,000 people across four theaters in Westwood Village where they will view the Autobots(R) and Decepticons(R) battle it out. The premiere will take place on June 27, 2007 at 8:15 p.m. "TRANSFORMERS" will open in theaters nationwide on July 3, 2007.

For centuries, two races of robotic aliens - the Autobots(R) and the Decepticons(R) - have waged a war, with the fate of the universe at stake. When the battle comes to Earth, all that stands between the evil Decepticons(R) and ultimate power is a clue held by young Sam Witwicky (Shia LaBeouf). An average teenager, Sam is consumed with everyday worries about school, friends, cars and girls. Unaware that he alone is mankind's last chance for survival, Sam and his friend Mikaela (Megan Fox) find themselves in a tug of war between the Autobots(R) and Decepticons(R). With the world hanging in the balance, Sam comes to realize the true meaning behind the Witwicky family motto - "No sacrifice, no victory!"

DreamWorks Pictures and Paramount Pictures Present, in Association with Hasbro, a di Bonaventura Pictures Production, a Tom DeSanto/Don Murphy Production of a Michael Bay Film, "TRANSFORMERS" starring Shia LaBeouf, Tyrese Gibson, Josh Duhamel, Anthony Anderson, Megan Fox, Rachael Taylor with John Turturro and Jon Voight. Directed by Michael Bay from a story by John Rogers and Roberto Orci & Alex Kurtzman and a screenplay by Roberto Orci & Alex Kurtzman, the film is based on Hasbro's Transformers(TM) Action Figures. The producers are Don Murphy, Tom DeSanto, Lorenzo di Bonaventura and Ian Bryce and the executive producers are Steven Spielberg, Michael Bay, Brian Goldner and Mark Vahradian. The director of photography is Mitchell Amundsen. The production designer is Jeff Mann. The film is edited by Paul Rubell, A.C.E. and Glen Scantlebury. The costume designer is Deborah L. Scott. The music is by Steve Jablonsky. The music supervisor is Dave Jordan. The special visual effects are by Industrial Light & Magic. This film has been rated PG-13 for intense sequences of sci-fi action violence, brief sexual humor and language.

Update:
From ENI: The first 8,000 tickets for next week's TRANSFORMERS release sold out in eight minutes in Los Angeles.

Yahoo Movies Australia Movie Clips

Yahoo Movies! Australia has up a streaming movie clip between Rachael Taylor and Anthony Anderson. Apparently its a scene about the two being grabbed by the FBI to assist in dealing with the Transformers. Its fairly amusing scene. A second clip is also up with Josh Duhamel talking to his family via satellite.

Click here to view it. May take a moment to load and there will be a commerical before it.

Update: Tigerclaw strikes again (thanks!) and has provide us with a YouTube rip of the "Doughnuts" and "My Ladies" clips (both aptly named by him).

Doughnuts

My Ladies


(source)

Transformers The Album Website Is Up

Turns out the Transformers Soundtrack is got its own website to. They have a website for everything nowadays. Not much to the website yet, just samples of the same 3 songs that the official site is already playing in full. Also has pics of all the bands that just link back to each band's website. According to Amazon, the CD is coming out July 3rd.

Click here to check it out.

Transformers The Game for Nintendo DS On Sale

Circuit City sales flyer for the week has listed the two Nintendo DS games, Transformers: Autobots and Transformers: Decepticons, on sale for $19.99 rather then $29.99. So if plan on getting the games, now is the time to save some bucks.

Update:
Turns out Toys R US is also having a sale on Transformers for the Nintendo DS. There's is even better with ALL DS games on sale at "Buy 2 Get 1 Free". So if you buy three DS games (two of em Transformers) at $29.99, it works out to about $20 each. Just remember that the free one is the cheapest of the bunch so you want the prices to be the same for maximum value.

So if you really want those games, your choices are Best Buys if only want one or both of the games or Toys R Us if there have been more then a few games you have been interested in (say Final Fantasy III).

Another update: Lorenzo P. provided a link to a YouTube video of a bug with Transformers: Decepticons. Unfortunately the video provides no dtails on how common the bug is or how easy or hard it is to trigger the bug.

Transformers TV Spot #14

Another day, another TV spot. This one shows more of Megatron and Prime as they transform some weapons and get ready to go at each other. Very cool. Thanks to Tigerclaw for the YouTube upload and Maximus for the link.

Few Movie Stills

Seibertron.com has posted four movie stills from Transformers. Thanks to Chad T. for the link.

Transformers TV Spot #13: Army

Myspace.com has another TV spot for Transformers called "Army" that is about a 50-50 mix of old and new. There is also a 14th TV spot that has "What I've Done" from Linkin Park playing half way through it but so far haven't found it online.

An Email From Stan Bush and Botcon

Stan Bush, he of "The Touch" and "Dare" from the 1986 animated Transformers: The Movie, sent an email asking me (hey I am on somebodies radar at least) to post about his upcoming new album and performance at Botcon (a yearly Transformers convention) that starts June 28th.

Stan Bush's message:

To all those who dare to believe,

My new studio album "IN THIS LIFE" (+2 bonus Transformers tracks) is available for pre-order at www.stanbush.com

I'm working on some other distribution methods as well, but this is your chance to purchase the album direct from the source!

Here are a couple snippets from reviews of IN THIS LIFE... and these are from the European release, they didn't even have the two bonus Transformers tracks on them!

Andrew McNeice of Melodicrock.com rated my newest album a 96% "Must Buy" and states that it has the potential to score the coveted "album of the year" award!

Juha Harjula of Melodic.net gives the album an excellent 4 star rating and says, "...Stan Bush is back with a brand new album and he is hungry as ever."

For those that are attending Hasbro's Botcon I will be doing a couple panels, autograph sessions, and even a fully plugged performance at the awards show! I will also have a dealer table setup and will be selling my newest album and other memorabilia as well. So come on by, and pick something up to be signed. Check out my Botcon page here:

http://www.botcon.com/botcon07/guest07-bush.cfm

I look forward to meeting all of you, and TIL ALL ARE ONE!

All the best,
Stan

Transformers The Game Starscream vs Jazz

Gametrailers.com strikes again, this time with a teaser of a boss battle Starscream vs Jazz. Thanks to Tigerclaw for the link. The scaling is solid with Jazz looking like a midget compared to Starscream.

3 Songs From Transformers Soundtrack Now Streaming

The official Transformers movie website is now streaming three songs from the upcoming soundtrack for Transformers which I think is coming out this Tuesday. The songs are "Before It's Too Late (Sam and Mikaela's Theme) by the Goo Goo Dolls, "What I've Done" by Linkin Park and "Transformers Theme" by Mutemath.

To find the songs, go to the TF movie website, pick a side, wait for screen to load and will see an option "Soundtrack" in the top right of the screen. Click it and there you go. Oddly the Linkin Park song made me think of the movie Halloween with its opening chord.

There is also other updates on the sites, galleries and the like that might be worth checking out. Thanks to Maximus for the heads-up.

Transformers The Game Shia and Megan Interviews

GameTrailers.com have two interviews with Shia Labeouf and Megan Fox about Transformers: The Game which they provided voice work for. Its basically an extended advertisement for the game but does show some nice game footage.

(source)

Final Transformers Poster

Superherohype has posted up the final one-sheet for US release of Transformers on June 2nd. If it looks familiar, its because its the same poster from Taiwan, which I posted about in May.

Megan Fox Pics

No news of Transformers stuff...just links to places to find pics of the hot and oddly tattooed Megan Fox including a recent Megan Fox shoot. Below are some links for the interested.
Gizmodo
Maxim
MegansAFox.com

Transformers: The Game Behind the Scenes

GameTrailers.com has posted two videos that go behind the scenes of Transformers the Game. The one from Blur shows how the pre-rendered intro was made. The second one is an video interview Flint Dille who wrote for the original G1 Transformers cartoon series and the script for the game.

(source)

Transformers on Second Life

According to a press release from Paramount Pictures International, Transformers will have a presence on Second Life in the form of a Sector 7 section. Second Life is some kind of online virtual world thing. I have never used it so nothing about it.

The press release:

Paramount Pictures International Brings TRANSFORMERS to Second Life
LONDON, June 21 /PRNewswire/ --

- Q&A with Director Michael Bay, Producer Lorenzo di Bonaventura and the Cast From TRANSFORMERS Launches "Sector 7" TRANSFORMERS Experience Within Virtual World Second Life

In anticipation of the worldwide release of TRANSFORMERS, Paramount Pictures International will be launching "Sector 7", an immersive 3-D experience within the fast-growing online community known as Second Life.

A live Q&A with the film's director, Michael Bay, producer Lorenzo di Bonaventura and the cast from TRANSFORMERS will launch the experience to an invited global audience of press and fans.

In a first for an event of this profile, the Q&A will also be broadcast live as a video stream available for anybody to view both within Second Life and on the web.

Following the Q&A "Sector 7" will open to the public, giving each of Second Life's 7 million residents the opportunity to:

- Explore the high-security "Sector 7" underground facility featured in the movie and rebuilt within Second Life.

- Collect the first of series of official TRANSFORMERS avatars being given away free to "Sector 7" visitors.

- Interact with a wealth of rich-media production material including stills and video exclusives.

- Discover a wide selection of other free avatar accessories, virtual merchandise and hidden 'easter egg' give-aways.

Paramount Pictures International is working with the creative marketing agency Picture Production Company (PPC) to create the TRANSFORMERS experience within Second Life.

Transformers will open in cinemas across the UK & Ireland on JULY 27th

(source)

Transformers Handheld Game In Stores Now

It turns out that the handheld versions for the Transformers: The Game are out at stores. I didn't buy them but found Transformers for the DS and PSP ready to purchase at Best Buys. The console games are still not out but should be on shelves next Wednesday.

$5 Transformers Buck

Went by Best Buys today and found more info about the Transformers $5 concession bucks. Its essentially a $5 coupon to use buy concession food from participating theatres from 7/4/07 to 7/31/07. Note its starts the 4th, not the 2nd but hopefully be honored anyway. As far as participating theaters, AMC is not involved. To find out if other theatres will honor it, can go to www.hollywoodmoviemoney.com. Do a search and if your threatre shows up, your probably good and if not, then assume they will not accept it.

New Transformers TV Spot with All New Stuff

A sweet looking new trailer has hit the internets for Transformers. This brings the total of spots up to 12. This one may be one of the best with lots of new shots that look pretty darn sweet. Thanks to Maximus for the link.

Rachael Taylor Interview

Dark Horizons posted an interview with Australian Rachael Taylor a little bit about Transformers but mostly about her blossoming career.

What little TF related highlights:

Question: So I understand that you came off the boat virtually and landed this role in Transformers. What was the process like for auditioning?
Taylor: It was not unlike any other - the only significant difference was, I mean you show up, you audition for a casting director and then they call you back and you have another reading with a cast director and I think by the third audition I was workshopping with Michael and then the fourth one we went to the studio. And the difference for Transformers was, because it's such a pop culture phenomenon in a way, they didn't release the script, so essentially when you're auditioning you're working just off of sight. You have no idea what the story is or what the character is or where it goes. So I didn't actually read the script until the fourth audition at which you have to sign a confidentiality agreement and you go and sit in a room and it's just a complete lockdown. So it was the only sort of significant difference.

The full interview is here.

Shockwave and Soundwave Movie Style Mock-Ups

TFormers.com has posted two images for the heads of Soundwave and Shockwave, supposedly for Transformers 2. The site and I thinks its more likely a fan mock up since there isn't even a script for the film but darned if they don't look good. Its a fantastic mix of the movie style with the G1 look many know and love.

Megan Fox MySpace Interview

MySpace has up a video interview with the lovely Megan Fox who talks about her experiencing filming Transformers. Thanks to Kevin for the link.

Fort Irwin Behind the Scenes

The Desert Dispatch has posted an interesting article covering Fort Irwin, CA's involvement in shooting Transformers including the pilots flying the US Army, UH-60 Blackhawks in the film. The source that sent the link also provided some pics (see below) not in the article and pointed out that the NTC Aviation Company from Irwin where the ones that flew them in downtown LA through the "Valley of Skyscrapers" at the finale of the film.

The pilot for the film was Chief Warrant Officer (CW2) Eric Metcalf. He is in the same productions still pic with Shia LaBeouf, Josh Duhamel and Michael Bay, wearing the gray colored NTC AVCO UH-60 Platoon Hat. Thanks for the information.

The article:

Fort Irwin’s Blackhawks transform into movie stars
Blackhawks transform into movie stars
‘Transformers’ stars NTC helicopters
By AARON AUPPERLEE Staff Writer

DAGGETT — When Hollywood director Michael Bay needed helicopters that could buzz through the streets of downtown Los Angeles and hover between skyscrapers for his summer movie, “Transformers,” he turned to the Blackhawks lined up on an asphalt strip at the Barstow-Daggett Airport.

Two of the National Training Center Aviation Company’s helicopters and several pilots from the base star in the movie alongside Optimus Prime, Megatron, Josh Duhamel, Shia LaBeouf and Jon Voight. Chief Warrant Officer Eric Metcalf, a pilot with the aviation company who flew in the movie, said the movie was one of the most intense experiences ever but also one of the coolest.

“I’ve flown about 500 hours of combat in Afghanistan and that was way cooler than that,” Metcalf, a Transformer fan as a child, said. “Instead of dodging bullets, I was dodging radio antennas and wires.”

Much of the action for Metcalf and the other pilots involved — Maj. Richard Campbell, Chief Warrant Officer Michael Carilo, Sgt. Sean Smeldly, Chief Warrant Officer Angel Rodriguez, Chief Warrant Officer Matthew Wagstaff and Spc. David Ayala — was through alleys in LA. The helicopters took off and landed in an abandoned Sears parking lot, flew over Dodgers Stadium and hovered above roof-tops. Metcalf said he would round a corner in his helicopter to find a pole or a wire in his way and change course.

“It was basically advance tactical skills,” he said about the flying through the streets. “The level of concentration was pretty intense.”

During one scene, Metcalf had to hold the large military helicopter steady while bouncing it up and down like a yo-yo between skyscrapers. He said the buildings were about 50 feet away from his rudders.

Although Metcalf could not give away much of the movie, which is scheduled to open in theaters on July 4, he said the helicopters were called into assist with the evacuation of a certain person and recovery of a certain piece of equipment. The mission, he said, was a bit different from the company’s normal routine of supporting training operations at Fort Irwin, shuttling military officers around California and standing ready to fly medical crews to Edwards Air Force Base if the space shuttle decides to touch down there.

The company received the request to participate in the project in July 2006 and spent two weekends on the set in August. Metcalf estimates it cost Paramount Pictures more than $60,000 to borrow the two helicopters and crew for the two weekends.

Metcalf flew many special operations in Afghanistan from March 2004 to April 2005 before coming to Fort Irwin, often times seeing the enemy eye to eye. However, in “Transformers,” Metcalf never saw the robots on set.

The computer generated Transformers in the movie were really guys with long poles on the set, Metcalf said. The poles had balls placed at the Transformer’s eye level so the actors knew where to look, but the rest of the machine body was added later. Metcalf said he has not seen a final cut of the movie.

“It wasn’t really the flying portion, it was being on set and seeing the whole process,” he said.

Michael Bay Press Conference Transcript

Superherohype.com has posted a transcript of press conference Michael Bay held at the Four Seasons Hotel in LA on June 16.

The highlights:
- As far as how made the movie, he indicated was inspired by Steven Spielberg but "I make my own movie."
- "I quickly became probably one of the bigger Transformer fans in the world, and I tried to make this movie for non-Transformer fans, okay, and I wanted it to be a little bit more, if you could say, adult, so I'm sure I'm going to get flack for – you made an edgy movie on a toy, how is that going to affect kids?"
- "I love working with actors, I love giving actors freedom, I love improvising with actors...but when I'm doing action scenes I'm going to be your worst nightmare basketball coach, that's to get the energy, the adrenalin going."
- Apparently there is an Armageddon (another Bay film) joke in the film and a masturbation joke at some point with the parents.
- Bay received death threats and protests outside his old office from upset Transfans about some of his changes.
- "I'm a huge Transformer fan now, I can officially say I've probably thought more about robots on earth than anyone in the past year and a half. Yeah, I actually think that because I wasn't a fan I think makes it more accessible to other people, does that make sense? Megatron was a gun, and I'm like, "I don't get that..."
- Settled on lips because facial studies determined that need to movement to convey emotion and "we tried it solid, it just didn't look right."
- No script for TF II, Bay is not locked in for Transformers II and doesn't know yet if will direct "Prince of Persia."
- The film was completed last week (around June 11ish) so I guess days before the first screenings started.
- Bay liked the hook of the film being about a boy and his first car in suburbia versus just an extended toy comercial.
- "The underlying theme to me is really no sacrifice, no victory"
- Producer Ian Bryce recommended Shia to Bay for Spike. Steven Spielberg fan of Shia (probably helped in Indy 4 casting).
- Did two days of blue screen work but "I just hate it. It's just I like doing things real"
- Bay shoots real fast with his own crew. To keep his crew he gave up 30% of his fee to avoid shooting in Canada or Australia (where tax breaks etc make it cheaper, same reason lots and lots of TV shows are done in Canada).
- The deal with GM saved 3 million in costs for the cars.
- Was going to have more robots but Spielberg recommended scale back so "should make it like 5 against 5 or 5 against 6." (Yeah I have to reluctantly agree, more characters have, the more others get shorted, see Spider-Man 3 as an example)

The full transcript is here.

CHUD Angers Megatron

Apparently in an interview (no new info) with Peter Cullen, CHUD writer Devin Faraci managed to annoy the voice of G1 Megatron Frank Welker by saying "“Cullen’s Prime is good voice work, and it doesn’t have the over the top silly quality of Frank Welker’s Megatron.” Frank decided to respond to it. In a forum, it would be a call to arms, but since didn't occur there, it just a discussion that is interesting to read. And nope, this doesn't relate to the movie in any real way, just Transformers related.

The article:

Earlier this week I ran an interview with Peter Cullen, the voice of Optimus Prime in the Transformers cartoon as well as the new Michael Bay movie. In the intro to that interview, I said this:

“Cullen’s Prime is good voice work, and it doesn’t have the over the top silly quality of Frank Welker’s Megatron.”

Well, guess who was reading. The next day I got an email from Megatron himself, voice actor Frank Welker, taking polite issue with what I wrote. That began a small email exchange between he and I. Here’s what he said:

Hey Devin,

Just read your great interview with my old friend and arch nemesis (Optimus Prime) Peter Cullen. You can see why Peter is so well liked and does such great service to his character...he is a class act!

I wanted to let you know a little bit about my voice as Megatron. When I designed the voice, I was intentionally trying to make it different from all of the typical villains, robotic or otherwise, that I had heard and played in the past. With that in mind and considering the metallic quality and his rage, I was pleased along with the producers and the toy company with the end result. Also, we seemed to have satisfied and inspired a very large and vocal fan base. Of course when you do something that is different you will always run the risk of being over the edge but hopefully you achieve what the
audience responds to viscerally and you get a following. I was overwhelmed with the fabulous response from the fans.

I understand your opinion and respect you for stating it, however I am disappointed that you found the voice silly. That was never a goal...over the top, maybe, but silly no...gulp, that was the last thing on my mind.

Thanks for keeping your eye on the "Transformers." Enjoy the movie, and the game. Hopefully, we can continue to entertain you....but without you laughing in all the wrong places.

Best regards,
Frank Welker
Megatron "Leader of the Deceptions"

Floored to hear from Megatron, I dropped a line back to Frank. He replied, quoting my email to him. Those segments are in bold.

Thanks for taking the time to drop a line.

Not at all, I appreciate the dialog.

As a writer, the worst thing I can do is not make myself clear, which is what happened with the intro to my interview with Peter Cullen. I didn't intend to disparage your work but to merely say that the voice you gave Megatron, while appropriate for the conext and setting of a cartoon, doesn't sound - to me - like one that would translate to a live action film. To me it's similar to the way certain aspects of comic books can't be properly translated to the film versions, but that doesn't take away from how much those elements work in their original medium.

No problem. I think I understand but I am not sure I totally agree with your analogy.

My impression - and this is just coming from my point of view as a film fan and critic - is that much of the work you did on Megatron would need to be scaled back and toned down to fit the more realistic world Michael Bay was creating, whereas in the cartoon you could be more dramatic. A toned down Megatron wouldn't, in the end, be the Megatron that the fans of the original series had come to know.

Yes, I think you are right there is a film technique that might require vocal changes and nuances but these are well within "Megs" range and the end result the voice would still be Megatron. As to a toned down Megatron not sounding the same , I couldn't disagree with you more. I would hope any actor worth their salt would be able to maneuver comfortably in and around a character especially one they established and be able to transcend whatever was objectionable. I suppose you could argue that after 25 years of acting experience between the original series production and now, plus over 90 motion pictures in which my sole job was to create sound and emotion to what I saw on screen, I would find it surprising and hugely disappointing if I couldn't take a character I created and make it transfer to any media let alone film. There would be much self flagellation and I know my agent would take away my parking space!

My goal would have been to make it believable but more importantly...memorable. I think memorable would be of high value. Darth Vader, I remember....King Lear, all I remember was he had an English accent and wore a long coat!

Devin, I think it is just one of those voices you either like or you don't like but the fact there are strong opinions means, in my mind, I've done my job. However, I do truly believe a lot of fans will miss hearing that scraggly, scratchy, but very identifiable voice.

That being said, the production team of this film has worked very hard to bring out a product that will satisfy the old time fans and create a new generation of "Transfans." I think the feature will do very well and in the end, with all the technology, sound, and voice enhancement; even Mel Brooks would have made a good Megatron. Now that would be, "silly" but worth the price of admission and the cholesterol from the popcorn!

One side note, apparently their are folks who believe sticking with the tired and true is a good thing. I am happy to say that Peter Cullen and I did "Transformers the Game" for Activison which will be co-released with the feature. Again, the work that went into making this a "fan blast" is really something. There is a lot of material from the feature including the live actors!

Working with my old partner Peter was a blast. With the game and the movie, toys etc., Peter is a very busy man and I couldn't be happier for him. Though it pains me to say this....I will say it in his honor:

MEGATRON: " Roll out Optimus Prime!"

Respectfully,
Frank Welker
Megatron, Leader of the Decepticons.

PS: Here is a current version of Megatron and Optimus Prime posted on YouTube. Enjoy...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sICSbW8iilc

Thanks to Frank Welker, a man at least as classy as his nemesis Peter Cullen, for taking the time to reach out.