It's been almost a week since I saw Transformers, and I'm still kind of in awe as to how they pulled off the special effects.
Here's a story from Popular Mechanics that gives a brief behind-the-scenes perspective of what went on at Industrial Lights and Magic to make Optimus Prime and Bumblebee look so incredibly real. Considering most rants about the movie criticize the absence of more robot scenes, it makes sense that adding more Transformers action to the movie would have been mighty complicated, and probably pretty expensive:When that crucial "in-between" involves over 10,000 hand-modeled parts pulled out of actual autobody — as Optimus Prime did (his old-school toy had a mere 51 components) — there's a bit more filling in to do. "It's hugely complicated," says visual effects supervisor Scott Farrar. "It's no different than going out and machining these parts [in a real car]. Every one of those things has to be connected and travel in the right direction when an animation occurs.
And for more perspective on the making of Transformers, Entertainment Weekly has an interview with Michael Bay. Credit Steven Spielberg for having the vision to see that a Transformers movie could be really cool. Even after Bay agreed to take on the project, it sounds like he still wasn't quite convinced when he started filming:I just thought it would be from kids to, you know, to 20-something whatever. The first day on the set I'm working with all these guys in the military and I was apologizing for the movie. Forty-something guys. I was like, ''Okay guys, I know this sounds really stupid, but there's a 40-foot-tall robot over here and it's going to flip and land right here.'' They're like, ''Which robot? Is this Starscream?'' I'm like, how do these guys know that? And I realized, oh my God, it's a lot older than I thought.
He also hints that he'd be up for doing a sequel. Hopefully, they'll bring back Shia and not get too crazy with overloaded special effects.
And taking advantage of all the Transformers windfall? Cartoon Network, who will debut a new cartoon next spring.
Monday, July 9, 2007
More than just a "toy movie"...
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3 comments:
Got to agree with you on the 'in awe' comment. There was not one scene where I thought the robots looked fake. In a movie that hinged on everything looking believable, it was a home run. Gots to love ILM.
And is it just me, or was that the perfect ending,especially with the Optimus Prime voice over? And then you see Starscream leaving the atmosphere. Oh yeah, there better be a sequel.
I could have done without the "Armegeddon Ben Affleck/Liv Tyler makeout session by the cool car at sunset" redux with Shia Labouf and Megan Fox. I mean, if Bumblebee is a sentient being and your friend, would you make out on top of him? And with the other Autobots looking on? It'd be like me rolling around with my wife while lying on top of Firecracker George while the rest of the Kool-Aid Gang sat around and watched. That's just kinky.
Otherwise, I agree, the ending set it up well for a sequel. Now that they got rid of his whiny cartoon voice, I want to see more Starscream and an old-fashioned power grab between him and Megatron (like he's really dead).
I like your proposal, sans you on top of me.
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