I spent all day looking for this damn thing and finally found it. A while back on the Don Murphy boards I demonstrated what Starscream would look look like if his parts slid inside of eachother instead of pulling outward. This is as far compressed as I could get him, and he's still about ten feet too tall. I would also add that he would be as deep as he is wide, as I moved a lot of material to the back. This is my proof of concept as to why I think ILM's designers might not just be trying to piss off G1 fans:

 

pshhh  

The history books will read, "It wasn't until the filmed bombed that Producer Don Murphy admitted he was unaware at the time that virtually everyone on the production team held a passionate hatred for Transformers. Don continued, 'I mean what are the odds that nobody in hollywood liked Transformers? By the time I realized what was going on, it was too late. The damage had been done.' It is theorized by scholars that, had Don only listened to the fans, the 2007 Transformers film would have been a phenomenal success, uniting nations worldwide and ending world hunger indefinitely".

 

Another off subject comment...

Speaking of Gobots, wonder if they'll throw in a not so subtle joke about them.

 

Spike : Just go, bot !

OK that's lame

 

There is so many different things that could be done to the starscream design that would make him look more like starscream.

If you look closely, there are some elements in play to make him greatly resemble starscream as well. However, ultimately I'm thinking that the reason for the radical change in the design of the transformers (autobots and decepticons) is to actually PREVENT the viewers from immediately empathising with them. Making them look quite alien means their actions must convince us, not their looks.

Also, if you've seen the pics of the pre-earth toys... I'd say they can make radical changes to the character's looks from movie to movie. Perhaps they plan on having the transformers slowly adapt to more humanoid forms through the course of 3 films.

He's ugly, sure, but also remember that a MUCH larger importance is apparently being made for starscream than there was in the old cartoons. In the old cartoons he was a henchman at best. In this, he's actually a villain. He needs to look the part.

I hate the movie design, but I can understand the concept leading to NOT using the original. The revamped image displayed at the start of this thread isn't too bad, but the added parts stick out like a sore thumb.

 

I dont know. I think this may be a moot point at this point.
I suspect that Movie Starscream is going to look a lot more like the prerelease version then the prototypes we've seen so far. How they're going to get an F-22 to fit into that robot design, though, I'm not sure yet.

 

the preview figure desings are far from the earth designs.

 

Remember, we havent seen any finalised earth designs, so you cant state this as a fact quite yet.   All we've seen are prototype images and some early renders. What we HAVE seen are finalised Movie based Protoform toys.

Something to keep in mind is that when they designed these protoform toys, they had no vehicle based constraints to restrict what the robot mode looks like. Therefor, it makes no sense for the robot modes to look drastically different from the final movie designs. Hence, I believe that protoform robot modes will look very similar to the final movie robot designs. The attached vehicle kibble will be different, as well as the actual TF mechanisms, but Movie Starscream in robot mode will likely look a lot like protoform Starscream in robot mode for these reasons.

 

I hope so, SS was always one of the coolest, sleekest designs. And although the movie design is kinda cool, it just doesn't fit for SS IMO. I know I wouldn't buy that figure if it was SS, so hopefully that toy concept we've seen is outdated and drastically altered to look more like the Protoform SS.

 

Actually, if you go by the script that some have read (and there's more than a few things in that script that have proven true to confirm it's legitimacy) the Starscream is actually MORE of a henchman in the film than ever before. He has 2 lines, and is nothing but a toadie for Megatron. No personality, no cowardly, conniving schemer, nothing. He's a minion, nothing more.

 

Heh, at least in the movie he's improved his aim.  

 

Wow. The real one looks way better. Seriously, that completley doesn't mesh.

 

I'm not a big fan of Ape SS either, so I have my fingers crossed. If they change Blackout though, I'm going to be ticked.

 

I don't think anyone has said they have problems with Blackout. I think it's more the name recognition that's upsetting people more then the actual design. Kinda like the feeling that it would be a cool robot if it wasn't SS. Blackout doesn't have the name recognition SS does so it's easier to accept his design.

And I think the fact that they actually confirmed they cut a scene detailed in the script completely out of the movie proves that things *can* be changed. There's also the fact that the CGI work seems to still be in production, once again giving plenty of room for change.

When they were making Shrek, the part was originally made for Chris Farley. When Mike Meyers ended up with the part, and gave Shrek a Scottish accent, they went over and redid all of Shrek's movements to fit better with the voice, even changing parts of the script. I also heard that the entire cast of Spiderman 3 was called back after filming was finished to film additional scenes that the movie makers wanted to add.

If things like that can be done to both full CGI and live action films, why can't the TF movie still have plenty of time to do major changes?

 

Yeh, I hate to say it but I kinda like the original design Screamer better also. I wlll temper that statement by saying neither one is very appealing.

 

You know, that still looks better than Chicken Legs. They don't have to be humanly proportioned after all.

How exactly is that "proof"? I don't get how you expect me to take your argument seriously if your lack of ability to transform Starscream, when you wouldn't want to be proven wrong, is "proof" that it can't be done. The one good thing about the ridiculous movie aesthetic is that you can essentially rearrange things any way you like. Though of course, I'm still adamant that you can achieve a decent looking Screamer using a more G1/UT style aesthetic.

Also, why can't you just fold the plane in half? Have you seen Cybertron Jetfire? Exact same problem as movie Starscream, and one of the most realistic transformations of the series too. He's very bulky, but that's because the plane he is is a bout 3 times as bulky as an F-15 to begin with.

 

You honestly think squisjed fatty star scream looks decent? LOOK AT IT! It looks ridiculous.

I don't like the movie version weh ave seen at all, but comeo n. If you say that looks ok for a movie, you're insane.

 

It looks ok and I am insane, that's cool.  

 

(I hope it is ok to take pics and signs like this from previous post's to make my point)

So the front is only 10 ft then folded in half I thought it would be more. Considering Buzzbeak's pics and sign on page 3 in this thread I feared that he would look fat from the front if he was folded in half. If you are right It still would not be a problem. The folded parts could become arms (arm cannon.. ops wrong bot, thats Megatron) chest split in half etc making him thinner.

I don't know much about specific planes but going after Buzzbeak's pics most of the folded part would be the nose of the plane so that it wouldn't necessary look bad from the side. Many design from different show and toys have had bots with a loot of mass that was placed around while still making it look cool and thin.

Folding Starscream's in half could be great. A thin looking Starscream's (backpack, Armada Starscream's shoulder cannons, folded wings?) armed to the teeth would be a dream.