I'm fairly sure he meant an entire shoot (months) of working with a camera system that was cumbersome to his style of shooting would have "been a disaster". While that may be "ego", it's in no way disproportionate to how any other director would react if presented with the same situation. Directors have egos, Bay shouldn't be faulted for that in this case. And I agree with you that it's an ego boost for Bay to acknowledge that he's pushing the boundaries of 3D filming beyond anything achieved before. But rather than rip him for it, I'm more interested in being pleased that that's being done on a Transformers movie, and dying to see the end result for myself.

And while I don't have first hand knowledge of the 3D camera system, I think it's a safe guess to assume that changing out the lens on one of those cameras might be more time-consuming that on a standard film camera. In addition, you also have to understand that the rigging system used is vastly different. Cameras have to move further and faster outdoors than they do indoors, so I'm sure some of the difficulty was figuring out how to come up with rigs for these extremely expensive cameras to accomplish the movement they needed to... Bay's "train them better" was obviously a reference to the camera operators understanding what was needed from the cameras, and not teaching them how to use the cameras.

 

good directors don't hafta talk themselves up

Obviously. Some of the best filmmakers out there have had misgivings about trying out a new technology, that's not the issue. The issue is how Bay words things. His statements regarding his filmmaking techniques and how his productions go above and beyond what others have accomplished make him seem like a boasting fool. Now if he put out quality films that would back up his claims of superior craftsmanship that would be one thing, but the undeniable discrepancy in quality between Bay's films and those of his genre peers such as Chris Nolan, J.J. Abrams, and James Cameron speaks volumes about what he's capable of achieving and what he isn't. Even some of the "less prestigious" (although I love them both) genre directors such as Paul Verhoeven and Roland Emmerich make kick ass eye candy films that also manage to deliver a satisfying storytelling quotient. Those guys make good qualityfilms and don't need to boast about how their filmmaking styles challenge crew and equipment alike.

And whether or not a camera moves "further and faster" outside rather than indoors all depends on the circumstances of the shoot. Natch the rigging systems are different, but that comes with the territory. The thing that irks me about this whole article is that Bay originally balked at the idea of doing TF3 in 3D, but now all of a sudden it's gonna be the best 3D the world has ever seen. Sounds totally believable. Just like how Bay was gonna walk from doing TF2 if Dreamworks/Paramount didn't release TF1 on Blu-Ray (Michael Bay responds to Paramount's abandonment of Blu-ray: "No Transformers 2 for me!" -- Engadget). And kinda like how Bay said that Megatron was not gonna be in TF2 (Michael Bay Lies Again? More Proof Megatron is in Transformers 2 | /Film), but then he changed his story and said he was, but only in flashbacks (Transformers 2: Michael Bay Confirms He’s a Liar, then… Lies Again? | /Film), and then Megatron ended up having just as much or more screentime than he did in the first film.

I'm also super excited about the prospect of seeing Transformers in 3D -- I just wish it didn't come packaged with so much chest-pounding and macho talk. Let's just let the footage and final film speak for itself.

Directors having egos is a fact of life. But egos should be earned, not fueled prematurely by gasoline.

 

If you hate the man that much for loving what he does and talking BS, then don't watch his shit... plain and simple.

Seriously, why the need to get in such a tizzy about a man we already know is an ego-loving bastard who likes to blow shit up. It's been documented time and time again, and guess what, what he does in his films and how he films things and the SPEED at which he films complicated things is what he gets to boast about because HE PULLS IT OFF LIKE NOBODY ELSE CAN. The man doesn't even go over budget he's so anal about controlling everything, and that's why studios love him for this kind of stuff.

As for the misinformation, well, he told everybody he was going to lie his ass off about things, so I don't see how anybody can be surprised by that.

 

hating the man?

Never mentioned hating the man, friendo. Just some friendly debate to back up my opinion, which I'm entitled to and can voice whenever I please. Especially when an article comes out patting Bay on the back for stuff he's already congratulated himself for.

Newsflash: "fast" and "complicated" doesn't mean better. Some of the most beloved genre films of the past 30 years had comparatively simple effects and focused on story and character -- y'know, things that matter (The Princess Bride, Goonies, Edward Scissorhands, The Blues Brothers, The Fugitive, The Shining, The Shawshank Redemption, etc). Similarly, in the same period there have been a number of kick ass action movies that had fast pacing and complex action scenes but still managed to deliver a good story as well (Die Hard, Aliens, Predator, Leathal Weapon, The Matrix, Robocop, Starship Troopers, among others).

Speed and complexity are tinkertoys. I'm talking about the preservation of life!

Plus, nobody's in a tizzy here but you.

I'm calmer than you are.

 

lol, do we really need an in-depth analysis of how much Bay loves himself?

It goes without saying. It's also obvious that he loves his work, which is great.

I know to film critics and buffs he is legendary as the master of pointless eye candy and destroyer of plot, but studios love him because he makes films that make a huge amount of money and he never goes over budget.

He's saying all the right things that we want to hear in this interview, but we have been in this situation before with ROTF which was supposed to have been the best thing since sliced bread. It's just pre-release hyping, which all films get, but not all films live up to their hype.

I'm not going to get too hyped up about this one yet. I did for ROTF and ended up being a bit disappointed.

Anyways, Ferrari must have seen ROTF because they insisted on having final say on their robot's voice, lol. I bet they're imagining some horrible blend of Super Mario and the Italian general from 'Allo 'Allo...

"Whadda mistake-a to make-a!"

 

What they are still killing Megan Fox off

 

I don't think so. I think they're going with the majorly lame-o reason of "he got dumped". After all the too-doo about "I love you - please come back to me" - to dump him??

I haz problems w/ that line of thinking/plot. *unless* the Cons have been targeting Sam (which would then blow another hole in the Sam-didn't-get-scooped-up-for-a-cool-job plotline), I really can't see why she'd drop his ass.

I was hoping that she gets offed - either on-screen, or a mention of it happening off-screen - then that'd give Sam more impetus to work w/ the Bots again to save the world.

 

Heh, they can't even keep continuity straight in a trailer.

Megatron was moved to Hoover Dam in the 1930s. The moon landing was in 1969.

"We are not alone..."

Really? Sector 7 has known that for decades. They were just ignorant of the secret mission to find an NBE ship on the moon despite all their deep penetration of the government? Their existence a secret to most elected officials?

Uh-huh. Yeah, better writing, more plot.

I also like how people and websites that were gushing over RotF are now saying how much "better" this will be, in a tone that seems to indicate they're sheepishly admitting it wasn't really that good to begin with.

Pass.

- Coeloptera

 

While there were lots of things said that sound really good, it is December. Really hard to know how all of it is going to pan out when the film is actually released.

Every director claims his film is going to be great, yet few films actually end up being great films. If you listened to Uwe Boll talk about one of his upcoming films he'd make it sound great even though his films are just about unwatchable. So easy to make hype about your film, but it's a whole other thing to actually deliver.

Although we did get about as close as Micheal Bay is ever going to say sorry for one of his films so that is a pretty substantial bit of growth away from his can do no wrong ego.

 

Keep in mind, though, it's Michael Bay. Uwe Boll has nothing to back up any claim he makes about his films being great; finished or unfinished. Michael has made some top-knotch action films, so I think at the very least when he's getting this excited and cocky about his action sequences, we can expect that they really are going to destroy our faces.

 

Bit odd that the Ferrari was seen casually driving about with Bumblebee and Co - does that imply he's a turncoat character only in reverse of Jetfire.

I agree the head looks Decepticon like though. Would be great if he had a Stunticon name like Wildrider or or Brakedown (Breakdown) would be a great complement to ROTF Dead End then.

But as always I only see the Movies as a marketing tool for the Merchandise and as such won't likely even bother seeing it until 2012 or so anyway when its out on DVD.

I'll eagerly consume the toys though.

 

Think about what you're saying. Megatron was discovered in the 1930's by Sector 7... both of which were top level secrets. It's NASA who is making the discovery that "we are not alone" in 1969, not Sector 7. It's not a stretch to assume that some people at NASA weren't aware of the Megatron Discovery over 30 years later.

 

agreed!!
just becuase a different sector of the gov. knew about "aliens" dosent mean everyon else knew about them in the government. this could be the story how the rest learned including the pres...

 

Calmer than you are...

 

Newsflash: Many couples break up in real life after telling their partners the same thing. Whether it be the week after, or 40 years later.

 

Oh yeah, that's happened to me. "Oh I love you!" *hours later* "Yeah, so we shouldn't be together anymore..."

And relationships can fail because people are unfaithful. Or maybe Sam just didn't keep up with the payments to her pimp.

 

I don't think action will be a problem but I do worry about how he will fill up the rest of the film that is not action. Pearl Harbor had some great action and some of camera tricks for the film were borrowed for other productions, but ouch no one should have to endure the love story parts of the film.

 

I stand corrected. Fair points.

 

Why are people saying that the ship being discovered is stupid because Megatron was already found by then?

Did everyone forget that it was Sector 7 that found Megatron? You know......the organization that not even the government knew about?

 

It was ol' Archie Witwicky that actually found him.