Here's the writeup for the Botcon 2009 Movie Q & A session with Bob Orci and Alex Kurtzman: Outline generated before writers strike Michael Bay locked them in a hotel as soon as the strike was over, dropped in periodically to see how it was going. Took four months to get to shooting. More focused because of the strike. They think it is as good as or better than the first one. More mythology. As funny, crazy and mood swingy as the first one. Looked at their favourite sequels, what they liked in Transformers, needed a new villain. About trying to live normal lives after the extraordinary – Autobots in disguise, Sam trying to live a normal life. Wanted to give fans a story that they would enjoy, didn’t want to just make a sequel because the studio wanted another one. Shia and Megan have a key part in the story. Can’t be a robot in disguise without having humans to hide from. Thanks to the fans for their support and for following the movie. Q&A starts Star Trek & Transformers are very different properties and different directors, totally different challenges. Title characters in Transformers were CGI, Kirk & Spock are actors. Nervousness of Transformers talking and having personalities in the first movie, not the case in RotF. Movie 3 – Megatron Vs Enterprise lol just kidding folks Shia’s accident in the film – sent him a pack of DVDs to keep him comfortable in the hospital – third act of the film is meant to be nuts with some crazy stunts that would be hard with two good hands. New characters – some they wanted in the first movie but didn’t make it for various reasons. Michael Bay created a few crazy awesome weird ones, Hasbro also contributed some. Lots of robots in the movie. Dinobots in the third one, maybe. Hasbro has not asked for gimmicks to be done – they did a primer in the first movie to famialise everyone with the film. Let the writers pick things, did not push the issue with stuff. Constant flow of making things work, not forcing square pegs into round holes. Studio trusts them with more effects money, so can do more with the robots this go around. First movie were not sure of what they could do. Impossible to please everybody, doing their best to take in everything. Demolishor & Scavenger is not an accident, there is a reason for being two names. Good chance of Unicron or Primus. Clues about Dewbot – maybe he settled down with a Pepsi machine? Clues to their fate are in there, not spelled out. Soundwave – satellite chosen for his link to transmissions. Ehren Krugar brought on to help because of writers strike, fresh eyes on the project. No plans for a Beast Wars Movie. Leonard Nimoy may not make it in there. Might be a shout out. Is there a Matrix – that’s a good question! Femmebots – now the studio is on board with the concept of the robots as characters they could bring them in, no actual explanation is given in the film. How much contact did they have with the comics – more access this time around, more united and free flowing with information, they got what they needed to know. Sideswipe – car model chosen for its design, that was Michael Bay’s call. Originally was a lambo in the script, changed with a different car later. Twin aspect was given to different characters instead. Skids & Mudflap – Michael Bay’s designers and Hasbro’s designers worked on these, less history so more leeway with their looks, wanted to have them for more humour, wanted the weirdness in their physical nature and their looks. Ice Cream truck – can’t reveal much, dictated by Bay’s sense of humour, story reason is given in the film. Biology etc – a reservoir of information was put together should they need it, but they do not want to burden the film with it. Combiners – comes out of nowhere, not a build up, explanation is implicit. Logical that they would combine, nanotech would be explanation, mechanisms linking together, mechanical combination. Grindor – reason for him being there as well as Blackout.
This is interesting....what with Skids & Mudflap and the bike trio kicking about, is RotF going to have some kind of reproduction/cloning angle to it? (BTW, that was a rhetorical question. I don't actually want someone to come and tell me the answer, you novel-reading spoiler jockeys. )
Ok so basically we can chalk up the twins to the same guy who thought bumblebee peeing on some guy was " Humorous " in the first one.. No accounting for taste I guess..
sweet! some ansures on the names. so both blackout, grindor, scavenger, and demolisher are all in the film? interesting. well, to be honest, i really hope grindor isnt gonna do alot. i want blackout. and i like the name demolisher better than scavenger. but thats just me. i would b happy eather way. but i really want blackout
WOW, that was close, we almost didn't have the sweet Corvette and the twins due to freaking Sideswipe! Thanks for not being a g1 hardcore fan Bay!
wow if unicron or primus are in it i cant wait to see what they are like independence day maybe :~) best writers ever
more femmebots for the future!!!.....elita-1, fracture, override, chromia, strika, flareup (all need to be given the movie treatment)...despite what their comic book or toy counterparts have revealed or done with them.
Yeah, sounds like Unicron is the likely "big bad" choice for Movie 3. After Devs, you gotta go even bigger once again, after all... lol
lots of doors being opened looking at what they have to say. I guess this means any crazy thread is fair game from now on... god help us all
Dibs on Unicron being a nano-cloud... After what Galactus turned out to be, nothing would surprise me...
so wait, grindor AND blackout together, as in not the same guy, but two co-existing characters SIDE-BY-SIDE?!?!
