Bay Provides Razzie "Math Equation"

Michael Bay commented today on his forums about the eight Razzie Award nominations that Transformers: Dark of the Moon for being worst of for 2011. As is typical of the director, he breaks it down the film’s success and the temporary jobs its production helped create.

A Math Equation

Math doesn't lie.

I looked into this Razzie thingy. Sounds like a fruit cocktail but it is an apparent award for they say “the worst in film” by respected judges.

Transformers: Dark of the Moon Loses to Hugo for Oscars (Updated)

Tonight the Academy Awards were held, with Transformers: Dark of the Moon nominated in three categories for Best Sound Editing, Sound Mixing, and Visual Effects. Sadly the film went 0 for three, losing in all three categories to Hugo. The decisions baffle me but its not really a surprise either. The Academy voters are mostly actors and non-technical people who only know if they liked the movie or not. They are unable to separate the technical (and artistic) achievements from the movie itself, for good or bad. Dark of the Moon and the other much superior nominees in these categories are a victims of that ignorance. Which is sadly often the norm for the Academy Awards.

Update: While Michael Bay is unlikely to comment on the utter nonsense of Hugo being voted superior to Dark of the Moon in these Oscar categories, MichaelBay.com's Nelson has posted Film School Reject's rage over the Oscar snubbing here as an indirect way to reflect their likely thoughts on the subject. When my Mom, who barely knows computers much less how films are made found, Hugo's wins in these categories to be ridiculous (and she was upset Hugo didn't get Best Film), then you know there is a serious disconnect between the voters and their knowledge of the categories.

Transformers: DOTM Nominated for 8 Razzies

Yesterday, on the eve of the Academy Awards, the 32nd Annual Razzie Award nominees were announced. The Razzies are an anti-Oscar award that is given out for "Worst Achievements in Film" for 2011. Transformers: Dark of the Moon is up for eight nominations in 7 out of the 10 categories the Razzie's offer "awards" for. While 8 is excessive, on the bright side it seems that Adam Sandler's record breaking 11 nominations (with 12 for Jack & Jill) gives him a real chance of taking any awards away from DOTM. The winners will be announced on April 1st.

Worst Picture
Bucky Larson: Born to Be A Star
Jack & Jill
New Year's Eve
Transformers: Dark of the Moon
The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 1

Transformers: Prime Promo, Cullen Q & A

Saturday brings a new episode of Transformers: Prime with Orion Pax Part 2. The story continues anemisic Optimus Prime's adventures with the Decepticons as the Autobots try to figure out a way to rescue him. Promo clip for the episode is below. In addition the voice of Prime, Peter Cullen, answers a few questions from fans about the his role in the cartoon series. Re-created below, the full Q & A is here on The Hub's Facebook page.

ILM's Visual Effects for Transformers: DOTM Part 2

ILM has posted another "music" video that explores the visual effects layers they created for the fantastic visuals in Transformers: Dark of the Moon. It is fascinating to see just how much of Chicago and many elements were nearly 100% computer generated. Part one can be found here, part 2 below.

Transformers: Robots in Disguise #2 Preview

Tomorrow brings Transformers: Robots in Disguise #2 to comic book stores. This issue continues the exploring the rebuilding of Cybertron with a mostly civilian populace that view the Autobots as enemies. The covers and first 8 pages of the issue can be found here.

John Barber (w) • Andrew Griffith (a) • Casey Coller, Griffith (c)
The Decepticons make their move, as the TRANSFORMERS relaunch really amps up! As Bumblebee's provisional government struggles to maintain control, Ratbat stages a deadly attack that only Prowl can stop! Meanwhile, Starscream tries something he's never done before: telling the truth to an Autobot. Well, most of the truth, anyway.
*Retailers: See your order form for incentive information.
FC • 32 pages • $3.99

Fall of Cybertron Screenshots, Footage, and Previews

It seems GameTrailer's report for Transformers: Fall of Cybertron (FoC) was just the beginning of another mini-blitz of press coverage. Very little of it is new, re-iterating what we were told from the last wave of coverage a few months ago. The main takeaway is all the writers are excited about the potentially awesome game that is currently scheduled to be released in September 2012. From what I have seen and read, if you enjoyed the first game, you will love the second. If you were on the fence because of some of the problems with the first game, High Moon has made efforts to overcome them. Below are the links for more, here are the highlights from GamesRadar.

Transformers Linkfest - TF Prime Reviews

Here are the last week's worth of Transformers related (mostly toy) links that have popped up. This time we have two custom pieces, confirmation that FoC will not be on the PC, new Shout! Factory release, Happy Meal TF Prime toys, Elita One prop for sale and reviews of four TF: Prime Robots in Disguise toys.

Custom DOTM Jetwing Optimus Prime
Hit the link for Frenzy_Rumble's latest piece with Jetwing Optimus Prime as the base figure but with a bunch of goodies and details added. The final figure includes posable jet pack, LED lights, new paint job, and more. More custom pieces can be found here. (via Full Metal Hero)

No PC Version of Fall for Cybertron
Full Moon Studios has confirmed that they are not making a port of Fall for Cybertron. Matt Tieger provided a few reasons, the main one being PC gaming is "outside of our area of expertise, to be honest. ...We were spread so thin that I feel like we barely served that audience. Then there were some issues with continued support that were frankly beyond our control, but at the same time did not create a great experience for PC gamers that got it." I am curious what the sales were but I bet the PC sales vs. the consoles makes it not cost effective to spend on the resources needed to avoid repeating their previous mistakes.

Metroplex in Fall of Cybertron & Gameplay Footage

Gametrailers recently aired a new episode GT.TV that features some footage from Transformers: Fall of Cybertron along with comments from Game Director Matt Tieger. The main piece of new information comes from Tieger who said "What's cool about Optimus and what makes his level so fun is his ability is to actually control Metroplex. Who is a city size Transformers who is moving through the battlefield." He also provided a few details on Jazz and the Combaticons. The footage shows them off combining into 80 foot tall Bruticus as he rampages through a level. The report is broken down into two segments. The first segment (Optimus) runs from 1:00 to 2:35, second segment (Jazz, Bruticus) starts at 6:00 to 8:10 time stamps. Click here for the full episode or watch below.

IDW May Transformers Comics

IDW Publishing has released their publishing plans for May. A total of two comics are being released that month. If you are interested in the books, just let your local comic book store know. For the full details of IDW's other books including GI Joe, Star Trek, Locke & Key, and more click here.

Transformers: More Than Meets The Eye Ongoing #5
James Roberts (w) • Alex Milne (a) • Milne, Nick Roche (c)
TERROR BEYOND THE STARS! The dark secret at the heart of Delphi is revealed as Ratchet’s world starts to fall apart. Time is running out for the Autobot’s Chief Medical Officer and his band of followers, who must confront an enemy that literally cannot be reckoned with. Warning: not everyone will make it out alive!
FC • 32 pages • $3.99

Transformers: Prime Season 2 Premiere Commercial

Consider this a reminder to those that have access to The Hub that Saturday is the return of new episodes of Transformers Prime. The channel is dubbing the day "Mega Saturday with premiere of Transformers Rescue Bots at 11:30am, premiere episode of Transformers Prime at 8:30pm which will be followed by the network premiere of 1986's animated Transformers: The Movie that is the origin of most of the references (Unicron, Galvatron, the Matrix, etc.) that you might see on the various Transformers web sites. Below is the Hub's commercial for Prime.

Josh Duhamel Out of Transformers 4

Despite the fact that Transformers 4 just re-hired its director, no writer has been writer, no script exists and Michael Bay is off prepping Pain & Gain, it has not stopped Josh Duhamel from speculating on the casts' lack of future in the franchise to E! Online.

"I don't think anybody's doing it," Josh Duhamel told us last night at the launch party for Sony PlayStation's new PS Vita portable entertainment system. "I know Shia [LaBoeuf]'s not doing it. I don't think Tyrese or Rosie [Huntington-Whiteley] or anybody else is doing it."

"Whenever these movies make that much money they're going to make as many as they can," he said. "[But] I haven't heard anything about it. They haven't called me."

Of course they have not called him. Casting for the movie is probably more than a year away. I doubt filming of any kind will even start until mid-Summer 2013. I am not saying he is wrong but to me it’s just way too early to give any thought to casting or for previous cast members to have any expectations one way or the other. Until at least a rough draft script exists (so pre-production can begin), my advice to previous cast members hoping to return is to express nothing but interest in returning just in case.

Transformers 4: More Like End of Dark of the Moon

Badass Digest is reporting a few details from a source on what the various story goals are for Transformers 4 when Bay retakes the helm sometime next year. The story will not be a reboot but a true sequel, the story will not be told from Sam Witwicky's point of view, and the goal is more like the last hour of Dark of the Moon with more boom, military action and light on silly.

A source close to the production of Transformers 4 has cleared up some elements about the film. While the term 're-imagining' was thrown around, the fourth film will be a straight up sequel to the last movie. It just won't be told through Witwicky's point of view. As to whose point of view it will be told through, that's unclear right now, but it's also unclear which - if any - human characters will be back.

"Michael realized it needs to be more like the last hour [of Dark of the Moon]," this source told me. So expect lots of big action, lots of carnage, lots of military badasses, very few silly bits.

Greg Russell on Sound Mixing Dark of the Moon (Updated)

Fifteen time Academy Award nominee Greg P Russell is probably hoping that his nomination for Best Sound Mixing for Transformers: Dark of the Moon will finally give him that much deserved Oscar. In an interview with The Wrap, he discussed a little bit of the sound mixing process for DOTM. Below are a few segments with the full interview here.

Update: The Hollywood Reporter has posted their own interview with the 15 time nominee here.

So other than dialog, just about every sound in these modern action epics is created after shooting?
Every sound you hear other than the dialog is all prepared by the sound editing team -- none of that is recorded while shooting the movie. That means all the helicopters and jets, all the gunfire -- every bullet impact and every whiz-by. Plus, all the robot sounds -- and there are thousands of robot sounds to create the life of these beings and make them believable -- are designed and recorded by our sound team.

They prepare the entire palette of sound to be used in the film, then I take all of those sounds and there’s many food groups of them, to work with.

So Optimus Prime, for instance, is sonically much more complex than any human character could be?
The robots consist of, say, nine 'pre-dubs,’ where the feet are separate from the big thigh sounds and the big, metallic motor sounds, as well as the medium-range integral movement sounds, that are in turn separate from kind of servo-sourced zipping noises. It goes right down to the eye blinks. All that material is prepared, and then I mix them and pan them across the screen. So if that robot is walking from right to left, those sounds have to be right behind the image.

Transformers Prime S2 Preview, S1 Soundtrack and More

Transformers: Prime Season 2 is just days away from premiering on February 18th at 8:30pm EST on The Hub. Hasbro recently aired a 12 minute preview (below) that summarizes the finale of season 1 along with scenes from the opening episode. In additional over, March 1st marks the release of Transformers: Prime Season 1 set on DVD and Blu-ray and below is a commercial for that. Speaking of, The Transformers: Prime Season One Score by Brian Tyler is coming. The MP3 download release date is March 6th, 2012 for a price of $9.49 while the CD is set for a March 20th release and a price of $15.94. The last bit of information is titles and dates for the next four new episodes of Transformers: Prime.

Michael Bay Directing Transformers 4; Release Date: June 29th, 2014 (Updated)

That was quick. Michael Bay has confirmed he is returning to direct Transformers 4 for a release date of June 29th 2014. This occured just a few hours after it hit web that Transformers producer Lorenzo Di Bonaventura revealed a potential release date. Later, Di Bonaventura unequivocally confirmed Bay's return to MTV (below), saying a reboot of sorts is occuring.

There has been a lot of speculation about what I'm going to do next and when or if I will do another Transformers. So let me set the record straight.

I have just concluded a deal with Paramount to do two movies, but it won't be two Transformers.

I will first do 'Pain & Gain' with Mark Wahlberg and Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson.

Then I will do the next Transformers for release on June 29, 2014.

-Michael Bay

Transformers 4 Coming Summer 2014 (Updated)

In an interview with Coming Soon to promote G.I. Joe Retaliation, Transformers producer Lorenzo Di Bonaventura confirmed that Transformers 4 is shooting for a summer 2014 release date. Michael Bay has not yet made the decision on whether he will return to direct the film. It seems that the G.I. Joe sequel (which jettisoned all but three actors) inspired the idea of going with a smaller cluster of characters that uses an existing story thread from the previous films to avoid a full reboot. However, this soon in the process means that all ideas are probably still on the table especially if Bay decides to sign up for another installment.

Update: Michael Bay has confirmed he is returning to direct Transformers 4 with a release date of June 29th, 2014.

"We’ll be there in the summer of 2014," he confirmed, as well as addressing (albeit vaguely) whether Michael Bay will be returning as director or not. "Michael had a debate because he sort of felt at first that he'd done three. Michael and I are both the same in that we always like to top ourselves. That doesn't necessarily mean bigger. It can be bigger in places, it just means different, but we're going to push really hard as fresh and new as we can be."

He compares doing a fourth "Transformers" movie to what they're doing with the "G.I. Joe" sequel by having a few characters return as well as telling a story that does follow-up from a plot set-up in its predecessor without necessarily fully "rebooting." "Again, we're going to try to do a hybrid there where there will be some characters that come forward--we think, we're still in the process of figuring it out--and some characters that don't, but it will definitely be a different story."

Transformers At Toy Fair 2012

This weekend Toy Fair 2012 was held in New York where toy makers presented many of their plans for the rest of the year. Hasbro presented their various lines including Transformers which to no surprise will be focused on the Transformers: Prime - Robots in Disguise line. They also revealed their Transformers: Generations - Fall of Cybertron (FoC) toys, Transformers: Kre-O wave 2, and Rescue Bots. Basically if you are a bit tired of the movie toys, this is the year for you. The main dates of note are March 1st is official release date of Transformers: Prime toys in the US and September 2012 is the planned release month for Transformers: Fall of Cybertron game. Below is just a smorgasbord of links to official Hasbro images and galleries from the Fair.

Transformers: More Than Meets the Eye, Infestation #2 Previews

IDW has released previews of the next two Transformers comics that will be hitting stores this Wednesday. Transformers: More Than Meets the Eye #2 continues to follow Rodimus Prime and his crew on their (mis)adventures in space while Transformers: Infestation #2 is the last part to the IDW's storyline in the Hearts of Steel universe. The preview of MTMTE #2 can be found here and TF: Infestation #2 here. If interested, a preview of GI Joe Retaliation comic that bridges gap between two GI Joe movies can be seen here.

ILM, Digital Domain Special Effects Behind the Scenes Musical Montages

ILMDigital and Digital Domain have each posted around 3 minute musical montages that show how some of the effects were created for Transformers: Dark of the Moon. Ever since this was done for Superman Returns way back when, I have been a huge fan of these edits that when done well (like these), can relay a lot of information in a very short video. Enjoy.

Bay Comments on 3D Color Quality

Michael Bay took to his forums today (first time in a while) to comment on the concerns of Transformers: Dark of the Moon's 3D color and brightness on the forums. I don't own a 3D TV so really have no idea but my limited experience with HDTV indicates that sadly the bygone days of buy a TV, stick it on and mostly good to go are gone as most now require calibration of some sort to account for different tech implementations and lighting conditions. I remember that the Wall-E set came with such a tool (turned out to be useful). Guess DOTM might have needed it too.

Transformers Wins Three VES Awards

Transformers: Dark of the Moon won two out of the five categories it was nominated in for the 10th annual Visual Effects Society Awards. Transformers: The Ride also won its category of Outstanding Visual Effects in a Special Venue Project. The awards are given out to honor achievement in visual effects across multiple areas besides movies. DOTM won for Outstanding Created Environment (155 Wacker Drive) and Outstanding Models (Driller) in a movie.

The categories Transformers 3 lost in where Outstanding Visual Effects in a Visual Effects-Driven Feature Motion Picture to Rise of the Planet of the Apes, Outstanding Virtual Cinematography in a Live Action Feature Motion Picture to Hugo, and Outstanding Compositing in a Feature Motion Picture to Captain America. In the last 9 years, 7 times the winner of the VES' Outstanding Visual Effects Award went on to win the Oscar for Best Visual Effects. This includes the first Transformers in 2008. This year the win indicates that DOTM’s competition is Apes. The full list of winners can be found here.

Transformers Linkfest - TF: Prime Toys

Transformers: Prime season 2 is coming and with it is the toys. With this linkfest edition we have links to galleries of upcoming Prime toys and video reviews. Also a look at the latest WST toy, toy fair news, Generation 2 prototypes, DOTM contest winner and return of Marvel Transformers continuity. Finally we have reviews of several third party toys including the final components of Hercules, a Devastator upgrade kit, and interview with the narrator from the G1 cartoons.

Transformers: Prime Galleries - Hasbro Pics | Voyager Megatron in box | Wheeljack, etc in package | Deluxe Bumblebee | Deluxe Bumblebee | Deluxe Ratchet | Deluxe Arcee
The next non movie wave of Transformers, based on the Transformers: Prime cartoon, is now about to get released. It has already been released in the UK and Japan. There are reports that Toys R Us stores in the US are starting to stock them. This means lots of galleries as the volume of links show. Over all have to say like the designs but at this point I am just glad to see something that isn't based on the movies. By the way, Hasbro once again decided to rename their classes, just to keep things confusing. There is Cyberverse (Legend), Revealers (Deluxe), and Powerizer (Voyager). I will stick with the old naming class scheme as just less confusing to me.

Transformers: The Ride Super Bowl Commercial

Below is the official Super Bowl commercial for Transformers: The Ride that opens in May at Universal Studios Hollywood. The rest of the recently released videos to promote the attraction can be found here.

Transformers: Dark of the Moon Visual Effects Reel

MichaelBay.com has posted the 10 minute VFX reel that was used to score an Oscar nomination in the Achievement in Visual Effects category for Transformers: Dark of the Moon visual effects team. The reel was presented to members of the Academy's Visual Effects Branch for them to which movies will have a chance to win an Oscar. DOTM is also up for the sound effects and sound editing categories. Paramount is running a commercials in key areas to promote the film's nominations. The winner will be announced live on February 26th. The video isn't a behind the scenes video but highlights of the best visual effects from the entire film. Thanks to Feris Othman for the heads-up.

Transformers: The Ride Trailer, Optimus Message and Site Up

Universal Studios Hollywood has ramped up their campaign to promote the May opening of Transformers: The Ride in California with a new trailer, message from Optimus Prime, and updating the attraction website. The full trailer (1st video below) is expected to air today sometime during the NBC Pre-Game show before the Super Bowl. In addition, Optimus Prime (as voiced by Peter Cullen) warns the human race of the Megatron (2nd video). Finally, the website PrepareForBattle.com is live so that people can enlist as NEST volunteers. The site has online game that lets you rise up the NEST ranks by completing missions brought to you by videos, downloads and trivia questions. Those that play will have the opportunity to win The Ride specific Transformer collectibles with a grand prize of a trip to experience Transformers: The Ride at Universal Studios Hollywood (3rd video).

Paramount Gives Transformers 3 Some Oscar Love

Deadline reports that Paramount Pictures has "decided to finance a big TV buy in voter-centric Los Angeles, New York, and San Francisco to promote its summer blockbuster Transformers: Dark of the Moon." The planned TV ad is below. Transformers 3 was nominated for three Oscars in the Sound Editing, Sound Mixing and Visual Effects categories. Winning an Oscar is sort of like running for office as often the studios support TV and print campaigns to support their movies in the various categories and make Academy voters aware of the movie's nomination. Like any popularity contest, familiarity often trumps excellence which can be a detriment to something like DOTM where most of the voters tend to be of the baby boom (or older) generation.

The choice to support DOTM is a bit interesting considering Paramount's Hugo (with 11 nominations total) is competing against TF3 in all three categories. Deadline theorizes the move is in part a show of support to Michael Bay, Steven Spielberg and the movie's other producers. From Deadline:

Although the individual peer groups made the nominations, everyone in the Academy gets to vote for the final award. ”As you know the Academy is comprised of many branches representing the various disciplines in the filmmaking arena. Because not everyone may be an expert in sound or visual effects, we hope that this spot will encourage voters to carefully consider their choices and take into consideration the craftsmanship of each category when voting,” the spokesman said. “This is the culmination of years of hard work creating cinematic sounds and images that are now iconic — we wanted a form of Academy outreach that did that work justice and we simply felt that to see and hear it was very important.”

Transformers: The Ride Super Bowl Commercial Sneak Peek

Universal Studios Hollywood has posted a very brief video (like the Avengers), to tease their Super Bowl pre-show commercial for Transformers: The Ride. The teaser (below) uses Opthttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifimus Prime footage from the attraction. Their description says "watch the commercial during The Big Game this Sunday, February 5th on NBC" but their newsletter says "Tune in Sunday for NBC's Super Bowl Pre-Game Coverage to see the national premiere of our commercial". I don't see Universal (part of Comcast along with NBC) using up one of their $3.5 million Super Bowl commercial slots so I tend to think the pre-game show is when it will most likely debut. If the this and the Communiques are any indicates, it will be an edit of the five minutes of footage used during The Ride itself.

Transformers: The Ride Communique #3

Universal Studios Hollywood has released another re-mix of their attraction footage to create Communique #3. The video below features General Morshower warning of the return of Megatron, needing the Transformers with ability to protect the All Spark and needing more recruits for NEST. Just like with Communiques #1 and #2 it ends with "Game Begins: February 4th, 2012. Enlist now. www.prepareforbattle.com".