Ironhide Pics?

Jalopnik.com has posted some pics that just may be of the vehicle mode of Ironhide. If not, its still a very sleek custom job that I wouldn't mind on my car.

"...it is a GMC Top Kick C4500 4WD Crew Cab (not a K4500 anymore, now they're C4500 4WD, so confusing!) with a Monroe upfitters' bed and from what we can see a whole lot of custom work too. The badass tires that Seth L commented about are the Nitto Mud Grappler...Fun fact, the bed on Ironhide there is all-composite..."

Click here and here for pics and details about the vehicle, but unrelated to how it may or may not be in the movie.

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More On Set Pics

LatinoReview.com has posted some more onset pics. The 5 pic involved a railroad crossing, construction crane (part of a TF perhaps?) and a chase with 3 SUVs. The pics really don't reveal much beyond that.

Click here for the write up and here for the pics.

In other news, a post on transformers official board describes the next TF trailer. Not bothering to reproduce here since its probably BS. One, cause the first teaser just came out. Two, because its too early to create a second trailer. The best time to release another would be the mid-November to Christmas period when event movies such as the next James Bond is getting released. Finally, because the shooting isn't done, I seriously doubt any CGI effects shot are even close to a final rendering phase needed for a trailer. For the curious, the post is here.

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Don Murphy on Casting Peter Cullen

Transformers producer Don Murphy has once again shared some of his viewpoints on Transformers the movie over on his forum. Most interesting bit (for me anyway) is "I got to spend the early part of the week with a lifesize, gigantic Megatron which was surreal and so cool you’re all jealous." Yep I am jealous.

and then the Cullen thing. As you all know when we started this grand experiment two years ago, Cullen and Welker were the ONLY Thing you gave me any consensus on. I’m serious, because I read everything you write, no matter how shitty. And if someone suggested something, half of you would shout it down. And the ONLY thing you overwhelmingly agreed on was that Prime should sound like Prime and Megatron should sound like Megatron. Which makes sense, especially since both actors are alive and well. So I pushed your agenda. As some of you know, that was not an easy one. My own partner advocated celebrity voices. Then I showed him the results of your guys’ input and he immediately joined the bandwagon. Ian Bryce came to the show well in to the process and saw the results and supported immediately. John Rogers needed no prodding god bless his pointed head. One or two Dreamworks executives also supported from relatively early on. The interesting thing is that the director never gave an opinion any way. He had a lot of us telling him that there was no choice, really, the fans had spoken. But he had Skorponok and a lot of people at Dreamworks and Paramount FIGHTING actively not to do it. The forces of Cullen kept the push going. Several weeks he came in and auditioned, which was all anyone could ask the director to do. Then he came back for a meeting. And now, Optimus Prime has his voice back. And there is much rejoicing.

before you negativists start asking wotup with Welker, hey we are all working on it. Fact is I was told he was harder to arrange audition time with and his schedule--- hell I don’t know. No one wants Cullen without Welker. I will not say that the director has made the decision because he hasn’t.

My gut tells me that Michael Bay weighs every decision QUITE STRONGLY. You have to remember that. HE finally okayed Cullen once HE was convinced. And should Welker happen, as I know everyone hopes, it will happen when he can make the decision. Which, quite frankly, is not an urgent decision to make at this moment.

The entire post is worth reading, click here. Does this mean when it was reported that Peter Cullen auditioned for the role and Don Murphy said "don't put words in my mouth", he was covering up this reveal for comic-con? If so, bravo man. Good play.

Optimus Prime Voice Announcement Video

During the San Diego Comic Con, towards the end of the Paramount/Stardust panel, TF Producer Lorenzo Di Bonaventura had a voice recording of Peter Cullen as Optimus Prime saying "...in chaos and those of us who follow freedom. All of you here must join me in this fight for freedom next July 4th. I am Optimus Prime. Transform, roll out."

The video is here from blackfilm.com.

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Dane Cook in Transformers?

DaneCook.com News section has a bit where Dane has "a cameo in TRANSFORMERS to be shot in August." Not a clue who this guy is. Some how I am out of the loop on this guy cause his name seems to be popping up everywhere for reasons I don't understand. Whatever, sure this is good news to someone.

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Di Bonaventura Interview

iFMagazine.com posted an interview it had with Transformers producer Lorenzo Di Bonaventura during the San Diego convention weekend. The article claims secrets are revealed.

The highlights:
- "We're doing CG animation on their faces" Hmm wonder if using motion capture or just regular animation skills?

- "I think it's [dangerous] to show things too early. By the time I saw King Kong, I had been there." I think he is referring to the production diaries, and to be fair if you had seen the orginial King Kong then there where few suprises. However, the analogy holds when applied the orginial teaser trailer look of Kong changed visually quite alot to the final version.

- Transformers will not match the animation look exactly. I may be a minority, but I hope not, just keep the visual features that are a core of the character. For Prime its his colors and his head, for Megatron its a big ass cannon and again the head. So on and so forth. Like most,that'ss why annoyed with the Megs as a plane. That just isn't bad ass enough. At least on paper, final product will tell the tale.

- Key plan is give working parts more movement and real world. I think that means truly show how a robot might change form every step of the way rather then the simplified version the animation show used where it was basically a three shot transformation. I am guessing the closest to it my be that transformation of Unicron, where you could see how his parts moved, combines, etc to get to robot mode, and even that is probably not really close to what the final attempt will be. Either way, if its even close to what I am thinking, it will be sweet.

The fill article is here.

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SDCC '06: Two New Transformers Posters

Two new Transformers posters to splash everywhere. Just a metallic version of the Autobot and Decepticon symbols, but you really can't have to many different versions of them.



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The Voice of Optimus Prime is ....

Peter Cullen!

At the San Diego Comic-Con Paramount Panel, right at the end, it was announced who would be the voice of Optimus Prime for the Transformers movie in 2007. In a generous nod to the fans, Peter Cullen, the original voice of OP for a generation of TransFans, has been cast as the voice.

I was expecting news such as a few images, discussions of the plot, maybe a reveal of the Transformers in the movie. Nice information but mostly shrug worthy. Instead you get something that for Transformers fans probably caused a collective orgasm of glee even if for most outsiders, its a shrugworthy piece of news. Shows sometimes the small stuff can have as much impact as the big.

As for those that may not know, Peter Cullen is the voice that you hear anytime you think Optimus Prime. He voiced the character throughout the 80's in the series and the cartoon movie.

Additional little tidbits came up in a live interview on G4 for their "Transformers Exclusive" (not sure which was first, them or the panel) where Transformers producer Lorenzo di Bonaventura made it official. During the interview, he indicated that the announcement of who the voice of Megatron is will occur during post-production. Does that mean he is already cast? Hmm.

Also, Lorenzo shared his belief of how the live action has an advantage over the animated cartoons, "We are going to be able to do things the animated series could never do. The Transformers can have more moving parts, because they can move better, therefore they can fight better, they can do more things and they can blow up more things."

Give credit to show hosts Olivia Munn and Kevin Pereira for attempting to dig more dirt out of him. They tried to get him to confirm internet rumors ("some are true") and reveal alt modes and did more or less confirm that the Optimus Prime pick is true ("...he is a big semi").

So there you go. Nice reveal but man those TF producers are doing an awesome job of keeping the information tight. Darn it.

Transformers: The Movie DVD Preview

This afternoon at San Diego Comic-Con a panel was held that revealed some of the details about the Transformers: The Movie 20th Anniversary Edition DVD. In a pre-recorded video, they revealed a preview of the features for the release.



- Release Date: 11/7/2006
- Remastered and color-correction
- 16x9 Widescreen version (closest to this was probably in the theatres)
- Interviews
- Commentaries (hmm, a plural)
- a "Matrix of Knowledge" which is basically pop-up facts during the movie.
- and more

No details yet on who is interviews or does the commentaries but a bit more information then was released before. The Sony presentation shows the improvements made in the image of the movie. Its to pretty obvious improvement even when see on a video image of a video image. Hopefully later today get some bits about the live action movie. Thanks to TFormers.com for the video capture and sharing it with everyone.

Click here for the video on YouTube.

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SDCC '06: Transformers Toys

TFormers.com has posted a ton of pics of toys that are being show at the San Diego Comic-Con. Personally I can't wait for the release of Transformers Titanium Figures (some of which just pose, others transform) and the Classics line. Both lines harken back to the G1 days while making use of better design and technology available to toys today.

Titanium pics here.
Classic pics here.
Cybertron Repaints here and here.
Masterpiece Prime here.
MP-4 Convoy here. (sweet toy, I have the Japanese release of same)

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San Diego Comicon 2006

The San Diego Comicon 2006 begins Thursday, ending Sunday, with a preview tonight. Now this sounds like a comic book convention, and it sorta is, but its become a big multimedia coming out party for not just comics, but Hollywood, toys, video games and others. Think of it as Cannes, comics, CES, Toyfair and bunch of others shows all crammed together for the weekend of panels, reveals and discussions. I wish I was there.

For those lucky enough to go, here is the schedule of Transformers related panels:

July 20th
3-4pm IDW Publishing
Reveals the next years worth of comic plans with several TF comics artists, writers and editors.

4-5pm Hasbro and Sony
The TF design and marketing teams show upcoming plans for Transformers Cybertron and Transformers Classics line (sweet!). Also sony will be discussing the 20th Anniversary Special Edition DVD of Transformers: The Movie.

July 21st
1:30-2:30pm IDW Publishing
Another panel with IDW, more of a tour of all of the IDW is making in the coming year beyond just Transformers.

2:30-3:30 Paramount Pictures
Transformers producer Lorenzo di Bonabentura will be hand along with other Paramount folks to discuss their upcoming picture slate...including Transformers. Hopefully news will come from this and other reveals.

Finally Friday, G4 TV is promising a "Transformers Exclusive" during their live coverage of Comicon that is beginning at 8:00pm EST, 5:00PST. No clue what that means, but knowing that station I am not expecting much. Might be worth tuning in anyway.

Any case, that means this weekend losts of news will becoming out on the next years projects for video games, comics, TV and movies. That means Transformers! That means tidbits and reveals, that means information to share and information to send me for those lucky enough to go.

Transformers Movie Fact Thread and Spielberg Comments

A mod, Chromia, over at the official Transformers movie forums has compiled a nifty list of facts and rumors regarding the Transformers movie.

Click here to check it out.

In other news, Steven Spielberg gave a brief interview over at SpielbergFilms.com. The highlights are that scripts are still being hammered out for Indiana 4, Jurassic Park 4, and he's working on this and that. In what matters, Transformers, he shares:

Awalt: For a while we covered your production works, but I wanted to focus more specifically on your work as director, but I should still ask: ‘Transformers.’ How excited are you about that?

Spielberg: Well the dailies are fantastic.

Awalt: Any effects work, or just physical so far?

Spielberg: I have seen no effects work so far. I’ve only seen the scenes with the characters and a lot of the action, we call them plates, but it’s plates with first team characters running around and hiding and fighting and it’s pretty amazing what Michael Bay’s doing with the camera, and with the performances.

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Penny Arcade's "Transformers Transfigured"

Penny Arcade decided to have some fun with the recent pic of Optimus Prime (as seen here) and Michael Bay. Its funny, even if maybe reading a little bit to much into the picture. I hope they make a series of strips on the movie, the actual movie producers, etc probably not so much.

Michael Bay "Interview"

"Nelson" over at shootfortheedit.com is reporting some information he got from a conversation he had with Michael Bay regarding the TF movie. Its all unconfirmed (as is really everything out there right now) but it does have a ring of truth and logic to it.

Spoke to Bay this morning...

...as I said, he will post later on later regarding the designs (when I say later it could mean tonight or in a couple of days).

Among some of the stuff:

-They (Bay & Co.) are committed to maintaining total secrecy about this project until it hits the screen. We spoke of how there was no surprise factor to Peter Jackson's King Kong. You knew the whole movie ahead of time. There are some in the team who believe the audience's first peak of the robots in their normal mode should be when they sit down to watch the movie in the theater (in other words, no sneak peak of them in their normal mode in the trailers).

-Bay & crew are well aware of sites putting out BS info in order to elicit a response from Bay & Co.

-The reasons why they went with a huge long nose truck for OP (BTW, regarding the flames, there is a context for them like Orci pointed out). Bay said they did test with flat noses (FN) for scale purposes, and the FN would only be about 20 to 25 feet tall, so they went with the biggest truck they could find: the Peterbilt. We're talking 40 to 50 foot tall robots here. The physics for these robots have to be real...aka no magically disappearing parts. Also, OP is going to have much more red than what was shown in the supposedly "leaked" photo.

-Regarding the designers... all I can say is he said they all had to be fans of the show in order to get their jobs.

-Regarding the Ludacris rumor...no, he does not have a part in TF.

The bit about scale makes since. The movie is going for a "reality" that would exist even for giant robots. They are not doing what the cartoons did where the TFs changed sizes (say Soundwave) or had some part of their transformation appear out of nowhere (Optimus Prime's trailer). The traditional Prime truck would probably limit his robot mode to about 30 feet, maybe more if wanted to make his legs disportionate to rest of him. The important thing to take from this is "god is in the details" and the people involved in this movie are clearly paying attention to that philosophy.

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Toyfare Transformers Article

Toyfare is out and in it is a combination of new and old rumors regarding the Transformers movie.

"AutobotWonko" over at tfans.com forum provided the highlights:

- Cybertron does appear in the film, but most takes place in the American Southwest.
- Rumored battle in downtown LA
- Spike will be Sam Witwicky and Sparkplug is still Sparkplug
- Bernie Mac sell Bumblebee to Sparkplug
- Josh Duhamel is Commander Lennox and he leaders an elite military unit to "fight a gargantuan Scorponok in the desert!"
- Optimus Prime, there is rumored test footage out there if you google "Transformer Test Video" (Which was fan-made. A link to it is here.)
- Bumblebee is a yellow 1975 Camaro. (pics here)
- Ironhide is a pickup truck
- Jazz and Ratchet are unsure beyond Jazz will be pimped out and Ratchet a ambulance.
- Megatron is a Cybertronian Jet
- Starscream is a F-22 Raptor jet
- Devastator is a M-1 Abrams Tank (pic here)
- Brawl is a police car (pic here)
- And finally, Soundwave: "Now a boombox (he supposedly sneaks onto Air Force One!), this fan-favorite reportedly stands 4 1/2 feet tall and may be renamed Soundbyte!" (the bit about Air Force One is old, the renaming rumor is news to me.)

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Optimus Prime Vehicle Mode - Revealed!

Above, at least until the boomstick comes down, is the pic of Optimus Prime in vehicle mode. At least that is what was reported by AICN. According to tformers.com this type vehicle is a "regular long nosed black Peterbilt truck." Whether this is the final design or not has not been officially confirmed.

Also, most of the stuff with the TFs will be heavy on the CGI so even if this is the filmed version of the truck, there is nothing stopping them from changing its look later digitially (expensive solution, but throwing it out there).

Thanks B. Pretzel for sending me the pic.

Air Force's Transformers Behind the Scenes Video

Click here for a video from the Air Force over at Holloman Air Force Base about "the level of military cooperation on this film is unprecedented." Its shows a little behind the scenes action, Michael Bay doing a brief onscreen interview and a scene of pyrotechnics that was being filmed. Actually one of the best "behind the scenes" films released yet.

Thanks B. Pretzel for the link.

Optimus Prime Vehicle Mode Revealed - sorta

Update: Two readers where kind enough to send a pic to me. You can see it here.

AICN.com got a scoop late last night of a pic of the vehicle mode of Autobot leader Optimus Prime. Sadly that pic was then more or less immediately yanked as the studio is apparently more on their game with the pic leaks then it has been in the past. Sadness for us.

The description of note is "It is of the vehicle form of Optimus Prime. Yes, he's a truck. Yes, he's red. Yes, he's totally Michael Bay-ized. The picture will relieve some fans and probably infuriate some other fans. But I guarantee this... if that truck transforms into a badass giant robot and we hear Peter Cullen's voice coming from the big bastard, you'll see some orgasmically happy fanboys and girls. Hopefully Bay made the right decision with the voice casting."

Hey its red. Uh beyond that who knows. Pretty sure its going to be some honking monster of a red truck that probably doesn't exist in the real world. If it looks cool, I will not mind. I am not yet entirely convinced that Peter Cullen is a must have voice, have to find out who the other candidates are for comparison to really know for sure.

Anycase, if someone was able to get that pic, forward it to me. I will post it for as long as I am able. Email it to canowupass at yahoo.com.

AICN article is here.

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E! News Clip and Official Site Update

E! News ran a clip last week with Josh Duhamel and Tyrese as they talked about their joy etc about working on the Transformers movie. No spoilers but get to see a little set scenery.

In addition, the official movie website, transformersmovie.com has updated their site a bit with icons, wallpaper, and a message board. Click "Watch the Exclusive Announcement" to see and the menu is in the top right corner. May need to clear your cache to have the site load with updated flash code (which is a reason why flash is not used on most sites except those designed by or for Hollywood).

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Another On Set Report

Seibertron.com has posted a report from "Christian" while auditioning for Transformers. Has some set pics too, most of them of the best up bumblebee and a town set pic. The report was put at last week but just stumbled across it.

Hey guys! A few interesting details...
Unfortunately I didn't get cast as an extra, but my girlfriend did! She went down to the stages for a wardrobe fitting today and found out that filming begins on Wednesday, the 5th, on the Universal Studios backlot. They are going to be filming the high school scenes the week of July tenth at a high school in Pasadena. The other day on the way to work we saw Bumblebee on a flatbed trailer headed towards the construction stages! The truck had "Cinema Services Motion Picture Car Transport" on the side and BumbleBee was sandwiched between a couple of SUV's on the flatbed. They all had fake license plates and BumbleBee had some "battle damage" painted on. I have a few pictures from my cell phone- not amazing but you get the idea at least. We went down to Universal Studios today and took the tram tour to try to get a glimpse of the sets being built. Couldn't see much, but we did see one building dressed like a museum (I think) that had huge banners on it displaying an exhibit called "Giants of the Machine Age- 1918 to 1941" (got a cell phone pic of that too). Maybe Spike's class goes on a field trip to the museum...? We also saw a wall being built with holes blown out of it, a couple of tanks and a fleet of police vehicles.

A Transformer Voice Has Been Cast

IMDB.com has updated the Transformers movie entry to show that Mark Ryan has been cast...as a voice. Voice for what you ask? No one is telling, not even him on his website, "I can't say too much as we're all sworn to secrecy and the project's script and imagery concepts are being very closely guarded by the producers. I'm on set, interacting with the actors in a most unusual way and having a great time doing it!"

Not a clue who this person is, picture doesn't ring a bell so just for giggles and based on various set reports on what is being filmed, it seems about the only Transformer that has been so far is Bumblebee, so that's my guess on who he is the voice for. Not entirely a shot in the dark but not based on any concrete information at this time either.

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Michael Duncan Clarke No Go for Transformers

Michael Duncan Clarke has made it official. He will not be in the Transformers movie. In an interview with blackfilm.com, "You know what and I hate to tell you this, but I am not in "Transformers". I am so mad that I have to tell you that, but something happened and we didn't get the deal done and I was really hurt about that, because my friend Michael Bay is directing and he's like to me, one of the top action directors ever. I love working on his movies."

Thanks for the headups Pretzel.

AICN's Onset Report on Skorponok Sequence

Ain't It Cool News has posted a pretty detailed description of the shooting of the Skorponok that is mean to open up the Transformers film. For a reminder, in a leaked version of the script, apparently a Transformers attacks a US military base via the ground to get hold of data from US computers. Lots of fighting and explosions ensue as the army and our gaggle of heroes fight of this metallic and unknown invader. Really no spoilers are revealed but its an interesting read.

Click here for the report.

Pirates Reaction to Transformers Teaser Trailer

Seeing the teaser trailer on the internet, my reaction was one of disappointment. I was hoping for something more. Possibly in part because of the Spider-Man 3 teaser showed just how good a teaser can be even though the comparison is unfair due to how short a period principle photography has been going on.

Tonight I went to the 12:01am showing of Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest in a sold out theatre with an audience of a nearly 50/50 mix of male and females with age range of 18 to 40ish. The very first trailer was the Transformers teaser.

The trailer plays much better on the bigger screen then the internet. The audience watch this new trailer showing the Mars rover, talking about warnings etc. Everyone looks confused, trying to figure out what was going on. Then then robot appeared. A few people jumped, most still just really confused. The "WTF?" expressions on many. No one really had a clue what was going on.

Then the "Transformers" title appeared. Cheers. Loud cheers. Mostly male but still cheers from most. Even better, when it transformed into the Autobot symbol, it solidified to the audience "yeah, those Transformers". A second, louder cheer erupted.

Its not often you hear cheers for a trailer, Spider-Man 3 teaser got one, but the cheers for Transformers was louder. Let the buzz begin and congrats to the producers, Bay, etc for a successful lift-off.

Trailer Logo and its Designer Interview

VFXTalk.com has posted an interview with the team leaders of the crew over at Imaginary Forces that designed and animated the titles for the Transformers teaser trailer that was released last week.

"The teaser marks the first branding effort for the film," explains IF Art Director Sean Koriakin, who was also Imaginary Forces' Lead Animator and Designer. "We knew there would be limited footage available and only a glimpse of a robot so it was important that we define this new world and aesthetic in the title reveal. The title is a detailed piece of architecture that is intricate, logical and clearly articulated. There are many elements
and panels that fit into each other perfectly like a giant jigsaw puzzle. We spent a lot of time working on textures and creating the shapes of the parts - with interiors that were anatomical and derived from a human muscle form. In keeping with the film's portrayal of the Transformers, we had to make the title appear as realistic as possible."

No spoilers in the brief interview but it does give a hint that the overall goal of the film is to ground it with a real world look and feel.

Interview here.

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Michael Bay Posts about the Teaser Trailer

Michael Bay put up a brief post on his blog about the recently released Transformers teaser trailer.

for those of you asking:

1- None of the Mars story, launch footage, and rover footage is going to be in the movie.

2.- Yes, Bay did shoot the rover footage.

Number one seemed liked a gimme considering the leaked script and it being a teaser and all. The second, uh I guess its good to know if you have a TF trivia night or something otherwise not sure why it matters who shot it unless its going into the final film which seems unlikely.

Movie Budget Apparently $140 Million

A bonus of Don Murphy's post on pic posting is that the budget of the Transformers movie has been revealed when he stated "If it were my $140 million."

That is a lot less then my estimation of $200 then $175 million. Shan repeatedly said in various post comments said it was $145 so he was the closest of I saw anywhere. He gets the "No Prize" award for that.

That size budget is actually fairly low by today's standards for summer movies which seem to hover in the $200 million mark. Then again, since this film has so far avoided the highly priced (and in my opinion highly overpaid) "A-list" actors that usually populate those films, they probably saved $30 million or so. Well at least for now since the voices haven't been cast yet but I would assume an actor doesn't get the usual rate for spending a day or two in an ADR room. This also indicate that use of the Transformers will be done very carefully to get maximum bang for the buck as any scene that so much as shows a TF finger has high CGI costs associated with it.