Bay: "532 cars were destroyed"

Movies Online has posted a short but interesting interview with Michael Bay when he was in Moscow. He revealed that 532 cars were destroyed for Transformers: Dark of the Moon, all donated and how 3D tech had to be modified to match what he wanted for the movie. The full article is here.

So do new technologies make your work harder, or more difficult?
It actually, new technologies make it harder, because you keep trying to push the boundaries. Jim Cameron called me up and he asked me, he said, “So making the third one, was it easier, or, or harder?” And I knew he was asking that because of “Avatar II”. And I said, “Jim, it’s definitely harder because you keep trying to push yourself farther.”

it proves more than compatible to your aggressive shooting style. What’s happened? Why did you change your mind?
Steven Spielberg and Jim Cameron kept saying I should shoot this movie in 3D. I was a skeptic, because it’s new technology; the systems are a lot bigger, heavier. There’s a lot of technical issues that would bore you. But it’s hard taking it on to the real world and the streets, move it around and putting it on rigs.

So we had to invent a lot of stuff, like strapping it on to the skydiver’s helmets, where they’re tracking behind guys flying through the air. But it – I slowed my style down a bit. I made longer, wide shots, moving through things; made the shots kind of unfold in a very cool, 3D way. But it was a – I loved, loved working with 3D. I think it really works well in this movie.

How many cars did you destroy when shooting the film?
532 cars were destroyed. But these are cars that are flood damaged. And they apparently – car companies give it to us because by law, they have to be crushed. So I am a perfect guy to do that.