Thursday, June 23, 2011

NY Times Profile on DOTM Chicago Filming, Shockwave

New York Times has posted an article that discusses Shockwave and the scenes that were filmed in Chicago last summer with Transformers: Dark of the Moon director Michael Bay and Visual Effects Supervisor Scott Farrar. Among the highlights I found interesting is the middle base jumpers in the scenes we have seen is computer generated "since he has to land on Shockwave's shoulder." At the time I figured that scene would be 3D post-converted but it turns out the camera man that trailed the base jumpers had a small 3-D camera on his head.

Some filming occurred at 35 East Wacker Drive, specifically the Jeweler's Building which is described as playing "a significant role in the last part" of the film. The articles mentioned that in its first few years of existence (circa 1881) it had car sized elevators at street level for security reasons. After all leaving your car then made you more vulnerable. The article just drops in this historical anecdote for some reason so figure it might become useful once see the film.

In regards to Shockwave, the article indicates he does not have any lines in the film but instead use his eye and mouth to convey emotion. NYT wrote:
Shockwave, designed and animated by Industrial Light and Magic, rises about 40 virtual feet and has more than 2,000 moving digital pieces. “He doesn’t stand around and talk,” Mr. Farrar said. “He just fights.” Shockwave took the animators about 30 weeks to build before he was ready to be added to a shot.

“The eyes are critical and the mouth is critical,” he said. “If you can’t read those, you can’t understand what the character is doing or portraying. You have to read Shockwave through just the emotions of the face, almost like a silent-era movie star.” For this reason Mr. Farrar and his team sought to make Shockwave’s eye appear as real as possible, with a lens, a moving iris and a light inside that can oscillate.

10 comments:

  1. Feris Othman6/23/2011 4:00 AM

    Bummer that Shockwave doesn't have a voice. I've imagined Michael Clarke Duncan as his voice and says one F-Word (since its PG-13). Haha.

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  2. ...he doesnt talk?...so bumble bee isnt the only one getting shunned...

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  3. Don't they mean that his "eye" is critical and if you can't read "it"?

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  4. @feris....nowhere in that description does it say Shockwave "never speaks" i know the moderator said the "article indicates" but honestly thats a stretch given the context of the article...."he doesnt stand around and talk" could mean hes not gonna be standing there monologuing about his sinister plan, he could still "move around and talk" and why mention "the mouth is critical" if nothing is coming out of it..... he may have no lines, true, but i think the article is too vague to make that conclusion.....nelson anyone ?

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  5. I'm not sure if this article conveys he has zero lines. It never says that, just that "he doesn't stand around and talk". That basically means he's not a thinker, he doesn't discuss things or says witty evil lines to the autobots. It seems like he's a Darth Maul type of character, a killer sticking to business with maybe one or two lines.

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  6. First Wheeljack's name might be "Q" then Mirage's name might be "Dino" and now Shockwave doesn't say anything in the movie..I still can't wait to see this movie, but this is CRAP!!

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  7. Interviews with Shia, Rosie, Tyrese and Dempsey in Moscow from MTV: http://moviesblog.mtv.com/2011/06/22/transformers-dark-of-the-moon-moscow-red-square/

    Interview with Shia from ET: http://youtu.be/1LkJZLHd3ZM

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  8. Bullshit! If Sockwave didn't talk, then they wouldn't have bothered to try and get their hands on David Warner to voice him. Not that it has been confirmed that Warner will voice him. But what's the point in trying to get somebody to voice a character if said character doesn't talk?

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  9. Martinus Prime6/23/2011 3:56 PM

    "He doesn't stand around and talk" means Shockwave means business and (under)takes action immediatly!
    I'm positivly sure that he'll talk in the film.

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  10. The article says he uses his eye and mouth to convey emotion.Why would he use his mouth,if he does'nt talk.

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