Transformers 3 Coming to Moscow and Chicago

The official website of Michael Bay has confirmed that Transformers 3 will film action sequences in Chicago, Illinois and Moscow, Russia. Details beyond that were not revealed.

Nelson here...

Spoke with Michael today and got some little info on TF3: there will be big action sequences shot in Chicago and Moscow this time around.

Also, Mike will match the amount raised by the TF2 DVD/Blu-ray sales for the Make A Wish Foundation.

According to an article on NWI.com, production in Chicago could start as soon as March but that remains unverified and strikes me as unlikely. Thanks to Katie for the link.

Meanwhile, Chicago is still in the running for "Transformers 3." Director Michael Bay also is sizing up Detroit and Washington, D.C. for his latest big-budget invasion of alien robots. Imagine Bumblebee stomping through the Loop! We're talking genuine Monsters of the Midway. Shia LeBeouf and Megan Fox will reprise their roles as teen heroes Sam and Mikaela.

The Make A Wish Foundation note is a reference to the signed edition of Transformers that Bay and Tyrese participated in for the organization last year. The indicated amount raised was estimated around $20,000.

Flare-Up Bike, Props, Concept Art and More

Sean Haworth, Visual Effects Art Director for Transformers and Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, has released some of his art on his website. He helped design some vehicles, props and sets used in the movie. His other work includes Tron Legacy, Eagle Eye, The Island and more. Probably the most interesting new bits is a good look at Flare-Up (or Elita-1), the last of the three motorcycles created for ROTF yet rarely seen (see below).

Rather then displayed it by movie, he has it separated by categories. Set Design shows of a detailed view of the Ice Cream Truck Twins, Ratchet and NEST Hummer. The Conceptional section shows off the improvements to Bumblebee's vehicle and three CGI views of the NEST Hummer. Art Direction shows a lot of set design work he helped create for the first movie. The Transportation section is photos of the various Transformers he helped design. The Props is all Transformers with look at the Bumblebee robot prop, the zapper cage from the first film, Autobot logos and Frenzy's prop head. The final section, Study Models, does not include Transformers work, but shows some model sets put together to help plan shots and the like.

To view his entire available work click here for the Portfolio section of his website. Thanks to Scorpio for the link.

Combined Arcee and More Concept Art

Steve Jung, Concept Designer for Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, has revealed some of his art he created for the movie. Of note is the image to the left of a possible combined Arcee mode that the toys themselves hint at but apparently was abandoned. Frankly the effect remains as ugly as the individual robots (but you have to work with what you’re given sometimes). Click here to view 20 more images from the artists including various Constructicon designs and set designs that were faithfully reproduced for the movie. Thanks to Scorpio for the link.

Ben Proctor ROTF Concept Art

Ben Proctor, lead robot illustrator for the Transformers films, has released his art for Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen. He released his work from the first film on his website) but hasn't done that for the second so instead to to ConceptArtWorld's gallery for his work. Images include Demolisher, Wheelie, Power-Up Prime, Devastator, and more. The most interesting to me are the images below that show some of the unused possibilities for robot designs. Thanks to Scorpio for the link.

New Concept Art from Paul Ozzimo

PaulOzzimo.com has finally been updated with new concept drawing from the conceptual illustrator for Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen. A month ago a few preview drawings were release but now the full lot is available on the website. Images include Transformer designs for The Fallen, Wheelie, CappucinoBot, abunch of military hardware designs and more. It is a flash website so to reach the art click here, then click "Portfolio", and then click the Transformers 2 poster.

ROTF's Paul Ozzimo's Concept Art Preview

Paul Ozzimo, conceptual illustrator for Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, had posted a preview of some of his concept art from the movie on his website. Ozzimo is a concept artist and model maker who designed the facial designs for Optimus Prime and worked on Avatar, Watchmen, Transformers I, Mission Impossible III, X2: X-Men United, Superman Returns and more. Sadly the images have seemed to since been pulled and replaced with "Coming Soon" for ROTF but below are the available images for your enjoyment. (via TFW2005)

Interview with Arcee's Creator

Seibertron.com has posted an interview with Will Kenefick of RetroSBK, the creator of the custom bikes used for Arcee in Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen. For the sake of the toys, the individual bikes are named Arcee (Ducati 848), Chromia (Suzuki B-King) and Flareup (MV Augusta F4). Below are segments, the full interview can be found here.

Skowl: How and when were you approached about working on Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen?
RetroSBK: Early in 2008, with a phone call. I spent the first five minutes of the call trying to figure out who was pulling my leg. They had seen my work in a magazine.

Skowl: How much did you know about Transformers beforehand?
RetroSBK: I grew up playing with the Transformers toys and watching the cartoons. Loved them when I was a kid, but when I discovered girls and cars and motorbikes, I think all that went out the window. I hadn’t even seen the first movie, after having been so disappointed with some of the other adaptations from my youth. Needless to say, I watched it, and loved it, the day after my first meeting with Dreamworks.

Skowl: Does your company have any forthcoming marketing tie-ins that relate to the Transformers film?
RetroSBK: Dreamworks and Michael Bay are extremely protective about the characters in the movie, and rightfully so. We don’t have any direct tie ins with the movie, however they have been very accommodating with any requests we have had. All in all this is a VERY enthusiastic group of people, and they take the TF2 brand very seriously.

Skowl: What information, if any, were you given about the bike characters before you started working on them? Rumour is the bike characters were meant to combine but it was cut from the film, were you told about that?
RetroSBK: I was given pretty much the low down on the bikes and the big plan for them. I cant comment on any rumors about the bikes or what they may or may not do.

Skowl: We know you and your team worked long hours to get the bikes finished on time. How difficult was this project compared to your usual work?
RetroSBK: These bikes are more of a styling exercise, where the normal bikes we build are much more performance oriented. Our last bike was built in 4 weeks for my television series, taking more than 400 man hours to complete. The unique thing for me was these really were the first bikes with such unreal paint, and so much graphic detail. Our painter, Chris Wood, from AirTrix came up with new techniques just to do these bikes.

Skowl: What was your level of involvement in the process? Were you given creative liberties with the look of the motorcycles, or was it strictly a "build this for us" thing?
RetroSBK: We weren’t given any, but we still took some. Having our painter, who is the best in the world, we were able to do things that the guys who work in CGI full time couldn’t believe were possible. Usually the CG is far beyond the ability of the real world, but not in this case.

We did work on other scenes in the movie, supplying many of the bikes in the “Mikes Custom Cycles” scene with Meagan Fox painting the bike. That was another scene where we brought in our painter, Chris Wood, to consult, and he worked the entire day teaching her how to airbrush and setting up the shot. Funny part is that in the “goofs” sections on the IMDB website, it says that the airbrush is being held sideways and wouldn’t work, but it’s a very special airbrush that Chris actually uses, and works on its side, just as he showed her to use.

There were other things we had our hand in as well, and it was a great time, and a great way to express ourselves.

Skowl: We've seen plenty of the other new Transformers vehicles (Trax, Beat, Volt, Stingray concept) in car shows and photo ops leading up the film's release - but we never saw the bikes anywhere, why is that?
RetroSBK: We worked VERY hard to keep it that way. The ONLY thing that wasn’t leaked in the movie, the ONLY real surprise was Arcee. It was great! In that part of it, reading the forums, and the speculation about the bikes and some of the plot lines about them was awesome, I loved it. The best part was the huge amount of mis-information that was out there about the bikes. Honestly, they generated such an enormous amount of press pre-release that it made it really hard to hide.

Skowl: Speaking of pushing the bikes to the limit, we heard about one of the motorcycles crashing while filming in Bethlehem, PA - what happened?
RetroSBK: It was just a simple low speed miscue. No one was hurt, but maybe a bit shaken up. Part of riding is falling down sometimes, and the rider wasn’t quite prepared. Quite a bit of damage was done to the bike, but it was quickly fixed, and we had a backup bike as well. We actually have the crash damaged pieces of the bike, and will be auctioning them off for charity and other fund raisers over the next few months. A good chance to own a bit of the REAL movie and help some great causes, like the Pediatric Brain Tumor foundation.

More Transformers Concept Art

Below are links to more concept art created for Transformers and Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen to go with previous posts. Found by Waveride.

Production Illustration - few ideas for the Nemesis and a Constructicon
Storyboards - Several sketches for Ratchet, Sideswipe and more.
Paul Ozzimo - Unable to enter the site but the slideshow on the home page shows some images.
James Clyne - Art from the first movie, might have posted before but can't hurt to see again.
Tim Flattery - 15 images from the artist that I believe are for the first movie.

Josh Nizzi's ROTF Concept Art

Yesterday Ryan Church's Revenge of the Fallen concept art was found online and now Josh Nizzi's is up for our enjoyment on his website. Josh Nizzi has done covers for IDW's Transformers comics and first popped up on our radars with his concept art for Long Haul that got the attention of Michael Bay. He has posted many images he did as part of the prep work for Transformers 2 that includes designs for Megatron, Jetfire, Power Up Optimus Prime, head designs and much more. Below are a few of the images but it’s worth checking out the full gallery here.

Transformers 2 Concept Art

Concept artist for Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen Ryan Church has posted some of his art work for the movie on his website that is truly beautiful to look at. The images depict moments from the desert battle (Palm Dale Quarry), the aircraft carrier sinking, interior of the Harvester, images of the Nemesis and more. It shows how much the art can inform on the final work as some of the images match the movie almost exactly while others show what was planned versus what the final product became through the many months of production. Below are a few images with the full gallery here. (via io9.com)

GM Provided 67 Vehicles for Transformers 2

In an article with USA Today, Bay and GM briefly discussed the relationship between the two as GM provided the production with 67 cars total that was a combination of prototype, concept and real cars.

"They were responsible for building the cars, and I was trying to get my check because we built the cars, fronted them the money, and they were late on paying us," Bay says. "I was like, 'We better get our check fast before they go bankrupt.'

Chevy won't reveal what it cost to provide cars, but spokesman Steve Janisse says 67 vehicles were used, and 52 of those were "non-salable," specially built prototypes used for testing, engineering and display.

While participating in a movie may seem counterintuitive given GM's hardships, the company says Transformers could be a big help. "Although we've significantly reduced spending around all promotions, and in this case we did not pay any placement fee, we still need to market and sell cars and trucks," Janisse says. "We know this is a good investment — that it interests people in Chevrolet and ultimately drives people to check out our vehicles."

Most of the 22,000 2010 Camaros put on the market last month were pre-sold, Janisse adds, with interest fueled by the design's use as Bumblebee in the 2007 film.

Bay says the cars themselves become like celebrities, something he witnessed while shooting in a remote part of the Middle East. "The money they spend is pennies for the amount of goodwill. Bumblebee is one of the most famous cars in the world," the director says. "Literally, we're in this poor little town in Jordan, and all these kids surrounded (the car). They all knew Bumblebee's name."

Arcee's Designers

TFormers has found an article in the Ventura County Star that discusses custom bike builders RetroSBK and owner Will Kenefick. The company was hired by Dreamworks to build six custom bikes for Transformers 2, 3 "hero" bikes and 3 stunt bikes.

From sources, I can verify that Kenefick did design and build the pink, purple, and blue custom bikes (hero and stunt models) that is the alt mode of Arcee. She is not the Spyder Trans-Am or Trikes as previously rumored. It’s also why nailing down her "model" has been difficult since custom jobs don't really have a make and model. So far no pictures have been released of the bikes but apparently one "paparazzi-style" picture was taken, even if the person doesn't know what they have.

The full article:

Will Kenefick's superbikes have always had more than meets the eye.

The performance motorcycles that grace magazine covers in gleaming paint and gears are customized to each buyer's weight and riding style — and are as comfortable on a racing track as on a showroom floor.

It was one of those bikes from Kenefick's RetroSBK in Camarillo that caught the eye of someone at DreamWorks.

The next thing he knew, Kenefick was being asked to build six motorcycles for the "Transformers" movie sequel, due out in 2009.

Once he established that he would be making three "hero" and three "stunt" bikes, the next order of business was to run out and buy the DVD of the first "Transformers" movie.

Although he was a "gearhead kid" with every Transformers toy he could get his hands on, the 37-year-old father of two hadn't seen last summer's blockbuster film.

It's now watched weekly at his house.

RetroSBK, which Kenefick started in 2004, custom builds motorcycles that range from about $35,000 to more than $200,000, with the average bike coming in at about $70,000.

"Guys that have the money to buy those demand the best," he said.

Apparently, so do movie studios.

"They're pretty much built to the same level that we build all of our bikes," he said.

Creating the bikes was its own battle waged. Six bikes. Three weeks.

Kenefick said he has turned a bike around in as little as a week, but the standard time for a custom build is three to four months. That's for one bike, not six.

During the last week of work on the project, "I slept four hours between Monday morning and Friday at midnight," he said.

It mostly fell on him and his one full-time employee. Kenefick did call on specialists for certain features, such as a lighting expert flown in from Phoenix.

Kenefick estimates that he put in 1,273 hours on the bikes, while the painter racked up 1,036 hours.

All told, cost of the bikes came to about $40,000 each — of which about $10,000 was in paint.

"I wish I could show you a picture of them," he said.

Of course, no one can see them yet. It's not allowed.

Still, that didn't keep one magazine from sending a photographer to try to snag shots of the motorcycles while they were being built — "paparazzi-style," Kenefick said.

That isn't so far-fetched, since the biggest stars of the first movie were the machines. Kenefick said the bikes, because they're portable, will be used for special premiere appearances.

Kenefick's job didn't end with building the bikes. He spent the first week of June on site in Pennsylvania wrangling the motorcycles and making sure that they were being handled right and working properly. It made for some exciting 22-hour days.

Being on a movie set carries not only the excitement of watching the film process, but the anxiety of watching carefully babied machines pushed to their limits and, for some, eventually meeting their demise, perhaps in a fiery explosion. It is, after all, a Michael Bay film.

"I invest a lot of myself into the bikes I do," Kenefick said. "When I think of stunt guys falling down, that terrifies me."

He said he knows going in that some bad things will happen to some of his motorcycles. "I won't cry too much, but a tear will definitely be shed," he said.

An explosion of a different kind may find Kenefick's business after the movie hits theaters. Already, Kenefick said his business has grown exponentially in the past couple of years.

He admits to being a bit worried about what all the publicity will do — although he's also figuring out how best to get ready for it, including expanding his Camarillo shop.

"I'm at that point where I've got to do something about it," he said. It's hard to bring people on, though, because "every bike I put out the door is my name, my reputation."

Kenefick has been building bikes for more than 15 years. He attributes his love for his work to his father, Bill, who instilled a passion for drag racing and entrepreneurship in him.

Kenefick's work is akin to that of a sculptor, said David Morris, who wrote about Kenefick when one of his machines graced the cover of the exclusive Robb Report MotorCycling magazine. "That says a lot about his work, that we chose him," Morris said.

Morris said Kenefick's creative process is as much meditative as it is mechanical.

"When he builds motorcycles, he tries to take a performance bike and tries to extract the maximum out of it," Morris said.

What results is a balance of power and a very distinctive aesthetic, he said.

"One of the things that makes Will special is that he's one of those rare people that you find who is not interested in becoming a celebrity builder," Morris said. "He's more satisfied in pursuing his art."

Kenefick conceded that he isn't a strong self-promoter.

"I let the bikes kind of talk for me," he said.

Update: Added a picture that is an example of a bike that Kenefick designed and built just to give you an idea of his work. Thanks to king for the picture.

Jail Break of Megatron?

Slashfilm, in reporting about 20 Transformers in TF II, slipped in a rumor from one of their readers involving shooting at the Eastern State Penitentiary near Philadelphia. Apparently the use of scale models of Megatron, Optimus Prime and Starscream where used in the scouting. Does this mean the return of Megatron or they just using his model just for scaling purposes? What will the old prison be used for?

“My girlfriend works at Eastern State Penitentiary in the Fairmount area of Philadelphia. It was used as a prison from 1829 until 1971, and is now a historical site and museum. Anyway, at the prison today producers for Transformers 2 were on site with scale models of Megatron, Optimus Prime and Star Scream and were scouting filming locations in cell block 1 and the prison kitchen. Just thought I’d let people know that filming should begin here soon.”

(source)

Bethlehem, PA Flyer

Transformers II officially starts its production schedule on June 2 at Bethlehem Steel in Pennsylvania. From the Daily Dump blog, a flyer was sent out to local residents warning them of the noises and the like that will take place. It looks like the sequence will be a Bay certified action piece. The shoot will be from around 4PM to 7AM on June 2-4 and will include helicopters, pyrotechnics, guns, and squibs and other makes of much noise.

Click the image below for the larger size. I removed the phone numbers as the only people that should call is the local residents of Bethlehem.

Ironhide and New Motorcycle Enter PA

It appears the robot invasion of Pennsylvania has begun as "King Darkness" over at Side Show Collectors captured the below pictures of Iron Hide and a 3 wheeled motorcycle entering the state. The Optimus Prime rig is expected to arrive Tuesday. Could the motorcycle be the concept car for Bethlehem Steel? The vehicle also looks like it would make an excellent Arcee alt mode.

Bethlehem Steel Pre-Production Prep Pics and Info

From a source that wishes to remain un-identified comes the below pictures that show preparation to transform the site into part of a Chinese city. In addition to the pictures, the person provided some details about the shoot that will take place in the first week of June.

- The east side of the site is being re-developed so most of the shooting will take place on the west side.
- A new concept car (possible Transformer?) not used in the first movie will be used there
- Two Blackhawk helicopters will be used
- The area will be patrolled by the site security and Bethlehem City Police who will also and close streets for the shoot.
- Update: A car hauler was seen with 2 Saturns and 5 Chinese styled cop cars (unknown make and model) with Chinese lettering on them.
- Update 2: In addition to the below pics, more pics are available that show one of the Chinese police cars and additional signage.
- Update 3: Production pics now online showing more angles as prep for night shoot later that day.

For the pictures, some just show what the site looks like from a street level and how it might be useful to appear as a city. You can also see that Chinese word has been added to the top of one building (says "Exit/Entrance" or "Import/Export") and painted on the street ("Loading Dock") in another. Click the images for larger version.


The photos have not been watermarked as the freeware I found just distorts them so if other sites use them please reference this site as the source.

Thank you for the information and pictures!

UPDATE: Thanks to Bryan and other site readers for the translation of the signs.

Transformers II In Jordan

The Jordanian Royal Film Commission has announced that it has inked a deal with Paramount-Dreamworks to film Transformers 2 in the country of Jordan which borders Israel. Also it has worked out a deal for the A-Team to film there as well through Fox. The when, where, and what will be filmed was not released. Does this mean another desert and Scorponok sequence? (source)

Transformers II Recruiting Air Force Personnel

According to the Air Force Times, the production company for Transformers II is seeking Air Force airmen as extras for the movie. Those that volunteer have to be available for projected dates during the summer and must take leave.

The full article and details:

Want to have a role in the next “Transformers” movie?

The Air Force is looking for airmen to appear as extras this summer in the sequel to 2007’s “Transformers.”

The production company wants to use service members as much as possible and is forming two teams.

Projected dates for the Shanghai Team are June 2-4 and July 22-25. Projected dates for the Forrest Team are June 16-17, June 23, Aug. 22 and Sept. 15-16. Volunteers must be available for all the dates the team is scheduled to shoot.

Military volunteers must take leave, fill out an off-duty employment form and provide two head-and-shoulders photos of front and side views, according to Senior Master Sgt. Vincent Aragona, an Air Force liaison for the movie. Additionally, volunteers need to be familiar with weapons and ground combat operations.

While airmen anywhere can apply, Aragona said airmen who live outside the Los Angeles area will have to provide their own transportation to Southern California and lodging there. Once filming starts, lodging, meals and transportation to movie sites outside of Los Angeles will be provided by the production company.

E-mail contact information, photos and team preference to: Vincent.aragona@afnews.af.mil and Vincent.aragona@losangeles.af.mil. For more information, call Senior Master Sgt Vincent Aragona at (310) 235-7532.

Portions of the first “Transformers” were filmed at Holloman Air Force Base, N.M., and Edwards Air Force Base, Calif. The movie featured real and computer-generated F-22A Raptors, MH-53 Pave Lows and CV-22 Ospreys.

Transfomers II First Draft Completed

Over the weekend Creation Entertainment held the 16th Annual Grand Slam: The Sci-Fi Summit in Burbank, CA. The event covered various Sci-Fi events and included participation from Transformers II and Star Trek XI writer Roberto Orci. During Orci's question and answer session he said Alex Kurtzman, Ehren Kruger and himself where released from "Michael Bay jail" (a Pacific Coast luxury hotel) on Friday after completing the first draft of Transformers II. He also indicated that a Transformers reference would occur in next year's Star Trek movie. Production of the film is expected to start in June. I wonder if that means more time in "jail" or if the re-write duties are now passed on the Kruger.

Transformers Shooting in Bethlehem, PA

Philly.com is reporting that Transformers will take a swing through Bethlehem, PA in addition to Philadelphia. "Neat twist surrounding the action movie Transformers 2, whose production will be based in Philly for the better part of June. I hear that director Michael Bay and crew also will shoot in Bethlehem, Pa., which will double as a city in the Far East." I wonder what Far East city they are doubling as and for what story purpose. (source)