Vote For Favorite Transformers Character for Sequel

USA Today is running a poll to comment on what Transformers you would like to see in the sequel. Just note, its a poll, not a gaurantee, but based on the below, the producers are paying attention so it can't hurt to have your opinion known.

Vote for your favorite 'Transformers' character
The producers of the blockbuster live-action Transformers movie are putting together plans for a sequel, and they say fan input will weigh heavily on their choices."We want what the fans want," says producer Lorenzo di Bonaventura. "We'll listen and see if we can discern if what makes sense and what kind of movie they would like to see." Vote for the character you would like to see in a Transformers sequel above, then tell us why in the comments box below.

To vote, click here.

Info from Seibetron, via Chad T. Also be sure to discuss your opinions at the Transformers Live forums.

Transformers Collection for 1 Million?

An absolutely drool worthy Transformers collection (see pic) was apparently put up on eBay that sold for $1 million dollars. The collection is 275 items or 101 Autobots, 81 Decepticons, and 92 Licensed items.

Its times like these that makes you wish you where 25 rather then 10 when Transformers came out so could have such an awesome collection too. Whether its a legit bid is up in the air. If the same buyer wants to match many of the items from that collection with opened box items, he should look me up.

About the collector/seller:

Of course, one Transformer turned into five, then ten, then almost too many to keep track of as each shiny new box revealed a growing checklist that hounded us to 'COLLECT THEM ALL.'

And collect them all, we did! This collection includes every single Transformer produced in 1984, 1985, 1986, and all but a handful of pieces from 1987 (according to Hasbro's web site, we missed a set of five Targetmaster Autobots and three Decepticons.) There are even a few pieces from 1988 and 1989 for good measure.

So what happened in 1987 that thwarted our efforts to 'collect them all?' Well it turns out that Anthony never would totally recover from that motorcycle accident. He suffered from the genetic bleeding disorder hemophilia and a test done in August of 1987 showed that he had been infected with HIV by the anti-hemophilia treatment he was given while hospitalized for the accident in 1983.

HIV not only brought our Transformer collecting to an end, it also ended our dream of a family: the kids we thought would play with these toys one day; the toddler I thought would wear the t-shirt that is part of this collection. Anthony and I would not even get to grow old together; he died of AIDS in 1998 at the age of forty.

So take a moment and walk down nostalgia lane as you view the many Transformers, mint-in-box, that you probably wanted to buy as a child and couldn't. If I was a millionaire, there would have been a bidding war.

Autobots - keep scrolling down to bid page
Decepticons

Optimus Prime Pimp My Whip

Attack of the Show a week or so ago aired an a funny skit called "Pimp My Whip" with where Optimus Prime gets pimped out. Optimus wants better weapons and the "host" had other ideas. Thanks to Mike S. for the link.

Final Numbers For Transformers Week 2

The official numbers are now out for Transformers including update foreign box office grosses. Currently Transfomers remains ahead of Harry 5 in the worldwide money making department but I doubt that lead will remain. Not really suprised, its Harry 5, thats 4 DVDs, 6 books, lots of TV and cable time and so forth to help promote the current film. Still, for unknown property to most, Transformers held its own.

The revised numbers show that Transformers only lost 47% by taking in $47.1 million rather then 49% and $36 million as the estimates reported. It standing at $224 million in 13 days for the U.S. The total for rest of the world (with still major countries not yet released in) is $146.6 million for a total of $370.7 million. Basically an impresive showing for a new franchise that may rival Spider-Man when its all said and done if handled well.

Transformers:
U.S.A.: $224.009,583
Foriegn: $146,657,283
Total: $370,666,866

Harry Potter 5:
U.S.A.: $139,715,157
Foriegn: $193,000,000
Total: $332,715,157

What Happened To Sector 7 Website

The film is out, Sector 7 has been "dissolved" but the story of the website hasn't been completed. Who is Agent X (likely Prime but not confirmed), what happened to Dr. Howard and Agent Whathisname? Are they going to complete the game or is this the end of the game?

Bay: Transformers 2 "Right Now"

From ENI comes this little comment from Michael Bay:

A sequel to Hollywood blockbuster TRANSFORMERS is in the works, according to director MICHAEL BAY.

The movie - which stars Shia LaBeouf and Megan Fox, has already grossed $220 million (£110 million) since its release earlier this month (Jul07) and Bay is desperate to oversee the follow up.

He says, "We want to start working on a sequel right now, so we'll see."

This is actually the first time news of a sequel has been confirmed from an "official" source, ie Bay. Everything has been mostly in the rumor stage. Almost confirming a sequel but not yet just saying "yep its greenlit." The importance of a greenlit project is that it means that its most likely going to happen and that budget has mostly been nailed down. Until then its all just working out ideas and debating the possibilities.

Transformers Week 2 Box Office

This week it was Transformers vs Harry Potter for the box office dollar and as expected Harry Potter won. According to CNN, Harry Potter 5 made and estimated $77.4 million over the weekend to Transformers $36 million. As a result, Potter made $140 million in the US and a huge $190.3 for 44 markets in other countries bringing its worldwide gross to $330.3 million. Transformers at the end of week two is sitting on $223 million for the U.S. and $98 for rest of the world with a total of $330 million. So technically Harry passed Transformers in its first week. However, Transformers still have France, Great Britan, Japan and a few other major markets to open in. Nor is the foreign gross estimate up to date.

The numbers are not surprising when its a new franchise vs an established franchise. Nor a surprise when Transformers was released on 4000 screens in the U.S. and piecemeal across the world (with major markets to go) and Harry Potter was released on on 9000 screens in the U.S. and worldwide in all markets.

While I think the 9000 screens is a bit excessive, Transformers decisions makers should note the success of the simultaneous worldwide release and copy it for Transformers II. Really though, considering the number of screens and the history of the Potter films, Transformers more then held its own. Usually in the face of such competition, everyone else gets lost in the crowd but instead had a weekend that most movies brag about. It should also be noted it "only" dropped 49% from the previous weekend. Considering the average film looses about 60-65% percent from one weekend to the next, that's a pretty darn good number. It looks like the race for summer box office champ is still undecided. Harry 5 is the last major film of this class for the summer. How much it drops next weekend might give a clearer picture of who ends up on top. I just want to hear the official news of a sequel.

The Editing of Transformers

FX Guide has an article up that covers the effort that went into editing Transformers together. It also has a brief interview with Michael Bay that focuses on the editing aspect of putting the movie together.

The full article is here.

Some highlights:

- Editor Glen Scantleberry worked about 10.5 months editing Transformers together with a lot of it being alternate edits together for Bay to choose from and modify.
- Often used pre-visualizations to help edit the movie together since working off of footage that didn't yet include the CGI robots and needed to get timing right so could turn the edit over to ILM for inserting the CGI.
- Animatics where used in the editing but sometimes changes where made based on set or post production ideas (wonder how much included CGI heavy shots though).
- 5 editors and 1 associate editor worked on the film, all of whom worked with Bay in the past.
- The editors where not fans of the Transformers so Bay had to make sure they didn't cut out references.
- To edit, will put together a full length guild, with animatics, temp dialogue, temp music and temp sound effects to get idea of how things may go together. Usually the storyboards are the guide but subject to change based on director decisions during shooting.
- Bay had final-cut on the film so the theatrical version is the "Director's Cut". (It's why hear about "Extended Edition" DVDs instead as its the Director's Cut with cut scenes added back. If hear about a Director's Cut it usually means the studio had final say on how the movie was put together, usually for the worse cause of too many cooks in the kitchen syndrome.)
- "There are about 630 visual effects shots in the film. There are 430 executed at ILM, 91 at Digital Domain, 70 at the Asylum and the rest are 2D clean up and fixes done by CO3, ISolve and Ken Blackwell. Technical advancements were made in environments, lighting, and simulation of physical effects and integration of CG characters in a real environment."
- ILM did the Transformers, Digital Domain on other scenes including the soft-drink robot.
- “Overall, the most challenging shot is OH020 which is a 360 degree descending camera move on Optimus that rotating around to reveal all four Autobots transforming in an alley”, says ILM visual effects supervisor Scott Farrar. “The shot was filmed in two separate camera moves from two separate rigs: a Russian arm mounted to a camera car and a 50-foot Technocrane. The plates were combined and blended. The 768-frame-long shot moves from an overhead medium close up on Optimus finishing his transformation, into an extreme close up of all the moving parts, then widening out to reveal our hero talent. Shia and Megan watch all four robots individually transform with their own unique style.”
- 1.2 million feet of film shot for the movie

Fake Transformers 2 Synopsis on IMDB

IMDB.com has up a fake synopsis for Transformers 2 that basically touts the return of Megatron seeking revenge. According to Defamer.com this synopsis is from XXX: State of the Union director Lee Tamahori as a pitch to Paramount. Pic below also from Defamer, as IMDB will probably be modified at a later date and worth saving the current description for posterity.

You Can Own Ironhide

Edmunds.com is reporting that GM is producing Ironhide version of the GMC TopKick 6500. Apparently the truck is being built with help from Monroe Truck Equipment and ok from Hasbro. Info from Seibertron.com via TF Live Message Boards.

The article:

MONROE, Wis. — All Transformers fans know that Ironhide is the slowest Autobot, but also the least vulnerable to attack. He transforms into a GMC TopKick 6500 pickup — and now a GM tuner has rolled out a production version.

Monroe Truck Equipment, in association with toymaker Hasbro, says the production version of Ironhide includes custom 20-inch aluminum painted black wheels fitted with monster 40-inch tires. The GMC TopKick normally comes equipped with dual rear wheels.

Other details include two chrome big-rig smokestacks, horizontal stainless steel step tubes, custom front and rear bumpers with textured powder-coat finish, and a 16,000-pound winch mounted on the front bumper.

As Ironhide would say, "High-tech circuitry is no replacement for guts."

What this means to you: Now you can look and feel like Ironhide.

Transformers' Art Director Career Article

CGSociety.com has posted a great interview with Transformers' Art Director Alex Jaeger showing off a few early concept designs for Transformers, Star Wars, Star Trek, and Pearl Harbor. Check out the article if only for the art designs and concepts that where included. If don't like the head designs, he is the man to dislike (along with Bay).

Click here for the full article. The left pic is stats (click for bigger pic) on the Transformers and the number of pieces that comprises them. The pic on the right is an early concept design for Megatron by Alex Jaeger.

Some highlights:

- Career started at age 21 as Art Director on Star Trek: First Contact
- When designing Bumblebee, stuck with the original silhouette of the character but changed the horns for fins to help convey emotion, "like a dogs ears."
- Because Bumblebee didn't have a mouth, was difficult to design so could convey emotion. Used the same artwork, configured for different poses and facial expressions to test how emotion on the character.
- Alot of the transformation design involved working out what pieces could be moved, combined, etc to become the necessary part of the robot design.
- Jaeger spent about 2 years in working on the Transformer designs.
- Trips to auto shows, videos, and photos where used to help gets details correct such as light reflections on the metal surfaces and get texture and the like correct.
- Further modifications done to transformations reduce a busy look, so "We had to get some cohesiveness so they didn’t feel like walking junk piles, so we did a lot of posing the characters to try and tuck pieces in and get a cleaner silhouette, so that even at a quick glance you can tell what he is doing, what direction he is looking"
- Jaeger designed or helped design all the Tranformer heads.

(source)

Wizard Interview of Orci and Kurtzman

Wizard Universe has posted a transcript of a Q&A session with Transformers' writers Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman during Botcon a week or so ago.

The full transcript is here.

The highlights:

- Starscream's role was small due to the movie's structure with the late introduction of all the Decepticons and desire to tell the film from Sam's point of view.
- Arcee was planned for the film but dropped because of scale. Alt mode would have been a motorcycle and compared to the rest, would have been too tiny. Wreckage apparently was in any of their drafts.
- The writers would "love to be involved" in a sequel but "schedule won't allow that."
- The dog was supposed to be a pit pull but Bay decided a Chihuahua would be funnier.
- Provided a neutral answer on the multiple producer roles, basically saying Spielberg was great and Lorenzo Di Bonaventura provided the time they needed to figure out the script while under studio pressure.
- The writers do wish more time could have been spent developing the various Transformers and 2nd tier(my phrase) human characters.
- Provided an on the spot explanation, not related to any sequel, on how could add Dinobots to a sequel: "you would flashback to protoforms arriving and finding dinosaurs on our planet and trans-scanning dinosaurs and reshaping themselves into dinosaurs."

Mark Ryan Hints At Transformers II Prequel

Mark Ryan, the voice of Bumblebee in Transformers, had an interview with sknr.net talking about working on Transformers and also hinted at a DVD special feature, "I recently recorded more material for the DVD release of the film. It has to do with the Prequel that will set up the second film."

Main parts of the interview:

GVK: How did you get involved with “Transformers”?
MR: I have done 10 years in theater, some have said I have had a varied career, and I look at it as a shotgun blast of creativity. I got a call, it was all very secret and I was not even sure what I was reading for. I was not to learn the lines given to me, simply come in and read them. Since I did not know the project, you have to come in with your take and hope your personality and talent are right for the job. I actually read 5 characters doing the same scene at different times.

GVK: What sort of prep work did you do once you had landed the part?
MR: I did not see the television show when it aired in the U.K. as I was doing a lot of acting at the time so I came into it very fresh. I went online, did research, and talked to friends and fans of the show to get a take on the characters.

GVK: You were the onset voice for the characters during filming, what was that like and was it difficult acting against virtual elements?
MR: It was a lot of fun; I fed lines to Shia who was acting against giant poles with lights on them. Shia is very funny and spontaneous, and is actually very good at what he does as Michael would explain the scenes to us, and we had to imagine that the poles were gigantic robots, and make sure to really allow the characters to come through.

GVK: During the studio process of recording the voices, was Michael Bay present?
MR: He was there every day; often he was the only person there. It was the most fun I had, as during post production, Michael would shoo people from the studio so we could get the lines down. Michael likes to have fun and he has a very cheeky, child like humor to him. He would say a line and then ask me to say it like he just did, only to make it funny.

GVK: Did you see a complete script while filming or did you just have your lines?
MR: The script on set changed a lot. One day I noted some new lines in, and thought that it would change the plot in a dramatic way. Michael was very guarded on the
project as they had a computer hacked and someone got a copy of the script as well as some of the graphics for the film.

GVK: Since you did all the voices on set, how did you end up being Bumblebee?
MR: I got a call saying I was doing the Bumblebee character, and I said I do not believe I have done the lines for that. Since I had recorded many voices and lines in studio, they played me back a recording and sure enough, it was me doing the lines that came to be Bumblebee. When I had read them, they were not assigned as lines to Bumblebee, and since I had not read that he had his speech restored in the
script, it was a pleasant surprise.

GVK: Did you get to work with Stephen Spielberg at all?
MR: No, I would have liked to, but I think Stephen is a very smart director. When I was doing King Arthur, I saw Jerry (Bruckheimer) twice. Stephen is very wise in that he has hired a good Director and lets him do the job that he was hired to do, without interfering with his work. Michael was very good and really did very well with the film.

GVK: What were your thoughts about Bumblebee being a Camaro over a Volkswagen?
MR: Having not seen the original show when it first ran, I did not have an emotional connection to him being a Volkswagen. When I saw the Camaro shot though, I said “that isn’t Herbie that is one sexy beast”.

GVK: You also do all the voices in the video game, what was that like and did you use lines from the film or all new lines?
MR: I had a lot of fun with Iron Hide, and some of the other odd voices. We had a mix of lines as well, old and new.

GVK: Final question, have you heard anything about a sequel or been asked to be a part of future films?
MR:(Chuckles), funny you should say that so I will tell you what I can. I recently recorded more material for the DVD release of the film. It has to do with the Prequel that will set up the second film.

(source)

Transformers "Boast-Copy"

Defamer.com had a little fun today with Paramount's "boast-copy" in Variety of Transformers first week of sales with its use of a qualifier "ALL TIME", then in smaller print "For a Non-Sequel Film." Sadly that streak is going to end as Harry Potter (good movie btw) has come out and apparently on 9,000 screens in 4,200 or so locations. Nope that is not a typo. By comparison, Transformers was out on 4,011 screens. With that kind of coverage, if they don't get a record of some sort, heads will roll.

New Japan Transformers Poster

Japan sadly will not get to enjoy Transformers goodness until August. Until then, here is a new poster that is very nice and dynamic. One of the best really. Corrected post title.

(source)

MTV TakeDown Notice

Apparently MTV has decided to send a takedown notice for a post of mine from last month regarding the MTV movie awards. Apparently the content in question is (now old) footage that they showed that then came up on YouTube. I guess anything that helps promote MTV and Transformers for free is not allowed.

Blogger is simply doing their job but do wish they would do a better job of vetting the complaint since often times its lawyers send complaints without any real thought given, nor care really, to the validity of the complaint. In this case, I think the content holder would be Paramount as the footage is Transformers, and MTV doesn't really have grounds to complain. Its mindless crap like this that further proves that copyright law needs to be rebuilt from scratch.

Here is the full notice:

Hello,

Blogger has been notified, according to the terms of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), that content in your blog:

transformerslive.blogspot.com

allegedly infringes upon the copyrights of others. The content in question is located in the following posts:

http://transformerslive.blogspot.com/2007/06/mtv-awards-transformers-clips.html

The notice that we received, with any personally identifying information removed, will be posted online by a service called Chilling Effects, and we will send you the link of this notice. We do this in accordance with the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA).

The DMCA is a United States copyright law that provides guidelines for online service provider liability in case of copyright infringement. Please see http://www.educause.edu/Browse/645?PARENT_ID=254 for more information about the DMCA, and see http://www.google.com/blogger_dmca.html for the process that Blogger
requires in order to make a DMCA complaint.

We are asking that you please remove the allegedly infringing content in your blog. If you do not do this within the next 3 days (by 7/13/07), we will be forced to remove the posts in question. If we did not do so, we would be subject to a claim of copyright infringement, regardless of its merits.

We can reinstate this content into your blog upon receipt of a counter notification pursuant to sections 512(g)(2) and (3) of the DMCA. For more information about the requirements of a counter notification and a link to a sample counter notification, see http://www.google.com/blogger_dmca.html#counter.

Please note that repeated violations to our Terms of Service may result in further remedial action taken against your Blogger account.

If you have legal questions about this notification, you should retain your own legal counsel. If you have any other questions about this notification, please let us know.

Thank you for your understanding.

Sincerely,
The Blogger Team

2 Stan Bush Tracks For Free

Hasbro.com is hosting two Transformers themed songs from Stan Bush.

From the site:

Now you can download 2 great TRANSFORMERS songs from Stan Bush! “The Touch” was originally released in 1986 with the original animated The Transformers: The Movie. Stan has re-recorded it for his new CD entitled In This Life. Stan also wrote a new song about TRANSFORMERS that was the theme song for BotCon 2007 entitled “Til All Are One”, which also appears on the In This Life CD. For more information about Stan Bush or to purchase his new CD, you can go to StanBush.com. Thanks Stan!

Download "The Touch" (right click to save file) 5 mb

Download "Til All Are One" (right click to save file) 6 mb

DVD Special Features Wish List

The movie has been out a week, so now its time to think DVD release. Based on history I expect the DVD will come towards the end November or early December for Christmas sales. I also expect the very irritating current 2 edition DVD release. The first will likely be the movie, some trailers, and the HBO First Look. The "Special Edition" will be an extra DVD with more more behind the scenes stuff and other marketing materials put together during the movie's production. Michael Bay tends to do commentary so that may be on both editions.

I do hope there is something more though. I kept hoping the studios would follow the wonder and extra feature treasure chest of the Lord of the Rings DVD sets. All of them had outstanding how to features, documentary style programs, multiple commentary tracks, fully extended editions with completed effects. I want the same treatment for Transformers. I will not happen, the bean counters probably say the cost versus the reward isn't worth it so not holding my breath.

More then likely the material for the DVDs have been decided, recorded, and already edited together. But for the sake of argument, what would be your wish list of special features for the Transformers DVD? Probably will never happen as time, money and ego will prevent it, but why not.

Here are mine:
- Director, writers, and producers commentary track
- Actors commentary track
- Special effects and visual effects commentary track with split-screen, one to show the movie, the other to show how did the various real and CGI effects for the movie.
- Frank Welker as Megatron alternate track.
- LOTR documentary style feature on how the film was put together from pre-production up to opening night. None of the usual back-patting and selling of the film, but a real, this is how its done "movie".
- All the TV Spots, Trailers (US and international) and posters.
- Extended edition with completed effects that had to be left on the cutting room floor but really wanted in the film.

Transformers Humor

Some videos with some Transformers related humor. One is David Letterman remembering a childhood activity with the Optimus Prime Big Blaster and the other comes from Robot Chicken. The last wonders if Transformers will blend.

David Letterman - Couldn't figure out how to embed

Kurtzman and Orci Post Move Q&A

The message boards over that Transformersmovie.com are hosting a post movie question and answer thread with Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman regarding Transformers. Keep in mind that these where the writers of the movie. They had input in the final product but what they put to paper and what Bay shot and edited together (ILM etc) isn't going to match up 100%.

Click here for the thread.

Here are some questions and answers already supplied, with my comments in parenthesis):
Was the Brawl/Devestator mixup on purpose, or was it indeed an editing oversight?
It's an Easter Egg for movie 2. (A joke? Hint of the arrival of the Constructicons? I vote for a joke.)

How come the Allspark created TFs were all Decepticons?
Prime intended to use the Allspark to repower Cybertron as it was intended. Megatron wants to abuse it by creating Transformers directly, which makes souless, primal Transformers. (Ah, hmm ok. So I guess the answer is yes, when "unfiltered" it creats evil Transformers).

Why did you guys make Megatron stronger than Prime? Is it simply that they are are of the same power, but Megatron is simply a little BIGGER or is Megatron just better than Prime is period? Or was Prime just having a bad fight this time?
I think a little of both. I agree that Prime should've gotten in a few good hits.

What were some of your favorites scenes that did not make it in the final cut?
Sam and Mikaela breaking into their own high school after hours with the Autobots.

What happened to Barricade & why wasn't it shown?
Threads for movie 2. (Hmm too pat an answer, I am going with cut scene)

How did Bumblebee regain his voice and why wasn't it explained?
When they Autobots land and introduce themselves to Sam and Mikaela, Ratchet explains that he's been working on BB voice and actually treats him with a regenerative plasma laser. By the end of the movie, it's worked its magic, but I agree it could've been clearer. (wha? The Doctor Who screwdriver thing Ratchet was holding in the Autobots intro? That? Yeah ok).

Was Sector 7 meant to be taken lightly? They came off a little slapstickish. I'm guessing it was just John Tututro's character.
Yes. Turturro was written that way. We didn't want to lose the fun of the cartoon, and we were already playing the military totally straight so we gambled that it would give us some freedom to go a little nuts. (Speaking of, when they going to finish the S7 website story arc?)

How sure can you be that certain eastereggs like Brawl/Devastator and Barricade vanishing will be picked up by the next script writers? What if they don't get it?
So many people from movie 1 are coming back that I'm sure they'll know. (Valid point)

After seeing Weaving doing Megatron, are you 100% happy with it or do you think Welker could have done an even better job then Weaving did?
Honestly, I think either would've worked, but I was happy. (Weaving was so generic, I preferred Welker).

Same question about the face plate on Prime, I know you were in favour of keeping it on permanently.
I think we would've kept it on the whole time. (As a Transfan, keep the mask, for general audience, I see why the decision was made to do without.)

Were these lines recorded by the voice actors?
Many lines were recorded for the movie that did not make it, sadly.

Were the lines that got cut the final Transformers lines you added?
Once we had all the voice actors hired, we wrote a few new lines for each to record that weren't in the script.
A handful of lines didn't make it to the final cut for each Transformer.

In the film we see that the "All Spark, Matrix" or whatever is really called turned whatever machine it touched into a killing bot! Why is this?
It is meant to power Cybertron, not adapt human technology. Also, since all earth's tech is reverse engineered from Megatron, maybe that affects the outcome, too.

Is there any size shifting? We see the Cube transform and shrink in size -- does Frenzy do something similar when he transforms into Mikaela's phone?
We didn't want Mass shifting for the TF's -- only for the Allspark. His head seems bigger than it is because of the shape, but it folds nicely into a phone size.

When Bumblebee is holding the Allspark after getting his legs blown off, why wasnt he healed the way Frenzy was upon his contact with it?
It might've corrupted him. (More likely a mistake, after all where did the extra body mass come from is no mass shifting?)

Bay wants an Aircraft carrier Transformer, Autobot or Decepticon, and who the hell would it be?
When he told us that, we were like, "Good luck getting the money for that!" We knew it would never make it, but we did write it into one of the intermediate drafts. (Like the scale the man was thinking on.)