tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31058461.post2874748368409317130..comments2024-01-26T00:54:19.338+08:00Comments on Lessons From the School of Inattention: Transformers (2007)Oggs Cruzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03041599863258946384noreply@blogger.comBlogger13125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31058461.post-77236975923593341242007-08-23T15:41:00.000+08:002007-08-23T15:41:00.000+08:00Interesting review, however I don't realy see how ...Interesting review, however I don't realy see how a different director would improve it overall. The source content from the past 20+ years is really kiddie stuff. The minute you commit to a live action version, you are already at a deficit of audience suspension of disbelief. Along with the FX that can visually place the robots in the scene, the director must bring the emotional element of believability. That means adding a depth that the original content was never designed to withstand (from things like the physics of mass relating to the robot size vs the car, all the way to why are they on earth). <BR/><BR/>michael Bay has a way of abbreviating the visuals, at the expense clarity and storytelling, that is flattered by his sheer talent in photography. He can make a cutaway to a matchbook look so good you'd want to frame it on your wall. However you end up caring more about the matchbook than the protagonist. but damn are those images sexy. <BR/><BR/>he also adds a visual kinetic quality to even mundane dialog. Its kinetic, but not sophisticated. he just does fun stuff that is near irrelevant to storytelling.. its just a good idea at the time.. he owes his editor his career. meanwhile, the old masters (like scorsese, stone, speilburg, and moreso in comparision to bay: tony/ridley scott, Donner and Mctiernan) treat their cameras as one of the characters!! They immerse the audience in storytelling, while bay just bombards you with slick lookig images. <BR/><BR/>Perhaps bay's biggest sin, is that he doesn't grow as a director. he's a one trick Pony. He's got some absolutely wonderful and exciting ideas as a visual artist, but not the dicipline to tie it all together. So its often a scattered wreck. However his use of humor in his films offer a nice cushion for the harsh criticism, as it reminds you that you are supposed to have fun, and not take too seriously what is going on on screen.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31058461.post-12199678188369869522007-07-19T22:09:00.000+08:002007-07-19T22:09:00.000+08:00Actually, now that I think about it (and have seen...Actually, now that I think about it (and have seen it twice, to my torture), I can honestly state that Transformers is barely worth a critical afterthought. It staggers; trying to maintain the interest with action setpieces conceived from a hyperactive yet ungrounded inamgination. The experience is comparable to a theme park attraction --- there's an attempt to transport you to another world but once the show is over, you get out of the show with either a migraine or a silly smile on the face. Completely disposable.Oggs Cruzhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03041599863258946384noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31058461.post-89368576731906725292007-07-18T14:39:00.000+08:002007-07-18T14:39:00.000+08:00Well I do agree with you with the whole I didn't l...Well I do agree with you with the whole I didn't like it but can't put my finger exactly on what thought on Transformers. <BR/><BR/>Well aside from the headache I got from the jerky camera, yeah sure it works on some CG but it just went crazy even on scenes that weren't action packed, though for me I'm not exactly sure but I would label the whole over-the-top cheesiness. Yes, the actually material, the cartoon, was pretty cheesy when you think about it now. But I don't know I guess it just didn't translate all that well on the a live action big screen. Somehow it seems harder to stomach real people acting out cheesy scenes than animated cartoons. It just seems so wrong...Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31058461.post-51672427951111385902007-07-05T09:24:00.000+08:002007-07-05T09:24:00.000+08:00Well, the film was made for 13 year olds, and olde...Well, the film was made for 13 year olds, and older people who want to feel like a 13 year old. It's also made by a director with the sensibilities of a 13 year old.Oggs Cruzhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03041599863258946384noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31058461.post-62480582045238858252007-07-05T04:47:00.000+08:002007-07-05T04:47:00.000+08:00Whats up with the sexual inuendos?Was the subject ...Whats up with the sexual inuendos?<BR/>Was the subject matter so bad you had to spruce it up with 13 year old humor? I think it would have been much better if they would have omitted the lame dialogue.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31058461.post-39897014239764192492007-07-04T12:34:00.000+08:002007-07-04T12:34:00.000+08:00Thanks Dodo,I agree, Japan understands robots. I'm...Thanks Dodo,<BR/><BR/>I agree, Japan understands robots. I'm not too sure about James Cameron; I've got a feeling he's lost it when he won that Oscar for the boat movie.Oggs Cruzhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03041599863258946384noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31058461.post-3968312980566929742007-07-04T11:19:00.000+08:002007-07-04T11:19:00.000+08:00Bay's moving camera is really more annoying in the...Bay's moving camera is really more annoying in the other, quieter scenes where there isn't much CG or no CG at all - - - like in that fighter plane montage. If he were in his 20s, I'd sort of get it, most MTV-bred young 'uns get all twitchy and restless with a locked camera. But he's in his 40s. He should watch more Johnnie To or Speilberg on how to move that camera with grace.<BR/><BR/><A HREF="http://pelikula.blogspot.com/2007/06/transformers.html" REL="nofollow"><BR/>I liked this a bit more than you did</A>, oggs ,but I agree it's a stupid movie. Fun, though, for the most part.<BR/><BR/>Mamuro Oshii would've been a joy to direct this but then he already has, with his <B>Patlabor</B> movies . . .so maybe James Cameron?dodo dayaohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08287196617019639716noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31058461.post-67679127630424057522007-07-03T19:35:00.000+08:002007-07-03T19:35:00.000+08:00Thanks Ken,...and thumbs up on the Bay-bashing (he...Thanks Ken,<BR/><BR/>...and thumbs up on the Bay-bashing (hehe).<BR/><BR/>I'm still thinking of other directors who could have made a better Transformers movie and it struck me... Joe Dante! I'm salivating just thinking about how Dante would interpret the film.Oggs Cruzhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03041599863258946384noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31058461.post-26464966905093687612007-07-03T19:22:00.000+08:002007-07-03T19:22:00.000+08:00yeah, Bay's work on that car chase in Bad Boys II ...yeah, Bay's work on that car chase in Bad Boys II has its camera in constant motion too. maybe it's true that camera movements are needed to make CGI look real (and maybe a car chase scene more real and exciting in other cases), but i think Bay's style is just excessive. Btw, Spielberg's CGI on War of the Worlds looks so real too...he should have directed Transformers instead of Bay.<BR/><BR/>- kenAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31058461.post-40924010320436882852007-07-02T18:08:00.000+08:002007-07-02T18:08:00.000+08:00Thanks avid for putting a professional director's ...Thanks avid for putting a professional director's perspective on Bay's camera frenzy,<BR/><BR/>The problem is that it's not only when the CGI is present that Bay's camera is in a constant state of motion. Just observe everything he's done --- the camera is always sweeping, swooshing, swaying, through dollies, cranes, or shoulders. Even if he's just framing faces, the camera has to sway from left to right (or vice versa). Cameras are supposed to capture movement; it shouldn't be the other way around.Oggs Cruzhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03041599863258946384noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31058461.post-26774675614049032662007-07-02T18:03:00.000+08:002007-07-02T18:03:00.000+08:00hullo... in defense of Micheal Bay's camera moveme...hullo... in defense of Micheal Bay's camera movements... the reason the CG is spectacular & feels so real is because of it... many people keep saying that they wished the camera just stayed still for a while so they can appreciate the robots, but thats just it ... if the camera did stay put, then you had time to admire the CG but then the feeling of live robots is gone... its a technical thing... the more flawed the shot... the more realistic the CG... thats the mistake of many CG users when the goal is realism, they feel like they have to show it off and do these wide steady shots... so no matter how great it is, you still know it's not real. As a person who lives & breathes post production, Transformers was the only film that ever shut my brain & made me stop dissecting shots on how they were done. That is all.avidhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04749272762886235737noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31058461.post-66630201966296540502007-07-01T20:21:00.000+08:002007-07-01T20:21:00.000+08:00Thanks Ken,Now that you mentioned it, Carpenter wo...Thanks Ken,<BR/><BR/>Now that you mentioned it, Carpenter would've made a better director than Bay. But I guess Bay was the perfect candidate for this one. I was reading the trivia for this one: Bay was supposed to turn the project down because it's a kiddie toy movie. What was he thinking, that's precisely why he was chosen to helm it; because it's a kiddie toy movie.Oggs Cruzhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03041599863258946384noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31058461.post-3392878703689979092007-07-01T19:43:00.000+08:002007-07-01T19:43:00.000+08:00yeah you're right, what are those pair of glasses ...yeah you're right, what are those pair of glasses for anyway! although i forgot about it while watching the second half-I was busy trying to figure out who's-fighting-who on that massive fight scenes. the camera works are a pain in the neck (literally coz i never got a good seat this afternoon) anyway,the huge fan in me can forgive this illogical plot and Bay's camera tricks. I'll have to watch it again and I think this is still better than the last films from Hollywood (Pirates, Shrek3, Fantastic4..)<BR/><BR/>By the way, I was able to watch "Christine" just recently and it got me thinking what if Transformers was made with John Carpenter's way of filmmaking... <BR/><BR/><BR/>-kenAnonymousnoreply@blogger.com