Transformers Interviews News on Seibertron.com

IDW's "All Hail Megatron" to be in Continuity

Date: Sunday, February 24th 2008 4:01pm CST
Categories: Comic Book News, Rumors, People News, Interviews
Posted by: i_amtrunks | Credit(s): clrobe, Shane McCarthy

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Views: 33,682

Seibertron's own clrobe has found an interesting tidbit from "All Hail Megatron" author Shane McCarthy over on the IDW Publishing Boards concerning the upcoming "All Hail Megatron" series.

Be warned as there are some potential minor spoilers.

I thought I'd drop by and say hello. 'Focus On' is due to hit the shelves soon and it's great to see everyone getting excited about 'All Hail'. I'm a big TF fan myself and if you guys have half the fun reading it as I'm having writing it you won't have anything to worry about.

Anyway, I'm not one for spilling the beans completely (we buy comics for a reason, I like my surprises on the pages) but I wanted to at least drop a hint or two your way since being supporters of these boards should come with some perks right?

Hints:

1) Yes, it's 'in continuity'.
2) No, it's not a 'world without Autobots' (that was a misquote from a television interview I did)
3) F-15s? Hell yes.

So what does this mean for the current IDW Universe? Feel free to discuss your thoughts and theories in our IDW-Verse Thoughts and Theories thread.

You can check out Shane's original post by clicking here.

Kevin O'Connell to Finally Win One?

Date: Thursday, February 21st 2008 6:34am CST
Categories: Movie Related News, People News, Digital Media News, Interviews
Posted by: Raymond T. | Credit(s): www.thepeninsulaqatar.com

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An article featuring Kevin O'Connell has appeared on The Peninsula website. Kevin O'Connell has been nominated 19 times in a row for a Sound Mixing Acadamy Award Oscar and never won it. This year he is nominated for the same Oscar for his work on the Michael Bay Transformers movie.

"If I win this year I plan to say the first thing that comes into my head"

Interview with Hasbro Designer Tim Bradley

Date: Wednesday, February 20th 2008 3:49pm CST
Categories: Cartoon News, Toy News, People News, Company News, Interviews
Posted by: i_amtrunks | Credit(s): Transformers at the Moon

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Views: 39,107

Transformers at the Moon have posted an interview with Hasbro Designer/Illustrator Tim Bradley. Tim worked on toy designs for the series: Beast Wars, Beast Machines and Cybertron.

Tim discusses other lines he has worked on, including Jurassic park, Star Wars and Animorphs, the design process used to create Transformers figures, as well as a list of figures he was involved with designing, including the BWX Megatron and Optimus Primal figures that were re-released in the Cybertron line.

To check out the full Transformers at the Moon Interview, please click here.

More on Transformers 2 From Writer Roberto Orci

Date: Monday, February 18th 2008 7:37pm CST
Categories: Movie Related News, Interviews
Posted by: Skowl | Credit(s): johndoe4880, Roberto Orci

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Transformers Movie writer Roberto Orci has dropped by Don Murphy's message boards to give a quick update on the story for the film's sequel, set for release on June 26th 2009.

Here's what he had to say in this thread:

Question: Will Starscream have more than 3 English lines in the sequel ?

Answer: Yes.

Question: If TF1 was Bumblebee and Primes movie (as far as robot stars go), who's movie would you say TF2 is going to be?

Answer: Too early to tell. Obviously, Prime will always be central, but our structure allows the freedom to have others step up. Will know more later.

Question: Will the Decepticons have any scenes to themselves like the Autobots had in the first one?

Answer: Yes.

Question: Also, Roberto, can you provide any hints as to the tone of TF2? Even with a short ouline, I'm sure there is much work to be done. I'm not horribly concerned that Mike went all Batshit-crazy during your hiatus. As egomaniacial as he seems, he also seems to know his place. Perhaps I'm wrong on that.

Answer: The tone will be similar to TF1, although I think the stakes will be higher. There will still be much humor, but I think many of the Transformers themselves will be more in line with fan expectation. More serious to some degree. Again, we're early in the process.

Bay's statements should be taken merely as confirmation of his enthusiasm and desire to make his date. He does not want anyone to lose confidence in the project.

Question: Bob, are you looking to strike the exact same tone as film 1 or will the sequel be more serious and thought-provoking? Will it be a smarter film, more science-fictionny?

Answer: More "science-fictionny." Yes.

Question: Any possibility of a TF arrivel scene similar to the first but with decepticons this time ?

And i take it there will be a mix of new and existing G1 characters for the next ?

Answer: New mix. Yes. No comment on Decepticon arrivals!

Question: Also Bob i would like to add, are we gonna see more of Cybertron in this one ?

Just in flashbacks or will it take place in present time ?

Anwer: No comment on Cybertron.

Question: My major problem with "Transformers" were the humans. Most of them acted like they were on a mix of speed, ecstacy and too much coffee. Their behaviour was IMO way over the top, almost like highly exaggerated comic-book caricatures. I think it wasn't so much due to the writing, but more due to the direction they were given by Michael Bay.

Was it your intention to write the human characters (Sam, Sam's parents, Simmons, the cop guy in the police station) in such an exaggerated, over-the-top way or did that evolve during filming and are there any plans to tone the humans down a little for the sequel to make them appear more ... normal and not so over-caffeinated?

Answer: We'll have to take some of the blame for that. We pitched Sam as "Marty McFly on crack." And Simmon's is pretty much the way he read on the page. But I agree that it went even further than it should've, and editing could've helped that a bit. As I've said before, tone on TF1 was the absolutely hardest thing to crack. Hopefully, we'll be better at modulating this time.

Question: Roberto could you tell us about the cooperation sofar? You know, you had a way to write with alex, how did it change with Ethan? Or was it he, who conformed himself to you?

Answer: We'd worked with Ehren before, so we knew his personality would be a good fit for "the band." We agreed to split up scenes and then pass them around to each other to make our own tweaks without anyone's feelings getting hurt -- one big jam session after which we'll hopefully have an album called TF2.

Question: Roberto, cheers for answering my first question. Predictably, I have another. Does Bumblebee talk all the time now, or does he still have issues with his voice box?

Answer: Minds not made up yet.

Question: Also about the humor and jokes in the next one, any chance of making them alittle "smarter" ?

Some of the jokes in the first is okay in a American Pie type movie but not in Transformers in my honest opinion.

Answer: Don't know how the humor will turn out yet. We have to find it. But we know it has to come from whatever situation Sam finds himself in. Any similarities to American Pie were the result of our character being in a similar situation (age, high school, etc.).

Question: Any idea what they're doing with those old S7 sites? They could be used in another viral game for TF2, or (more preferably) they could be taken offline.

Answer: No idea.

Question: Hey Roberto, Hasbro said at Toy Fair that they've been working with Paramount on designs for TF2 for weeks now, and Bay has indicated several times that they're well on their way with the robot designs. I'm just curious if you're getting kept in that loop, and if you get to comment along the way, or if they're keeping all of that amongst themselves. It doesn' so much matter for new characters, but for those based on past incarnations it'd be great if there were parties involved to assure they get "the Prime treatment", so to speak. Maybe Hasbro's more hands-on this go-around? Thanks!

Answer: As a result of the strike, we were not able to comment on anything that was going on within the production. As a result, Hasbro has been MUCH MORE involved. However, we had a ton of character and development conversations with them before the strike (going all the way back to before the movie's release). So we've had our input and Hasbro in general knew where we were going with the story. During the strike, some dates had to be met in order to assure all the designs would be ready for multiple purposes, and it now seems that is where Bay and Hasbro spent most of their efforts. Doesn't mean we can't lose or add characters, but it probably means our core group is somewhat locked.

Luckily, the folks at Hasbro are truly great people and their collaboration with Bay has probably kept this movie on track.

Question: Bay was quoted as saying that there would be some new/different "species" of Transformers. What do you think he meant by that?

Answer: No comment! But they're in the outline, so don't worry.

You can also probably guess what he means in his non-fan way.

Question: So when you guys are working on the outline...do you work on it from beginning to end? Or do the three of you figure out big spots that you want to have and go back and fill in the holes? What I mean by that are huge set peices, stunts or moments that you want to accent on screen. Im sure Bay has plenty of spots that he'd like to do and that would only add to the collaboration. How is that process completed?

Answer: Well, normally we don't hand over outlines. Normally we do those for ourselves and then hand in a script. Thanks to the strike, we felt it was only fair to give them a snap shot of where we were going so they could plan from a treatment. So naturally, a treatment is not a script, and there are many things that need to be filled in at script. Knowing where we were going, and what we intended the major set pieces to be, Bay could start to plan how he would attack some of the action.

Question: Is it safe to assume there are a bunch of new robots designed for the transformers movie, but have no name as of yet, or are subject to change?

Answer: Safe indeed.

Question: Roberto without going into details, how many parallel storylines do you think you might have running in this movie?

Answer: Story lines in this movie should be more organically interconnected in that TF1 had the structure of 3 story lines coming together at Hoover. TF2 will have a different structure.

Question: Roberto, I just wanted to know what comes first: The design of the Transformers then the names, or names first, then their design.

Answer: No hard and fast rules, and almost impossible to remember as it's a case by case basis.

Question: Will there be more emphasis on new transformer/s? Or will characters such as Bumblebee still be the main focus?

Answer: Just started playing around, but the short answer is both.

Question: So Roberto, what would the time estimate for the final script be? A couple weeks? A month? A couple months?

Answer: THE FINAL? The day before shooting.

A first draft? who knows -- everyone needed it last month, but we're contractually accorded 10-12 weeks or so for the first draft.

Question: can changes be made DURING shooting if Bay or someone else demands

Answer: Yes. We're usually the ones demanding it.

Shia LaBeouf Talks Transformers 2

Date: Thursday, February 14th 2008 2:21pm CST
Categories: Movie Related News, Interviews
Posted by: Skowl | Credit(s): johndoe4880, empireonline.com, Shia LaBeouf

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Transformers Movie star Shia LaBeouf spoke with Empire Online about the upcoming sequel to the Transformers Movie.

Read the entire article here.

I know of a few things I have to work on for the next one,” said LaBeouf. “I’ve seen pre-vizes of the action scenes and I just saw Michael yesterday. It’s going to be bad-ass. We’re not making another one unless it is, and Mike is definitely not resting on his laurels — he’s doing insane shit again. And the pre-vizes that I’ve seen… it’s just massive. If the first one was any indicator of how massive massive can be, this is going to blow that out of the water. It’s insane. Mike’s mind was just kind of made for this — it’s amazing. There’s going to be a lot more characterisation with the robots, which I’m excited about. I was a fan of Transformers before the movie came out. And there’s going to be a lot of action…That goes unsaid, I guess”.

With the writers’ strike now thankfully over, Ehren Kruger, Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman can start getting on with the script. They’d better get a move on, since the film is set to start shooting in less than four months for a June 26, 2009 release.

This early in the game, LaBeouf wouldn’t be drawn on exactly what scenes he’s preparing for, despite our threats to kick him in the shins and moans of “Awwww, you’re mean”. But he would say, “There’s gonna be new robots on both sides. I can say that the war isn’t over… It’s hard to do interviews when you’re not allowed to talk about the movies. It’s like I give two or three things away and then I get reprimanded for it. It’s never fun to get reprimanded by these people”.

Michael Bay Talks More Transformers 2, Including a "Geriatric Robot"

Date: Wednesday, February 13th 2008 4:26pm CST
Categories: Movie Related News, Interviews
Posted by: Skowl | Credit(s): Anne Thompson, Variety

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Transformers Movie director Michael was present, alongside other creators who worked on the film, during a VFX Technology presentation on the Sony Movie lot. Michael Bay spoke about the upcoming Transformers Movie sequel, and how the film was prepared in case of a prolonged writers strike (which will now no longer be a cause of delay for the film, as the strike ended last night).

Of note is Bay making mention of the writers returning, and a story that will see deeper robot characters as well as a "geriatric robot" - the article also goes into great detail about the VFX work in the first film.

Read about the event on Variety editor Anne Thompson's detailed blog post by clicking here.

Michael Bay: TF2 Characters and Script Template Done

Date: Tuesday, February 12th 2008 6:05pm CST
Categories: Movie Related News, Rumors, Interviews
Posted by: Skowl | Credit(s): Rottentomatoes.com

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Transformers Movie director Michael Bay recently spoke with Rottentomatoes.com and has announced that, while the Hollywood writers strike may only be hours away from ending (the WGA is expected to make an annoucement tuesday night), he has already prepared an outline himself and is determined to have the film finished for its June 26th 2009 release date.

Read the article on Rottentomatoes by clicking here.

It looks like the Writer's Guild strike could end any day now. But while Michael Bay is not only ready to jump back into development on Transformers 2, it turns out he's already finished writing the story.

"I've been writing Transformers 2," said Bay. "We've got our characters all designed. I always write all my scripts, my movies anyway so at least I've got something to give the writers. It's like a template. We have a really good outline so I worked on that."

It might be a tad unorthodox, but Bay has high pressure demands. "We had to because I want to make my date. I'm not going to let the strike take me down."

Now that the major effects of transforming moving parts have been figured out, Bay has all sorts of new characters in store for the sequel. "When you do your first movie, you break the back of it. Now we can have a lot more fun. We can actually make the depth of these characters more fun and a lot more interesting characters. To see actually what you can achieve visually, you never know. When you go into a movie, you never know visually. I think I've got a lot of fun, interesting, funny characters."

Visual Effects Supervisor Scott Farrar Talks Transformers 2

Date: Tuesday, February 12th 2008 10:18am CST
Categories: Movie Related News, Interviews
Posted by: Skowl | Credit(s): IESB.net, Scott Farrar

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After monday night's Visual Effects Society Awards Show, IESB (after having a brief interview ith Director Michael Bay, which you can see by clicking here) also managed to talk with visual effects supervisor Scott Farrar, who brought home two awards for his work on the Transformers Movie, including the night's top prize of "Best Visual Effects in a Visual Effects Driven Motion Picture".

IESB has posted a video of the brief interview, wherein Scott Farrar briefly discusses the film's sequel.

See the video by clicking here.

UPDATE: A second video with the ILM crew reveals that not all animators will be returning for the film's sequel. See the video by clicking here

Michael Bay Talks Transformers 2

Date: Monday, February 11th 2008 1:30pm CST
Categories: Movie Related News, Rumors, Interviews
Posted by: Skowl | Credit(s): IESB.net, Michael Bay

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Transformers Movie Director Michael Bay was present at the 6th annual Visual Effects Society Awards, where the Transformers Movie won big, taking home four awards (see the story by clicking here), and talked briefly with IESB about the sequel to the film.

You can read the IESB report by clicking here.

Or you can view the video of the interview by clicking here.

Bay went on to talk about the sequel and give some little hints of what we can expect on-screen next summer. Sadly, that's not going to include dinobots.

Interview with Oscar Nominee Scott Benza from ILM

Date: Friday, January 25th 2008 4:39pm CST
Categories: Movie Related News, People News, Interviews
Posted by: i_amtrunks | Credit(s): jason, CNET News.com

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Scott Benza, the Visual Effects Supervisor for the Transformers Movie has been interviewed by CNET News about his Oscar Nomination.

In the interview Farrar discusses his Oscar nomination, his work on previous ILM films, the process used to create the visual effects in the Transformers Movie and the challenges faced to bring the Metal Giants to life.

To read the full interview, please click here.