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Transformers Lead Robot Illustrator Ben Procter has launched a section for the movie in the WEB PORTFOLIO on his official site. Within, check out the evolution of BumbleBee and Prime's designs, scrapped character designs, the Nokia, Mountain Dew, and Toilet bots, and much, much more...
Click the link above for all 99 photos and some cool quicktime videos... all narrated with technical jargon you won't understand! Note: Use Internet Explorer 7 because his site isn't compatible with Firefox.
Here are some (ok most) of the images if you're too lazy to download them all from the official site.
It's been one of the best summers in terms of blockbuster movie releases, and I want to share some of the cool art inspired by these films.
You guys all remember the dancing drunk Venom right? I'm not really sure, but I think I may have found the culprit. Check out Andre Holzmeister's gallery to see what I mean. Do check the dude's sweet animation section as well. I know it's not the movie version, but kinda makes you think how a more comic-faithful Venom would've looked like in Spider-Man 3. He also did the Colossus below... even though X-Men 3 was last year, I think it's cool enough to be included here.
I remember this guy from ToyCon. The crowd loved him, and well deserved too. There's definitely a good idea in this one, and doesn't shy from making fun of the Transformers and Cosplay in general. I think he even won an award as 'People's Choice' or something. Great job Balikbayan Boximus Prime!
*UPDATE* Now featuring snippets from the original score by Steve Jablonski and some trailer music!
All Spark Contains Music & Dialogue From:
* Optimus' Prologue/Opening Sequence * The Retaliation Against Scorponok Sequence * The Entire Autobots Arrival Sequence * Sector 7 Meets Optimus & Co aka "I'd like you to meet my friend Optimus Prime" * Freedom Is The Right Of All Sentient Beings/Autobots Rollout! Sequence * Sam & Soldiers. Join Up With Autobots On Highway Enroute to Mission City
Playing Time: 9:46 Size: 22 MB
The Autobots Descend Contains:
* Its rather obvious but this is basically the main chorus of the theme.
I'm sorry, I don't have the power to make a spoiler-free review, so if you haven't seen the movie, TURN AWAY NOW!
Watched the movie 2 times yesterday, so goes to show what a major geek I am for spending 500 bucks on one movie. But hey, the was TRANSFORMERS... the ultimate childhood nostalgia flick for guys my age and above. It was worth it.
Funny thing happened during my first viewing, because before the movie started and while I was waiting at the lounge, a guy stormed out of the theater and proclaimed to everyone (in a most dorky fashion): "Transformers sucks! Megatron is killed by Sam Witwicky"... Bummer right? Anyway, that guy kinda summed up what I would experience at first viewing. Although I didn't think it sucked, I was slightly disappointed.
On first view, I felt the pace at the start was very slow. It was all about Decepticons being evil, and Sam and his world. The latter I didn't mind, cuz' Shia is a terrific actor, but damn, I was like... Where is Optimus?! It was only until the middle until the rest of the Autobots came, and the other Decepticons like Starscream and Megatron only for the final battle.
But later that night on 2nd viewing, I was surprised to actually stop nitpicking and just enjoy what's there. It was much more fun the 2nd time around for some reason... since I knew what was gunna happen, the pacing felt faster and enjoyed all the scenes even more as I looked for details I may have missed on 1st view.
So, without further adieu, here's review proper! (Sorry for the long intro!) I'll use a new format now, in bullets just to see if it looks more organized!
The wℜong: • Optimus Prime is a wuss. Ok, ok, yeah it was cool he decapitated Bonecrusher... but against Megatron? He got his arse kicked to holy hell by Mega. He barely used his gun, and in the end, only tripped Mega and wanted to commit suicide. Good thing Sam was smarter and used the damn killer cube on you know, the enemy. • Jazz dies in vain. So Megatron stomps on him and tears him in half. That's it? Couldn't he have died heroically saving Sam? I'm ok with having casualties because it makes Mega even more of a badass, but there was absolutely no dram to the death of this Autobots... and he was one of my favorites! • Military directs final battle to the city. So they're trying to hide the Allspark right? Why do it in the city where you know, thousands of people could die (and probably did)? They had the whole freaking desert to put up a last stand, but no, it was 'cooler' to fight in the city. Yeah I admit, seeing the bots in that environment was cool, but logically, it dumbfounded me. • The Soundtrack. Where in the heck was the classic Transformers theme? Not even the new MuteMath version was there, and I watched the ENTIRE credits. Instead, they closed the movie out with Linkin Park... who's song has nothing to do with the transformers. Oh, and there was no orchestral score to speak of, as nearly all the key scenes were told in rock music. This is fine in the short term, but if I decide to watch this movie 5 years from now, those songs will feel so dated... as opposed to original score music ala 'Pirates'. *correction: on 3rd view, i noticed a score in key scenes! wasn't memorable though so goes to show how good of a score it was. • Devastator. Were my eyes deceiving me? Was that tank named 'Devastator' or 'Destroyer' when Frenzy was summoning the Decepticons? Isn't he supposed named 'Brawl' like it is in the toyline? For goodness sakes, need I say what a travesty this is and ruins the Constructicons being introduced in succeeding films? *Sigh* • Barricade. He was called in the end.... he obliged and was shown going to the city... then he never showed up. Why? Beats me. Probably pussied out cuz' Bee kicked his ass earlier. • The Decepticons in general. Wow, they were so underdeveloped. They were like mindless tyrants. There was NEVER any character development scene with ANY of them. They also missed the boat on the Starscream vs. Megatron conflict that was very famous in the cartoons (Scream wanted to be the leader of the Cons). I think they had one scene, and 'Scream just got bitched at and took it like one. Frenzy (the little guy) seemed more 2nd in command than 'Scream.
The ℜight: • The robots. They look AWESOME. Seamless CGI, I need not expound how cool they look and move. Before, I thought the designs were terrible... Prime having flames, Starscream and Mega looking funky... But watching it, it was breathtaking. They went with an alien-ish look for them, which suites their back-story, so it's all cool. • Shia. This guy is the next Leo and Hollywood 'go to guy' if he already isn't. Look out for him in Indy 4 sometime in the future. If there was someone to replace Tobey as Spidey, this is the guy. He pulls of the 'everyman' role so well it's hard not to root for him. • Peter Cullen. No one can ever play Optimus Prime other than this man. From the opening narrative, it was so welcoming to hear that classic voice just like the old cartoon. Now, is it just me or do all the 'holograms' they use as dummy drivers look like him (big moustache)? • The little guys. This movie is filled with small roles, which the actors who played them did a superb job. From the car salesman, Sam's parents, the military guys and the hackers, they all did a great job as supporting cast members. • The 'Sound'. You all know it. And it was spread out throughout the movie, although not every time they transform. That sound is such a nostalgia trip, I'm glad they put in the movie. • BumbleBee. Who didn't fall in love with the personality of this car? From playing the right station at the right times, taking a whiz on Sector 7's over-the-top general, and kicking ass on one leg, Bee is the reluctant hero everyone loves. • The Allspark. If there was one change I liked from the cartoon it was this. Gone are the lame glowing pink blocks. Instead we get this uber powerful device that seems to be a fusion of the Autobots matrix and the energon cubes. Plus, it turned a Mountain Dew vendo evil. That alone makes this thing cool. • Megan Fox. Sure her acting didn't blow me away (it was serviceable), but her killer abs and sexy body did. She's the non-CG-Eye candy in this flick, God bless her.
The veℜdict: It took me two viewings to like the movie. Maybe the first I was still a pricky fanboy seeing Michael Bay bastardize my childhood memories of my beloved robots with all this 'visual flare' stuff. But after the 2nd view, I just sat back, tried to put my brain in anti-nitpick mode, and just enjoy the human scenes and the glory of these metal titans. The story isn't the greatest or most epic, but it was a good starting point for a movie franchise and the way thing ended, it looks as if we're in store for sequels (Dinobots anyone?)! Transformers makes a triumphant and visceral splash on celluloid, but it's flaws keep it from attaining 'classic' status reserved for greats such as the original Star Wars, LOTR, and the first Matrix. All right DreamWorks, ROLL OUT those sequels!
Check out the awesome new Transformers TV Spot! It's 30 seconds of awesomeness. Here are some of the cool stuff in this trailer:
• Prime busting out an ENERGY SWORD! (yay!) • Megatron combining his hands to make a GUN (joy!) • Mega transforming into a jet and Optimus jumping at him!
Click the image above for a link to download the quicktime version, or check out a streaming version from my imeem below:
The first two photos are our official entries for the 1st Annual Toy Clicks Toy Photography Contest at the 6th Philippine Toy Convention 2007. The other two photographs are variant backgrounds for Optimus Prime. Even though we didn't win, we still had fun and are proud of what we accomplished because we never thought it would end up looking like this when we first conceptualized it. Cheers bro!
Click Here to know more about our experience in making Toys Come To Life.
Click Here to see the other entries in the official ToyCon blog. (although the Optimus one isn't updated yet)
My brother Bleau and I had a blast the past two weeks preparing for our two entries to the Toy Clicks Photography Contest for the 6th Annual Philippine Toy Convention held at the Megatrade Hall from June 16 to 17, 2007.
We decided to work on capturing a realistic take on two of the most famous robots in the Philippines namely Voltes V and Optimus Prime. We chose these two robot characters primarily for the appeal they have to many local fans whose age segment spans across both our generations. Born in a CGI-less time, our childhood years were spent dreaming of seeing these two robots in a live-action setting. Despite the upcoming Transformers movie (which has very cool CGI robots), we opted to make our childhood dreams into reality by joining this contest.
We basically went thru four stages in getting our final artwork entries done. First we had to choose the pose we wanted for the toy robots. After which, we had to execute the actual photo shoot. Next we had to search for the appropriate background sources and elements that would match the angles of the photos taken. And finally we had to do extensive Photoshop manipulations not only to make the toys look like they’re in the actual environment but also to render most of their plastic parts to look visually enticing by making their textures look photo-realistic.
After a lot of trial(s) and error(s) and after several Gigabytes of hard drive space, we were able to achieve a realistic take on Optimus Prime’s classic transformation sequence as well as an awesome “What If Voltes V was in a real battle in the city” scenario. We never expected that we could achieve the final rendering we were able to create but everything just fell into place without my brother and I ever getting into an argument on creative takes. We just clicked as team and complimented each other in terms of technical acumen and creative style. Overall it was a great learning experience for both of us we enjoyed spending a lot of time collaborating with each other. Although we did not win the contest, we both feel that the time and effort spent was well worth it. Thru this experience I have gained profound respect for my brother’s talent and I just can’t wait to work with him again in future endeavors.
Credit is due to Jervy Santiago for helping us photograph some of the subject references, Jose Lieban for the city background and ILM for the missiles, grime and metal texture effects we used. Posted are the ‘before and after’ manipulation takes on our final entries.
Click here to view the hi-res versions of our final designs, as well as some alternate ones.
Click here to view the other entries to the Toyclicks Photography Contest of the 6th Annual Philippine Toy Convention.
***MAJOR UPDATE*** Check out the assorted new goodies i got from the TF Image Pool on Flickr! Neat stuff! The last part has fanart by timshinn of DeviantArt, including soundwave and grimlock designs! Check it!
