Set Visit: Transformers

It
seems like eons ago when I was invited to visit the set of TRANSFORMERS
in downtown

L.A.

, and yet it was only last August. Things seemed so much simpler
then, that day when I gathered alongside several other online
journalists, each one of us brimming with giddy optimism over the
prospect of catching a glimpse of the movie many of us had been
waiting for since the mid 1980s, when Hasbro first blessed us with
their groundbreaking line of toys.

The
excitement in the air that day was palpable; never before had I seen
so many self-important, cynical adults reduced to gawking, wide-eyed
children. Looking back, it’s almost laughable how naïve we were.
This was a Hollywood movie after all — directed by Michael Bay, no
less — and rarely have people in Tinseltown ever shown much
reverence for those traditions that us regular folks hold so dear.

Indeed,
that was before we found out there would be no Soundwave. Before we
found out Optimus Prime would have lips. Before we found out
Bumblebee was going to be a Camaro (something akin to having Robert
DeNiro play Harry Potter).

And
yet I still have hope, just like I did when Optimus Prime handed his
Matrix of Leadership to Ultra Magnus, his eyes going dark forever.
Our Transformers have vanquished foes far more powerful than

Michael

Bay

, and perhaps they will triumph once again when the movie arrives in
theaters in July. Perhaps TRANSFORMERS might just be everything we
imagined it could be. Light our darkest hour!

Alas,
what we witnessed on the TRANSFORMERS set that warm August day
proved mighty impressive. The massive production blocked off a huge
stretch of downtown’s busy Broadway Avenue and lined it with tons
of extras, military vehicles, soldiers (including several Special
Forces-types referred to as “Sector 7”) and several Autobots
(Bumblebee, Rachet, Jazz and Ironhide) in vehicle form. Behind them
lay a few giant piles of rubble and other debris. Along the street
were traffic jams, smashed-up cars, panicked citizens and guys with
guns roaming the area. Up front was a giant “Furby” (another
fine Hasbro product) semi truck trailer, which was lifted and shaken
by a hydraulic device.

The
scene being shot takes place near the end of the film, in which a
Megatron and pals descend from the sky to lay siege to the area
below. Suddenly the street is covered in green smoke, the army dudes
scatter and the civilians flee in panic. Given the fact that it’s
a CGI-heavy scene, it was hard to tell exactly what was happening,
but one could safely assume that the shit was hitting the fan.

At
the center of all the chaos was

Michael

Bay

, shouting from his megaphone and looking pretty jovial for a guy
battling a pretty nasty case of the flu. Clad in a t-shirt that read
“Giant F*cking Robots are Coming,” Bay moved from vehicle to
vehicle, giving instructions to the soldiers (actual members of the
U.S. Armed Forces) and setting up the scene.

Bay
was definitely in his element. Say what you will about his directing
skills, but the guy knows action. And he definitely knows how to
blow a ton of shit up and make it look cool. As long as the movie
doesn’t feature anything too ridiculous, like an inexplicable dance
sequence (one of the more regrettable moments from the 1986 animated
film), I’m pretty sure I’ll enjoy it.

While
on the TRANSFORMERS set, we got a chance to talk to Michael
Bay, as well as stars Josh Duhamel
and Shia LaBeouf.