There is a joke in the film circle circulating on the Internet. It is said that a special effects engineer from DreamWorks (a famous Hollywood production company) said: "Most big-name directors in Hollywood don't know what they want in special effects, and they only care about special effects. The teacher said that you make a few versions and see and then let the special effects artist play it, and then we will be crazy. But there are only a few really good directors, such as James Cameron (Avatar, Titanic director) , the final effect he wants is very clear in his mind, and accurately conveyed to the special effects artist, it is much easier to work with him. Oh yes, Michael Bay (director of the Transformers series) is also such a director, he Also knows what his special effects want, the whole world knows.”
Yes, this joke is mainly to satirize Michael Bay, as a famous Hollywood director, his Transformers series films have not only been a huge success at the box office (the first four global box office box office exceeded 3 billion US dollars), but also this series. It was also deeply branded with Michael Bay's personal brand, and the fifth Transformers just released once again set off a box office climax in the Chinese market, brushing 850 million yuan (123 million US dollars) in three days, and there is no suspense. The top spot on the global box office charts.
Like the first four, "Transformers 5" is filled with a lot of explosions, fast dialogue and sexy beauties, wonderful metal giants collide and fight scenes, this is a freewheeling film, exuding a thick "Michael shell style". To what extent can such a film move people, even if we are used to seeing Hollywood wonder-style special effects scenes, but the special effects and action scenes of Change 5 will make many people stunned and become numb within 2 hours.
After watching Michael Bay's Transformers, what else can we see?
In fact, I really like Michael Bay's "Breaking the Dead Island". Even now, it is still my most frequently reviewed commercial blockbuster. The car chase scene in San Francisco and the last kneeling of Nicolas Cage have deeply penetrated me. Heart, even the game "Call of Duty and Call 6" directly re-enacted the wonderful bathroom battle in the movie.
A director who was so talented in the past is now being scolded for one film.
The reason is because of Michael Bay, who is a movie project guy, not a movie story guy.
A good director is someone who has the desire to express, and it is because of the desire to express and tell that he can become a master.
Ridley Scott, who is always able to construct his own set of world views with the universe in mind; James Cameron, who infinitely magnifies the use of technology in his storytelling with the spirit of geek, leads the technological innovation of an era The road; there is a childlike dream and a real skinny struggle, and Spielberg who likes to inject it; not to mention Kubrick, Hitchcock, George Lucas, Woody Allen, Martin Scorsese blah blah blah. They are both civil and military, and they can take care of the people on the opposite side of the screen while expressing. They are the kind with strong comprehensive ability in this era.
Of course, there are also serious ones. For example, Wong Kar Wai, the pictures, plots and actors are only for his expression. At the same time, there are also some directors like Michael Bay. He is very eclectic and direct. He doesn't want to be a master, he just wants to do his job as a director well. Like standard project managers in the Hollywood industry offline, their purpose is commercial success.
Movies are a form of artistic existence. Literature and art are completely different things. Part of the appeal of Transformers accepted and liked by the public is mostly the strong visual stimulation given by Michael Bay, which is very important for the director and the whole team. In terms of projects, this was determined at the very beginning of the shooting of this series of projects, just like you couldn't throw this project to Wong Kar-wai (refer to Ang Lee's Hulk). In a sense, you choose to watch a Michael Bay movie, or you choose to go to the cinema to watch Michael Bay's Transformers, what do you expect other than expecting him to give you a straight orgasm? ? It's nothing more than expecting him to give you an orgasm while the foreplay part is a little better than the last one.
Although film is called the seventh type of art, it is now a product of industrialization and commercialization. It is originally inclusive and can be directly defined and labeled by the entire film circle and even the audience like Michael Bay. Director , and not every director can do it. You think the plot is rubbish and full of loopholes. From the perspective of film creation, it is indeed the case. However, you should also see that Michael Bay is excellent in large-scale scene scheduling, special effects and project operation. The art of film is not just the art of storytelling, and one cannot be asked to cover everything. As a director, Michael Bay is also successful. Yes, also top notch.
As long as Michael Bay doesn't make blockbuster movies like Jerry Bruckheimer (who wrote all of the Pirates of the Caribbean series, but has always missed in recent years), he is still a well-deserved first-tier commercial director in Hollywood. and producer.
He influenced the visual language of contemporary Hollywood mainstream commercial blockbusters
Looking back at the director born in 1965, when he was in his twenties, Michael Bay was engaged in the production of commercials and music videos, and his first job after graduating from film school was video production. The style of his music videos has been recognized by people, especially young people, and has been nominated for a series of MTV Awards.
Then, naturally, a lot of movie projects will come to you. Michael Bay also produces commercials for world-renowned brands such as Nike, Reebok, Coca-Cola, Budweiser and Miller Beer, and has won several annual awards for this. Commercial Advertising Awards.
Michael Bay, his self-labeling
The commercial MV was shot well, but the movie project won't run. (Another director I like, David Fincher, also came out this way).
When Michael Bay got the chance to make his big-screen debut, "Band of the Jedi," the male leads were obscure black actors Will Smith and Martin Lawrence. A production partner thought the script was bad and refused to sign the film. After a long talk with the two actors, Michael Bay changed the script and said, "We have to make the movie cool enough to make money back."
Starting from "Jedi Men", Michael Bay has intentionally brought his own movies closer to popcorn. With the support of the first few action movies, Michael Bay fully revealed his style and characteristics. , Only by quickly establishing a clear and clear positioning of yourself, can you work in the evergreen seasons of Hollywood.
He even took out 25,000 from his $125,000 director's remuneration and insisted on finishing a big scene that he felt was essential. In the end, the film, which cost only $20 million, grossed $140 million worldwide and made Will Smith popular.
After becoming famous in World War I, he made the classic action film "Brave the Dead Island". Michael Bay lived up to the hype, with a no-holds-barred thriller, dizzying chase and fight scenes, and the film grossed $340 million at the global box office in one fell swoop. And then he filmed "Doomsday" starring Bruce Willis, which earned $553 million at the global box office. The first three films made him the youngest director in history to reach a total of $1 billion at the box office.
As a result, Bang Bei was born. The initial explosion, slow motion and scenes were his personal brand moat. He used the different levels, visual differences and motion trajectories of characters and environments, coupled with fast editing, to create a kind of Blockbuster feeling, this is his routine. Each of his films is like putting your vision into a shredder. A series of huge things such as buildings, bridges, and steel will eventually fall apart in an instant.
In 2001, Michael Bay took on the ambitious "Pearl Harbor" with the ambition to hit the Oscars. Although the film eventually won the Oscar for best sound editing, it was also shortlisted for the golden raspberry that year, becoming one of the worst reviews of the decade. Immediately afterwards, he ushered in the only commercial failure of his career - the 2005 sci-fi film "Escape from the Clone Island" directed by him invested as much as 126 million US dollars, but only received 36 million US dollars at the local box office.
Under the trough, a person walked up to Michael Bay with a project.
At that time, the production company Paramount found Spielberg, who was still in DreamWorks, and planned to put its famous cartoon "Transformers" on the big screen. Producer Spielberg said this: "I can't think of anyone other than Michael Bay who made the process of turning a truck into a robot more convincing to the audience. "
So, boom boom boom ~
Explode, explode, explode in an instant.
With the deepening of personal labels, in addition to the explosion, a series of new labels such as sexy beauty, military, Hasbro, and making money are constantly recharging Michael Bay's own beliefs, and Michael Bay is also constantly using self-branding and shooting Projects, integrating all aspects of resources to achieve this goal as quickly as possible.
Michael Bay's Transformers series became the highest-grossing franchise in history, and it also brought Michael Bay's declining reputation.
Make money, make money, make super money.
You see the Wulong Scenic Spot in the fourth installment. He is the investment promotion project team. A few people went around and made a large investment. This time, the fifth Uxin used car was released in China with such an ugly laptop ban advertisement. Bit, isn't it just his various operations to make money? (There really is such an operation!)
The market likes it, and it can help fund owners make money, which has become the most direct reason for Michael Bay's standing. In order for the sponsor to show his face, in order to arrange all the capital exposure and coordination within the scheduled project time, Michael Bay must fill the 120-minute time with all kinds of pictures of money thrown out, whether it is an important turning point, or For him, irrelevant cutscenes are treated equally: to maximize the visual impact of the picture. He crammed so many moving and exploding objects into his target frame that it could be the focus of the eye.
The Transformers series can be shot from 1 to 5. Basically, it is all about making money. Sometimes it is not a question of whether Michael Bay is willing to shoot. As long as the series does not go downhill, the producer will be willing to let the project leader replace it. To meet new risks? This is inertia.
And you also have to admit that most audiences in the world have a relatively simple pursuit of going to the theater: to watch it well, and to spend money on it. Michael Bay has done a very good job in the user experience of the audience. There are many explosions, cool special effects, and a simple plot. Although the film critics find it annoying, the audience will feel that the money is worth it, and the audience will still spend it with peace of mind next time. money to buy tickets.
Through the label of "explosion", which was originally based on Hollywood, Michael Bay continuously exported and strengthened this impression to his target user group, and then occupied the minds of these target users, and finally made his movie box office invincible. land.
Michael Bay said he never read negative reviews, Michael Bay said, "I just do my job. I see it like this, about 110 million viewers and 600 movies per movie. Critics, I don't make movies for critics, I make movies for audiences who like my movies."
Maybe, just like a Hollywood blockbuster series, maybe a certain sequel really needs to be shot and the producers will be willing to replace the next director to match the series. If so, you really have a suitable one in your mind. The pick-up man?
View more about Transformers: The Last Knight reviews
