Michael Bay, director of the Transformers trilogy, is now leading the fight to bring back the North American 3D audience. He says what we have been for years, that other films have used 3D incorrectly and therefore soiled the good name of 3D. Something he hopes to rectify with the release of “Transformers: Dark of the Moon”.
“Michael Bay is not afraid of getting in the audience’s face. But on the eve of the release of his “Transformers: Dark of the Moon,” he is on a charm offensive with reporters, bloggers and even theater owners. Specifically, Mr. Bay, the director, and Paramount Pictures, which will release “Dark of the Moon” on June 29, are racing to convince moviegoers that the robot film is really, truly, honestly worth the extra $3 to $5 per ticket to see it in 3-D.”
Normally Bay would be defending the narrative arcs of his films, never the visuals. However, the decline in audience numbers for 3D films is disappointing. Therefore, if the 3D “Transformers 3” is as good as we’ve been hearing then 3D might have found itself a savior.
Bay has gone out of his way to excite the media about this movie. From interviews to talking about strapping a camera to a sky-divers helmet, he has been pulling out all the stops. On May 18 Paramount put him on stage with James Cameron, who directed “Avatar,” to extol the virtues of the medium. Last week, Mr. Bay even called the chief executives of major theater chains to implore them to show “Dark of the Moon” in a way that burns out projector bulbs more quickly but makes 3-D look brighter and sharper.
“We’re putting all of our resources into this,” said Brad Grey, Paramount’s chairman. “It’s the most spectacular visual experience I have ever seen.”
“If this was having my name on it, I was determined to make it technically perfect,” Mr. Bay said by telephone. “We’ve spent an enormous amount of time making sure the eye is transitioned from shot to shot.”
Using Mr. Cameron’s “Avatar” crew, Mr. Bay notably filmed in 3-D on outdoor sets; until now the technology has mostly been confined to soundstages because of its bulk. Mr. Bay, known for the fast pace of his imagery, also had to slow down a bit, using longer shots and more wide shots to maximize the effect. “If you pan too quickly it will give viewers a jittery feeling,” he said.
A major problem is that people have been exposed to some awful 3D movies and have been tricked into thinking those are the norm. Studios have worked themselves into this corner by allowing critical corner-cuts to make the movie cheaper while cutting the quality in half. The worst of these? Movies taglined as being 3D extravaganza’s that were filmed in 3D then clumsily converted into a shoddy 3D in post-production.
“The consumer has had a reaction to bad 3-D and subtle 3-D,” said Rob Moore, Paramount’s vice chairman. “They’re tired of sitting in a theater thinking, ‘Wait, is this movie in 3-D or not?’ Well, with ‘Transformers’ people are going to leave saying, ‘You absolutely must see this in 3-D.’ ”
Mr. Bay is not the only big-time director having to proselytize. Next month, Steven Spielberg is expected to trek to Comic-Con International, the San Diego convention for fans of comic books and related entertainment, to promote his coming 3-D film “The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn.” Martin Scorsese has a period 3-D mystery, “Hugo Cabret,” due in November; Mr. Cameron is working on two “Avatar” sequels and a 3-D version of “Titanic.”
“Transformers” is one of Hollywood’s most valuable franchises. The first film took in about $710 million in 2007. Two years later “Revenge of the Fallen” had global sales of more than $836 million despite abysmal reviews. (Mr. Bay has since said that even he winces when he looks back on its shoddy narrative.)
If many moviegoers opt to see “Dark of the Moon” in 3-D, it could soar past $1 billion. Mr. Cameron predicts consumers will respond favorably. “When they see something that blows their minds, that’s the most exciting part,” he said at the May 18 event, which featured about 15 minutes of “Dark of the Moon” film. “Like what we’ve just experienced here.”
Source: NY Times
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