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Prior to the big summer event happening in the TRANSFORMERS comics, we here at Seibertron.com were privileged enough to be able to ask a few questions of writer Mike Costa, and new artist Brendan Cahill.
Ready to launch IDW's biggest Transformers event yet, these two creators share some of the insights in the creative process leading to CHAOS.
There may be some material ahead, considered SPOILERIFIC to some.
We opened fire on them with the biggest question we could think of...
Does “Chaos” refer at all to a certain CHAOS bringer in Transformers history? And if not, do you have plans to bring him in?
Mike Costa wrote:I can reveal that he won't be in “CHAOS”, unfortunately. As for later... that would be telling.
How has the development of the Transformers ongoing series gone for you? Is it going exactly as you laid it out and expected it to go, or have you had to scrap some ideas, in favor of others that you had not originally intended?
Mike Costa wrote:Well, I started writing the series nearly two and a half years ago at this point. So even though I had quite a few things planned out, of course several things have changed. New ideas have occurred to me in that time, or the work of other writers like James or Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning have created new opportunities that I could not have forseen.
Some adjustments have been small (in my first-ever Q & A on the IDW message board, just as the first issue was coming out, someone asked if I had any plans for Brawn. I told them that issue #15 would make them very happy, but it eventually turned out to be #16 which had his big moment.) and a few major ideas weren't part of the original plan (I came up with Megatron's old body being turned into human-sized weapons very late into the development of that story-arc) but for the most part, it has stayed pretty-much on-track.
Who currently is your favorite character to write in Transformers Ongoing? Why do you like that character so? I am guessing Thundercracker for what I believe are obvious reasons, but one might say you've made your mark on many different characters--any of which could be considered your favorite to write--.
Mike Costa wrote:This is a hard question to answer. Obviously Thundercracker, because his journey has been so interesting. And both Megatron and Prime are very fun, if only because I can hear his voice so clearly in my head as I write his dialogue. If I had to pick favorites though, Ironhide is probably at the top of the list, and it might surprise some people to know this, but Bluestreak as well. I really like characters who simply speak whatever is on their minds, without any filter. Ironhide does this because he's a very direct, plain-spoken 'bot who doesn't have any interest in playing games. I admire that. And Bluestreak does it because he is a clueless doof seemingly devoid of self-awareness. So both of them, for almost opposite reasons, are both very easy and very interesting to write. (This is why Bluestreak is constantly popping up in scenes, even though he very seldom has anything important to say or d
What is James Roberts doing to help you tell these current issues? Is he doing the “Chaos” story, and you're doing the 'Last Story On Earth', or is it more complicated than that?
Mike Costa wrote:Well, the “CHAOS” story is an example of something that didn't exactly “change” from my initial plans, but certainly grew to a much more significant size than I had originally imagined. Two and a half years ago, when I first started thinking about it, “CHAOS” was the big arc that was going to end year two. I knew all the events from my stories (Ironhide's revival, Megatron's capture, Rodimus's exile from Earth, reclamation of the Matrix and subsequent journeys) that would lead up to it, but I could not have foreseen the work that Dan and Andy had done on Infestation and Heart of Darkness, because none of that had been planned yet. So after they came in, the story suddenly became a lot richer, and I had several more elements to deal with. Also, my plans for “CHAOS” itself were pretty sketchy: I knew the major characters involved, a couple of major plot developments, and how the story would end, and that was about it. So after Andy Schmidt (the Transformers editor) had brought in Dan and Andy, he realized that “CHAOS” had the potential to be a much bigger story than just yet-another arc in the ongoing. He decided to expand it into an event, and have both myself, plus Dan, Andy and James all come in like a brain-trust and use my skeleton to put together the biggest Transformers story we could. Unfortunately, Dan and Andy weren't able to continue working on it after an initial (but incredibly productive) meeting, so that just left James and I.
The “Last Story on Earth” was yet another story that had been planned for a long time, but since it didn't have the scope of “CHAOS” it wasn't given the same treatment. It's a relatively intimate story, so I took care of it myself.
What is the 'The Last Story On Earth' about besides Prowl, Jazz, and Bumblebee investigating Skywatch? We know Skywatch had shaky origins in relation to the group in Maximum Dinobots that Scorponok was running, etc., but what exactly worries the Autobots so much about Spike killing Scrapper and not telling them that the Autobots feel the need to investigate further into Skywatch? What do they really think that this version of Skywatch is keeping from them that they did not already have inklings about?
Mike Costa wrote:Well, they are definitely keeping some troubling secrets, and you'll find out what those are when you read the arc. But the Autobots are worried because Spike had made them certain promises, and he has clearly broken them. He is, in effect, lying to the Autobots, and possibly manipulating them. What's more, he went and killed Scrapper without any of his superiors knowing either, so he has performed a totally rogue operation, essentially betraying the trust of everyone he works with. It's clear that, despite being a capable soldier, he is a loose cannon. What the Autobots will do with that information, should they discover it, remains to be seen...
What are we going to see from Jazz in future issues? He clearly wants to get back into it, but what isn't clear is that he is feeling any guilt, or remorse for what he did. His character, and his judgment are being singled out by his comrades. Is he going to be a subject for human hatred and mistrust? Is this going to effect him in the way it would the Jazz many of us know as culture loving, Earth-loving Jazz? Or is this Jazz not really the Jazz we have on Earth in Ongoing?
Mike Costa wrote:It's still the same Jazz, and I thought the fact that he both loved the Earth, but also was a highly trained operative was an interesting contrast, and made him the perfect character to take the drastic step he did. But that does have serious consequences, and you will see exactly how Jazz deals with those consequences in the Last Story on Earth.
Was Jazz always the Autobot who was going to take that shot (TF #17--killing the human with the Megatron gun--)? Was anybody else even considered? Why was he chosen? Was there ever a problem passing that piece of writing off to HASBRO? Did they want it nixed, revised, told differently, or for it to be a different character taking that action?
Mike Costa wrote:Jazz was always the character I intended to perform that act, for the reasons I said above. Hasbro must have been fine with it, because they never suggested I use anyone else, or express any reservation whatsoever. At this point, I think Hasbro pretty much trusts me (or at least they trust Andy Schmidt) and it's very rare that I hear that they've vetoed something I want to do. In fact, I can't even think of the last time that happened.
Who is in charge of the Autobots now? As we have seen from upcoming covers, Bumblebee will be joining Jazz and Prowl to investigate Skywatch, but is he going to be the acting commander, or is Optimus Prime? Or is Ultra Magnus? Or is Prowl? Or is someone that we have yet to meet going to be in charge? Can you explain how the role of leadership has supposedly changed? Why is Optimus Prime so willing to take the reigns again, after he was so sure he did NOT want to lead way back in the beginning of ongoing?
MIke Costa wrote:Bumblebee is technically the leader... but yes, it certainly does seem that Prime is still the REAL leader, doesn't it? This is a question that will be addressed very soon in the lead-up to “CHAOS”.
Where is Don Figueroa? Do you feel that the group of artists you have (Alex, Guido, Brendan and Livio) are able to tell the story artistically as Don envisioned it?
Mike Costa wrote:Don lives in the Los Angeles area, I think. And I think that Alex, Guido, Brendan, Livio, Nick, Javier, Casey and EJ have all remained true to the collective vision that is Transformers. Don is a huge contributor to that vision, certainly... but I want Nick to draw like Nick, or Guido to draw like Guido. I don't want these guys aping Don's style, and I don't think Don would want that either. I think they have all created some of the most stunning and memorable work in TF history, and I am proud to have been a part of it.
(Wow. That is a really stunning line-up of TF-artist talent I've worked with when you really lay it out like that.)
Any Punch/Counterpunch or more Transformers espionage based work in your future similar to how you worked Chuckles in GI JOE: COBRA?
Mike Costa wrote:There are definitely plans for Punch/Counterpunch in the works. I'm not exactly sure when you will see them, but we have serious plans.
Any teasers for the future like, what is 'Issue #125 - encrypted' all about? Why should readers continue to read Transformers Ongoing? "According to Mike Costa, we should continue to read IDW Transformers comics because _______________________."(fill in the blank as you see fit).
MIke Costa wrote:You should continue reading IDW Transformers comics because “CHAOS” is probably the biggest event in TF comic-book history, and issue 125, when the details finally become unencrypted, is going to blow the mind of every TF fan who has read a comic in the IDW era. You guys will not believe it when you see what we have planned.
Thanks for your time Mr. Costa! We really appreciate you taking a few moments to fill us in on some of your creative ideas and processes.
Mike Costa wrote:Well it's my pleasure. Thank you
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Next Seibertron.com was able to also ask new artist Brendan Cahill some questions about his experiences.
From the Transformers fans at Seibertron.com, welcome aboard, Brendan! We Transformers fans are a very fickle fandom. As you have probably read, we are quite passionate, and picky. How do you feel about the task ahead of you in illustrating Transformers Ongoing?
Brendan Cahill wrote:Thanks! I’ll try to live up to your expectations. In a way, the potential fan reaction is a bit daunting, but then I’m usually my own toughest critic, so in a different way just putting lines on paper is daunting. It sounds corny, but it’s true: I Just do my best and hope it’s good enough.
Despite the reputation you might feel the fans have, I think they’re willing to accept a lot of different styles and ideas. Each artist on the book has put his own spin on the characters. My main concern is not to be strict about adhering to visual preconceptions, but to service the core of who that character is, from the broadest identifiers of body color and eye-lens style, to how he walks, to facial expressions. For any character in any genre, I try to work from the inside out. Get the core right, and the rest follows. And that’s what I’m trying to accomplish here
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We've seen a few examples of your work, you're off to a great start! What do you feel is your greatest strength as a new artist on this series?
Brendan Cahill wrote:I think my strength as an artist is in storytelling. When I approach any given panel or page, my main concern is how it reads: Do the backgrounds effectively establish place and time? Is the blocking clear? Is the “cinematography” internally consistent? Are the characters “acting” appropriately? The overall awesomeness of the image is a secondary concern--I’d rather a panel be workmanlike and tell the story effectively than be a smorgasboard of action that confuses and calls attention to itself. Besides, if every image shouts, then the whole thing gets really loud, and when you really want to pull out an incredible shot, it doesn’t rise above the din.
That’s a pretty general answer, I guess, but I think it’s the most important part of what I do. In bringing that to Transformers, I hope I also bring a sense of realism. The better the layouts and action read, the more immersive the experience is, and in sci-fi of any stripe--especially when you’re dealing with something as improbable as giant robots--I think it’s important that it be as real as possible. You start out with a significant challenge to suspension of disbelief (the unreality of the story), so it’s the artist’s job to remove as much friction as possible from that process of immersion. That’s not to say that a cartoony approach can’t work (clearly it can and does!), but my particular approach is to go for that realism.
Who are your influences in your creative style? Whose work do you love in comics (any) past and present?
Brendan Cahill wrote:There are many and they change all the time. My single favorite artist working in comics right now is Stuart Immonen, and I definitely try to steal as much from him (and his long-time inker Wade von Grawbadger) as possible technique-wise--while avoiding aping his style of course. Bryan Hitch, Olivier Coipel, Jim Cheung. Going back, I’ve always been a huge fan of Matt Wagner, Masamune Shirow, and Dave Sim. And that’s not even getting into writers and digging into process, which I love. As an artist, (and as a writer, which I also fancy myself) I feel like I have to pay attention to how a real pro like Mark Millar writes, because part of the visual quality of his books comes out of his scripts. It’s immensely fun and rewarding trying to figure out how much of what ends up on the page is an interpretation that Hitch or McNiven or whoever made, and how much was in there at the script stage.
Who is your favorite Transformer to draw? Who is your favorite character to draw from any company in any comic? Please give any details you can about why? What makes Transformers so unique a property and group of characters to draw compared to, oh, The X-Men, or Superman?
Brendan Cahill wrote:My issues of the book have centered a lot on Prowl, so I’ve formed the deepest connection with him--both visually and in terms of his personality. Drawing Transformers is challenging because each character has a very specific design. When you’re drawing humans, they all have the same basic parts and roughly the same shape--especially when you’re talking about superheroes. Sure, Wolverine is shorter and thicker than Cyclops, but that’s just a difference of scale. Draw a muscular male body at the right proportions and then put either claws or a visor on it, and you’re good. That’s oversimplifying, but you get the idea. In Transformers, each bot is different from the ground up. So since I’ve been drawing Prowl a lot, he’s the first one I’ve really internalized to the point where I can just lay him down on the page, rather than having constantly to check and recheck my design sheets to make sure I get all the parts right. That makes him easier for me to draw and it also lets me concentrate more on his personality as I draw him. Of course as I draw the others more, I find things to love about each of them. Ultra Magnus is fun because he’s just so darn big and imposing, Bumblebee probably has the most inherent personality, etc.
As for other properties (ignoring for the moment my own characters that haven’t actually appeared anywhere yet), I really love drawing the X-Men. I mean, who doesn’t? For a single character? That’s tough to narrow down, but Emma Frost might make the cut. Or Black Widow. In fact, the only complaint I have about drawing Transformers is the distinct lack of shapely women in spandex.
Are you new to the Transformers brand or have you been one of the 'loved 'em since I was a kid crowd?'
Brendan Cahill wrote:Of course I grew up with Transformers--I even saw the animated movie in the theater--but I didn’t keep up with the brand over the years. When I came back to it for this project, I didn’t know how much I’d remember, but the characters are so well-defined that I felt comfortable just jumping in and trusting in those strong archetypes to carry me until I got my footing. There was a weird moment where I was drawing Optimus Prime for the first time on this project and my muscle memory started remembering some of the details--the contour of his mouthpiece, that sort of thing--from when I’d drawn him when I was a kid! There’s definitely something enduring about these guys.
How do you feel about the story that Mike (Costa) and James (Roberts) are fashioning? What do you like most about working with them?
Brendan Cahill wrote:Terrible. Just awful. No, I’m kidding, of course. I have to admit that when I went into it, I was a little bit doubtful: Sure, these stories were cool when I was a kid, but would they appeal to me as an adult? So Andy sent me a bunch of issues and I sat down to read them and instantly I was relieved. As I’m sure you in the community can attest, the answer to my question is “of course.” I think Mike and James have nailed it. They didn’t start from “okay, I’ve got these big robots,” but from “okay, I’ve got these characters, and here are their personalities, their flaws, their internal conflicts.” I found it really easy to slip into the current story, even without knowing a lot of the backstory, and I found myself caring about it right away. That’s the biggest hurdle for a writer to clear, and the one where the angle of approach is so hard to identify: make me care. And these guys do it.
As far as working on it, I can only speak to working on Mike’s stuff. Aside from general quality of workmanship, which is there, one of his best traits is that he knows how to fill twenty-two pages with exactly the right amount of stuff. That’s a bigger challenge than you might think: Four to five panels a page, with an appropriate amount of dialog in each panel, comprising twenty-two pages that starts at a starting point and ends with a big reveal, and meanwhile each scene accomplishes something. Mike’s stuff is really consistent and really lean. Each scene has just the amount of dialog it needs and no more, which means there’s always space for the art, so layouts are really easy and enjoyable. And on the other side of that coin, I’m not filling in space, trying to support flabby storytelling with art that has to be forced to be dynamic. He’s very good at balance, which I think dovetails nicely with my own storytelling style.
Any bits you want to share with the community of fans at Seibertron.com about yourself, your work, or anything else? What famous Transformers moment/event would you love to illustrate, or re-create in comic form?
Brendan Cahill wrote:Well, I hope that just about everything I have to share is right there on the page. I’ve felt really accepted both by the editorial and creative team here at IDW, and by the fans who saw my work at WonderCon and reacted with an encouraging lack of jeers and hurled tomatoes. I’ve been wanting to work in comics for years and I held off even trying to get in, partly because it’s intimidating, and partly because I really didn’t think I was good enough until just recently. So now that I’m here, I plan to make the most of it. That’s the deal I’ll make with you: I do my absolute best to bring the characters you love to life, and if I pull it off, in return, you talk me up to anyone who will listen. And, you know, even people who won’t. With the Transformers fan base behind me, fame and fortune can only be a few short steps away!
As for a famous Transformers moment, I have to go back to the animated movie because at the time it blew my little mind. Unicron devouring planets, the emergence of Galvatron, the passing of the Matrix to Hot Rod, it was all grand theater--space opera in the best sense. Huge adventures with huge themes and huge reach. Any little part of something like that would be awesome.
"According to Brendan Cahill we should continue to read IDW Transformers Comics because ____________________________________________________________________________."(please fill in with your thoughts/word/words/etc, as you see fit!
Brendan Cahill wrote:Because if you don’t, Andy will cry. Seriously. And none of us wants to see that.
Thanks Brendan for all of your insights, and sharing about your role in Transformers lore today! We fans love it when we get to talk with you creators. Many of us are hacks at being comic artists or writers ourselves, and we really love the opportunity to pick the brains of those whose work has been granted status of 'approved' and have made it to 'the big show' to throw out a cliche or two.
Take care, and we look forward to hearing and seeing more from you!
Also, thanks and lots of appreciation to Transformers Editor and soon-soon-to-be HASBRO Employee Andy Schmidt for helping us to stay in contact with IDW, and getting us psyched for this summer's CHAOS! Best of luck to you Andy!
Gamespot has posted a new Transformers DOTM video game demo and interview with High Moon's Sean Miller. We learn a little bit more about the first level, which is set in South America. Bumblebee is described as more of a "warrior scout" than a guardian. Ironhide, who's level takes place in Detroit, is described as becoming "tank-like" in his "Stealth Mode".
Thanks to a sit down with the good people at Comics Continuum, we have an interview with IDW's Head Guy - Andy Schmidt. He talks about Bumblebee #4, the short mini-series that focuses on everyone's favourite yellow character. Check out the interview below!
Keep it at Seibertron.com for the fastest Transformers news for the net!
Thursday, Kevin Lukis of Unicron.Com had the pleasure of being interviewed with Mark Ryan, the voice of Movie Bumblebee & Jetfire, on Minneapolis/St Paul talk radio. A slideshow, along with the interview audio, is available on YouTube HERE.
In a recent Q And A at TFW2005, Marty Isenberg, Transformers Animated Story Editor who also shared some items at the HASBRO SDCC panel, also poured as much of his heart out as he thought he was allowed about a few different related hot ANIMATED topics.
Marty Isenberg- "I'm still not entirely clear on what we can and cannot say about Season Three. So I will just say that we have not yet begun work on Season Four.
As for what MIGHT happen if there were to be, say, a THEORETICAL Season Three? Well, let's just say that many questions from Seasons One and Two would have to be answered, now wouldn't they?"
"A lot of ideas for this show start out with "wouldn't it be funny if..."
Q-
"What have been some things that you have found to be hard to cut out of a given story, Transformers or otherwise? Were there any concepts in a show you're worked on that you'd have liked to explore further? How is it decided what stays and what is cut?"
Marty Isenberg- "There are a couple of funny trick-or-treat bits we had to cut from "Along Came a Spider" for time. "Velocity" lost a really nice scene where Sari distracts Bulkhead and allows Bumblebee to sneak out. "Megatron Rising" lost a significant scene, but not for time. The animation that came back from overseas was simply unusable. So I can reveal here for the first time that the Dinobots were SUPPOSED to join the battle in Part Two, only to have Megatron singlehandedly defeat them one-two-three -- basically to show what a badass Megatron is in his new body and how our heroes don't stand a chance. Ultimately the episode worked fine without that scene, and I suspect there would have been some disgruntled fans upset about how easily the Dinobots were taken down."
To read the rest of the interview, Marty asks you to 'click this link' to peruse his other thoughts, and comments about 'Transformers Animated'.
johndoe4880 has informed us about a new article on Scifi.com featuring an interview with Megan Fox. Here is what the article said:
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Megan Fox told SCI FI Wire that the movie is crazier than the first one in terms of action "by like a hundred."
I'm doing good," Fox said in an interview in Santa Monica, Calif., on July 14. "I've had like four injuries so far. So I'm accumulating the injuries and just going on with it. It's fun. It's what it is. It's a Michael Bay movie."
Part of that is being tossed around in the same yellow Camaro as in the first film, Fox said. "There's a different Bumblebee, the yellow one that you see in the movie, that we drive," she said, adding: "I don't drive it, but it drives at like 120 miles an hour, and we're in it with no seat belts or harnesses or anything. It's, if we die, we die, all in the name of Transformers (laughs)."
The sequel picks up the story of Mikaela and Sam Witwicky (again played by Shia LaBeouf) two years after they met. "It's sort of like a jump," Fox said. "It's two years from when you last saw us, obviously, because it's matching with when the movie comes out. We're college age, and our relationship ... we just get together in the last one. And so you miss all of that new relationship. There's no love scenes, no big hookup in the end. That's all, sort of, in the past. Because we've been together for years now. So we're just together, hanging out, doing what we got to do to ... That's all I can say!"
Fox allowed that Mikaela has remained in Los Angeles while Sam has gone off to college in the east.
"We're shooting in L.A. for the next few weeks," Fox said. "We were in Philadelphia and New Jersey on the East Coast. We're only now in our fifth week of filming, so we're here for a few weeks. ... I'm not in college. Shia's character's in college. I'm back home."
But do they eventually wind up in the same place? "Yeah, we do," she said with a smile.
Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen is slated for release on June 26, 2009.
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.
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
Board member Optimutt has posted an interview he has done with acclaimed science fiction author Alan Dean Foster, among whose works include both the novelization of the Transformers Movie and it's prequel "Ghosts of Yesterday." The relevant information pertaining to Transformers has been posted below:
O: Since we’ve opened the door to the real world of Science Fiction, let me ask you about your adaptation of the new Transformers movie. I loved the book. I loved the movie. What are your thoughts about it?
ADF: The success of the film was a big surprise to a lot of the people. Most were surprised that it was such a good movie. It was the biggest film of the year. A lot of people expected it to flop because they didn’t like Michael Bay – I don’t understand why people hate him. I never met the man; I don’t know him from Adam. He’s made some big budget movies, some have done well, others haven’t, but that can be said about just about any director. Why does this guy inspire such vitriol?
O: As a Transformers fan, I can tell you that many of my peers saw the designs for the Transformers and flipped out. They had nothing but gripes and complaints about the style Bay chose to use to design them, saying “This isn’t how it should be.” Surely you encountered some of this stuff. But hopefully not as much flak as Bay.
ADF: Not as much because people realized that I had to work with what they were doing and I couldn’t change it. If you can’t change it, there’s no point in dumping on you. This whole problem has a “Never spit in someone’s holy water” theme to it. What those fans don’t understand is that in making a big 100 to 200 million dollar budgeted film – which is more than some countries earn per year – you have to make money back. A general rule of thumb is that a film has to take in 2.5 times the cost to break even, so if you a 200 million dollar film, they have to make half a billion dollars. That’s through sales, DVD, but that’s still a lot of money. So when you make a film, one thing you have to do is figure out how to do this film so that it appeals to 20 other people without losing the other 20 people. This has nothing to do with story but everything to do with simply appealing to that other tiny fragment of the demographic. I thought, as I came into this project. I’m the last one to defend the Hollywood producers, but I thought they and Michael Bay were bending over backwards to listen to the fan websites, and yes, accommodating the people to whom, Transformers is canon. The fact that they took so much crap onto top of that, people in Hollywood, they take a look at that and say, “Look what DreamWorks did, and look what they took in response. Why should we bother to put that kind of effort into our picture? If people aren’t going to respect us for what we’re trying to do, why should we put up with it?” It’s something fans don’t’ realize. You have a 200, millions dollar movie, it’s always 2-3 years out of your life. If Joe from Des Moines writes in and says Optimus Prime shouldn’t have lips, that’s not a decision for him to make. That becomes an economic decision of the company.
O: As for the book, your adaptation of the movie, I was impressed by how true you stayed.
ADF: Thanks. I try to.
O: How did you get into adaptations?
ADF: In 1972, somebody in Ballentine bought the rights to a really horrific Italian movie about a female Tarzan. The character was on-screen for about 5 minutes, played by a diminutive Vietnamese girl that doesn’t look anything like your image of a female Tarzan. It was a horrible low-budget film, but, the guy in charge of promotion and advertising of the film, who got the rights, was a fan. The only smart thing they did was the advertising department got Frank Frazetta do two images, full oils, both of which have been reproduced many times in his various art books, but they don’t say “Rawanna” they say, “Girl With Cat”. Nobody saw the movie; to this day, I’ve never met anyone else that’s seen the movie. So Gena Lynne Del Ray, who had just taken over Ballantine, knew I had a master of fine arts and knew my way around a film script, asked me if I’d do the adaptation to this film about a female Tarzan, and I said, “Sounds great! When can I see a script?” She said, “There is no script. But I can arrange a screening in Los Angeles for you.” So I go down Hollywood Boulevard, into a typical schlock screening room, where they have a little 16mm projector, and run the film, which is all in Italian. So I have no script, and the film is all in Italian. I have no idea what anyone is saying and the film is just so awful. When I finished, I dedicated the book to Frank Frazetta who did the novelized cover. As you can imagine – this being Frank’s work – the cover is exactly what you want a female Tarzan to look like. After that, I did Dark Star, which was a John Carpenter film project. And from those two, I developed quite a reputation as an adaptation writer. I do two or three a year, if it’s something that seems interesting. And I turn some down, sometimes I do spin-off books, too. But don’t do those often because, I didn’t really want to write about Han Solo’s second cousin in Correlia. The Transformers? You know I wasn’t going to do that in the first place.
O: That’s an interesting piece of information. What got you to do it? What changed your mind?
ADF: I asked myself, “Do I really want to do a book about alien robots based on children’s’ toys. And what got me to do it finally was that I thought it would be a real challenge to take a story about giant fighting alien robots based on a line of children’s toys and turn it into a real novel. And that’s what got me into it. The other thing was I knew Spielberg was executive producing it. If there’s a magic word in Hollywood, it’s Spielberg. Even his bad – his not as good movies – like 1941 are worth watching. And he understands Science Fiction! He grew up with it, he loves it, just like Lucas and Cameron, and I knew that he would not do something just to make money, because he doesn’t need money. So I asked for a script and the script; which was much better than I thought it would be; in fact, it was pretty good. This whole sub-line about the teenage kid, there is some very funny dialogue, the characters were very interesting. I liked the fact that the girl was the car buff, and the boy wasn’t. Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman wrote a really good screenplay that just happens to be about giant robots. And the way I remember it, the thing that got Spielberg involved was that it was not about giant fighting alien robots, it’s about a boy and his car – that human element that he has in all his movies, and sure enough that’s the basis of the movie: the relationship between Shia Lebouf and Bumblebee.
A lot of the fan criticism that I read, claimed that there’s too much teenagers and not enough robots. And I have to tell them, there may not be enough Transformers for you, but you’re going to go see the movie anyway. However much you complain and bitch, you’re going to go see it, and the producers know it too, so you’re not fooling anybody. The 10000 of you die-hard-live-for-transformers fans are not the ones that are going to make up the budget for this film, and the producers have that in mind. But these guys could have done some very standard things, like the conventional model girls, but they really worked on it. The other gal in the story was a big-time hacker: every nerd’s dream is someone who looks like Angelina Jolie who can sit down and talk about the latest Intel chip, and kick ass every once in a while. It was a very smart movie. But it also could very well be a disaster, too, special effects aside. I always tell people that no matter how good the special effects are, you will not have a successful film without the human element. People go to see Star Wars and they say the cities and battles are great, but they really want to see what happens to Luke and Vader and Leia. All the other stuff is window dressing. And I feel that way about books as well. You can write big ships, and space travel, and big battles, but if there’s not that human interest, whether it’s a human being or an alien or whatever, but if there’s not an emotion at the center, you have no story.
O: What projects are you working on now?
ADF: I have three books coming out by Del Ray. One is my 7th short story collection called “Exceptions to Reality”, and there is a book that resolves 35 years of loose ends about a character called Flinx. It’s not necessarily the last Flinx book, but it ties up all the loose story ends, called “Flinx Transcendent.” I’m also working on a fantasy trilogy that is currently in negotiations. And beyond that, including the adaptation to the Transformers movie sequel, we’ll see.
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