Time Magazine Article on How Fans Influenced the Upcoming Transformers Movie

We kept the name alive and proved that a following of the name was large enough to draw in a crowd.

So they took the name and and made a film that they had in mind.

The End

Wait, didn't Nelson say that the fans didn't have an influence at all??

That was an enjoyable read. I think the fans had an overall positive effect on the execution of the Transformers movie, even if we didn't get everything that we wanted as fans.

Wha? The fans were overall ignored, except for the VOs, and that was to keep us from boycotting because we didn't like George Clooney. Nelson himself said that the designs were already signed and approved by the time they were leaked. The only thing that was changed was Peter Cullen, and his voice will be spewed from the mouth of a babboon.

Us fans have a very, very minor influence on getting things changed and/or corrected.

A critic of a comic book movie, neither of which I can remember right now, said it best when talking aboot fan outrage over changing everything,

"Who cares about the fans?"

This notion is most likely shared by studio heads and most filmakers who tackle beloved franchises.

we dindt influenced shit !!! they took the name of transformers and f&$^ up megatron, they add a nose and flames to optimus prime, starscream looks like avispanator (my spell sucks lol)......

and they realize that they f!@# soundwave so bad they decided to give the excuse that was frenzy

Bleh. I'm not seeing the influence either. I feel we've influenced Clerks II more than we did this movie. And I rather enjoyed watching Randal making fun of Elias' fandom.

"Wait, didn't Nelson say that the fans didn't have an influence at all??"

I believe his actual statement was that fans did not influence the design aesthetic of the movie's characters- unfortunately, a lot of people couldn't see past them and, as we will no doubt see as this thread progresses, certain individuals were most put out that the only thing they cared about was also the only thing they couldn't change.

-Nick

Chris Bot wrote:Us fans have a very, very minor influence on getting things changed and/or corrected.

A critic of a comic book movie, neither of which I can remember right now, said it best when talking aboot fan outrage over changing everything,

"Who cares about the fans?"

This notion is most likely shared by studio heads and most filmakers who tackle beloved franchises.

That to me seems disrespectful. Without the fans, the franchise wouldn't be around long enough to make a movie. The fans are the majority of the people going to see a movie based on a franchise they love, if you alienate them, they won't show.

I bet the people who says the fans don't matter are grade a A$$HOLES! Just like Uwe " F**K up everything I touch" Boll!

Yeah I wanted to reach into the tv screen and strangle the guy

There is only so much money to be made off the fans. The rest of the revenue from the movie will come from the 'omfg r4ndum 4cshUn m00vee is guna s33 it lolz' crowd.

We fans sure had a say in this garbage. Oh yeah, it's been like telling a deaf person to move. If we had a say in this I wouldn't feel Transformers on the verge of sucking (anyways we still have perveted Kiss Players line along with the Sports Label for people with foot fetish).

Hey Ryan-
This is practically the same article that I wrote. I forgot to send you a copy. I'll forward it to you.

A new term for us G1 fans

"Alpha Fans"

we influenced it? wow hard to believe since Michael Bay is running the helm full speed into a brick wall...

We got Cullen in Time Magazine. Mission accomplished.

GetterDragun wrote:We got Cullen in Time Magazine. Mission accomplished.

Hugo Weaving playing a frozen metal vagina. Mission accomplished!

We didn't influence sh*t! Boy what a 'crock of BS'. Mr. Bay went ahead full speed and didn't give a damn what everyone else thought. 'The ink was dry' before we had any say about how the robots looked like. So stupid. If they actually did the blocky style, they probably could have saved some money and added in a few more characters CG'ed the Ark at least. I don't care to see hundreds of moving parts (or something to that nature) in Optimus's hand as Shia has stated.

does the article mention that we fans(mainly g1'ers) in fact had no influence at all and that bay and the rest of his people decided to pretty much ignore the origins and spit on us fans that were there since the beginning. oh, and also they've fucked up every design so badly that it's a freaking joke but oh wait they got cullen so that should make up for all the screw ups they've made.

And the poor performance of Grindhouse, the double feature from two fanboy deities, directors Quentin Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez, shows that fanboy love can get you only so far. Plenty of people heard about the movie--a three-hour '70s-exploitation-style gorefest--but decided it was an inside joke they weren't going to get. "There's this perception that the geeks have inherited the earth," says Smith, "but if they had, Grindhouse would have grossed $100 million. It plays to a marginalized culture."

No-- it just sucked. It didn't get hit out on the internet, and, even when people finally heard about it maybe a month before it came out, it looked like a piece of crap (and pretty much looked the same thing Tarintino ever does).

On the other hand, there have been rumors about a transformers movie for years now, which bases itself on a fanbase going back near 25 years. If that fanbase wasn't so desperate for a movie, they would mot put up with this crap and trash this thing and shut it down for good-- but again, I'm just glad to see robots. Minority, yes, but, when 8 million nerds talk to 10 people each, those people talk to people, and you very shortly get a flux that influences worlds.

the fans didn't have much influence(IF ANY) on how starscream should look.
if not the body at least make the head look like starscream, at first look someone would see this new incarnation as a completely new character, i certainly would. I'm sure that there were some things that fans had some influence on, but not as much as there could've been.

Ok, so the moral to the story is, hard core fans can make a difference, and by blogging and doing exactly what we do here on Seibertron.com and many other sites, we can influence pop culture.. thats kinda cool.. nice article..

and another thing that article was an insult to every tf or sci-fi fan
"Hard-core fans represent a small piece of the viewing public, but they influence geek culture, journalists, Wall Street. You don't want them to trash your project." If these fans embrace a project, as they did 300 and Heroes, they can kick-start a hit."

what a bunch of B.S.

Ultra Markus wrote:and another thing that article was an insult to every tf or sci-fi fan
"Hard-core fans represent a small piece of the viewing public, but they influence geek culture, journalists, Wall Street. You don't want them to trash your project." If these fans embrace a project, as they did 300 and Heroes, they can kick-start a hit."

what a bunch of B.S.

How is it b.s.? Hard core fans are in fact a very small niche when compared to the general public. I think one thing that some people do is put a little too much stock in how big their "hobby" is and get upset when people calll them toys and things for kids because that is the reality and general concensus

At least the TF writers felt they were big enough geeks to ignore the entire TF canon. I guess they know better then 25 years of development...

Ack! Sorry this negativity is pointless. But it does seem everyone involved in this project got a little too big for their breeches.

Good article.

This movie is going to be great! Thanks to all the hard work that the crew put into it. I'm sorry that there are people out there that can not see beyond their own shallow expectations and do not understand that every incarnation of Transformers has been different than the one before it. Forgive those that have criticised your hard work all along. For they can do no better.

LuckytheWonderLlama wrote:Good article.

This movie is going to be great! Thanks to all the hard work that the crew put into it. I'm sorry that there are people out there that can not see beyond their own shallow expectations and do not understand that every incarnation of Transformers has been different than the one before it. Forgive those that have criticised your hard work all along. For they can do no better.

Exactly, what is the point of 25 years of canon if it is nothing but different universes and alternate timelines that rewrites itself as it see fit. Between the old marvel comic, the cartoon, the newer stuff there is no canon but merely origins and deaths that fit in with the current storyline at the time. People want to cry and whine because its different and the quote of "people fear change" is an ideal example of how a lot of the fandom is acting, a lot of people have had change of hearts and some are still adament but no matter who made the movie and who did the designs someone will always complain about something.


Edit: Theres a reason "they" are writing movies and "we" are on websites dissecting their every decision.

.....why do people think that to be a fan of something, you have to remain a virgin??

(For those that don't know, I'm married & have 2 kids, BTW)

Ultra Markus wrote:and another thing that article was an insult to every tf or sci-fi fan
"Hard-core fans represent a small piece of the viewing public, but they influence geek culture, journalists, Wall Street. You don't want them to trash your project." If these fans embrace a project, as they did 300 and Heroes, they can kick-start a hit."

what a bunch of B.S.

Because Avi Arad obviously has no idea what he's talking about when it comes to these types of movies.

I guess it could be considered true that the fans had major input in the making of this film... if you completely ignore all the dedicated fanboards and only count Bay fans and the 'League of Extraordinary Gentlemen is totally underrated and your puerile namecalling is the pinnacle of high humor, Mr. Murphy' crowd that posts on his board as 'hardcore fans'.

1Big\"F\"ingRayOfSunshine wrote:
Exactly, what is the point of 25 years of canon if it is nothing but different universes and alternate timelines that rewrites itself as it see fit. Between the old marvel comic, the cartoon, the newer stuff there is no canon but merely origins and deaths that fit in with the current storyline at the time. People want to cry and whine because its different and the quote of "people fear change" is an ideal example of how a lot of the fandom is acting, a lot of people have had change of hearts and some are still adament but no matter who made the movie and who did the designs someone will always complain about something.


Edit: Theres a reason "they" are writing movies and "we" are on websites dissecting their every decision.

The canon of the G1 cartoon and various comics differed, true, but the overall premise and characters (including their general appearance) remained the same. Yes, the post Beast-Wars lines are all alternate universe but does anyone above the age of 13 really hold either the cartoon or the comic Armada/Energon/Cybertron series in as high regard as the G1 tie-ins? Is there even an Armada/Energon comic anymore?

It's like, if a Gundam movie initially declared to be UC is made and when it turns out to be a mix of Seed and G-Gundam, going "look, it's Gundam, it's constantly changed over the years with different canons and universes, get over it".


Also, Family Circus, Fusco Brothers, and Garfield still run in the paper every day in spite of the fact that Garfield hasn't been funny for at least as long as I've been alive and Family Circus and Fusco Brothers have never been. Is there a reason Bill Keane writes comic strips and I don't? Maybe, but either way Family Circus still sucks.

Ultra Markus wrote:and another thing that article was an insult to every tf or sci-fi fan
"Hard-core fans represent a small piece of the viewing public, but they influence geek culture, journalists, Wall Street. You don't want them to trash your project." If these fans embrace a project, as they did 300 and Heroes, they can kick-start a hit."

what a bunch of B.S.

Actually it's no where near BS. This film, like most others are made for the general public. In this case, I'm actually kinda glad for certain changes. Yeah some of the designs suck, and the story isn't totally G1, but the movie if successful will make sure TF's are around even longer.

Let's look at Firefly. That was made totally for the fans, and it flopped. Now there's really nothing going on for it or the Serenity series. If TF went the same way, I'd hate to say it, that would kill the franchise. In truth, for this movie, we are a very small fraction of the audience, and if this fails you know Hasbro's would pull the plug on TF's all together. I guess I'm saying I'd rather deal with some change if it's gonna create longevity for the fanchise as whole.

D-340 wrote:

Ultra Markus wrote:and another thing that article was an insult to every tf or sci-fi fan
"Hard-core fans represent a small piece of the viewing public, but they influence geek culture, journalists, Wall Street. You don't want them to trash your project." If these fans embrace a project, as they did 300 and Heroes, they can kick-start a hit."

what a bunch of B.S.

Actually it's no where near BS. This film, like most others are made for the general public. In this case, I'm actually kinda glad for certain changes. Yeah some of the designs suck, and the story isn't totally G1, but the movie if successful will make sure TF's are around even longer.

Let's look at Firefly. That was made totally for the fans, and it flopped. Now there's really nothing going on for it or the Serenity series. If TF went the same way, I'd hate to say it, that would kill the franchise. In truth, for this movie, we are a very small fraction of the audience, and if this fails you know Hasbro's would pull the plug on TF's all together. I guess I'm saying I'd rather deal with some change if it's gonna create longevity for the fanchise as whole.

Serenity is probably a bad example as it was based on a television show with a small cult following that lasted less than a full season to begin with, whereas adaptations of comics are generally less accessible to the mainstream than a primetime t.v. show.

I agree that certain changes were necessary to making a successful film adaptation but it's a matter of what is changed. Removing the mass shifting was probably necessary but replacing energon with a magical relic... that's questionable. There's a fine line between organic web-shooters and turning King Koopa and his goombas into dino-men and by ignoring fan input that line is far too easy to tread over.

Salazaar wrote:

GetterDragun wrote:We got Cullen in Time Magazine. Mission accomplished.

Hugo Weaving playing a frozen metal vagina. Mission accomplished!

That's terribly crass. How does Megatron resemble a vagina?

Anyway, I find it hard to believe that the fans had a significant effect on the movie. That just isn't the way films work. However, if we have had some effect, that's a good thing. Maybe that even means the film could have been worse.

Perosnally, I'm glad we have new stuff. I'm glad there's a new continuity. I'm not keen on all of the designs but I like most of them.

I certainly don't see this film as being as far removed from its core as Super Mario Bros., though why they changed the simple energon idea into the Allspark cube is beyond me.

Hahaha you guys are too much sometimes. Thanks for the laugh though.

AbsumZer0 wrote:

D-340 wrote:

Ultra Markus wrote:and another thing that article was an insult to every tf or sci-fi fan
"Hard-core fans represent a small piece of the viewing public, but they influence geek culture, journalists, Wall Street. You don't want them to trash your project." If these fans embrace a project, as they did 300 and Heroes, they can kick-start a hit."

what a bunch of B.S.

Actually it's no where near BS. This film, like most others are made for the general public. In this case, I'm actually kinda glad for certain changes. Yeah some of the designs suck, and the story isn't totally G1, but the movie if successful will make sure TF's are around even longer.

Let's look at Firefly. That was made totally for the fans, and it flopped. Now there's really nothing going on for it or the Serenity series. If TF went the same way, I'd hate to say it, that would kill the franchise. In truth, for this movie, we are a very small fraction of the audience, and if this fails you know Hasbro's would pull the plug on TF's all together. I guess I'm saying I'd rather deal with some change if it's gonna create longevity for the fanchise as whole.

Serenity is probably a bad example as it was based on a television show with a small cult following that lasted less than a full season to begin with, whereas adaptations of comics are generally less accessible to the mainstream than a primetime t.v. show.

I agree that certain changes were necessary to making a successful film adaptation but it's a matter of what is changed. Removing the mass shifting was probably necessary but replacing energon with a magical relic... that's questionable. There's a fine line between organic web-shooters and turning King Koopa and his goombas into dino-men and by ignoring fan input that line is far too easy to tread over.

Oh, you're definately right about the Energon/Allspark deal. That's one of the things I don't like. ut I wounldn't go as far as to compare this to the Super Mario Bros. movie though. It's not that far removed from the source material as a whole(not just G1, but all the incarnations of TF).

Leonardo wrote:

Salazaar wrote:

GetterDragun wrote:We got Cullen in Time Magazine. Mission accomplished.

Hugo Weaving playing a frozen metal vagina. Mission accomplished!

That's terribly crass. How does Megatron resemble a vagina?

Anyway, I find it hard to believe that the fans had a significant effect on the movie. That just isn't the way films work. However, if we have had some effect, that's a good thing. Maybe that even means the film could have been worse.

Perosnally, I'm glad we have new stuff. I'm glad there's a new continuity. I'm not keen on all of the designs but I like most of them.

I certainly don't see this film as being as far removed from its core as Super Mario Bros., though why they changed the simple energon idea into the Allspark cube is beyond me.

It's because that was one of the few thing they listened to the fans about. Anybody that knows peanuts about TFs knows that energon is their food, so to speak, not their source of life. I believe at one point, they were even considering calling it the Matrix, but didn't want to confuse standard moviegoers into thinking that it had any relation to the movie trillogy of the same name (Why they couldn't call it the Autobot Matrix of Leadership, ot the Creation Matrix or something like that is beyond me), so instead they referenced something in the TF mythos that, IIRC was a source of life for TFs, which is essentially what they were going for storywise anyway.

....Would've been nice if they managed to figure this stuff out before they made the Allspark just a black cube.....

.....BTW, considering how much Bay has been trashing the older "blocky" designs of the previous TF designs, anybody else find it kind of funny that all these overly-complicated non-blocky Bayformers are searching for a simple cube....the very essence of "block"??

Nemesis Cyberplex wrote:

Leonardo wrote:

Salazaar wrote:

GetterDragun wrote:We got Cullen in Time Magazine. Mission accomplished.

Hugo Weaving playing a frozen metal vagina. Mission accomplished!

That's terribly crass. How does Megatron resemble a vagina?

Anyway, I find it hard to believe that the fans had a significant effect on the movie. That just isn't the way films work. However, if we have had some effect, that's a good thing. Maybe that even means the film could have been worse.

Perosnally, I'm glad we have new stuff. I'm glad there's a new continuity. I'm not keen on all of the designs but I like most of them.

I certainly don't see this film as being as far removed from its core as Super Mario Bros., though why they changed the simple energon idea into the Allspark cube is beyond me.

It's because that was one of the few thing they listened to the fans about. Anybody that knows peanuts about TFs knows that energon is their food, so to speak, not their source of life. I believe at one point, they were even considering calling it the Matrix, but didn't want to confuse standard moviegoers into thinking that it had any relation to the movie trillogy of the same name (Why they couldn't call it the Autobot Matrix of Leadership, ot the Creation Matrix or something like that is beyond me), so instead they referenced something in the TF mythos that, IIRC was a source of life for TFs, which is essentially what they were going for storywise anyway.

....Would've been nice if they managed to figure this stuff out before they made the Allspark just a black cube.....

.....BTW, considering how much Bay has been trashing the older "blocky" designs of the previous TF designs, anybody else find it kind of funny that all these overly-complicated non-blocky Bayformers are searching for a simple cube....the very essence of "block"??

I hadn't thought of that!

I am confused by what you say, though. At what point, with regards to the Allspark, did they listen to fans? Are you talking about how they changed the name from Energon Cube to Allspark?

Anyway, I don't see why the TFs had to be searching for their source of life. It seems pointlessly grand. Why not just have them searching for energon, that which keeps them alive?

not sure i buy that article but id like to think weve had a had in some for of the char development

Anybody else not a fan of the whole "Prime/Megs ruled Cybertron together"? Cos I'm not

decepticon_king wrote:Anybody else not a fan of the whole "Prime/Megs ruled Cybertron together"? Cos I'm not

Yeah, it doesn't quite make sense when you think about it. Maybe G1 Prime and Megs I could see (but not really), but could you even imagine 2 bots with those designs working together to rule a planet?

I've accepted it now, but it's just a bit hard to envision.

The fan involment of Transformers the Movie (2007) was little. The only thing that they barely keep the same was Prime. i can understand that Bumblebee alt mode is a camero instead of a VW Bug. I wish Bumblebee alt mode was a Mini Cooper. Starscream look like a Beast Wars reject from the anime Beast Wars series.

Ultra Convoy wrote:The fan involment of Transformers the Movie (2007) was little. The only thing that they barely keep the same was Prime. i can understand that Bumblebee alt mode is a camero instead of a VW Bug. I wish Bumblebee alt mode was a Mini Cooper. Starscream look like a Beast Wars reject from the anime Beast Wars series.

Seeing your post count allow me to be the first to welcome you here to Seibertron.com! Anyways, I don't know if you know but Bumblebee isn't a Volkswagon because Michael Bay thinks Volkswagon is too much "Herbie the Love Bug" thing. Now in my opinion I think anyone who knew hardly anything about Transformers would look at a Volkswagon and know it's Bumblebee.

On another hand when I wanted a new Transformer movie I specifically rather see recognizable characters than a bajillion of moving parts forming an ape-chicken-pig hybrid.

Fireblast wrote:

Ultra Convoy wrote:The fan involment of Transformers the Movie (2007) was little. The only thing that they barely keep the same was Prime. i can understand that Bumblebee alt mode is a camero instead of a VW Bug. I wish Bumblebee alt mode was a Mini Cooper. Starscream look like a Beast Wars reject from the anime Beast Wars series.

Seeing your post count allow me to be the first to welcome you here to Seibertron.com! Anyways, I don't know if you know but Bumblebee isn't a Volkswagon because Michael Bay thinks Volkswagon is too much "Herbie the Love Bug" thing. Now in my opinion I think anyone who knew hardly anything about Transformers would look at a Volkswagon and know it's Bumblebee.

On another hand when I wanted a new Transformer movie I specifically rather see recognizable characters than a bajillion of moving parts forming an ape-chicken-pig hybrid.

Two other things:

1) VW considers TFs to be "war mongers," meaning they don't want their product involved in such a project.

2) Bay has a good working relationship with GM, so the vehicles used reflect that.

In one word: hardly.

Volkwagen are silly ol fools.

A robot fighting for peace, is about 8 foot (don't quote me on that) in G1, and is friends with loadsa humans is a war-monger?

Silly Germans, hey?

As a fan , I agree that if we didn't support Transformers, there wouldn't have been a franchise from which to make a movie. That being said , I'm still looking forward to the movie this summer. I believe , that once new fans see the movie, there's a possibility that they'll become interested in the entire spectrum of Transformers. We may not have the influence we would have liked to have on the movie, but we can influence the future of any future Transfoormers movie.

Ok, I support this movie, and I'm glad, it's going to be a hit. Helps keep Transformers alive, but hopefully not these Bayformers for long. Still, with all my heart and soul, we didn't influence at all, to the story or designs of this movie, we influenced the money making dream machines. Sadly, I think it's going to be kinda lame when it all comes down, but thank goodness for explosions, or eye opening effects, and some what decent actors. Horray for another lame but cool summer flick. Which I hope, won't be lame at all, gosh... I hope not.

What influence?

D-340 wrote:Oh, you're definately right about the Energon/Allspark deal. That's one of the things I don't like. ut I wounldn't go as far as to compare this to the Super Mario Bros. movie though. It's not that far removed from the source material as a whole(not just G1, but all the incarnations of TF).

I wasn't trying to compare the film as a whole to Super Mario Bros., I was just using it as an example of a really poorly recieved change made for a film adaptation. I do have some major qualms but I think a lot of the changes made were a reasonable compromise. Unfortunately it also makes the ones that don't feel like a compromise at all (Starscream, for starters) seem all the more glaring.

Leonardo wrote:I hadn't thought of that!

I am confused by what you say, though. At what point, with regards to the Allspark, did they listen to fans? Are you talking about how they changed the name from Energon Cube to Allspark?

Anyway, I don't see why the TFs had to be searching for their source of life. It seems pointlessly grand. Why not just have them searching for energon, that which keeps them alive?

My suspicion is that they probably wanted to avoid at all costs the potential for any real-life parallels that could be construed as anti-war. The bipartisan conflict here in the U.S. is as tense as ever and with the Iraq and Afghanistan wars going on they probably didn't want the press to make a political issue of the film (like they have with Happy Feet and just about every other film in the last 4 years). Two factions of an alien race tearing apart a planet and inflicting mass collateral damage on civilians in a battle over fuel probably wouldn't have sat as well with the military or right-wing fans Bay tends to court as a battle over an all-powerful life-creating relic will.