Transformers is a 2007 live action film based on the Transformers franchise. Directed by Michael Bay with Steven Spielberg acting as executive producer, it stars Shia LaBeouf as Sam Witwicky, who discovers the map to the Allspark: the source of life which the heroic Autobots and evil Decepticons wage their war over. The project originated with producers Don Murphy and Tom DeSanto. It features the return of Peter Cullen as the voice of Autobot leader Optimus Prime, 20 years since the original cartoon ended, and also showcases a new complex design aesthetic for the Transformers. It premiered on June 12, 2007 before being released across the world, mostly during July.
A pre-shoot took place on April 19, 2006, before principal photography began on April 22 at Holloman Air Force Base. Shooting was scheduled to last 83 days. The Holloman based shoot also included White Sands Missile Range. The U.S. military also heavily collaborated with Bay, supplying vehicles and jets for the film, and such co-operation led Transformers to be the first film shot at The Pentagon since the September 11, 2001 attacks. Military installations used in the movie included also Kirtland Air Force Base and Edwards Air Force Base. Two Bell Boeing CV-22 Osprey tiltrotor aircraft (of only three in the United States Air Force inventory) were filmed in flight on May 26. The film also shows F-117’s, C-130 cargo planes and the C-17.
On June 9, filming was onsite at the Hoover Dam, making them the first film crew to shoot there since 9/11. The crew then based themselves at Hughes Aircraft in Playa Vista, including six weeks of filming the climactic battle in Los Angeles. Production wrapped on September 24, although second unit shooting continued in the Arctic and Detroit, where it finally finished on October 5.
Animatics in April 2005, with Michael Bay and Steven Spielberg throwing in many ideas for action sequences. Bay preferred to shoot his fourteen action sequences on set to keep the budget under $150 million. Three versions of each car were created by General Motors in anticipation that some of them would crash, and stunt drivers wore black balaclavas to make them appear sentient. Bay used his animatics to help the actors envision the Transformers, as well as a 17 feet tall Bumblebee model by FXPerts, a Frenzy puppet by KNB, Scorponok's damaged tail, Optimus' head with motion capture points, and Megatron's frozen legs.
The physical props only amount to 12 out of 600 effects shots, which were completed by Industrial Light & Magic, and they spent thirty-eight hours rendering each frame of the computer generated characters due to their complex designs. Due to the intricate designs of the Transformers, even the simplest notion of turning a wrist requires seventeen visible pieces, while each of Ironhide's guns are made of ten thousand parts. The complex mechanics make the characters feel dynamic and quick like a human, rather than a lumbering beast, with even the eyes complexly modelled to resemble pupil dilation. Bay instructed the animators to look at martial arts films to inform the characters' movements, and they also looked at actor Liam Neeson's performances to inspire the animation of Optimus Prime. Michael J. Fox's performance in Back to the Future informed Bumblebee. Wikipedia
