Sunday Movie Blog: What Indie-Filmmakers could Learn from Michael Bay

photo by Smiley Man with a Hat

Roger Ebert's review of Transformers 3 appears to be: that the movie is without structure, lacking in plot, without character development ... and is, in its essence, no more than a lot of CGI robots hammering the living daylights out of each other, for no discernible reason. None of that surprises me in the least.

I agree, he is completely correct about the movie.

However, kids will love it. Teenagers will flock to see it, they will drink over-sized Cokes, they will consume popcorn. It will do box-office.

The question is, what can we learn from this?

The first thing I'd like to suggest is that we dump the idea that Transformers 3 is a bad product. Don't get me wrong, it certainly is a bad movie. But, what I mean, is that it might be interesting to let go of the assumption that it is a poorly designed or executed product. To not just see this film as poor execution, by a franchise which has run out of ideas.

Instead, let's assume that the makers of Transformers 3 knew exactly what they were doing, that it is a perfectly crafted product, and it's also an indication of the business Hollywood is in, these days. What Transformers 3 isn't, is a piece of drama. Transformers 3 is a visual spectacle, designed to appeal to kids and teenagers who have been raised on video games. It isn't script driven. Instead, it is all about the stringing together of huge, spectacular, action set pieces. This, and many of Michael Bay's other movies, aren't movies in the way that screenwriters are taught to understand a movie. They are something else. These days Hollywood really is in the "something else" business.

These kinds of movies also are not actor's movies. In fact, the spectacle of what Hollywood can produce with $300Mplus, has rendered even the idea of the "movie as a star vehicle" redundant. I believe this is one of the reasons that 3D has become such big player in the multiplexes. 3D isn't a medium that connects to the idea of drama in any way, shape or form. 3D doesn't enhance the performance of actors either, There isn't a story in existence that is improved by telling it in 3D. However, 3D is great for spectacle. It is a way of shooting and projecting movies than is anti-drama, anti-movie ... but, pro-spectacle.

My take... Hollywood isn't in the drama business anymore, they are in the 12A visual spectacle business.

Personally I think that's good news for screenwriters and independent film makers, because the one thing I am sure of, is that there is still a desire out here for real movies. Sure, people other than teenagers are going to see the latest Michael Bay product, but largely because they're taking their teenagers to see it ... and, I am sure that some of them will enjoy the sheer spectacle of it. In fact, on a slow night, when I can't be bothered to think about anything, I can even imagine renting the damn thing myself. However, whatever it is, it isn't a movie ... at least not what I understand a movie to be, or even what I really want from a movie. I am not alone in this.

In terms of understanding how any of this impacts on screenwriters and filmmakers, well, this is largely about seeing the gap in the market, that Hollywood has created.

That gap is... script driven, actor driven movies.

Hollywood used to make those kinds of movies, and now they don't. Actors, I mean serious name actor, used to get offered those kinds of movies... and now they aren't.

Of course, this is where it gets difficult, because script driven, actor driven movies are difficult to write. Which, in my opinion, is why the film makers engaged in the digital revolution haven't been able to fill the void, left by Hollywood's departure from the movie business. Despite all the opportunities presented by owning the means of production, the bottom line is still that great scripts are few and far between.

My take on the industry remains the same as it has been for the last seven years ... that audiences are hungry for the kind of movies that Roger Ebert would love to review. I also believe that essentially the industry needs distinct filmic voices. And, in the long run we'd all be better looking to the entire pantheon of human experience for our inspiration, rather than the frankly limited palette of Michael Bay's Hollywood.

Or in other words... people, we need to write better scripts, rather than trying to reinvent the business!

keep writing and viva la revolution

Posted via email from Filmutopia's Sunday Morning Movie Blog