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loyolafilmcircle · 7 years

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Why are Michael Bay Movies Popular?

by Renzo Guevara

edited by Benjie Bernal

Everyone loves to hate on Michael Bay as a director. And as a director he loves to pander audiences with his films filled with racist jokes, homophobic statements, offensive stereotypes, and female objectification; and that’s just in the dialogue. But somehow all his films still manage to do really well, being one of the highest-grossing directors of all time as along with Steven Spielberg and Christopher Nolan. But unlike them, most of his films are practically universally frowned upon by critics in their reviews. Yet most of his films’ returns are in the hundreds of millions, while two of his recent iterations of the Transformers franchise hit billion-dollar milestones

Michael Bay once openly said that he “makes films for teenage boys.” But unfortunately for him, there isn’t any specific genre in film that’s specifically made for teenage boys. So regardless of what audience he makes his films for, it’ll still be part the action-adventure genre. But I guess that’s something we, the general audience, just have to bear. That said, one could then see it as a “popcorn flick”, which is the kind of movie where you just sit down and enjoy a few hours of mindless violence and nothing else. Good luck entering the cinema looking for a good dialogue or a seamless plot in a Michael Bay film. Sorry but you’re going to be disappointed. Better just watch the Academy Award Nominated Film in the other cinema.

But one thing Bay is reliable in, is making his movie eye-candy for his viewers through good use of effects. According to Bay, he makes sure that every shot he creates has some sort of ‘over-the-top imagery’ or a sense of scale to it. The camera work, the backgrounds, and the saturation of colors all contribute and are orchestrated by him to make the film as impactful as possible for the viewer. He makes shots “awesome” (how probably a teenage boy would describe it) by cramming in as many details as possible. This is something he got from making music videos early on before making his first feature film, Bad Boys (1995).

His frantic style of shooting is so unique; his crew famously describes it as “bayos” or “bayhem.” He is one of the few directors in Hollywood known for not utilizing storyboards to plan out his shots. Everything is done on the fly and in the spur of the moment. If done right, this technique can save money and time for the production but it’s risky because of the fact that it’s being directed then and there in the moment with less thought of that with a storyboard. Every angle, camera movement and visual element within the frame would have to be perfectly shot otherwise they would waste numerous resources that include pyrotechnics and explosives. Post-production is another challenge given the seemingly countless CGI effects that have to be inserted in the shots in accordance with the practical effects and actors. The amalgamation of the work involved creates a viewing experience unique only in his movies. The angles he tries to get isn’t what an average viewer perceives as “usual.” As Bay describes: “I’m always trying to put my camera in very unique places to give the audience a much more unique view.” His technique does give a greater depth, and possibly a more interesting perspective of the epic battles that transpire.

Along with his distinct eye for angles, another of his trademarks is his editing style that’s faster than the average Hollywood action flick. His use of minute details, which he shows only for a moment in an action sequence, in combination with consistent cuts in editing gives the audience little time to process the scene. These quick transitions between shots in combination with the stunning CGI add another layer of suspense that is felt by the audience. Bay’s combination of all these cinematic techniques works together to pull the attention of the audience, providing one immersive sweep of adrenaline that makes for a visually entertaining action sequence.

The original Transformers movie might have just been entitled “Transformers,” but it’s rather misleading. Instead of the war between Autobots and Decepticons from which the original cartoon was centered on and as suggested by the trailer, the first half of the movie is centered on Sam Witwicky and the war with his puberty. But the bad storytelling didn’t seem to matter to the audience as it was still a massive success. People packed theaters to watch cars and trucks that transform into giant alien robots fight that each other—in the end, that kind of awesome is what people really went to the movies for. The effects were nothing short of amazing, because of Bay’s combination of techniques that made scenes certainly eye-catching. The plots of the succeeding films might have periodically deteriorated (as if it was even good to begin with), however the visuals kept improving; blowing the public’s mind more and more after each iteration. It just goes to show how good Bay is in using a combination of practical effects and CGI.

Marketing is indeed important in making anything popular, and the bulk of the revenue his films rack is from foreign box office returns (outside the US). The 4th film in the franchise, Transformers: Age of Extinction, heavily capitalized because it shot the entire 3rd act in China, even casting a prominent star from the region. This, in combination with the massive launching event, proved to be massively successful, earning $858 million from foreign ticket sales, a big chunk of it coming from China. That said, people do perceive things as popular because of plenty sales and publicity; however, are all the things made popular worth being so?

Michael Bay isn’t that bad of a filmmaker and his revenues can attest to that, that is, if we measure one’s skill in filmmaking purely by profits. Bay is unique in that he and his films can embrace themselves in what they are: mindless eye-candy action films. With all the hindrances a film like that has like horrible writing, numerous plot holes, immature humor, annoying product placement, and hateful comments. Perhaps people purposely label his films as dumb “popcorn flicks” then proceed to watch them convinced that they’re just that because of an intrinsic need to just sit back and watch robots battle it out, with it ending with the planet almost getting destroyed and with a philosophically inspirational message from Optimus Prime. But I refuse to believe that the cinema audience’s wants have hit that kind of low. Is it really so bad, that it’s good? Or is it just bad?

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#Benjie Bernal #Renzo Guevarra #Transformers #Michael Bay #Film Analysis

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loyolafilmcircle · 7 years

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Film Review: The Greatest Showman

by Renzo Guevara

edited by Anna Cayco

The musical film genre has slowly but steadily been making its comeback to modern cinemas, as proven by the recent successes of film franchise Pitch Perfect and the hugely popular La La Land (2016). While some films may be more loved than others, there’s no denying that studios nowadays have been warming up to the idea of a musically driven narrative. People may not realize easily at first, but directing a musical is arguably harder than a normal film. Other than the fact that the director has to oversee the acting, writing, cinematography, etc., they must also make sure that the music and choreography hits the right beats when it comes to how and when they show up and how well they fit into the narrative. All these stacked on top of each other while making sure the pacing stays both consistent and engaging.

This is one of the biggest strengths of The Greatest Showman (2018), considering that it was directed by a relatively inexperienced director. For Michael Gracey, who’s mostly known for his visual effects work, this was his first directorial role and that in it of itself has its pros and cons.

To the film’s credit, it starts off with a high note with a musical number introducing us to the main character, P.T. Barnum (Hugh Jackman). The dream sequence reveals his troubled childhood and his mediocre job that barely supports his family. These first few minutes presents to us the main theme of what the film stands for: dreams. With songs like “The Greatest Show” and “A Million Dreams” coming in early in the film’s runtime, it immediately pulls in the viewer for one sublime experience that will definitely ignite some sort of spark inside. Throughout the entire runtime of the movie, a sense of passion and drive is felt with everything the characters do. It also helps with the fact that the film’s cinematography is visually stunning, considering Gracey’s experience. Though it may not have elaborated long takes or unique angles, every shot is still oozing with bright colors that pop and it does a great job at keeping things fresh and interesting.

A good example of this would be the sequence of the highly popular “Rewrite the Stars”. This was arguably the most popular song amongst the general public leading up to the film’s release to the point where it was already being played in the local radio stations. Going into the theater, I expected the song’s part in the film would feel somewhat redundant and all too familiar. Although the build up towards this moment is almost non-existent, the way the camera tracks Anne Wheeler (Zendaya) from the side while she walks away from Phillip (Zac Efron), who begins to sing the famous first few lines, was simple yet effective and had the entire theater I was in scream in delight.

Within all that shine and spectacle though comes a painfully mediocre script. This may have been a story about hopes and dreams but the heart of it has to come down to characters, who were so forgettable that I had to Google their names for me to be able to identify them. Other than P.T. Barnum and Charity Barnum (Michelle Williams), you’d be lucky to remember any of the names of the other characters, including Zac Efron and Zendaya’s. What’s mostly to blame here is the non-existent character development whatsoever. Even the cast of P.T. Barnum’s circus, who gave out a performance of their lives, was barely named and can only be remembered by their excellent costume and makeup design.

The highly anticipated love story between Zac Efron’s and Zendaya’s character had no development or build-up in any way. One scene would be them meeting for the first time and the next would be them immediately trying to awkwardly hold hands. It’s a shame that the backbone of this romance had a powerful message, especially in the time period the story takes place, but ultimately disappoints and results being no better than an above average romance sub-plot in a superhero movie.

Ultimately, The Greatest Showman can only be categorized as a “moments” film. It has some good parts that hit the high notes but has a hollow skeleton connecting those scenes. The problems the characters encounter don’t feel like they have much weight to them because they are either solved or brushed off with just a few scenes later. Consequences, if they exist at all don’t feel like they’re taking a toll which is a shame considering that this story could have easily benefited from a little bit of tension.

The Greatest Showman’s bland writing and flat direction are only saved by the amazing soundtrack and vibrant cinematography at play. It’s a safe and fun watch for the whole family that will for sure tug at some heart strings. But in the end, it fails to meet its potential with its characters and becomes an underwhelming film all in all.

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#the greatest showman #film review #anna cayco #renzo guevarra #hugh jackman #zac efron #zendaya #michael gracey

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