Four months ago, on a scorching hot August day, I joined a small group of journalists invited to the set of Transformers: The Last Knight, which at that time was about a third of the way through its planned 130-day shooting schedule. Knowing a little about the legend of director Michael Bay I dared to hope we might see a few explosions, possibly even from the director himself if rumors were to be believed. While Bay was incredibly friendly and even-tempered all day, he did not disappoint with regard to the literal fireworks.
As we walked onto the vast outdoor lot behind Michigan Motion Picture Studios in Pontiac, MI, we passed what looked like an eight-foot-tall Styrofoam sculpture in the vague shape of a robot head lying on the ground unattended. We saw a freestanding, multi-story glass elevator set we were told had been shot on just a few days before. Most impressive was a 300,000-pound platform balanced on a massive gimbal. Earlier in the shoot that platform had been raised to a 23-degree angle (though it would eventually go all the way up to 45) to send star Josh Duhamel and more than 30,000 gallons of water rushing to the bottom. Before we left for the day we were also given a chance to walk through several truly massive, Transformer-scale interior sets built for the film.
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As we walked onto the vast outdoor lot behind Michigan Motion Picture Studios in Pontiac, MI, we passed what looked like an eight-foot-tall Styrofoam sculpture in the vague shape of a robot head lying on the ground unattended. We saw a freestanding, multi-story glass elevator set we were told had been shot on just a few days before. Most impressive was a 300,000-pound platform balanced on a massive gimbal. Earlier in the shoot that platform had been raised to a 23-degree angle (though it would eventually go all the way up to 45) to send star Josh Duhamel and more than 30,000 gallons of water rushing to the bottom. Before we left for the day we were also given a chance to walk through several truly massive, Transformer-scale interior sets built for the film.
Continue reading…
Continue reading...