Michael Bay and the reason I find him a true artist
What if we have all been overlooking his work and only chose to look at the explosions?
About a month ago I wrote a blog post about the making of one of my favorite movies of the noughts: Transformers by Michael Bay
The mega blockbuster was produced by Steven Spielberg and he himself picked Michael Bay as a director - and he had to do a lot of convincing!
The reason I created that blog post is that I believe Michael Bay is a very misunderstood director
He is mega successful and - by his own admission - doesn't always care too much about the script when he his making a movie. Because of that - and because of the many explosions in his movie - a lot of people often think of his movies as dumb at worst, and style-over-substance in the best cases!
What I believe is that Michael Bay is a true artist: his composition, lighting, camera movements and his use of film score are unparalleled. The choreography is his fight sequences is spectacular and incredibly well articulated
Articulated is a key word for me here: why do always associated people who are well articulated in the spoken and written word as intelligent - and why do we never look at the other ways a person can articulate their emotions, their feelings and their aspirations?
What about music? The greatest composers - who articulate their soul beautifully through music - are often not very good at spoken word. And the same goes for visual artists. They express their emotions and their view of our world through a series of images and sounds
And we understand that - we don't have a problem with that
And so why does the buck stop at movies? Aren't movies and audio visual art form? Why then do we only consider a movie smart if it has an intelligent script? And if the story is engaging? What about all the other elements?
I find Michael Bay's work to be unparalleled among his peers when it comes to visual style: his choices in framing have little equals. The directors of photography that he chooses to work with are always tasteful and give him - and us! - some of the best looking images out there. The editing in Michael Bay's movies his fantastic - his sense of pace just always keeps the story moving and makes a 2 and a half hour movie fly by
Does it not take immense work and terrific talent to make something like this happen?
These are the thoughts that were going through my mind as I was putting my blog post notes together: what if I could write a piece that highlights all the immense skill - and care! - that Michael Bay puts into his work? And what if I can change a mind or two in the process?
Here is my post: 18 Fun Facts: the Making of Michael Bay's Transformers
I hope that you can read it and delve into the details of a man who I believe to be an amazing practitioner of the cinematic art form. A director who has well earned the respect of his peers - Steven Spielberg among them - and the respect of a never ending list of actors
Maybe - one day - us movie lovers are gonna learn to appreciate Michael Bay's work in a more serious and respectful way?
