TF4 Interviews

First off is an interview with Transformers score composer Steve Jablonsky:

"I mean if you’re on an airplane and you’re listening to something with headphones, sure it’s not going to sound as big or important as if you were in my studio. He has so many things on his plate he might only have a minute to listen to a piece and I’ve actually been asked that by his people. They’ll say “the only chance that Michael has to listen to the cue is on his airplane” because he’s on his way to China or something. And I know now to say “absolutely not, I’m not handing this over so he can listen to it on his iPod. It’s just not going to happen, it’s not fair to him, it’s not fair to me and it needs to be presented properly”.

I think with each Transformers film he’s [Michael Bay] wanted something different and he’s always had this kind of specific theme where he’ll really want something special so he gives me these goals to reach, “this needs to be really emotional”, “this needs to be really kick ass”, and he always gives me new challenges. With Transformers 4 I haven’t had that many conversations with him, but I get the feeling that he wants something wildly different. Having said that we might use some of the old themes, though I’m not sure because it’s Mark Wahlberg now and a whole different cast, so we might just do something very different. The bottom line is Michael is paying me to make his films better. Whatever ideas he’s got, I’m going to listen to them, and fortunately he’s got these great ideas.

I fully expect on Transformers 4 whatever we do he’s going to want something wild and to go down some road where we use some crazy instruments or something. I don’t know yet, we’ll see what happens but he’s very adventurous in his creative process so I’ve learned that from him I think. He loves electronic stuff mixed in and that’s really where I got a lot of experience and now it’s part of my sound, I guess, because I get asked to do it a lot. I record a lot of things and then manipulate them in my computer and I really enjoy doing that that – combining it with the orchestra to make something new – and he loves that sort of thing, hearing sounds he’s never heard before."

Next is a second Age of Extinction interview. This one with Mark Wahlberg is much shorter:

“It's a completely different stand-alone movie" Mark told Access Hollywood of fourth Transformers film. "It takes place after the third one, after the battle of Chicago. It's definitely its own story."

"I think it's very different and fresh and people are going to really enjoy it. I had a blast making it," he said. "And you're going to see things in this particular movie that you haven't seen in the other movies."

The last interview is with Rob Moore, a top Paramount Pictures executive. He discussed the Asian influence in Transformers 4, as well as Chinese product placement.

"Having those products certainly reinforces the fact that this is Chinese culture and that there is a lot of story-telling happening there” Mr. Moore said. “Working with our Chinese partners really helps us to ensure we are giving an accurate picture of China. The Chinese locations, actors and environment all look very natural and consistent with Chinese culture. As people start to learn more about China, and now that there is a lot more sharing of information, we will do much better."
Michael Bay said the Hong Kong scenes will comprise one-third of the film’s length, while those in Wulong will last for two-and-a-half minutes. The shooting in China was completed Monday. Another location outside the United States was used for the movie, but Moore is giving nothing away, saying only that it is a “very cold place.” The film also features a host of Chinese actors, with Bay saying that actress Li Bingbing, who starred in “Snow Flower and the Secret Fan,” will appear in the movie for 30 minutes. Some of the Chinese actors in the new “Transformers” film appear in supporting roles, including actor Han Geng and four newcomers to the industry selected from a reality TV show organized by the Movie Channel. Three female farmers played impromptu roles in the scenes shot in Wulong.