Don Murphy on Website Pics

Don Murphy the other day decided to add his 2 cents into the court of public opinion regarding the recent spate of Transformers pictures, such as the Bumblebees one, that has been hitting the internet these last few weeks over on his website forum.

What is So Hard To Understand?
Listen
If it were entirely up to me
If it were my $140 million
I'd say go crazy, find secret images and do whatever you want.
I'd even let the criminals trying to profit off out work at transformerthemovie (who tried to sell us the url a year ago) do whatever they want.

Because DON MURPHY (me) believes that fans make shit happen.

I was such a fan of Star Trek in the 1970s that I SUBSCRIBED to fondly forgotten fanzines like THE HALKAN COUNCIL and MENAGERIE.

I've read comics since DEFENDERS #8 at summer camp.

I am a fan who smartly has been able to turn what he loves into a film career.

Fine. Good for me. Who cares.

The problem when something like TF comes about is that you have a lot of other cooks involved.

You have Tom Desanto, a terrific guy, who refused to see the wisdom of the voice actors.

You have Lorenzo DB who jumps on to films and talks about the glory days when he ran a studio and made TWISTER.

You have Michael Bay, a majorly talented director who we were lucky to get, who is a total perfectionist.

You have Dreamworks execs like Marc Haimes and John Fox who sheperded this with me for two plus years.

You have Adam Goodman the president of production, the person who got Steven and Michael on board.

And hell, you have Steven, the most successful filmmaker EVER who wanted this movie more than anything and made it happen/

That's a lot of people.

And we aren't mentioning the dozens internally at Dreamworks or Paramount or those MAKING the film.

Or Ian who watches the cash or John, Roberto and Alex who wrote the thing... Or the dozens at Hasbro who own this behemoth.... etc

And if ANY of these people want to keep a lid on the trailer till Monday...
If ANY of them want to keep photos that they own off the web...
If ANY of these people want to stop some Welsh people from profiting from their images

Is it not their right?

Well, it is.

The people at TONS of sites have been hearing from DW over every leak.
People have been fired.
People have been sued.
That site WILL come down.

This is NOT anti- fans.

This is PRO MOVIE.

Again, if Chokass or any of the Tools from that site want to pay the $140 m plus then I say great, you run the show.

Otherwise, obey the law.

I don't have interests in being the guy who has to deal with the asshole fans.

There are just too many good guys out there who I have met through this board.

On their msg board that suck site comments on my behavior as if THEY DESERVE POLITENESS for behavior that has ruined my freaking day because of all the calls I had to deal with from legal etc.

They aren't fans. Fans don't advertise.

In fact- wait for it- TFW2005 and ALLSPARK and SEIBERTRON - they are run by fans. I met the TFW guy after FIGHTING with the guy and the ill will disappeared in FIVE seconds- because we were both fans and just wanted fans to be happy.

So what the hell am I banging on about-

Hate me, hate Michael, hate whatever the hell you want.

But break the law, someone is gonna call me. Someone is gonna smack you.

And you deserve it.

To sum it up, he is saying don't post unauthorized pics, the work being depicted is not sure yours to make money off of. He personally doesn't care but understands why others do, so stop it. He has a point on that, I definitely see where the others are coming from.

Having said that, it doesn't really change anything. Sorry but on all these sites devoted to sharing and releasing information about movies, entertainment, Transformers, etc, their mandate is information. A picture from the movie is information. Failure to share it fails in their mandate which in turns fails the readers of the sites. Its basically a rock and a hard place. For every site that tries to maintain the "trust" with the studio there are going to be a dozen that doesn't. Keep in mind this trust with the studio is a one way street, which is fine, but it means there is no obligation to listen to them or follow their orders.

This is saying its not "right" just explaining the way things are, like it or not. Its more welcome to the real world, rather then the la-la world of Hollywood where money and how people get it follows its own strange set of business rules.

I am curious to any lawyers out there, how do sharing pictures like this break the law? Its seems like Don et al are on very legal shaky ground claiming that posting a pic is in violation of the law. Also am I wrong, but wouldn't any case they bring be a civil, not criminal case?

Of course all that is moot since the justice system is less about the law and what is "right" and more about who has the means and the money to get what they want. In this case the studio does and the average site owner doesn't so I think most, include myself, will continue to do as instructed when we receive the notice to pull something from a site.

Until then, all I can say is I will try to continue to post information as I get it, pics and all. I will link to sources when I have them as its only fair and I hope I get reciprocated on that. I still want information and any pics you stumble across as it seems of late I find out about only after the studio has done their thing to get the info pulled.

I am looking forward to next year, I want this movie to succeed beyond all expectations as it means we can look forward to the birth of a franchise and all the fun in toys and media (and money for some) that entails. On that, I think all of us, the studio, movie producers, site runners, fans and so forth all share in common.

Teaser Trailer Released!

Click here to see the teaser trailer.

Just as I made my previous post, news comes that the teaser trailer has been officially released on TransformersMovie.com in what appears to be the QuickTime format. I guess they had to give it up once it briefly showed up online as its quickly spread across the web. Wonder if that means I can post the bumblebee pic again? Sigh probably not.

If you still see the countdown clock, clear your cache and refresh your page. Instead of the countdown timer, you should now see the phrase "Watch the Exclusive Announcement Now". Click that and away you go. The trailer goes exactly as described here.

As far as a teaser trailer goes, I am less then impressed. Its does absolutely nothing to excite me about the movie. The Spider-Man 3 trailer is the very definition of how a teaser should go. The audience cheered when that one ended. I think for this one most are just going to have a wtf? reaction.

Having said that, its also understood why the teaser is so-so. A teaser pretty much forces the studio to work with the footage they have and right now I doubt they have much they can use yet. Filming started only about a month ago vs Spider-Man which has been filming for about 3 or so months. The final script was only done recently and I seriously doubt they are even close to having any final CGI sweeps done for the movie. Hopefully come Christmas or roundabout, a second teaser trailer will be released that has some footage to blow our collective minds.

Transfomers Teaser Released - for about 2 seconds

It seems like someone did a little programming oopsie today, as briefly the Transformers trailer was released on the official website for a little while before being removed. By then, the trailer showed up on Youtube.com, which then later also removed it.

Based on various forums, it appears that the trailer closely matched the leaked descripition of the teaser:

Transformers
Trailer #1
Running time: 1:36

The trailer begins with quick shots of a rocket preparing to launch. Your basic pre-flight stuff. You can hear flight control and the countdown. You then see the rocket blasting off.

IN 2003,
THE BEAGLE 2 MARS ROVER
WAS LAUNCHED

You see the probe entering the red atmosphere of Mars.

WE WERE TOLD IT CRASHED

Many shots of the rover on the surface of Mars, all shown from a variety on cameras on-board the probe itself.

ITS FINAL TRANSMISSION WAS
CLASSIFIED TOP SECRET

More shots from the rover’s point of view.

Suddenly, you hear heavy footsteps coming toward the rover, and a shadow falls over the rover. A humanoid robot shape steps into the rover’s view, but it stands in front of the sun, silhouetting the robot.

After a beat, the robot smashes the rover with its fist.

IT WAS THE ONLY WARNING
WE WOULD EVER GET

Now we see the Earth almost exactly as it appears in the teaser poster (but without the eye). The orchestral theme begins to swell in an ominous way.

The TRANSFORMERS logo then appears as it looks in the teaser poster.
The logo itself then transforms very complicated-like into 7.4.7 Which then transforms into the Autobot symbol.

From: seibertron.com

Apparently there where photos that back this up, but I missed the whole lot. Either my work schedule keeps getting in the way or the that NewMedia company is really on top of their game at getting this stuff removed asap.

If anyone managed to snag some pics or the entire trailer or knows a site that still has it, please email me the info.

(source)

Bumblebee Pic Removed

Finally got around to checking my email today and looks like Paramount/Dreamworks got around to little old me and kindly asked I removed the Bumbleebee pic I had posted before.

I was tempted to ignore the request as the source of the email didn't come from paramount or dreamworks as one might expect:

From: "---" <---@Newmediastrategies.net>
To: canowupass@yahoo.com
CC: "---" <---@Newmediastrategies.net>

To [me]:

I work with Paramount Pictures and am contacting you to respectfully request that you remove the link to the Bumblebee Image that you have posted in your blog - http://transformerslive.blogspot.com/

The image is not authorized for release and we are currently reaching out to sites/blogs with the same request. Please let me know when this has been removed. Thank you in advance for your assistance – it is greatly appreciated!

Sincerely,
-name removed-
___________________________
-name removed-
-title removed-
New Media Strategies
Tel: -removed-
---@newmediastrategies.net

I purposely removed the personal information on who sent me the email since they are only doing their job and don't want to risk them getting harassed. Oddly the person CC'ed themselves the email, even though it should be in their "Sent Items" folder which is pretty much standard with any mail client currently used. Anyway, News Media Strategies does seem like a legit site so once again decided to err on the side of caution.

As a result, I have removed the pic even though really don't want to as have enjoyed the little spike of people it has brought to my humble site. Basically, I am not financially solvent enough to risk the hammer of the legal gods and, here we are. Feel free to express why you think its a bad idea for Paramount/Dreamworks to keep a lid on this information as I think they should be glad that info like this gets leaked. Any press is good press, and the more curious people get, the more money they are likely to make.

25ft Bumblebee Pic - sorta

Update: Picture removed at request of Paramount. Click here for details.

As you can see from the above pic, the rumored 25 foot Bumbleebee robot was true and the detail is fantastic. Sadly its just the top but gives you an indication of just how sweet it probably would look from the front.

Thanks to Jim B. for grabbing a pic before AICN yanked it and sending to me.
Also Lucas sent in a heads up of a trailer description here. I will give my 2 cents later but right now I am off to see Superman Returns.

Transformers Open Casting Call Thursday

Live in California and think have the looks to be in Transformers the movie? Want to point out how that arm way in the back of the scene is yours? Then here is your chance.

Central Casting is holding an open call for 16 & 17 year olds and 18-23 year olds that look like High School students for the new Michael Bay feature film, "Transformers." We need SAG Members and Non-Union. The scheduled work dates are July 10-12, 2006. Dates are subject to change. The open call will be held at Central Casting in Burbank, CA. Anyone interested in attending should call 818-503-3329 for more information.

The Open Call will be held:
Date: Thursday, June 29, 2006
Time: 5PM - 8PM
Location: Central Casting
220 South Flower Street
Burbank, CA 91502

Central Casting is the largest extras casting company in the world and has been in business since 1925. The company casts extras for film, television, and commercials. Central Casting is a division of Entertainment Partners.

(source)

Teaser Trailer with Pirates of the Caribbean with Score

Comingsoon.net has confirmed that the release information for the Transformers teaser trailer. As most of us already know and the official website made clear with the countdown, the teaser trailer is coming 7/4/06. If seeing it on your tiny screen doesn't do it for you, check out the teaser with Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest when its released July 7th. Just a little warning, most theatres get to choose what trailers go with the movie so no guarantees.

Along with that little bit of joy is that the trailer comes news from Soundtrack.Net with a score from Steve Jablonsky (Pearl Harbor, Desperate Housewives) that is about 90 seconds long. The score was recorded 6/17/06 at Sony Scoring Stage in Hollywood with Bruce Fowler conducting the 59-piece orchestra. To get a hint of the sound, hit the official website for a listen and go here for some pics and little more information. Hopefully along with the teaser, the TF powers that be will be kind of enough to release a .mp3 of the score.

Thanks Bill for the heads-up. Also lot more set pics and car pics are located here.