Breaking Bay

In an interview with Michael Bay on action scenes, the director states that he is always trying new things and learning from past experiences. Each new explosive effect, each new camera angle, and each new stunt is a result of this accumulation of experience. An example would be when he was trying out the Phantom Flex (a very high speed camera), the viewer's sense of time and space became distorted to the point of not being able to figure out how fast or how slow something was moving. He also discusses his different uses of camera angles in a scene where the actors have to walk across a set of wires. He wanted to show the fear in the one woman by using a farther and higher up shot from behind her and cutting to a closer, lower angled face shot of the same actor, expressing extreme distress. Again, that scene was shot with a brand new special camera and and it produced the desired effect he was looking for.

Bay also details his experiences shooting in areas such as Hong Kong where the rules and regulations are different than in the United States. The director had to improvise and use new methods to get the necessary areas clear of people.

These experiences and equipment are what make Michael Bay's movies Michael Bay's. The newest camera equipment, the practical effects, the dynamic camera shots are all what set this director out from the rest.

I suppose that Bay could serve as an inspiration for wanting to try new things, but he just came off as arrogant to me. I don't much care for Bay or his practical effects. I learned to try new things and be creative no matter what anyone else thinks (which actually applies to what I am doing now). I want to know how Bay gets a hold of all of this "never before used" camera equipment and why he is alwasy the "first one" to use them (hipster much?). Like I said in the beginning, this could serve as a sort of inspiration to try new techniques and to try things that other people may say is impossible.

I am still not a fan of Michael Bay.