DEFENDING MICHAEL BAY

 

There are few directors working today who get more vitriolic prose spewed at them than Michael Bay. Whether in print or on internet forums, vocal film fans simply love to unleash a torrent of hate towards his movies, often in long-winded digressions which reveal more about the writer of the critique than of Bay’s work as a director. And I always wonder where this hate is coming from. People often point to him as the destroyer of cinema but why? Movies speak to a diverse and wide range of viewers. There are those in the audience who look for subtlety and emotion in film while others simply want to be entertained. Michael Bay movies have never been subtle or emotional, but they sure are entertaining.

Camera Shy

IN PRAISE OF PROTOOLS

In film, picture and sound each contribute equally to the experience, and yet many indie filmmakers allocate far less attention and resources to sound. Often, they limit their sound efforts to whatever can be accomplished with the picture edit, be it flatbed, Final Cut, or Avid. This is a shame, since those are not the right tools for the job. With the right amount of skill and experience, they can give - at best- reasonable results. They do not allow really great sound. I have met many indie filmmakers who do not shy from spending upwards of two thousand dollars on film stock and processing alone, and yet will budget nothing for audio post production. This does not make any sense.