Transfomers Movie Webchat from Writers: Transformers Characters Revealed and more! UPDATE: Full Webcast Now Online!

Hey everyone,

The SEIBERTRON.com news staff will be updating this news post with information as it becomes available over the next couple of hours. For those of you who don't know, there will be a webcast wtih Transformers movie screenwriters Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman at 1pm Central (11am Pacific, 12pm Mountain, 2pm Eastern). They will be announcing the official identities of the Autobots and Decepticons that will be in the movie.

Some of the Transformers names that have been announced so far were simply placeholder names and apparently only Michael Bay and the CEO of Hasbro were the only ones (until now) who knew the true identities. The current names currently believed to be already known are Optimus Prime, Megatron, Bumblebee and
Starscream. Various rumors have been circulating the past few days that even announced names like Brawl, Vortex, Jazz and Ratchet could be optional at this point.

Stay tuned Seibertronians ... it's going to be a wild afternoon!!!

Ryan


---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: TRANSFORMERS Webmaster Program
Date: Aug 17, 2006 6:32 PM
Subject: TRANSFORMERS Announcement - Time and Link for Orci and Kurtzman webchat

Giant Freakin' Robots Are Coming!

Friday, Aug. 18th, at 11AM, Pacific Standard Time. Watch screenwriters Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman reveal the names of ALL the TRANSFORMERS appearing in the film at this link:

http://movies.yahoo.com/feature/transformers.html

The above link is the direct URL for 8/18's online event.

See you online, Webmasters. Roll out.

Don't forget to check out the teaser trailer at TransformersMovie.com.

Update:
The Autobots and Decepticons who will be in the Movie have been announced! here they are:

Autobots
Optimus Prime--The Valiant Leader, Described as noble and Shakespearian.
Bumblebee-- the Underdog/Scout First Transformer on Earth and most like Spike.
Jazz--Stylish guy, takes pieces of foreign cultures he likes the best and adapts to them. Described as Rock'n'Roll and loyal.
Ratchet--Medic/Science Officer Described as , the Smartest Autobot.
Ironhide--Autobot Muscle/Warrior, Described as the classic cowboy and Optimus Primes oldest friend

Decepticons
Megatron--His evil will be more in depth, a firm believer in survival of the fittest he believes it is his right as a superior being to rule.
Starscream--Backstabber, still questions what would happen if he were to lead, said to be engaged in a secret plot to dethrone Megatron but waiting for the right opportunity.
Brawl--New Character Mad all the time and always looking for a fight. Like Ironhide First non flying Decepticon,
Bonecrusher--New Character Closest thing to a Constructicon--Hates all other Decepticons other than Megatron, respects fascism only.
Barricade (Cop Car)--New Character The Decepticon Hunter/Tracker. Described as the camouflaged hunter
Frenzy--Originally going to be Soundwave, but changed to become a smaller stealth spy.
Blackout--Takes out Earth Defense Systems with an EMP. Also in charge of transporting Decepticons, has a large alt. mode.
Scorponok-- References were made to Beast Wars Dinobot, his alt mode will appear totally logical one you see the movie.

Contest!!!!!! There will be a contest for fans to submit a line that you feel that Peter Cullen must say as Optimus Prime!

The writers also did a Q&A session after announcing the movie roster:

Q: Were you fans of the franchise way back when?

A: Yes, they both grew up with the G1 Cartoon and wanted to do the movie right. The Cartoon was much more of an infulence than the toys.

Q: What’s the transformer to human screen time ratio?

A: The early versions of the script leaked onto the internet were misleading. Pages of Dialogue can vary in screen time massively. The Transformers to Humans ratio should be very close to 50/50 in terms of screen time.

Q:Why is the Camaro being used for Bumblebee?

A: "Clothes don’t make the man", the characters are still the same as they were in G1. For instance Bumblebee is still the same character we know and love from G1, just updated with a new Alt. mode.
The new Alt-modes, specifically Bumblebee, are a lot to do with what would be cool now to todays Spike. They also don't want to cheat in the transformation, meaning no size or mass shifiting. they wanted the transformations to be believable and new alt-mode were chosen for that purpose.

Q: How is this movie going to appeal to the female and non-Transformers Fan audience?

A: The story is designed to be understandable to all movie goers be they fans of the Transformers or not. References will be made that fans will understand but the moive will appeal to all. They see this as an amazing opportunity to do something on par with Jurassic Park!
Plus there will be hot guys and cool smart women for both the female and male fans alike.

Q: Will Megatron insult Starscream at least once in the movie?

A: Definitely yes. One thing they were clear about from the begining was the relationship between Megatron and Starscream will mirror that of the original G1 Cartoon.

Q: Why so few Autobots compared to Decepticons?

To outnumber the Autobots and put them at a disadvantage. Ths makes for very intense action scenes with the Decepticons firepower far outweighing that of the Autobots. This will also be telling of the larger Cybertronian War, these are the only Autobots availble to stop Megatron at that time due to the war raging elsewhere. The Autobots have to use their friendship to win.

Q:How close has Hasbro been involved?

Very close, they had a Hasbro adviser there as the wrote. They went to the Hasbro HQ to look through the design catalog. Hasbro were very clear about what the Transformers world meant to them and that it was Character, not toy, driven.

Q: Who would win in a street fight between Megatron and Optimus Prime?

A: Watch the movie and you WILL definately find out.

Q: Will the Transformers use Lazer weapons or more conventional weapons like Bullets and so on?

A: When in thier earth alt-modes to maintain thier disguise they will use Earth weapons like bullets and missiles. However in robot mode they will use Energy Blasts and more advanced/alein weaponary.

Q: Why not Shockwave?

A: Same reason many other major characters are missing they had to chose the right characters so that each had a designated purpose. However, the film has been written with story threads that will alow for further G1 characters to make an appearence in sequels.

Q: How do you feel about Michael Bay directing?

A: They feel Great. Bay was their first choice and definatly the right guy for the job. He to really wanted to know about the story and characters and trusted Orci and Kurtzman to remain faithful to the fan perspective. Whatever people have said about Bay not being a Transformers fan Bay knows vehicles like no other director.

Q: Can you tell us about any other voices?

A: Not yet. It is a 'work in progress' right now.

UPDATE

In case you missed the webcast you can see a full recording of it here coutesy of Yahoo.com

You can also view a video clip of John Campea of TheMovieBlog.com giving his views on the webchat here