14 DAY TRIAL // With “Transformers: Age of Extinction” out in theaters now, Michael Bay has again been at the receiving end of a lot of criticism, most of which well deserved. In between reviewers trashing him for making yet another dumb movie and pundits digging up old stuff for which to mock him, here’s a video that actually points out Bay’s merits as a filmmaker.
Yes, he does have those.
For his latest project, Tony Zhou has chosen to take a good look at “Bayhem,” the term that first appeared around 2007 in reference to Michael Bay’s filmmaking. The video, which you can also find embedded below, presents Bay’s particular way of visually building a scene, while still stressing the shortcomings.
Bay’s movies might be “dumb” in many respects (plot, dialogue, character definition, you name it), but probably you could never tell just how visually complex each scene that goes into it is. And for each individual scene, Bay wastes a huge amount of energy and effort.
His ultimate goal is to distort time and space, to trick the eye before the brain gets wind of it, and to create a sense of epicness. Too bad he does it in absolutely every scene, which leads to overkill.
“There are filmmakers we love and then there’s Michael Bay,” Zhou prefaces his video with. “Even if you dislike him (as I do), Bay has something valuable to teach us about visual perception. This is an exploration of ‘Bayhem’ — his style of camera movement, composition and editing that creates something overblown, dynamic and distinct.”
Decomposing Michael Bay’s “Bayhem” is a sight to behold, pun intended.