[新聞] 麥克貝之「拍片、撈錢、樹敵」三個願望一次滿足ＸＤ

[hsupohsiang (Ｆａｉｔｈ)]

本文無雷～

鄉民特別從麥克貝個人網站偷偷亂轉載之

Michael Bay: Making Movies, Enemies and Money
麥克貝之「拍片、撈錢、樹敵」三個願望一次滿足ＸＤ

原文請見：http://www.michaelbay.com/（麥克貝個人網站　六月份文章）
或　http://www.forbes.com/（富比士雜誌　大排名List　名人區Celebrities）

At the White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico, the sun can burn your skin
in of an hour. The film crew of Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, who have
turned this unearthly landscape into a partially destroyed Egyptian village,
are covered head to toe in floppy hats, long-sleeved shirts and boots to
protect themselves.

But not director Michael Bay.

He leaps around the set like a little kid, in a short-sleeved Polo shirt.

在美國新墨西哥州白沙飛彈基地這裡，紫外線之強，可以在十五分鐘內造成
曬傷。為了拍攝「變形金鋼：復仇之戰」，工作人員已經把這個人間地獄轉
變成極富埃及風味的小鎮，當然，每一個在場的都把自己包得像粽子一樣，
從頭到腳完全與陽光隔離，只有一個人與眾不同‧‧‧‧「導演麥克貝」。
身穿短袖ＰＯＬＯ衫的他，在布景間穿梭、遊走，有點像個孩子。


"Fire in the hole!" An explosion goes off next to a crumbling house.
Bay grins approvingly and darts to some fake rocks where stars Shia LaBeouf
and Megan Fox are cowering in the face of yet another attack by robots from
outer space. Over the course of the day Bay will film 63 shots, three times
as many as on most sets. "I hear stories about directors waiting eight hours
to shoot," says Bay. "How can your game plan be so screwed up? If I ran a
studio, I'd fire your ass."

隨著一聲「給我他Ｘ的炸下去～」（譯者不好意思承認：他Ｘ的三個字是我
亂加的Orz）埃及風味場景中的一座小屋旁轟隆一聲引爆開來。麥克貝一邊
露出「很好～」的微笑，一邊把幾顆佈景用的石塊擺進場景中，這一刻，片
中男女主角 Shia LaBeouf 與 Megan Fox 正被外星球來的機器人追殺。這一天
，麥克貝將完成６３個鏡頭，是一般好萊塢電影拍攝進度的三倍（譯者亂註：
是夏亞！三倍速的紅色彗星！）麥克貝對著我們說：「我聽說有導演會為了
一個鏡頭等八個小時‧‧‧‧是頭殼壞去嗎？如果是我投資拍片，我一定開
除這種導演。」

As well known for his blowups on the set as he is for explosions on
the screen, Bay has made his share of enemies. One actor who worked
as an extra on Pearl Harbor recalls how Bay accused another actor of
thinking the attack on Pearl Harbor was funny when someone laughed
after hours of sitting for a take. An executive says Bay got so enraged
at an extra on the set of Transformers that he made him stand in a corner.
Actress Kate Beckinsale told reporters Bay made her feel ugly on the
set of Pearl Harbor. (Not true, says Bay. He asked her to work out more.)
Bay is known for sometimes clashing with stars on the set, such as Bruce
Willis in the 1998 film Armageddon. "He has a tendency to try to be a
director and change actors' lines," says Bay. "I don't think Bruce liked
that I had a pair of balls." He takes a similarly defensive stand toward
the critics who have called his films "vile," "brain dead" and "pandering."

以「脾氣大」與「爆很大」兩大聞名的麥克貝已經樹敵不少。一位「珍珠港」
的臨時演員曾提起麥克貝怒斥某位演員「把珍珠港事變當成是個笑話」，其實
只是因為等了很久還沒上鏡頭，這位演員在一旁閒聊、說笑。另外，曾有位出
資拍攝「變形金鋼」的公司高層提起，麥克貝曾在片場被臨時演員氣到直接要
臨時演員去角落罰站。女星 Kate Beckinsale（珍珠港、決戰異世界）也曾告訴記
者，拍攝珍珠港期間，麥克貝讓她覺得自己很醜陋。麥克貝有回應「我只是要
她多運動，保持體態」。麥克貝向來以「在片場與演員槓上」出名。一九九八
年「世界末日」一片拍攝期間，麥克貝是這樣描述該片演員 Bruce Willis（終極
警探系列）的「他（Bruce Willis）好像以為自己是導演，自己改台詞；我想 Bruce
對於我有種糾正他這點不太高興」。他也以類似的防衛心態看待影評們千篇一律
的批評「麥克貝的電影無藝術價值」「麥克貝的電影太商業化」、「麥克貝的電
影看了會腦殘」。

But audiences love him. Bay's seven movies have pulled in $2.6 billion
at the box office, putting him in the same league with James Cameron
($3 billion, including Titanic, the highest-grossing film ever, at $1.8
billion). That means something at a time when the movie business is
going through its own action thriller, as studios run low on capital and
people stop buying DVDs. (Although theaters keep half of ticket sales,
the gross amount is a good proxy for the movie owner's total revenue,
which includes DVDs and other money streams.)

但是。

觀眾愛他。

麥克貝執導的七部電影合計已經帶來二十六億美金的票房收入，這讓他與
James Cameron（鐵達尼號導演，生涯累計票房三十億美金，鐵達尼號一片
就賺進十八億美金）幾乎平起平坐。在這個電影工業走下坡的年代，這樣
的吸金能力絕對不容忽視。（本文註：近年來各主要出資公司經營每下愈
況，ＤＶＤ銷售也持續走軟）

Bay brings his movies in on time and on budget, a rarity in Hollywood.
Because his pay is largely based on the film's profits (usually one-third
of the take after the studio recoups its production and advertising costs),
he's got plenty of incentive to rein in expenses. "Michael makes me look
good because he counts every penny," says Jerry Bruckheimer, who has
produced five of Bay's films.

麥克貝總能「按時」、「不超支」的把手中電影拍完交差，這種能力在業界算
是異數。在個人分紅以電影實際利潤為計算基準的前提下，麥克貝有極為充份
的動機去嚴格掌握預算動支的細節。他的多年合作夥伴製片 Jerry Bruckheimer
（絕地任務）說：「麥克貝把每分錢都花在刀口上，沒有浪費，這是讓我在業
界還算是號人物的關鍵」。

The new Transformers movie (the second full-length feature in the series)
cost $195 million to make. But Bay estimates it would have cost $10 million
more if he hadn't partnered with General Motors and the U.S. military to
get free cars, helicopters and battleships. By keeping the budget(relatively)
low on the first Transformers flick, in 2007, he was able to increase his
share of the movie's $708 million worldwide gross, earning $80 million
from the film. So what if those product placements make his movies look
like long commercials? "People say it's whoring out, but it's not," says
Bay, 44. "Advertising is in our lives. It's unavoidable. To think you can't
have it in a movie isn't real life."

零九年的變形金鋼續集大約需要一億九千五百萬美金的製作成本。但是，麥克貝
個人表示，如果他沒有與通用汽車（ＧＭ）與美國軍方結盟的話，這部片可能需
要多花一千萬美金；一旦前述的關係不存在，片商將需要花錢才能讓汽車、直升
機與戰艦入鏡。麥克貝拍攝變形金鋼第一集時展現的成本控管能力，讓他在參與
該片票房分紅時，獲得驚人的回報（扣掉成本、片商與全球戲院應得的利潤後，
全球七億美金的票房中，還有八千萬進到麥克貝口袋裡面）。面對「麥克貝電影
好像一部比較長的廣告片，什麼商品賣」這種說法，四十四歲的他說到：「廣告
早就是生活的一部分，避免不了的。想要拍一部電影又不帶有行銷成分，是與現
實脫節的說法」。

One of his first jobs out of school (he majored in film and English at
Wesleyan University) was directing commercials. By the time he was
26 Bay had created ads for Coke, Levi's and Budweiser and a memorable
Chevy ad showing a new line of cars being released into the wild. He
learned everything on the job--rigging lights, focusing a lens, ordering
around big egos like the professional athletes he shot in his Nike ads.

當他剛剛畢業踏入社會時（麥克貝畢業於康乃狄克州 Wesleyan 大學主修電影與英文）
靠的是拍廣告片維生。當他二十六歲時，麥克貝已經為可口可樂、Levi's與百威啤酒等
商品拍出不少廣告，更別提他為雪佛蘭汽車操刀的經典廣告，讓當年推出的新車彷彿
有生命的動物在原野上奔馳。他從做中學，燈光怎麼架、鏡頭怎麼對焦、怎麼
「指導」一個又一個年薪高到嚇人的運動員配合你拍下一個又一個的廣告。

Bruckheimer offered Bay his first directing job in 1994 on Bad Boys,
a movie about two Miami cops chasing drug thieves. A great break,
except the script was so bad that Bruckheimer's partner, Don Simpson,
threatened to take their names off the movie before the first shot. Bay
sat down with his stars, Will Smith and Martin Lawrence, and hammered
out some bits to make the movie funnier and started shooting. "We
had no support from the studio," says Bay in his airy Santa Monica
office. "I wanted to make it exciting enough that it would make its
money back." In one of the last scenes, Smith was supposed to punch
out the bad guy. But the day of the shoot was rained out, and there
wasn't enough money to bring back the crew. So Bay put up $25,000
of his $125,000 fee to shoot the scene. The movie, made for $20 million
or so, went on to bring in $140 million at the box office globally.

在１９９４年製片 Jerry Bruckheimer （絕地任務）給了麥克貝第一個執導電影的
機會。這部片就是「絕地戰警」，劇情大概是「兩個邁阿密警察緝毒」這九個字。
能從廣告片拍攝轉向真正的電影拍攝，這當然是個人一大突破，只是，劇本真的
很瞎，瞎到另一位製片 Don Simpson 威脅 Jerry Bruckheimer 要是劇本沒有大修，
電影別想開拍、門都沒有。於是，麥克貝、Will Smith 與 Martin Lawrence 兩位主角
一起為這部電影想出了更多有趣的元素，也終於獲得出資老大的首肯。麥克貝回
憶到「片商根本不挺我們。我所想要的，就是讓這部電影夠刺激，這樣才能回本。」
片尾時，Will Smith 原本應該狠狠修理大壞蛋。但是，因為天候不佳影響，這一幕
還沒拍完，全部劇組人員的合約就到期了。麥克貝只好從自己口袋拿出兩萬五千
元美金，找劇組回來加班，把片子拍完（那部片給麥克貝的分紅是區區十二萬五
千美金）。最後，這部成本兩千萬美金的動作片，在全球海撈了一億四千萬。


"I didn't get points on that," says Bay, referring to the chunk of
the profits big players get from a movie. "I had to beg to even get
my [$25,000] back." The experience made Bay smarter about negotiating
deals. He took fees on his next two films, The Rock and Armageddon,
but by 2000 he decided he wanted to be more than a director for hire
and insisted on part ownership. For Pearl Harbor, a $140 million
(production cost) movie, he declined upfront pay in favor of a 50%
split of what remained after the studio recouped production and advertising
costs. The film grossed $450 million; Bay pocketed $40 million. He
leaned on the military, saving untold millions by using World War
II-era aircraft carriers and battleships.

回想起拍攝絕地戰警時的點滴，麥克貝說到「我那時候還沒抓到遊戲規則，
我身為一個導演，一個拿自己薪水來付劇組加班費的導演，竟然要去＂求＂
片商才能把那些加班費要回來」。他指的是「電影利潤分配」的規則。那
之後，麥克貝開始注意自己合約的內容。接下來的兩部作品（絕地任務、
世界末日）中，麥克貝依然只是「領錢、拍片」；直到兩千年，他決定要
爭取參與電影票房分紅的機會。在珍珠港一片籌備時，他放棄「前金」，
選擇參與電影票房盈餘的五成分紅（在一億四千萬成本攤完、片商／各地
戲院／行銷體系都瓜分完之後）。最後，珍珠港賺進四億五千萬美金；麥
克貝的堅持為他帶來四千萬美金的收入。他與美國軍方的合作關係得以省
下數百萬美金，讓二戰期間的船隻、飛機免費入鏡。

On the Transformers set in New Mexico, a handful of military
personnel stand by at all times to help Bay strategize his attack
scenes. "We need to see a commitment from the filmmaker that
it's going to look real," says Lieutenant Colonel Gregory Bishop,
the U.S. Army's entertainment liaison. "Fighting alien robots isn't
realistic, but if we did fight alien robots, this is the way we'd do it.
" Bay's deal: free tanks, Humvees and rocket launchers as long as
they're being used in training exercises. If soldiers are training on
an Apache helicopter, Bay can film it for free. Because the Transformer
robots turn into cars, Bay was also able to get freebies from GM--
as he had earlier, when the auto company contributed flood-damaged
cars for Bad Boys. "I gave them glorious deaths," says the director.

在變形金鋼位於新墨西哥州的片場，好幾位軍方人士全天候陪伴在麥克貝身旁，
為他提出拍攝作戰場景的建議。美軍代表 Colonel Gregory Bishop 上尉說到：「我
們希望看到導演全心投入在關於美軍作戰的場景中，拍出真實感。外星人入侵地
球是不切實際的幻想，但是，假設美軍真的需要對抗外星機器人，我們希望變形
金剛這部電影中呈現的戰場調度貼近真實美軍的作戰方式。」麥克貝提出什麼條
件呢？「只要鏡頭拍的是＂戰鬥訓練＂，不管入鏡的是坦克、悍馬車還是飛彈載
具，通通不收錢！」哪怕是坦克殺手阿帕契直升機出現，只要它不是在執行任務
，美軍就不能收錢。同理可證，變形金鋼在地球上的型態是車輛，ＧＭ跟美國軍
方一樣，同意提供免費車輛給劇組使用。多年前拍攝「絕地戰警」時，麥克貝就
曾經獲得ＧＭ泡水車的贊助，把這些泡水車拿來拍攝爆破、撞車場景的麥克貝說
「我給了它們光榮告別舞台的機會」。


Bay has developed an equally strong relationship with Hasbro, the
maker of Transformer toys. At first Bay wasn't sure about the idea:
Would it be live action? Animation? What about fans who were sure
to criticize every little decision? He was convinced by a trip to Hasbro
headquarters in Rhode Island, where he was educated in the complicated
mythology of the battle between the Autobots and the Decepticons.
 "He had this idea that everything is more than meets the eye," says
Brian Goldner, Hasbro's chief executive. "You could look at almost
any vehicle and believe there's a sentient being under there." Bay
certainly believed the payback. His deal with Hasbro is second only
to that of George Lucas, who gets an estimated 15% royalty on all
Star Wars figures. Bay gets an estimated 8% on Transformer toys
tied to movies.


麥克貝與變形金鋼玩具製造商「孩之寶」的關係也相當不錯。第一集籌拍之際，
麥克貝並沒有很確定一部「真人演出」的變形金剛電影會是個好主意。死忠粉絲
對於變形金鋼電影的每一秒鐘一定都有意見。然而，孩之寶公司安排的一趟「變
形金剛深度之旅」，將複雜的背景、角色之間的恩怨情仇、歷代演變的來龍去脈
通通都「寫入」了麥克貝的腦中。孩之寶總裁 Vrian Goldner 說到「麥克貝這一趟
後，才真正領悟變形金鋼為何總是打著＂眼見不為憑、More than meets the eye＂
的宣傳宗旨」當然，麥克貝對於變型金鋼的信心同時也建立在「報酬」上面。
在孩之寶所有的合作對象中，麥克貝的分紅比例是第二高的（所有賣出玩具的8%），
僅次於星際大戰之父 George Lucas（15%）。

He has also brought his common touch to small horror movies and,
soon, videogames. In 2003 he launched Platinum Dunes, a production
company that specializes in revamping 1970s classics like The Texas
Chain Saw Massacre and The Amityville Horror. Bay hires young
directors, who make the films for under $20 million each. Most earn
back their budgets on opening weekend. As the producer, Bay gets
an average 8% of the studio's net on each film.

麥克貝也將觸角伸向小成本恐怖電影，甚至是電玩遊戲。2003年，他成立了
Platinum Dunes 公司，專門重拍1970年代的經典恐怖片（德州電鋸殺人狂等）。
麥克貝僱用年輕新銳導演，以兩千萬美金左右的成本投資每部片。大多數
的作品單單在上映首周就打平開銷。麥克貝的「製片」的身分，為他
賺進每部作品營收的８％。

Then there's Digital Domain, a visual-effects house started by James
Cameron that Bay bought in 2007 with his business partner, John
Textor. The company had fallen on hard times because of executive
infighting, so they were able to pick it up for $35 million. Textor hired
several effects wizards from George Lucas' Industrial Light & Magic
with the idea of producing superrealistic videogames. Digital Domain
broke new ground last year with the Oscar-winning special effects in
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button.

接著，麥克貝又買下了 Digital Domain 公司。原本由傳奇大導  James Cameron 成立的
Digital Domain 因為公司內鬥，經營陷入困境，也正因為如此，麥克貝與合夥人 John
Textor 才能以區區三千五百萬買下該公司。Textor 從 Gorge Lucas 的「ＩＬＭ」公司
挖來幾位重要人物，賦予 Digital Domain「製作超真實遊戲」的目標。去年度奧斯卡
金像獎得主「班傑明的奇幻旅程」正是該公司重新擦亮招牌之作。

Bay sees a day when videogames will be stored on servers, instead
of played on home consoles, to offer theater-quality visual effects.
"The game companies want directors to work for them, but they
on't want to pay them," he complains. "We want to make it more
like a movie studio--where everyone gets a piece of the action."
That's how to get more action.

麥克貝已經預見未來遊戲的趨勢，那就是玩家在家中存取儲存在遠端主機中的
遊戲，沒有主機，畫面表現如同電影一般的一天。麥克貝抱怨到「遊戲公司只
想要得到電影導演的助力，卻又不肯付錢。」我的想法是把「電影般表現手法」
當成商品，大家可以購買這樣的商品，這樣大家都能擁有自己專屬的一部電影作品。


譯者小心得：兩年過去了，變形金剛終於推出續作，接下來有空再來找找
　　　　　　更有趣的文章。這篇算是‧‧‧‧個人傳記吧‧‧與各位分享。


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◆ From: 125.225.8.30
※ 編輯: hsupohsiang     來自: 125.225.8.30         (06/19 00:00)
推 tedann:看來麥克貝是個很有個性的人XDD
推 vickyshan:麥哭爸......XD
推 bokituto:推!
推 Eric1989528:麥靠杯還蠻屌的XDD
推 sampsonlu919:有優質外電必推 這也讓我更佩服貝老爺!
推 zack0428:雖然無腦  不過觀眾愛看就好了阿
推 masayo:控管資金的本事的確值得欽佩
推 ppt2:希望麥靠杯回心轉意考慮一下 變形3弄個3D畫面唄
推 wcc960:好萊塢不乏商業/藝術兼具的傑出影人，不過看了這篇後更確定
→ wcc960:賣哭爸的才能真的是極端地偏在商業這一邊
推 N5j9k6a:麥可貝傳奇!
推 CCK:好文我推!
推 coolsemis:心有戚戚焉
推 qooggyy:其實他的電影說實話真的很空洞
推 nonews:可是看他的電影 就是純粹要享受聲光娛樂效果啊!!
推 rainlover:你知道有時候人就是需要空洞來放空一下
推 x0912587681:怎麼樣才不空洞 0.0
推 ikarifaye:該是爽片就讓他當爽片
推 love312:就是因為空洞不需要動腦才爽啊!!看電影本來就是要放鬆的
推 HLING:青菜蘿蔔個有所好啦 不過這篇翻譯得真好 辛苦了
推 brigand:Lieutenant Colonel Gregory Bishop 翻譯有錯
→ brigand:Lieutenant Colonel 是中校的意思
→ brigand:正確翻譯應該是 Gregory Bishop 中校 才對
推 george0326:他真的是商業化到極致的導演～但觀眾看的爽就夠了
推 finhard:這篇好讚，感謝翻譯^^
推 slee7678:標題就是一定要著重在樹敵兩個字就對了...
→ mirror08:其實覺得變形金剛1很難看，但我當時還是花錢去電影院了
推 orzisme:的確是很空洞 劇情欠奉
→ orzisme:好爽片至少也要有鋼鐵人的水平吧
推 hnjsh:但我卻覺得鋼鐵人普普.....
推 amuro0126:有趣的文章 感謝翻譯
推 Dych:翻譯的好
推 JeannieC:就是存粹享受畫面的電影吧 老實說會賺錢才是真的啊 XD
推 wayne77925:我覺得世界末日除了效果，也算有點內容耶~"~
推 angelfaker:我蠻想知道說空洞的人希望看到變形金剛多有"內涵" :Q
推 peruman:推一下 變形金剛能講出"犧牲"已經夠有內涵了 有多少人
→ peruman:做不到
推 fatlin:可能要有金鋼之間的愛情故事 才不算空洞吧XD