The Best Movie Actor In Hollywood!

Chapter 523: I Am Megatron!

Early Monday morning, Matthew's car left Beverly Hills and headed north on the interstate, making its way to Glendale, a small city just north of Los Angeles. There, nestled in the city center, was the headquarters of DreamWorks Pictures, a campus designed much like Universal Studios—a sprawling, park-like complex of offices, production facilities, and tour attractions.

The car passed through a large, reddish-brown archway, circled a massive fountain, and continued along a paved road flanked by silvery olive trees and decorative water channels before finally pulling up to an office building.

Matthew had barely stepped out of the car when a middle-aged man with a full head of black hair walked up to greet him.

"Hello, Mr. Horner." He shook Matthew's hand and introduced himself. "I'm Tom DeSanto, a producer on the film. Please, call me Tom."

"Hello."

Tom led the way, and Matthew followed him into the office building. It felt somewhat deserted. Peeking through the glass walls, Matthew could see that many of the offices looked completely unused, as if no one had worked in them for some time.

DreamWorks had just undergone a massive shake-up. Unlike DreamWorks Animation, which had thrived since the split, the live-action division led by Spielberg had been stumbling from one problem to the next since the turn of the century. The founding triumvirate had overextended themselves, and a string of major box-office failures culminated in the flop of "The Island" the previous year. As a result, DreamWorks had been forced to shutter its distribution division and fall under the umbrella of Paramount Pictures, slipping from its once-tenuous position as a potential seventh major studio to being just another production company.

And since distribution sits at the very top of the industry food chain, giving it up meant DreamWorks had no short-term hope of ever becoming a major studio.

Upon reaching the seventh floor, Matthew met Michael Bay in one of the offices. Since Matthew had only allocated a week for his work on "Transformers," time was tight. Michael Bay skipped the pleasantries and led him directly into a large, professional recording studio.

"Here are Megatron's lines..." Michael handed Matthew a thin folder. "As I mentioned before, we need Megatron's voice to project a sense of brutal power and dominance."He then signaled to an assistant director, who switched on a massive screen. An image of a vicious, menacing robot filled the display. "Just like his appearance," Bay added, "Megatron's voice has to tell the audience exactly who he is the moment they hear it."

Gazing at the frost-covered robot on the large screen, Matthew nodded:

"I understand."

Voice acting was about more than just reading lines. In some ways, it was no different from acting on screen—you had to let yourself inhabit the character.

Matthew hadn't specifically prepared for the voiceover session, but as someone who had seen the animated series countless times, he had a perfect grasp of the kind of villainous leader Megatron was.

Matthew glanced through the pages of dialogue, then looked up at Michael Bay. "Can you play the scenes we're recording today?"

"Of course." Michael gestured to a crew member again.

The crew member immediately picked up a remote and hit play. Likely for confidentiality, the footage on the large screen was limited to Megatron's scenes. The special effects were already complete, but the clips were raw, with no soundtrack or sound effects.

As the footage played, Matthew also caught glimpses of the male and female leads.

He vaguely recalled that the male lead was Spielberg's godson, while the female lead was none other than the future bombshell of the Transformers universe, Megan Fox.

After watching the female lead flash across the screen, Matthew waited for the clip to finish. He turned to Michael Bay. "I noticed in a few of those scenes, the main actors' lines were missing. Has their dialogue not been recorded yet?"

"They'll be here this afternoon. Most of their dialogue has already been recorded. We're just waiting on Megatron."

Matthew nodded and cleared his throat. "Let's get started then."

Michael immediately said, "Great!"

The recording engineer quickly made some final adjustments to the equipment. Matthew then stepped into the recording booth, script in hand, his eyes focused on the large screen.

"Action!" Michael said, pointing toward the booth.

On the large screen, Matthew watched as the resurrected Megatron stirred, shaking the frost from his metallic body.

***

Outside the booth, Michael, who was also wearing headphones, nodded in approval. Matthew had just let out a sound that wasn't in the script, a guttural noise that made Michael realize the writers had overlooked a key detail.

In his vision for the film, Megatron and Optimus Prime weren't robots in the earthly sense of the word. They were life forms from an alien planet, their bodies simply constructed in a humanoid shape.

These mechanical life forms had feelings, of course. When the leader of the vast Decepticon army awoke from his long slumber, he would be like some powerful, malevolent entity stirring from a deep sleep—he would inevitably make a sound.

The sounds Matthew was making were perfect—they created the chilling impression of an evil god on the verge of waking.

Michael Bay couldn't help but stare at Matthew in the booth. It was a shame Megatron didn't require a live-action performance; otherwise, he'd have been the perfect choice for the role.

A close-up of Megatron's face filled the screen, his red optics flashing, and then Matthew's distinctive voice came through the headphones.

"I... am Megatron!"

The voice was imperious and powerful, carrying the unmistakable aura of absolute authority, as if he were the master of the entire universe.

"I am Megatron!"

The second line was delivered with a quicker tempo.

The take ended. Matthew removed his headset, glanced over at Michael Bay, and stepped out of the booth.

"How was that?" Matthew asked.

"Excellent!" Michael praised him, then added, "But I bet you can do even better. Let's go again."

Matthew nodded. "No problem."

After a quick chat with Michael, he went back into the booth to record the scene again.

It took five or six takes before the short lines were finished.

Michael explained to Matthew that the issue wasn't with the quality of the takes. It was that the tone varied slightly each time, and he wanted several different versions to choose from during editing.

Matthew didn't mind. He knew what the job entailed. Having done post-production voice work on major films before, he understood that directors needed options. Just as they chose the best shot from multiple takes on set, they needed to pick the best line reading from multiple recordings.

Recording Megatron's lines was slow work. By lunchtime, they had only managed to get through five of his scenes.

During lunch, Michael invited Matthew to a Chinese restaurant near DreamWorks.

They ate and talked, the conversation naturally turning to "Transformers."

"Has Paramount Pictures confirmed a release date yet?" Matthew asked.

A shadow seemed to cross Michael Bay's face. "The date was locked in a while ago—Independence Day next year. But..."

He sighed and shook his head. "Paramount is trying to tell me how to make my movie. And now that DreamWorks isn't what it used to be, I'm worried Steven won't be able to hold them off."

"What are they trying to do?" Matthew asked cautiously. "They're not trying to interfere with the actual production, are they?"

In Hollywood, it's not uncommon for distributors to interfere directly in a film's production, which often makes the final product worse.

"That's exactly what they want to do."

Rumors about it had been circulating among the cast and within DreamWorks for a while, so Michael Bay didn't treat it as a secret. "Transformers is a Hasbro property," he stated plainly. "And Hasbro has another very popular toy line, you understand?"

Matthew thought for a moment and asked, "G.I. Joe?"

Michael Bay nodded. "Paramount got the rights to G.I. Joe and plans to make an action film. Word is, they've tentatively tapped Stephen Sommers to direct."

Matthew was acquainted with Stephen Sommers, but he didn't see why Michael was bringing him up.

"So that's why Paramount wants to meddle with Transformers?" Matthew asked, his curiosity piqued.

"You got it." Michael's expression was dead serious. "Paramount is leaning on the team—and on Steven—to shoehorn some G.I. Joe elements into 'Transformers.' They want to lay the groundwork for a crossover movie down the line."

Matthew suddenly thought of Marvel. Were they trying to build a shared universe?

He frowned. "But those two franchises don't fit together."

Michael threw up his hands in a helpless gesture. "That's what I think, too. But back in the '90s, Hasbro released a hybrid toy line of Transformers and G.I. Joe. They even commissioned a comic from Marvel where the two worlds crossed over."