Quote Originally Posted by philby View Post
ok but what if you like the director but he still gets given a crap script?
Firstly, let me just say that my opinions on Michael Bay's work as a film director are not the same as my opinions on him as a person. Having briefly met Bay IRL I found him to be a reasonably friendly and approachable person. So when you say, "like the director," yeah, I like Michael Bay enough as a person. This has no bearing on my feelings about his work though.

When a director is given a script it is up to him/her to decide how closely they want to stick to the script or whether they should deviate from it. A movie is essentially a film adaptation of the script. One example of just how different a movie can be under two directors is Superman II, when you compare Richard Lester's vs Richard Donner's cut.

Quote Originally Posted by philby View Post
or instructions from higher up?
The director is the lead authority in the making of the film. If the producer doesn't like it, then s/he can replace the director (as happened with Richard Donner on Superman II), but ultimately the director is still in charge.

Quote Originally Posted by philby View Post
does michael bay choose how much product placement goes into each movie and how intrusive it is? or how many scenes/shots that linger onto an attractive young female? etc?
Pretty much as directed by the director. Sponsors may stipulate conditions as to how their product may be portrayed on screen.
e.g. In Slumdog Millionaire Mercedes Benz refused to allow their brand to be seen in a slum. As a result, the Mercedes that were shot in the slum sets had their logos digitally removed in post production. I'm assuming that this was likely because they only found out about this after the principal photography had been done, because doing it digitally is much, much more expensive than simply removing or covering up logos (known as "greeking"). And Michael Bay has admitted that he shoots the gratuitous shots of girls to appeal to chest-thumping teenage jocks.

I personally don't mind the product placement TBH. It helps to ground the films in reality when you see recognisable brands and products. Cos in the TV series where brands and products are fictitious, it just doesn't feel as 'real.' e.g. G1 felt more real because they had vehicles like VW Beetle, F15 Eagles, Datsun Fairladies etc. When I see these things IRL it makes me think of Transformers. When I watch shows like TF Prime and the current RiD series with their made-up vehicle models and other products, it just doesn't make the same real-world connection. And we know that G1 started losing steam when alt modes shifted more heavily towards made-up fantasy modes instead of real world ones. The golden "Gee Wun" period is the one that has more real-world based alt modes. Heck, just look at Masterpiece. With the sole exceptions of Grimlock and Star Sabre, every MP figure is based on a real world thing. Same with Binaltech/Alternators/Alternity. These lines just wouldn't be the same if they just used generic or approximated vehicle makes.