[Field Report] Transformer’s Direction on Place and Space

Transformer: Age of Extinction is released as the fourth movie in the Transformer series in June 2014. The film mainly tells the story that the CIA, the American National Security organization, corporates with alien Autobot, who receive the command from Creators to catch Optimus Prime, starts the hunting of Transformers. The main conflict is the seed, the bomb, which could wipe all the creatures and build Transformers’ drone, and a series of exciting and breathtaking bomb scrambling actions take place in the film. Most of these scenes are shot in Hong Kong, mainly include those street battles and city chasing plots. Starting at Monster Building in Quarry Bay and its surrounding areas, those plots in Hong Kong maintain their tone throughout the whole film, which could be mainly referred to as stimulating, congested, and vulnerable. The main characters end the war as Hong Kong guarding battle and successfully prevents the seed from bombing in Hong Kong.

The building and surrounding places presented in the film have distinctively huge differences compared to its in reality. In reality, the building is not congested, only a few people gather under the building and talk joyfully. The E-shape building actually provides a sense of being guarded, though it’s tall and seems to belong out of repair. However, the vision of buildings shift between elevation and overlooking at a relatively high rate when the main hero fights with those against him in the film. Exciting plots and special camera angle cooperates to produce a breathtaking feeling of being feared to drop or be killed, changing the Monster Building to life threatened space. For the food market nearby, in reality, a lot of people hangover or argue for lower merchandise prices. The place seems to be crowded as it’s narrow, but an alive and peaceful space is created. On the other hand, the food market’s atmosphere is completely changed. The shots run up and down and change along the way when the main characters are being chased, creating views from a few passersby who have probably been scared and confused. This angle actually provides a sense of tension. The compression of long chasing battle into a short period in the film even intensifies this sense.

Micheal De Certeau provides critical thoughts in explaining things done in film. He points out that different interactions between human-beings with place produce different spaces. As the main conflict is the scrambling of the seed, which is portable by a single person, the street battle seems to be necessary to the plots. The compacted and tall buildings in Hong Kong and its stereotype of being crowded also provide an intricate field for chasing and hiding. Combining with various shots ways and control of pace, the film successfully creates an exciting and tense space. Also, the film tries to convey the faith held by the main characters. In the film, characters who have not realized the approach of danger, including three old women stagger in front of the main characters interact with the place to produce a sub-space with a sustaining tone of peace or carefree. This sub-place makes a vivid contrast with the space created by the main characters, strengthening the greatness of the main characters and show the things they are fighting for.