History Creator / MichaelBay

* GunPorn: [[http://www.imfdb.org/wiki/Michael_Bay All of his movies]].

* JitterCam: Wouldn't be a Bay film without it.

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* SlidingScaleOfIdealismVersusCynicism: Heavily slanted towards the Idealistic side.

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He started out directing commercials and music videos (most notably the very first [[AdvertisingCampaigns "Got Milk?"]] ad, and "I Would Do Anything For Love" by Music/{{Meatloaf}}), then Don Simpson and Creator/JerryBruckheimer hired him to direct ''Film/BadBoys''. The film was a modest hit and kicked off Bay's film career. When ''Film/TheRock'' (one of his more well-liked movies) came out it solidified him as someone capable of making energetic, entertaining and profitable action films.

* GunPorn

* JitterCam

* SummerBlockbuster
* TechnologyPorn

He is also well known for being a tough General on set, because he shoots and moves at a very fast pace. But the movies he made would probably have cost 30% more and taken another year to film in the hands of another director. Despite a belief that everyone in Hollywood hates him, his ability to work within a budget and demanding a strong work ethic from his crew and actors has earned him a great deal of supporters just for turning filmmaking into an actual work experience. He is ranked up among the most elite directors in Hollywood today, with strong relationships with friends Creator/JamesCameron and Creator/StevenSpielberg.

He is also well known for being a tough General on set, because he is aggressive and moves at a very fast pace. But the movies he makes would cost probably 30% more and take another year to film in the hands of another director. Despite a belief that everyone in Hollywood hates him, because of his ability to work within a budget and demanding a strong work ethic from his crew and actors has earned him a great deal of supporters just for turning filmmaking into an actual work experience. He is ranked up among the most elite directors in Hollywood today, with strong relationships with friends Creator/JamesCameron and Creator/StevenSpielberg.

But his [[PrimaDonnaDirector aggressive directing style]] and occasional {{jerkass}} behavior has earned him some enemies. People like Creator/BruceWillis, Creator/ScarlettJohansson, Creator/MeganFox (who [[GodwinsLaw compared him]] to [[AdolfHitler Hitler]] and {{Napoleon|Bonaparte}} in an interview) and Kate Beckinsale (who claimed that Bay made her feel "ugly" on the set.) have spoken out against Bay and refuse to work with him again.

He is also well known for being a tough General on set, because he is aggressive and moves at a very fast pace. The movies he makes would cost probably about 30% more, and take another year to film, with other directors. Despite a belief that everyone in Hollywood hates him, because of his ability to work within a budget and demanding a strong work ethic from his crew and actors has earned him a great deal of supporters just for turning filmmaking into an actual work experience. He is ranked up among the most elite directors in Hollywood today, with strong relationships with friends Creator/JamesCameron and Creator/StevenSpielberg.

But his [[PrimaDonnaDirector aggressive directing style]] and occasional {{jerkass}} behavior has earned him some enemies. People like Creator/BruceWillis, Creator/ScarlettJohansson, Creator/MeganFox (who [[GodwinsLaw compared him]] to [[AdolfHitler Hitler]] and {{Napoleon|Bonaparte}} in an interview) and Kate Beckinsale (who claimed that Bay made her feel "ugly" on the set. We haven't quite worked out how this is possible.) have spoken out against Bay and refuse to work with him again.

** He also stated that he would like to be involved in producing a LiveActionAdaptation of ''Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion''. Being Michael Bay, fans of said show are hesitant to see him direct the film.

* OneOfUs: He is a bit of a geek, even saying his [[http://movies.about.com/od/transformers/a/transfrmmb61707.htm love of anime]] influenced how he made the Transformers films. He also wasn't a fan of Transformers until Hasbro gave him a rundown of the series (even saying no one has been thinking of giant robots more than him).

* SignatureStyle:
** StuffBlowingUp
** Military porn
** Slapstick and broad-appeal humor
** Glossy cinematography
** Rampant sexism
** Some racism

* DoingItForTheArt: He may love his explosions and chase scenes, but he puts the effort in to make them look awesome. He has these stunts done for real, and has commented such stunts wouldn't look as good if he relied on CG or models, and doesn't like bluescreen work. There is footage of the first ''Transformers'' movie when a car was accidentally launched into the third story of a building (the resulting scene was Bumblebee's return to the battle in the tow truck). And when it came to making Transformers 3 a [[ThreeDMovie 3-D film]], he refused to work with anyone besides the best. In other words, the same team from ''Film/{{Avatar}}''.

* ItsNotSupposedToWinOscars: [[invoke]] Their quality aside, the man knows the type of films he wants to make and is well-aware that they are not going to get him awards anytime soon.

* DoingItForTheArt: He may love is explosions and chase scenes, but he puts the effort in to make them look awesome. He has these stunts done for real, and has commented such stunts wouldn't look as good if he relied on CG or models, and doesn't like bluescreen work. There is footage of the first ''Transformers'' movie when a car was accidentally launched into the third story of a building (the resulting scene was Bumblebee's return to the battle in the tow truck). And when it came to making Transformers 3 a [[ThreeDMovie 3-D film]], he refused to work with anyone besides the best. In other words, the same team from ''Film/{{Avatar}}''.

** To say nothing of ''Film/PainAndGain'', Bay's pet project he's been trying to get off the ground for years and operate on a much smaller budget than what he usually works on.

** DeathByCameo: That random bystander who Megatron flicked like an insect with his finger in the first ''Film/{{Transformers}}''? Yep, that was Mr. Bay himself. Oh and in ''MysteryMen'', he plays the leader of The Frat Boys (his line: "Dude, can we bring the brewskis?"), who are all killed by the movie's BigBad, ForTheEvulz.

* OneOfUs: He is a bit of a geek, even saying his [[http://movies.about.com/od/transformers/a/transfrmmb61707.htm love of anime]] influenced how he made the Transformers films. He also wasn't a fan of Transformers until Hasbro gave him a rundown of the series.

* ShootTheMoney: Wherever his movies are filmed, he ensures that they look good. In the ''Film/Transformers'' commentary he mentioned that the "Megatron on ice" set cost the production 1.5 million and he made the effort to film there as much as possible. He mentioned stories of other directors who come in on similarly expensive locations and drop half the scenes it was built for.

He is also well known for being a tough General on set, because he is aggressive and moves at a very fast pace. The movies he makes would cost probably about 30% more, and take another year to film, with other directors. Despite a belief that everyone in Hollywood hates him, because of his ability to work within a budget and demanding a strong work ethic from his crew and actors has earned him a great deal of supporters just for turning filmmaking an actual work experience. He is ranked up among the most elite directors in Hollywood today, with strong relationships with friends Creator/JamesCameron and Creator/StevenSpielberg.

Bay got interested in action films when [[EstablishingCharacterMoment he set firecrackers on a train set, filmed it with his mom's camera, and got grounded]]. As a teenager he was as a clerk for Lucasfilm in the early '80s, and worked on ''Film/RaidersOfTheLostArk''. [[ItWillNeverCatchOn He thought it would suck]], but ate his words when he saw the final product. That got him interested in directing.

-->A prediction of Bay's next movie. Four years old, and it's got a good record.

* ''BadBoys2'' (2003)

** NASA managers are, as part of the training, required to view Film/{{Armageddon}} and record any inaccuracies they find; to date, 168 have been caught. [[ArtisticLicense Artistic License]] indeed.

* OldShame: As noted above Michael Bay isn't too fond of Transformers 2. Bay has also stated that for {{Armageddon}}, claiming ExecutiveMeddling was responsible for some of the flaws: he only had a limited timeframe to do the special effects and would have had a different third act (although [[http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2013/apr/24/michael-bay-no-apology-armageddon he did insist that he was not apologizing for the movie, and that stories claiming so were misquoting him]]).

He is also well known for being a tough General on set, because he is aggressive and moves at a very fast pace. The movies he makes would cost probably about 30% more, and take another year to film, with other directors. Despite a belief that everyone in Hollywood hates him, because of his ability to work within a budget and demanding a strong work ethic from his crew and actors has earned him a great deal of supporters just for turning filmmaking an actual work experience. He is ranked up among the most elite directors in Hollywood today, with strong relationships with friends JamesCameron and Creator/StevenSpielberg.

* SixDegreesOfKevinBacon: A deal of coincidences, his cousin Susan Bay is married to LeonardNimoy and it was their influence (due to being frequent donors) that got them to film at the Observatory in the first film. This led to Nimoy being cast as Sentinel Prime in the third movie as well.

He is also well known for being a tough General on set, because he is aggressive and moves at a very fast pace. The movies he makes would cost probably about 30% more with another director. Despite a belief that everyone in Hollywood hates him, because of his ability to work within a budget and demanding a strong work ethic from his crew and actors has earned him a great deal of supporters just for turning filmmaking an actual work experience. He is ranked up among the most elite directors in Hollywood today, with strong relationships with friends JamesCameron and Creator/StevenSpielberg.

Around the time ''Film/{{Armageddon}}'' rolled around he gained a very vocal {{hatedom}}, it seems for mostly the same reasons. The fact that every film has been a substantial hit (although ''Film/TheIsland'' earned somewhat better reviews significantly less than expected) seems to have made the hatedom angrier, as well as various racist and sexist implications in his films. If you look over his interviews, especially for ''Transformers'', you'll see that he is more than aware of it, and even makes [[SelfDeprecation fun of]] [[AdamWesting the fact]].

'''Michael Benjamin Bay''' (born February 17, 1965) is an American movie director. He's known for an incredibly energetic direction style that some claim is impossible to follow, while a lot of other filmgoers [[ViewersAreGoldfish don't seem to mind.]]