Early Monday morning, Matthew's car left Beverly Hills, drove onto the interstate, and headed north. He arrived in Glendale, a satellite city north of Los Angeles, before 9 AM. DreamWorks' headquarters is located in downtown Glendale, much like Universal Studios, designed as a park integrating offices, production, and tourism.
The car passed through a large reddish-brown arch, circled a massive round fountain, and drove along a road flanked by silver olive trees and flowing water channels. It finally stopped in front of an office building with a twin-tower design on the roof.
As Matthew got out of the car, a middle-aged man with a full head of black hair greeted him.
"Hello, Mr. Horner." He shook hands with Matthew and introduced himself, "I'm Tom DeSanto, the producer of the crew. Just call me Tom."
"Hello," Matthew nodded at him.
Tom DeSanto led the way, and Matthew followed into the office building. The large building felt somewhat empty. Through some glass windows, Matthew could see that some offices didn't look like they were being used.
As an industry insider, he knew that DreamWorks had just gone through a major upheaval. Unlike the now-thriving DreamWorks Animation, DreamWorks' live-action film company, led by Spielberg, had encountered consecutive problems since the early 2000s. After the failure of "The Island" last year, DreamWorks had to shut down its distribution department, submitting to Paramount Pictures, falling from a position of a seventh major player to a purely production company.
It's well known that distribution is at the absolute top of the industry chain. DreamWorks abandoning distribution also meant they had no chance of becoming a major player in the short term.
Taking the elevator to the seventh floor, Matthew met Michael Bay in an office. Since Matthew had only reserved one week for the "Transformers" crew, time was relatively tight. Michael Bay didn't waste time and immediately took him to a large professional recording studio.
"Here are Megatron's lines..." Michael Bay, serving as the voice director, handed Matthew a thin folder, "Matthew, as I mentioned before, the film needs Megatron's voice to reflect a powerful and domineering character."
He gestured to an assistant director, who turned on a large screen showing a robot with an extremely evil design. Bay continued, "Just like Megatron's appearance, his voice should immediately convey his character traits to the audience."
Looking at the frost-covered robot on the screen, Matthew nodded, "I understand."
Voice acting isn't just about reading lines. To a certain extent, it's like filming a movie; you need to immerse yourself in the character.
Matthew hadn't done much preparation for this voice work, but as someone who had watched the cartoon and live-action movie versions countless times, he knew what kind of villainous leader Megatron was.
Of course, he couldn't help but internally criticize Michael Bay's bizarre aesthetics. The CGI-rendered Megatron looked excessively evil but lacked the necessary imposing presence. This might lead to numerous animation and toy fans being outraged after the film's release.
Regardless of who directs such animation and toy adaptation films, it's bound to ruin childhood memories.
The cherished images of childhood friends, like first love, are forever frozen in memory. If someone were to drag first love into the present, you'd probably criticize it, wondering where this old lady came from.
Matthew flipped through the script and turned to Michael Bay, "Can I see the scenes that need dubbing today?"
"Of course." Michael Bay gestured to the staff again.
The staff immediately picked up the remote control and pressed play. For confidentiality reasons, the large screen only showed scenes involving Megatron. These scenes had their post-production effects completed but lacked music and sound effects.
In the quickly playing scenes, Matthew also saw the male and female leads. As before, the same two people were cast.
He vaguely remembered one was Spielberg's godson, and the other was the so-called "world's greatest eye candy," Miss Fox, on the internet.
After the female lead flashed by on the screen, Matthew asked Michael Bay, "In a few scenes, it seems the leads don't have voices. Don't they need to sync with the dubbing?"
"Oh, they're coming in the afternoon," Michael Bay explained simply, "Most of the scenes needing the leads' voices are done, just waiting for Megatron."
Matthew nodded lightly and cleared his throat, "Let's get started."
"Alright!" Michael Bay responded.
The sound engineer made one last equipment check, then Matthew entered the recording booth, holding the script, and turned his eyes to the large screen.
"Action!" Michael Bay signaled to the recording booth.
Matthew understood, watching Megatron revive on the big screen, shaking off the frost from his body.
"Ah... wow..."
Matching Megatron's movements on the screen, Matthew let out a beast-like roar, wild and imposing, "Ah! Wow... Ah!"
Outside the recording booth, Michael Bay, wearing headphones, listened to Matthew's ad-libbed sounds, nodding in approval. The script had clearly overlooked some aspects.
In his vision, both Megatron and Optimus Prime weren't Earth robots but alien life forms with metal bodies.
These alien mechanical life forms naturally had emotions. When the ferocious Decepticon leader awoke from slumber, it was like a powerful, evil being waking up, naturally making some sounds.
Matthew Horner's vocalizations made it seem like an evil god was about to awaken.
Michael Bay glanced at Matthew in the booth, thinking it was a pity that Megatron didn't require a live-action actor, or Matthew would have been perfect.
The screen showed a close-up of Megatron's face, glowing red. Then Michael Bay heard Matthew's unique voice through the headset.
"I... am... Megatron!"
The voice was not only powerful and domineering but also carried an overwhelming arrogance, as if he were the boss of the universe.
"I am Megatron!"
The second line was faster but sounded even more imposing.
After finishing the line, this scene's dubbing was complete. Matthew took off his headset, looked at Michael Bay outside, then walked out of the recording booth.
"How was it?" he asked.
"Great! Very good!" Michael Bay praised first, then added, "Matthew, I believe you can do even better. Let's do it again."
Matthew nodded, "No problem."
After a brief exchange with Michael Bay, he returned to the recording booth to continue dubbing the scene.
After five or six takes, the short lines were finally completed.
Michael Bay explained to Matthew that it wasn't about his dubbing being problematic but about the slight differences in tone each time. He needed several versions from Matthew to choose the most suitable one.
Matthew had no objections. He understood the principle of working for money. Besides, he had done post-dubbing for his starring films before, knowing that directors, like editing scenes, also needed to make choices in dubbing.
The progress on Megatron's dubbing wasn't fast. By noon, they had only recorded five scenes.
During lunch, Michael Bay took Matthew to a nearby restaurant.
They chatted while eating, mostly about "Transformers."
"Has Paramount set the release date?" Matthew asked.
Michael Bay seemed somewhat worried, "The release date was set for the Fourth of July next year. But..."
He sighed, then shook his head, "Paramount has been trying to meddle with my film. Now that DreamWorks isn't what it used to be, I'm very concerned that Steven can't withstand the pressure."
Matthew asked tentatively, "What do they want to do? They don't want to interfere with production, do they?"
It wasn't uncommon in Hollywood for distributors to directly interfere with film production.
"That's exactly what Paramount wants."
This had already spread within the crew and DreamWorks. Michael Bay didn't consider it a secret, explaining directly, "Transformers are Hasbro toys. Hasbro has another top toy line. Do you know it?"
Matthew thought for a moment, "Is it G.I. Joe?"
Michael Bay nodded, "Paramount secured the film rights for G.I. Joe and plans to make a live-action film. They've reportedly tapped Stephen Sommers to direct."
Stephen Sommers was an old acquaintance of Matthew, but he didn't understand why Michael Bay mentioned him.
"Could it be because of G.I. Joe that Paramount wants to interfere with Transformers?" Matthew asked curiously.
"Exactly." Michael Bay looked serious, clearly not joking, "Paramount has been pressuring the crew and Steven, demanding to include some G.I. Joe elements in Transformers to facilitate a future crossover."
Matthew suddenly thought of Marvel. Were they trying to create a universe too? He frowned, "Can G.I. Joe and Transformers fit together? It doesn't seem appropriate."
Michael Bay spread his hands, "I think so too. But Hasbro and Paramount don't agree. Back in the early '90s, Hasbro released a toy series featuring both Transformers and G.I. Joe. They even commissioned Marvel Comics to publish stories combining both."
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