Re-Used Footage In Transformers From The Island

I saw a video released over the weekend that shows pretty clearly that Michael Bay’s Transformers: Dark Of The Moon has re-used footage from one of his previous films The Island. Take a look at the screenshots below for comparison as these are the two most obviously recycled shots (I’ve added a link to the full video at the end of the post).

Transfomers and The Island Comparison

Paramount have just announced that that this old footage was used because when the original footage for this scene was filmed an accident occurred that tragically paralysed the stunt-driver, therefore it was deemed un-appropriate to use that footage, which is completely understandable.

However, before this announcement there was split opinion on the internet as to whether re-using footage in films is acceptable or just a sensible way to make some cost savings, so I thought I’d step in and add my opinion on the subject as although there was a legitimate reason in this case I know Michael Bay has re-used footage before, see below a shot from Transformers and Pearl Harbour.

Transformers and Pearl Island Comparison

Personally I think re-using footage is perfectly reasonable, as long as it’s not the obvious money shots but for the odd filler shot that is spread amongst an action sequence. It makes sense, you deliver a potentially longer and better action sequence to the audience for a lower price.

Even if studios don’t use the exact same shot, when big action set-pieces are filmed they are shot from multiple angles anyway, so movie studios and directors will usually have an abundance of additional footage that the public doesn’t see. This stuff is also perfect for use to bulk up a scene.

It’s also general practice to buy stock footage, because why pay all the fees and set up cost for say one establishing shot of a location, when you could just buy some stock footage that already exists for a lot cheaper and a lot less effort.

What do you think, should footage be recycled in movie releases?

You can see the full comparison video for Transformers: Dark Of The Moon and The Island here.

In addition to writing original content for MoviePush, I link to a lot of articles all over the web through my twitter @rossbishop mainly focused on movie marketing. If you’re interested and like to keep up to date, please follow me.
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