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A Film School-esque Analysis of Bayhem? Yes Please

With Transformers: Age of Extinction fully cemented as the biggest box-office hit of the summer, one would imagine we can now take a short break of that which is known by one simple term: bayhem. Often used to describe the chaos seen in Michael Bay movies, little has there ever been an attempt by someone to truly breakdown what the term means. Is bayhem something unique to the famed director, or is it a modern, colloquial term we now use to describe a specific kind of filmmaking style? Luckily for us, someone – Every Frame a Painting in this case – has set out to find the answer in a brand new video that’s most certainly worth your time:

Even for a fan of the filmmaker, one must admit that Tony Zhou has a point in the final moment of his analysis: Bay’s very much a slave to his style. Because he needs to make every shot visually interesting for it to be satisfying to him, the sometimes great themes of his story get lost, the dock shot of Pain & Gain was a great way to represent that.

It’s often said that Bay doesn’t understand story, but what this video illustrates is Bay does know story, he just wants the story to be so visually dynamic that it ends up taking a back seat a lot of the time. Will there ever come a day where Bay will have no choice but to leave the visual flare behind? Maybe. We came close with Pain & Gain, and if his next film doesn’t end up being Transformers 5, anything’s possible.

Which Michael Bay shot is your favorite? Let us know in the comments below.

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