MCLC: farmers build Transformers models

[Denton, Kirk]

MCLC LIST
From: kirk (denton.2 at osu.edu)
Subject: farmers build Transformers models
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Source: The Guardian (7/17/14):
http://www.theguardian.com/film/2014/jul/17/transformers-age-of-extinction-
china-farmers-models

Chinese farmers quit fields to build giant Transformers models
As Transformers: Age of Extinction becomes a huge success in China, a
group of farmers have downed tools and started building giant replicas of
the robots
By Ben Beaumont-Thomas

The success of the new Transformers film in China has been staggering,
becoming the country's highest-grossing film ever in a matter of days. And
with that success comes a thriving cottage industry: a group of farmers
who have exchanged ploughs for welding equipment in order to build
gigantic models of the robots from the film.

China Daily reports that the team in Xiaoye, a village in the eastern
Shandong province, gave up their day jobs to devote their time to building
the models of Bumblebee, Optimus Prime and their various allies and
antagonists. Their biggest robots cost around $16,000, and are being
bought by property developers to put in places like housing developments
and malls.

"Once we have the structure, all the parts are welded and assembled by
piece according to the blueprint," says designer Wang Shizun, who uses car
parts and other scrap metal to build the models. "Later, we will clean up
the sculptures so that they are ready for painting. The paint colors are
selected and mixed by ourselves and are rust-proof."

Their success is testament to the popularity of Transformers: Age of
Extinction, which was ruthlessly targeted at Chinese audiences. Chinese
car brands were featured and Hong Kong is the backdrop for some
eye-popping action sequences, while a reality TV show helped source actors
to appear in the film, and Chinese product placement appears throughout
(even during the film's American settings).

The Chinese government is meanwhile shown to be benevolent, while any
Sino-American friction is cheekily played upon with a scene in which a
Chinese character beats up a CIA agent.

The film has already grossed $280m in China since its release just over
two weeks ago.