Thanksgiving Sneak Peak

Happy thanksgiving, everybody! We're going to keep today's post short but wanted to share something today because we have so much to be thankful for! This is the latest update from our animator, Kevin Delucia. Red still has a few details left to add including the teeth around the visor and the eyes on top of the head, but he's looking pretty darn good! Before too long, we'll render the animated character and plug him into our teaser trailer! 

Happy holidays, everybody!

Bringing the Red Ranger to life

For our kick starter campaign, we shot a "pitch" video to help explain our mission and all the details of the project. But we knew that people would want to see what we had in mind, they want a taste of what we're going to create. With that in mind, we shot a teaser trailer.

The teaser trailer is like the film; brief but grand in scope. So we created a small war zone and shot background plates for an epic taste of First Wave. We'll show off some of the behind the scenes footage from that shoot soon, but first let's talk about our hero. 

The scene teases a battle between the Red Ranger and a member of the Putty Patrol. Because there's no funding for the project yet, we had to get creative with this because the Ranger uniform that we have designed will cost about $4,000-$6,000. The choices were to step back and design it a little cheaper or do it the hard way and create our ranger from scratch and we don't like doing things the easy way. 

So we got started creating an entirely computer generated character. It's no secret that this is a grueling and time consuming process. Our graphic artist, Kevin Delucia got started well before we shot the background plates.  

He began sculpting the character and bringing Red into the 3rd dimension. 

We'll reveal the final character design soon! To recieve updates by email about this kick starter project, click here http://mmprfirstwave.launchrock.com

The Putty Patrol: Re-Inventing a Soldier

Ah, the Putty Patrol.  While there is certainly a lot to be said about these energetic members of Rita Repulsa's team, one thing cannot be denied; there were memorable.  Spandex aside, the Patrol themselves are actually a rather terrifying character collectively.  I say this not just because of their grotesque appearance but the simple concept that they come from a seemingly unlimited supply of reinforcements. In First Wave, this will be a concept we intend to expand on.

The ease through which Rita is able to create her army presents the daunting idea that she could very easily launch an offensive against in a true one woman war.  This type of force deserved an upgrade, we felt.  So, the Putty Patrol has been re-designed while, of course, respecting the original material.  The Patrol featured in First Wave will be nearly 8 feet tall and tower over the Rangers making them a truly formidable foe.  Power and brut force will be the Putty Patrol's most powerful weapons against our heroes.

Designs and artwork by Ben Rosa

Heroes die hard; why we do it.

During the nearly year long process of planning and developing this Power Ranger fan film project, I suppose I had to ask myself a number of times "why am I doing this?" It may be that more often my friends and my wife were the ones asking. The answer could be as simple as those that have been our platform from the beginning: it's a fantastic idea that should be done and the production would supply the community with jobs.

But there may be a more complicated answer that is in many ways just as important. I am a child of the 90's. By that I mean that I was born in the mid-eighties and grew up being just a little too young for Nirvana and too old for "Angry Beavers". I was raised among a culture of children that grew to love the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers. From the moment I saw my first episode, my Saturday mornings were booked. They were my heroes, which is important because Superman and Batman are everybody's heroes. They were here before and will always be around, but those five kids from Angel Grove were for our generation. I was even lucky enough to be one of the kids who excitedly opened up his presents on Christmas morning and found the original six inch MMPR action figures (the ones that had individually moving index fingers!). 

The Power Rangers lived in a world that I could only dream about. When I grew up, I found myself in a different world; where I could dream about something and then turn it into a reality. As a filmmaker I have the opportunity to reimagine my heroes and bring them back to the world. How could I pass up the opportunity to see Jason, Billy, Kimberly, Zach and Trimi on screen again?

This project is more than just a film and I suspect that I speak not only for myself but for many from my generation. This isn't just about nostalgia or rebooting a classic, it's about turning dreams into reality. As we get closer to launch, I can't wait to see who jumps on board with us to help make it happen. 

The Red Ranger helmet design

hyperdrivepictures.com

When deciding the best way to design our version of the Red Ranger's helmet, it was important to respect the source material. The original mythology of each character's link to a specific species of dinosaur was always one of my favorite parts of the show. The Red Ranger's helmet was creatively designed to mimic the head and features of a T-Rex; probably one of the reasons he was such a popular character. This is an important design element that we didn't want to lose, which left us trying to decide what did need to change. 

The size of the helmets has always been the one feature I wished I could change. We decided to go with a slimmer look, one that would conform to the Ranger's head a little better and pull a some inspiration from characters like Iron Man. 

Design by Ben Rosa

Artwork by Kevin Delucia

We considered a variety of other options to help make the design unique and give it a more modern look. 

Artwork by Kevin Delucia

The mouth piece was one of our biggest challenges. The classic "lips" that appear on the original helmets were not quite what we wanted, but they are a significant part of the original design and we didn't want to ignore them. We considered a few options and ultimately landed on a type of breathing apparatus or vent. We can't wait to reveal the final design soon!

Planning begins: the first step towards re-imagining a classic.

This project has been a long time coming for a lot of artists here in the Tampa Bay Area where production is taking place. Our Mighty Morphin Power Rangers fan film started small and grew into a beast. We started back in January of this year when it was just an idea. Since then, it has become a magnet that people can't resist once they get involved.

We wanted to do something fresh and new, but felt obligated both as artists and geeks that the original source material be respected. So our very first character designs reflected just that; a nod to the original design while including some new elements. 

Ranger designs by Ben Rosa

But it wasn't just about character design. What would an epic MMPR film made today be about? It was time to broaden the scope beyond Angel City and go global. It was essential that the primary villain be the original Rangers super villain: Rita Repulsa, and we wanted her plans to impact the world on a truly devastating scale. So, our story will focus on the first wave of attacks by Rita's Putty Patrol, an initial attack among an entire army worldwide.