Chosen by destiny and by virtue, the power Ranger yet set on another mission to save the planet from foreign intruders. What is so different in this Dean Israelites’ film? This film features the main characters of the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers television series but with a whole new cast.
These five teenagers soon learn that they will have to save their home Angel-Grove and the planet from the unprecedented alien enemy of theirs. They ought to combat their personal issues and come in unison to save the planet.
Power Rangers was a treat of nostalgia for all the 90’s kids. VFX Supervisor David Hodgins worked with his team of about 200 artists to help create the Putties, as well as the Rangers’ Zords. For decades, Image Engine has recreated childhood films and series into big screen comebacks for long. Jurassic World, The Thing, and Independence Day: Resurgence is some great examples of that. Given the opportunity to recreate the Power Rangers was a massive opportunity for them.
Zordon’s introduction
Zordon is the mentor and leader of Power Rangers and we see him making an appearance with a giant face encountered by the team within the command centre of a massive vessel. It is true that the performance is driven by the likeness of Bryan Cranston, it is translated through a vast wall of shifting pins; which is essentially a large-scale version of the Pin Art desk toy.
The work of visual effects in this scene was the deal breaker. All the pins had to be synchronized and moved at the same time to get this effect.
Alpha 5
Alpha 5 was a CGI product. Even the fire in his eyes was animated. The robot sidekick was Image Engine’s work. They called it photorealistic robot creation. The entire personality development was handed to the CG team who created a skeleton of what they expect from the character and after approval, we know what Alpha 5 looked like.
Alpha 5 was a benchmark in animation courses to teach the students how hardcore is it capable of going.
Zordon’s ship
Upon the Power Rangers arrival on the Zordon’s ship, they notice the interior of the ship transforming and changing causing all sorts of patterns.
A combination of visual effects and rigging techniques were used to make it a reality. It was seen that the rigging and modelling artists had used all kinds of combinations of twisting and turning or taking pieces and moving them round to get the interior that artistic.
Willingness and passion for a film and the hard work of the team accounts for a good VFX result. Power Rangers was definitely a successful VFX film.