In 2014, shortly after Saban’s Power Rangers movie was announced in partnership with Lionsgate, Director Dean Israelite and team began to re-imagine their all new version of Power Rangers.
Now, for the first time, early concept art has been released for what would become the eventual Power Rangers movie suits, morph sequence, and Zords. Designed by Kelton Cram, a conceptual artist with previous experience on Batman vs. Superman and Deadpool, the talented designer talked to ComicBook.com about all the ideas that went into the Power Rangers movie’s designs.
Q: In the original television series, the helmets had a dinosaur-like look to them. Was there a reason to move away from that?
A: When we started, each helmet had its own unique “dino/Zord” look to them (seen above). After many directions with the helmets, the final designs ended up retaining elements of each particular ‘dino/Zord’ they belong to. They also wanted the Rangers as a whole to feel united. Keeping uniform similarities in each of their helmets and suits would help them look like a team.
Q: Were Morphers ever considered during the design process?
A: Yes, we started the designs by thinking about how the Morphers would attach to the Rangers’ bodies and how they would grow/morph into the suits. We tried a belt Morpher as one of the ideas, which eventually led to the final suit design.
Q: When working on the Red Ranger’s Zord, did you have to take into account that it was going to be part of the Megazord?
A: I was on Zord design very early on, but only had a chance to work on the Red Zord (seen above). They didn’t have a Megazord design at this point, so we didn’t really start by thinking how they would construct/deconstruct into a whole. After they resolved the Megazord, I believe they altered things to fit together.
Q: Since Dinobots were showcased in the last Transformers film, did you look at those designs to learn what to do and not to do with the Zords?
A: Haha, that’s a good question. The Dinobot concern was not brought up during the process, but it was always implied that we ought to make something new that hasn’t already been done — which is never easy because there are a lot films with similarities that release at similar times. Transformers: Age of Extinction had not actually come out when we first started working on this. But often times, we are told to specifically avoid a certain style that may look too similar to a pre-existing feature.
Lionsgate’s Power Rangers movie is in theaters now. Be sure to follow Power Rangers NOW on Facebook and Twitter for all the latest updates.
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