X-MEN: DOFP Production Designer John Myhre On Designing The Original 1970 Era Sentinels
We've already heard from X-Men: Days of Future Past production designer on how he went about bringing the "future" Sentinels to life on the big screen, but he now drops some details on the process behind creating the earlier versions and how they relate to their comic book counterparts.
"I started coming up with ideas that were a little wacky and a little out there and Bryan said, 'John...It has to be the Sentinels,'" John Myhre revealed in a recent interview with Empire Magazine when asked to share his thoughts on the process behind creating the 1970s era Sentinels. "We went back through history to when Bolivar Trask introduced them in 1965. They started with the Mark I and went through so many variants, but what we found is they all had some similarities."
There are of course some notable differences between the comic book and movie versions of the iconic X-Men villains, but it was important to Myhre and Singer that one particular element remain. "The main thing was, they were all humanoid. They all had a head, arms and legs, and that was something that was very important for Bryan to keep. And they were also purple. We thoughts how fantastic the purple colouring was, it was just great and unusual and exciting. That was just part of the inspiration for their look. In the 70s there was so much great design, but something that was particularly strong in the era was beautiful industrial design, which was very clean, very rounded, using a lot of plastic, a lot of smoked Plexiglas."
The comic book Sentinels do of course have faces as part of their design, so finding a way to realistically incorporate this into X-Men: Days of Future Past was another priority. "The electronics within the head give the impression of a face when they activate and move," Myhre adds. "So while it doesn't literally have a nose, eyes and a mouth, when you see it moving and the mechanics flittering around beneath that tinted plastic, you definitely get the impression of a face. Which just makes it more horrifying..."
The ultimate X-Men ensemble fights a war for the survival of the species across two time periods in X-MEN: DAYS OF FUTURE PAST. The beloved characters from the original "X-Men" film trilogy join forces with their younger selves from "X-Men: First Class," in an epic battle that must change the past -- to save our future.
STARRING:
Hugh Jackman as Wolverine
James McAvoy and Patrick Stewart as Professor X
Michael Fassbender and Ian McKellen as Magneto
Jennifer Lawrence as Mystique
Halle Berry as Storm
Ellen Page as Kitty Pryde
Peter Dinklage as Bolivar Trask
Nicholas Hoult as Beast
Shawn Ashmore as Iceman
Omar Sy as Bishop
Daniel Cudmore as Colossus
Booboo Stewart as Warpath
Fan Bingbing as Blink
Adan Canto as Sunspot
Evan Peters as Quicksilver
Josh Helman as William Stryker
Lucas Till as Havok
RELEASE DATE: May 23rd, 2014