Reimagining the Ninja Turtles, Now With More Punch How director John Likens put a gritty spin on an old favorite.

With his combination of technical skill and artistic vision, Emmy-winning director and motion designer John Likens has earned his sterling reputation across the TV, film, and commercial industries. His canon stretches back well over a decade, with his more recent work including films like “Deadpool & Wolverine” and “Eternals,” along with TV series like “Your Friends and Neighbors,” “SEE,” and “Warrior.”

Currently the Executive Creative Director at visual effects studio Framestore, Likens still manages to find the time and energy to chase his passion projects. Recently, he released test footage for an idea he’s been mulling over since childhood: a darker, realistic take on the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles franchise he grew up with. Clocking in at just under two minutes, “Raphael: Test Footage” has generated plenty of buzz for its unique vision and execution, particularly the clip’s meticulously choreographed combat featuring the beloved hothead Raphael.

We chatted with Likens about “Raphael: Test Footage” and how he and his team put a fresh spin on a long-beloved franchise.

I'm a 90's kid. As far back as I can remember, I was always completely obsessed with the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. I was particularly crazy about the original live-action film from 1990 that featured the Turtles designed by Jim Henson's Creature Shop. Over the years, the Turtles have been redesigned and rebooted in all kinds of interesting ways, but for me Henson's work is still the most iconic design of the four Turtles. I remember always wanting to see them do so much more in those movies, especially when it came to the martial arts and combat sequences.

A long-standing goal of mine is to create an official TMNT film or TV series. What I'm working towards with my series of tests is a proof of concept, a glimpse into a darker side of the TMNT universe. This is the TMNT that I have always wanted to see on the big screen. I'm trying to honor the beloved roots of TMNT yet push it to new limits: making it visceral, dramatic, and a hell of a lot of fun to watch.

I'm also very motivated by what I've seen in the adult animation scene in the last few years. Watching the recent success of series like Netflix's “Arcane,” “Love Death & Robots,” and Amazon's “Secret Level” proves that audiences really do want to see stories told in this way.

Being such a fan of Jim Henson's take on the Turtles, in my version they are very much based off his work. Of course, I've worked in my own details inspired by more recent IDW comics variations of the Turtles. I added details like the wraps around the arms and legs as well as a lot of battle damage to the shells and scars on the skin.

The process began with the writing. I often write to get my ideas out in the open to determine if they have any creative value or are worth pursuing. With Raphael, I knew I wanted to do something set in the sewers or the tunnel systems underneath NYC. I wrote about him being hunted in the subway and throwing his final enemy in front of a moving train after a brutal battle.

I wrote out some very Raphael-specific actions that I wanted to see in the combat. From there, Fight Choreographer James Newman really helped me shape the fight sequence. He was able to take all the moments that were important to me and weave them together through the martial arts, movement, and flow. After that, we did a two-day motion capture session in Atlanta with a killer stunt team.

I used a lot of different software to get to the final result. I rigged all the characters in Maya, did camera animation in Blender, cloth simulation in Marvelous Designer, character sculpting in ZBrush, rendered in Octane, composited in After Effects, finished in Nuke, and finally edited in Adobe Premiere. Cinema 4D was the main hub that everything fed into. I've worked in Cinema 4D since 2008, so it's where I feel most comfortable doing all my 3D work.

Once I had the final animation and edit, I was fortunate enough to collaborate with mad genius Gavin Little from Echolab on the music and sound design. I've known and respected his world-class sound design work for so many years and even had the chance to hire him for some of my recent commercial projects. It was his first time doing a full-on cinematic fight scene and I couldn't be more thrilled with the outcome. Sound is easily 50% of the viewer's experience. 

It's completely different. Almost all of my film and TV work has been in service of a larger film or series–and for another director or showrunner. I've had the privilege of working with and learning from some incredible writers and directors, as well as filmmakers like Chloe Zhao, Steven Zaillian, Scott Frank, Jonathan Tropper, and Shawn Levy. The goal here for me is to eventually move into that director and series creator role myself. I've been having so much fun developing this pitch, writing storylines, working with fight choreographers and stunt teams, collaborating with world-class sound designers and musicians, and just dreaming up what will make my take on TMNT unique from all the others.

Taking on all the 3D animation, rigging, VFX, compositing, and editing by myself was a massive amount of work. It's hard to pick the biggest challenge, but it was likely managing and fine-tuning all the mocap data and the variety of character assets. Lighting the sequence proved to be a difficult process as well. I really wanted the light in the tunnel to be convincing yet stylized. Lighting in an enclosed space like that was a tough creative task. I think I lit and re-lit each shot in the sequence eight different ways before I was happy with the final look.

Key Takeaways 

• John Likens is an Emmy-winning motion designer and director.

• For his short “Raphael: Test Footage,” he used Cinema 4D as a hub to put a fresh, gritty spin on the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles franchise.

• The short film incorporated 3D animation, fight choreography, motion capture, and world-class sound design work.