As a part of the Post Production and Visual Effects module, we were instructed to create a storyboard for the sequence we planned to create.
The inspiration for this sequence comes from my personal inclination for dystopian games and films, such as the cyberpunk genre that was showcased in the creation of my character for the 3D Character Design Module. Additionally, within the Cyberpunk genre, I can create effects that would not be seen within a realistic setting, such as energy beams, shields and lasers, which would allow for creative freedom during this project rather than attempting to replicate something real.
SEQUENCE IDEA AND CINEMATIC INSPIRATION
For my sequence, I wanted to create something that could act as an opening cutscene to a game, which would initially introduce the player to the location and progress to introducing the main character. Furthermore, I knew that I wanted to add audio to my sequence to make it feel as though the visual effects that I was creating felt believable. There are three cinematics that I drew inspiration from, the opening cutscene of Platinum Games Bayonetta, the opening missile scene of InfinityWard’s Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II and the 2018 E3 trailer for Cyberpunk 2077, released by CDPROJEKTRED. Each of these cinematics had elements that I found important in keeping the viewer engaged and providing information that the viewer could pick up that I wanted to mimic in my storyboard.
The opening graveyard cutscene from Bayonetta sees the player introduced to the main character of the series after a cutscene establishes the initial starting location. The cutscene opens with the use of multiple panning shots and quick transitions between various headstones before circling around the central characters of the scene, which proceeds to track one character as the action progresses. This sequence is fast-paced and keeps the viewer engaged by following the action rather than remaining in a static position.
YouTube link if embedded fails: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0D9Kke772r0
The opening missile scene of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II also establishes the initial starting location in a similar manner, with the camera slowly moving forwards to focus on a footprint in an arid desert before transitioning into a ravine, revealing the character Ghost who the player controls for this section. As the game is told from a first-person perspective, the camera pans 180 degrees after revealing Ghost, creating a smooth transition between the cinematic and gameplay. In contrast to the Bayonetta cutscene, this opening scene focuses on providing the player with the overarching narrative and motives for the characters.
YouTube link if embedded fails: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9E59OYhzCiU
The E3 trailer for Cyberpunk 2077 has a combination of telling a narrative whilst also keeping the viewer engaged through the audio and camera work. The cyberpunk genre often has connotations to anger and power imbalance (Duran, 2020) alongside the overarching theme of technology advancing, which when accompanied by the song Spoiler by Hyper that plays over the trailer, amplifies this feeling more. The trailer quickly transitions between different areas in the game, with some of the shots using wipes as a character or a vehicle passes in front of the camera, which features the different areas in the game, showing the viewer the difference in this world between the businessmen and less fortunate areas. The transition to the Santo Domingo area, occurring at 41 seconds in the video, also matches the beat drop in the song and the action occurring in the scene, which in turn spikes the viewer’s interest further.
YouTube link if embedded fails: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8X2kIfS6fb8
STORYBOARD
For the camera angles and shots referenced in the storyboard, I referenced Ron Doucet’s Storyboard Cheat Sheet.


This initial version of my storyboard predominantly features a mixture of full shots and medium shots for establishing the environment, as it is passing by in the scene and does not require the same amount of detail that would be captured in an extreme close-up shot. When the character would be introduced in the sequence, the storyboard transition from a medium shot to a close-up shot in order to highlight the detailing on their body.
As the frames would be held for a long time to meet the 60-second requirement, which would in turn lose the viewer’s attention, I do plan on revising the storyboard so that there are more frames in the sequence that feature a variety of angles, cuts and techniques.
Please note, the storyboard frames are clickable – I have had issues with the Elementor plugin making the images expandable and WordPress restricting image file sizes – I attempted to put all the frames in one picture but the text was illegible from compression





Video of the Initial Storyboard to allow for a better understanding of movement plans.
UPDATED STORYBOARD
After the creation of my initial storyboard, I realised that the shots would be held for too long to meet the 60-second requirement, which in turn would lose the viewer’s attention and that the storyboard needed to be updated. After testing different ways that I could add to the sequence within Unreal’s cinematic sequencer, I realised that I could add to the sequence by having the camera start at the top of the city, focused on the buildings lining the horizon and move down through the cityscape, having it pass through alleyways – which would in turn help provide a narrative to the sequence through the use of set dressing.
With 17 frames in the storyboard, the maximum that I could have each frame last was 4 seconds, as that would place the sequence at 1 minute and 8 seconds and within the 10% boundary for the assignment.
Please note, the storyboard frames are clickable – I have had issues with the Elementor plugin making the images expandable and WordPress restricting image file sizes – I attempted to put all the frames in one picture but the text was illegible from compression









Improved version of the Storyboard animated using Photoshop’s timeline feature to allow for a better understanding of movement plans
References:
Cyberpunk 2077 (2018) Cyberpunk 2077 – official E3 2018 trailer. YouTube. Available online: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8X2kIfS6fb8.
Doucet, R. (2015) Ron Doucet | Animation Director. www.floobynooby.com. Available online: http://www.floobynooby.com/ [Accessed 3 Dec. 2021].
Duran, H. (2020) Who Created the Cyberpunk Genre? SteelSeries. Available online: https://steelseries.com/blog/who-created-cyberpunk-sci-fi-224.
Generic Gaming (2022) MODERN WARFARE 2 – Opening Missile Scene. www.youtube.com. Available online: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9E59OYhzCiU [Accessed 24 Dec. 2022].
PlatinumGames (2009) Bayonetta. store.steampowered.com. Available online: https://store.steampowered.com/app/460790/Bayonetta/ [Accessed 8 Oct. 2022].
Vandoren, F. (2018) The Graveyard . Cutscene . Bayonetta. www.youtube.com. Available online: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0D9Kke772r0 [Accessed 8 Oct. 2022].