Call of Duty: Ghosts – Cinematic Storyboards Pt 2 – “Clockwork”

It’s awesome when the final product closely resembles the storyboards.  It clearly demonstrates success of the artist in his role as a visual storyteller.  In this side-by-side comparison, you can see my original boards on the left and the final screenshots on the right.

In storyboarding this sequence, I first reviewed the script and thought about all the distinct visuals it called for; all the shots that needed their own moments, and the elements that needed their own focal points.  Then I absorbed the style frames created by the art directors and looked at all the relevant existing game artwork that I could get my hands on.  Then I considered and weighed all the various other factors- the director’s tastes, pipelines, time constraints.  From all these many components I synthesized the optimal solution to this sequence, in the established visual language of the game.

Here, we see an oily drop fall and splatter- and from that come forth the Rocky Mountains, hiding within its foundation the secret US wartime underground headquarters- NORAD- and from there we transition to the enemy’s mountaintop war control center positioned in the Andes Mountains.  Enjoy!