The Making of the Cyberpunk 2077 Cinematic Teaser Trailer

CD Projekt RED’s cinematic trailer for Cyberpunk 2077 packed a heavy, bloody punch when it was released last week, so it’s quite interesting to learn what went into creating it – straight from the creative masterminds at Platige Image. Storyboards and other artwork is packed inside, too:

Usually, working on video game cutscenes involves creating a visual story in an already established world: the animation process is very orderly, divided into classic stages, and predictable. This time around, it was markedly different. The first drafts of the screenplay and preliminary concept art was created when the game was still in initial stages of core development. In the course of our collaboration with CD Projekt RED, we approached dozens of ideas before settling on a seemingly freeze-framed setting that referenced one of the illustrations from the original game manual.

…

Ever since we set out to create it, we knew the promo would work only if the female protagonist engendered a serious emotional response in the viewers and push the aesthetic boundaries of the typical female form. Video games frequently feature banally designed female characters, composed of the same hackneyed elements. Though undoubtedly beautiful, these characters are often contrived. In this particular case, the ability to work with a real actress thoroughly transformed the film.

The scanning enabled us to capture this fleeting element of authenticity, to use the beauty of a real person. It was truly a qualitative change. Despite the fact that the scanned models required processing and remodeling, they turned out to be the perfect solution for this project, as far as both timeframe and quality are concerned.