Paranormal investigators Pete and Sara have found a mysterious locked door in the middle of Manhattan. They’ve been monitoring it for a while, with not much to show for it. They’re caught off guard when suddenly, someone comes out…
With this project, I wanted to ease the viewer from the familiar to the unfamiliar– ideally, there will be a growing mix of anxiety and wonder as Pete follows the stranger who came out of the door. The other major goal with this project was getting familiar with storyboarding in Photoshop with Layer Comps.
Inspiration for this project came from a pair of video games. First is Control, which inspired a lot of the visual language of the story (special shoutout to Stuart McDonald’s lecture about the world design of the game). The second was Half-Life 2, a game renowned for teaching a player a new game mechanic in a three step process: first introduce the idea, then repeat it to ensure the player understands, and finally offer a twist. I tried to offer a similar set of beats with the doors Pete discovers and opens.