EPISODE 1
April 2013. We were already knee deep into the production of the books. The whole plan lay mapped out in front of us. We thought, if we come back, we need to do so with a bang. Show the people that we’re serious about this project and that we want to make it come to life in different media too. Not just a game. A universe!
I scribbled down a few storyboard images and defined a budget. I was dead set on making a live action, cinematic trailer. For one, as a thank you to the DEGENESIS Larpers who’ve inspired me to breathe life back into this project in the first place. Secondly, to give a strong introduction to the world of DEGENESIS to any and all newcomers.
I called my friend and director Zoran Bihac. He’s been making amazing music videos and commercials for as long as I remember. His work for RAMMSTEIN has always particularly inspired me. I wanted to show him the storyboard and feel him out, maybe he could point us in the right direction with stuff.
5 Minutes later he rang the doorbell:
“So, what do you think, can we shoot this thing in a studio here in Berlin? Save us some costs?”
“No way, you have to go somewhere were the location tells the story. Somewhere you freeze to death. You don’t want to do 300! You want to do Sergio Leone!”
“Can you help us out, point us in the right direction?”
“Yes, but I want to direct this thing. It’s awesome. It’s like X-Men meets Lord of the Rings!”
I swallowed. “Somewhere cold? Where do you want to shoot. it’s april, summer is around the corner?”
“We could do Ukraine, maybe. Or Argentina. Or maybe Iceland! Yes, Iceland should still be freezing this time of the year.”
Another 5 minutes passed and he was calling Tony Petersen Film, a well known German production company, specialized in shooting commercials for Mercedes, Audi, Telekom etc.
“Ok, they’re hooked. You need to storyboard it, so we can get them on board!”
“But here, I already drew something.”
“It’s too short. Make it big. Make it look like you had a million bucks. We can still throw stuff out at a later point. Show them what you got!”
After a few more minutes of catching my breath, I was back at my drawing board. I had the rough concept in mind and things were starting to look serious. I wanted to get this story off my chest so I started drawing. I revisited my initial concept of the trailer and decompressed certain scenes, to give the whole plot more built up time.
The next morning I walked into the office.
“We’re doing a trailer guys! I finished the Storyboard last night.”
Everyone looked at me in disbelief just shaking their heads. He’s gotta be crazy…
NEXT UP: Designing the costumes
Below you can see the original storyboard.
