Task Management: Pre-Intro Cinematic
✅ PHASE 1: Assets & Character Prep (Do first — everything depends on this)
🔸 Character Models
Finalize Anna’s model (confirmed working with fixed skeleton)
Create/import:
Anna’s Mother
Lilly
Elliot
Chance
2 Hot Girls for Club Scene
Russian Vodka Guy
Random School Boy (Hallway scene)
🔸 Clothing (Must be ready for BP setup and anims)
Import + assign clothing for:
Lilly
Elliot
Chance
Anna’s Mom
Anna’s School Uniform
2 Hot Club Girls
Russian Vodka Guy
Random School Boy
🔸 Hair
Find/assign hair for all girls:
Anna
Lilly
Anna’s Mom
2 Hot Girls
Find hair for:
Elliot
Chance
School Boy
Russian Guy (sloppy buzz cut?)
🔸 Materials
Create/assign materials for:
All characters (skin, eyes, mouth, morph targets)
All clothing
Hair shaders
Shoes, accessories
✅ PHASE 2: Scene Creation (Must be ready for animation/layout)
🔸 Environment Scenes
Russian kitchen interior (Mom's side of call)
High school girl’s dorm/bedroom (Anna’s side of call)
Small 30x30 ft Hidden Pond (with grey cliffs, fir trees, clear water)
Sunny Beach Scene (Anna tanning)
Night Club Interior (Anna dancing with 2 girls)
Abandoned Russian concrete building (Vodka guy)
School hallway (with boy)
School exterior (Anna in uniform)
Cornfield (already built — just animate/camera block)
Bus interior (for travel scenes)
🔸 Set Dressing
Furnish Russian kitchen (Stove, kettle, tiled walls, wallpaper, icons, light)
High school dorm room (Posters, desk lamp, clutter, pink details)
Pond scene (Rocky cliffs, fir trees, terrain blend, water material)
Beach (Sand, water, towel, sun glare, lighting)
Club (Dance lights, fog, bar, NPC filler crowd)
School hallway (Lockers, fluorescent lights, floor tiles)
School exterior (Campus yard, signs, trees, skybox)
Abandoned building (Graffiti, vodka bottle, dim lighting)
✅ PHASE 3: Animation Setup
🔸 Actor Blueprints
Create BPs for:
Anna
Anna’s Mom
Lilly
Elliot
Chance
Club Girls
School Boy
Russian Guy
🔸 Attach Components
Parent hair + clothes to skeletal mesh
Assign Control Rigs or AnimBP to each
Add Morph targets (lip/mouth/eyebrows) as needed
🔸 Animation Creation
Mom Phone Call (talking on phone, emotional tone)
Anna Lying on Bed (talking)
Anna Tanning at Beach (pose, eye movement)
Anna Dancing (looped dance animation)
Club Girls dancing with Anna
Russian guy drinking & shouting
School Hallway (boy walking by, noticing Anna)
Anna walking into school exterior
Anna working in dirt (already have—just animate)
Pond swim scene (Anna + Miyu swimming/posing/splashing)
Bus ride animation (looped seated anims + body sways)
Parent anims to bus mesh for motion
✅ PHASE 4: Cinematic Sequencing
🔸 Sequencer Setup
Add intro monologue VO track
Time shots to match each line of VO
Create + time cameras for each scene
Add animation tracks to characters per scene
Set up transitions & cuts between locations
✅ PHASE 5: Lighting & Rendering
🔸 Lighting Pass
Key lighting for each scene
Adjust exposure, fog, and post-process volume
Club lights and pond reflections especially
🔸 Render Setup
Final cinematic camera angles per shot
Render each shot to .PNG or .EXR sequence
Export sequences for Premiere
✅ PHASE 6: Premiere Edit + Gameplay Montage
🔸 Dialogue Cut
Edit full cinematic to VO and camera timings
Add basic sound effects (birds, club music, footsteps)
🔸 Gameplay B-Roll
Capture footage showing:
Movement/Click-to-walk
Radial interaction menu
Wardrobe UI
Map & Phone UI
Cornfield chore or journal/task
Sneak or peep mechanic (if possible to stage)
Add monologue VO about dev recruiting over B-roll
Fade out to logo + "Join Us" pitch screen
✅ PHASE 7: Final Polish & Launch
Triple check rendering quality, frame pacing, audio levels
Create two final versions:
Just the intro cinematic
Full trailer w/ gameplay and call to action
Upload cinematic to:
YouTube
Patreon
Upload dev pitch version to:
F95Zone
Twitter/X
Discords
Indie Dev job boards