Reviewing our film’s shot list and structure

The shot list provided contains very detailed information about each shot—the location, cast members, visual effects needed, set dressing, sound effects, and music required. It’s good practice to have a shot list handy, especially when working in a team, so each team member has a specific task to carry out. However, the shot list is not set in stone; it is a guide and may change as we progress.

Let’s have a look at our virtual film structure:

Figure 4.3: “A New Beginning” film structure

We have a total of three sequences:

• The spaceship interior sequence (shots 1 through 4): These are comprised of shots entirely done in the spaceship, which includes the flight deck area and the cargo area, where the cryo-pods will be placed
• The space sequence (shot 5): This is the external shot of the space shuttle launching toward the planet after receiving instructions from the onboard computer
• The planet sequence (shots 6 through 9): This sequence will comprise all the shots taking place on the planet, which includes the shuttle flyby, the shuttle landing, the two characters walking toward the water body, and the big reveal

In this chapter, we will create the first and second sequences. We will tackle the third sequence in Chapter 5.

Note

The downloadable file (from the link in the Technical requirements section) has all the 3D assets, images, sound effects, and music you will need to create the short film.

Now that you have an understanding of our film’s structure, let’s jump into Unreal Engine to start creating our short film.