Creating The Witcher 4’s Reveal Trailer: A Geralt-Inspired Speech, Two Weeks of Actors Battling Props, and a Three-Day Shoot with a Flower-Crowned Forest Runner

If you’ve been curious about the process behind crafting The Witcher 4’s teaser that dropped at last year’s The Game Awards, you’re in for a treat today. CD Projekt has just released an in-depth behind-the-scenes video that provides a fascinating peek into the making of that much-talked-about trailer.

Throughout the video, you’ll encounter some insights that might feel familiar if you’ve been keeping up with all the chatter from the game’s developers since that initial reveal. However, rest assured, there are a plethora of intriguing tidbits to uncover that are sure to pique your interest.

The devs and experts from Platige Image, a renowned Polish studio focused on visual effects that collaborated with CDPR on the trailer, shed light on the immense effort involved in its creation. They hosted 14 action-packed days of motion capture sessions. During these sessions, actors tackled innovative setups like maneuverable pipe structures meant to mimic the Bauk—a menacing creature Ciri faces off against.

In addition to that, there were three days dedicated to live-action filming. This hands-on approach helped the team experiment with different lenses to digitally recreate a cinematic vibe. They captured details like “distortions, lens flares, bloom, and even the Bauk’s head movements.” The video showcases scenes like a woman sprinting through a real forest, adorned with a flower garland similar to Mioni, the girl the villagers are trying to offer as a sacrifice in the trailer.

One particularly captivating aspect involves the opening monologue delivered by Mioni’s father. It subtly mirrors the intertwined destinies of Ciri and Mioni, with both characters being young women burdened with the task of saving others. According to Philipp Weber, the narrative director, “It was crucial for us to craft this monologue such that Geralt might have said those words about Ciri too.” So, should Geralt ever find himself at Ciri’s wedding, his speech is prepped, leaving him free to grumble about having to don a doublet.

In other updates from CD Projekt, a recent job posting for the upcoming Cyberpunk 2077 sequel has stirred some excitement. It suggests that the studio is ambitiously working towards delivering “the most realistic and reactive crowd system ever seen in a game.” Although, as is often the case, job descriptions might not fully encapsulate what the final game will offer.