The Day of the Jackal - Finale

And another very long blog post. After completing the (awesome) CGMA storyboarding class I wanted to use my new knowledge in an elaborate action sequence. I especially wanted to use more of the environment since I used to leave to much empty space in my boards.

I have always been a big fan of the book The Day of the Jackal (Frederick Forsyth, 1971), that I read for the first time when I was still in high-school. I have read it many times since and every time I reread it I’m as thrilled as was, reading it for the first time. The story is well known and you might also know the great 1973 film adaptation by Fred Zinnemann. If you do not know the story read further at your own risk, 40 year old spoilers ahead!

In the thrilling finale of the story the tired inspector Lebel realizes that, unlike what everybody believes, the mysterious assassin only known as ‘The Jackal’ has not abandoned his mission to murder the French President de Gaulle but is in fact in the very heart of Paris, overlooking a square where De Gaulle is about to present French WW2 veterans with a medal.

The action in both the book and the film is pretty similar but there is one difference. In the book policeman and killer look each other in the eye and acknowledge each other before Lebel shoots the Jackal as he tries to reload his custom sniper rifle (that can be disguised as a crutch). I wanted to do my own adaptation and included the moment, although I changed it’s place. I avoided rewatching the film because I didn’t want to be too influenced by it.

And so here it is, I hope you enjoy it. I’m trying to work loser and faster but, at parts I did go too far in cleaning things up. I hope you enjoy it, like before click the first image to move through the storyboard in the lightbox viewer.