Premise: Initial Storyboard + Ideas

 In order to finalise the events which will take place with the animation, I will split my storyboards up into 3 acts: 

Act 1: The introduction to the world - this act will showcase the city being built

Act 2: The chase scene - This act will introduce both characters, the prop and will include the chase before the fight

Act 3: The final fight between both characters

By breaking up the story into acts it will allow me to focus on a particular subject for that act. I will then be able to mix and match the best versions of each. 

Act1

I know that in order to introduce the world I want want to do a time-lapse of the city being built around the mountain. The once countryside will be consumed with technology leaving only the mountain left. 

Act 2

Below is the initial version of my storyboard which I constructed with a while ago before changing the look of the characters. It details the 

This was my initial chase scene idea. I really like how the robot character is introduced and the tension it creates between the two characters when the man realises the robot may not be human. I also want the robot to be significantly taller than the human to show the power difference, as seen in Jackie Chan fights. 

However after analysing Jackie Chans prop work, If I want the prop to be a significant part of the fight, it needs to be introduced more in the beginning so that theirs a natural progression of its inclusion in the scene. 

Instead of the Samurai just sitting at the beginning he could be instead be playing with the chip in order to figure out how it could be used to grant the user eternal life. His confusion makes sense as hes never interacted with technology before. I also feel the placement of the item be emphasised in the frame more in order to show its importance. Maybe instead of appearing and disappearing between its uses, the Samurai could tie it to his weapon so that its always in shot. The string holding the chip onto the weapon could then be broken in the fight which causes it to fly into the air. 

Act 3

Once the characters have made it to the top the main fight begins. The robot is quick and calculated while the human is weaker but well trained. The human puts the item on his person and ready's his attack. The Samurai goes for two consecutive attacks however the robot is much faster and doges. The robot then goes in for an attack however flinches due to the fact that it does not want to hit the chip tied to the Samurais weapon. The Samurai notices this and jumps back, tearing the chip off of his weapon. He then waves the chip around which gets the robots attention. He then throws it into the air and the robot instinctively jumps after it. While this happens the Samurai takes the opportunity to stab the robot in the chest. This does little damage however drags the robot back to the floor. The Samurai then goes to catch the chip however the robot uses its fast reflexes to kick the Samurai's legs and grab the chip. The Robot now has the chip and is staring at it was an obsessive look. The Samurai notices this and takes the opportunity to stab the robot in his eye. This does a lot of the damage to the robot, who reaches for his eye, dropping the chip. The Samurai grabs the chip and gaurds. The robot now angry that the chip was taken from it, violently swings at the Samurai. The Samurai blocks and then takes uses the robots rage against him by disarming him on a reckless attack. The Samurai now his the Robot at knife point. He looks him deep in his eye however hesitates to finnish the disarmed opponent. The robot sees this hesitation and stabs the Samurai in the chest with his arm which turns into a makeshift sword. As the Samurai drops to the ground the robot grabs the chip form him. The last shot is from the Samuria perspective who sees the robot put the eye in as it fades to dark. 

After detailing the fight which takes place between the two characters it feels strange that no one has come to help the Samurai, even though he is near his palace. This is obviously done on purpose as it would take far too long to model additional character, however the audience does not know this and is instead left with questions. 

After thinking about this problem for a while I came up with an idea. Their could be a betrayal in the plan the Samurai is carrying out and maybe when he gets to the top of the stairs to the palace is could be on fire. This gives the story a lot more credibility in a lot of different areas. First of all it solves the problem of how the people with inferior technology were able to steal the chip in the first place. They were set up from the start by the cyberpunk side in order to give them a reason to break the peace treaty. It could also explain why the Samurai is waiting on the mountain when he has the chip. Should he not return to the palace as soon as possible? In this version the character has received orders to stay put and wait for backup for help. Of course this just gives time for the palace to be attacked by the betrayers. When the robot does appear to attack the human he has no other options but to retreat. At this point it is too late when he reaches the to of the stairs and the palace has already been attacked. After realising he has been betrayed, the Samurai then uses this determination and anger to face off against the robot. Finally the fact that the Samurai has a wooden arm could play further into the betrayal by having a tracking device in it. This is how the robot is able to locate the Samurai in the mountains. The arm could be given to the Samurai by the betrayer. 

When referring back to the chase scene, I can now make the Samurai seem more cowardly as he does not expect to get attacked. He is conflicted as of what to do as he is waiting for backup like his orders state. Once the attack begins, the robot could do an attack which causes the Samurai to have to use his wooden arm to deflect the attack. This leaves a large hole in the arm which reveals the tracking device. While the Samurai is distracted by the device in his eye, the robot could be scanning him for the chip. After zooming in on the Samurai's face and then arm, it then finds the chip on the Samurais weapon. It then assumes attack stance. The Samurai notices this and begins retreating to the castle. The robot pauses for a second to track where the Samurai is going. 

I am a lot happier with this more structured story which makes sure each element included in the animation has a reason for being their. I like how the story is easy enough to follow as just a fight scene, however goes deeper the more you re-watch and look into it. The betrayal was the best way of brining all of the elements together without having to add any new additional locations or characters. Its a subtle way of moving the events forward.