The idea
I have always been a fan of the GTA series. Like many people, GTA was not just a game for me; it was one of those worlds that felt alive. The atmosphere, the characters, the cities, the music, the trailers, and the overall cinematic style always stayed in my head.
So when GTA VI started creating hype, I wanted to build something around that feeling.
I did not want to create a normal static landing page. That would have been boring. GTA has always been cinematic, fast, dramatic, and visually powerful, so the landing page also needed to feel the same. That is why I built GTA-VI - Interactive Landing, a scroll-driven cinematic website.
The main idea was simple: as the user scrolls, the page should feel like a trailer.
Instead of just showing sections one after another, I used pinned sections, scroll-based animations, and video scrubbing. The video timeline is tied to the scroll position, so the user is not just watching the page; they are controlling the motion through scrolling.
Tech Stack
The project is built using:
- React + TypeScript
- Vite
- Tailwind CSS
- GSAP ScrollTrigger
- Video assets stored inside
public/videos
React handled the structure of the page, TypeScript helped keep the code cleaner and safer, Vite made the development experience fast, Tailwind made styling quicker, and GSAP ScrollTrigger handled the cinematic scroll animations.
What I Built
The website has multiple sections such as Hero, video sections, character-based sections, postcard-style visuals, final scenes, and outro sections. Each section is designed to feel like part of a larger cinematic experience.
The most important feature is the scroll-scrubbed video effect. Instead of simply playing a video normally, the video's currentTime changes based on the user's scroll progress. This creates a controlled trailer-like feeling where the page reacts directly to the user's movement.
I also used pinned sections with GSAP ScrollTrigger. This means some sections stay fixed while the animation continues as the user scrolls. It gives the page a more premium and polished feel compared to a normal website.
Challenges I Faced
One of the main challenges was handling video scrubbing correctly. A video cannot be controlled properly until its metadata is loaded, so I had to make sure the video was ready before changing its currentTime.
Another issue was with pinned sections. GSAP pinning can sometimes create wrapper elements or overlays that interfere with clickable elements. For example, a play button may stop working if another pinned layer is intercepting pointer events. The fix was to manage z-index, use pointer-events: auto, and keep interactive elements outside problematic pinned containers when needed.
I also had to be careful with cleanup. ScrollTrigger animations and event listeners need to be removed properly when components unmount, otherwise they can cause memory leaks or weird animation behavior.
What I learned
This project helped me understand how cinematic websites are actually built. It is not just about putting videos and animations on a page. The real work is in controlling timing, scroll progress, layout behavior, performance, responsiveness, and user interaction.
I also got better at using GSAP ScrollTrigger with React. Registering plugins, creating timelines, pinning sections, scrubbing animations, refreshing ScrollTrigger after layout changes, and cleaning up timelines are all important details that matter when building polished interactive experiences.
Why I Built This
I built this because I wanted to combine something I personally enjoy with something technical. GTA has always had a strong visual identity, and I wanted to recreate that kind of cinematic energy on the web.
This project is not an official GTA VI website. It is a fan-made interactive landing page built as a creative frontend experiment. The goal was to push my frontend skills beyond normal layouts and build something that feels closer to a digital trailer or promotional experience.
Final Thoughts
This project reminded me that frontend development is not only about forms, dashboards, and APIs. Sometimes frontend is about creating emotion, movement, and atmosphere.
Building this GTA VI-inspired landing page helped me explore that side of development. It pushed me to think more about animation, storytelling, scroll behavior, performance, and visual impact.
For me, this was not just another React project. It was a way to turn my excitement for GTA into an interactive web experience.