Short stories are tiny windows into other worlds and other minds and other dreams.
– Neil Gaiman

 

ESL Berlin 2023 was one of the first Dota 2 major events which we created content for. With a prize pool of $500,000 and teams like Team Spirit, PSG.LGD, OG and Team Liquid in attendance, it was guaranteed to attract a lot of attention. Europe hadn’t hosted many major Dota 2 events since Frankfurt in 2015 so Berlin’s reputation as one of the biggest esports and gaming hubs in the world signaled an epic return.

 

 

Unlike the ESL Genting video discussed in my previous blog post, this piece wasn’t merely an event introduction and announcement. It served a greater purpose. It needed to develop and establish the theme for the entire event – the battle of Light versus Darkness. The requirements of the brief were rather challenging. Our protagonist is Nightstalker, a dark and terrifying character, the epitome of a villain. We had to include the heroes who had been key promoters of previous events: Kunkka, Phoenix, and Tiny. Additionally, we wanted to ensure that everyone knew Dota had come to Berlin. We selected some of the city’s iconic landmarks, such as the Brandenburg Tor, Tiergarten Park and the event venue, Velodrome Arena and incorporated them into our story. So how would Phoenix, Tiny and Kunkka, three heroes with various supernatural and magical properties fit into one of the most modern European cities?

 

Here’s how we did it.

 

 

We wanted to prevent Phoenix from scorching everything in close proximity while flying around Berlin. Similarly, we didn’t want shockwaves of Tiny’s footsteps or the debris from destroyed buildings as he walks down the streets to cause harm. We decided to depict these heroes as monuments in the establishing shots of the video. Our intro pays tribute to the previous event’s champions, immortalizing them as stone figures in Tiergarten Park. That’s where the hunt begins.

 

 

We aimed to establish a hopeless situation right from the beginning. An unknown, injured figure is seen running and gasping for air. The silhouette passes by Kunkka, and as the scene darkens, the influence of dire magic slowly consumes the statue. The figure is being chased by a shade. A horrifying voice narrates the video with an intense choice of words, further emphasizing the hopeless situation.

 

 

The hero of Light is finally revealed. We selected Dawnbreaker as the main character because her persona perfectly fit the story. According to lore, Dawnbreaker is ‘the shining herald of the majesty of order and light.‘ Her purpose is to ‘obliterate all aspects of darkness forever‘ and ‘with each swing of her celestial hammer amidst an endless battle to keep chaos at bay.‘. Sent by her gods on her final mission to ‘seize a source of great power, Dawnbreaker and her hammer faced failure for the first time. They were left adrift in a black expanse, lost for untold millennia before crashing onto an unfamiliar world.’. Another significant connection, lore-wise, is that Dawnbreaker is the hero of the Radiant, while Nightstalker belongs to the forces of Dire – the two conflicting factions at the core of the game.

 

 

The first interaction between our two heroes begins at the Brandenburg Tor. As the shade catches up, Nighstalker is finally revealed. He dwarfs Dawnbreaker after jumping down from the monument. She realizes that fight is inevitable and, if she doesn’t confront him and face her fears, he will hunt her forever. In this particular scene, I’d like to draw your attention to the power of VFX and audio in animation, which further enhance the art of storytelling. VFX can significantly improve the visual quality of the shot, while music can evoke and convey the emotions of our characters. I’m extremely proud to say that this beautiful custom musical piece was composed by the incredible composer Zach Heyde. You definitely need to check out his YouTube channel and follow him on social media, as his content is as amazing as his composing skills.

 

 

As Dawnbreaker reinforces her Celestial Hammer with the power of the Light, the battle begins. We drew inspiration from the game for the animation of the heroes and their combat moves. The Celestial Hammer swing is Dawnbreaker’s signature move. What’s interesting about this particular shot is that it’s a mix of 2D and 3D animation. The hammer was modeled and animated in 3D according to the hero’s in-game weapon. The sound effects used for both heroes are also related to those from the game. Nightstalker deflects the hits and, after disengaging, casts his ultimate, essentially summoning darkness to his aid. The idea of using the signature moves, as well as their respective sounds, was to immediately connect with the Dota 2 audience. Nightstalker flies toward Dawnbreaker, another signature move of his as he gains the flying ability when his ultimate ability is used, and starts throwing a series of punches at her. These moves were animated after analyzing how the hero strikes in the game.

 

 

After the final punch, Nightstalker addresses Dawnbreaker directly for the first time. The interesting aspect of this sequence is that most of the narrative words used are Nightstalker’s actual voice lines. The Velodrome arena is revealed with Nightstalker casting another of his signature spells while flying above it. ‘Crippling Fear’ is a silencing spell which ‘horrifies all nearby enemies, causing them to become silenced.‘ As the sun sets over the Berlin landscape, concluding this intense prelude, the scene is set and ready for the Berlin Major to begin.

 

 

Thank you so much for reading my blog posts! I hope you can get at least a glimpse of the preparation and planning that goes into a creative piece like this. You can see more behind the scenes content on our Behance project link.

 

 

In the next post, I will break down the project of Kuala Lumpur with Oracle as the protagonist.