ESMA alumni make history by participating in the “Arcane” series – part.1

Used by more than 80 million players worldwide, League of Legends is the world’s most popular strategy/action video game. It allows players to compete in teams and online in a fantasy world. The animated series Arcane, based on the League of Legends universe, is now available on Netflix. This super production is signed by the Studio Fortiche Production to which Riot Games, at the origin of the game, gave its confidence. ESMA alumni have worked for the studio Fortiche Production on this latest production. We met them!

WHAT IS LEAGUE OF LEGENDS?

Do we need to introduce League of Legends? Created in 2009, League of Legends (LoL) is without a doubt the most famous MOBA (Multiplayer Online Battle Arena). Clearly, it is a game of action, strategy, in a fantasy universe, where teams composed of several connected players compete.

League of Legends, created by Riot Games, is a game on the model of what is called free-to-play. This means that it is possible to play LoL without paying a cent, but that there are many opportunities to spend money to enhance the game.

RIOT GAMES AND FORTICHE PRODUCTION STUDIO, HAND IN HAND

Riot Games, a game development company based in Los Angeles, has had only one game published in more than ten years, the famous League of Legends, whose success is perennial and gives it a worldwide aura.

The American firm has entrusted the production of its latest production, the Arcane series, to the French studio Fortiche Production, based in Paris & Montpellier (France) and Las Palmas (Spain).

This creative production company is able to take charge of all the stages in the making of an animated film. It includes producers, directors, storyboarders, animators, composers and editors. Several former ESMA students have been able to work for this company and develop the skills they acquired at our school. They tell us about their experience.

Julien JAMME (Animator, class of 2011)

“I realised that the project was going to be great.”

 

“My job was as a host. I came in during episode 3 and until the end of the season. I didn’t know the game LoL when I arrived on the show, so I approached it in a rather naive way. With quite a bit of pressure though having already seen footage. It’s only after discovering the story and the story board/layout as well as the already finished animations that I realized how great, ambitious and motivating the project was going to be. And that’s as much for the storyline as for the whole stylization in anim and graphics of the series.

There were many challenges, a realistic but stylized animation with very advanced chara design, realistic especially for the faces. The major difficulty for me was not to be off model (out of character). It’s by asking for feedback from several people/colleagues/lead and animation director and by having a team that was united together and in the project that I believe we succeeded!

As said before, the whole studio gets along well. I think I’ve had one of the best teams in my career, we’ve shared a lot together, whether it was drinks or intense table football tournaments ;). I’m continuing the Fortiche adventure but in the Canaries.”

Lucas ANCEL (Animator, class of 2019)

“I had never seen such a rich, original and mature project from CG animation.”

“I knew LoL by name. Not being a big gamer, working on a project from this licence didn’t particularly thrill me. It was more the idea of working with Alexis Wanneroy (Editor’s note: Animation Supervisor) that first interested me. During the interview, I saw the quality of the production, the art direction and the animation. I was instantly seduced. I had never seen such a rich, original and mature project from CG animation.

This is my second professional experience, one year after leaving school. I’m still in the learning phase. Being faced with such high expectations in terms of quality was a real challenge for me.

It was a very innovative project in many areas, including animation. So you have to fit in with a very particular style. My job is after the script, between the layout and the CFX (department dedicated to the simulation of the characters’ clothes and hair) and before the lighting and retouching of the final image. The character is still and I have to make him move. The job could be considered a hybrid between actor and puppeteer. The aim is to create a natural, believable and emotionally accurate performance for the characters. All the while stylizing the movements to find a rhythm and an aesthetic visual choreography.
It was a treat. In Montpellier we were on a human scale (about 20). We all arrived on the project at the same time, which quickly created a cohesion and a great atmosphere.”

Martial ANDRE (Animation Supervisor, class of 2014)

“The facilitation team is pretty amazing.”

“At 27 years old, this was my first experience of Lead with some animators more experienced than me in my team. The first challenge is to manage the stress of a new role on a demanding project. Taking on all the work tasks! Getting to know my team members, knowing their weaknesses, their strengths, assigning them plans that will motivate them but that they are capable of handling in relation to their skills at the time. Finding the right balance between challenging a facilitator to motivate them but not putting them in extreme difficulty on a plan they will struggle to complete.
I started in March 2019 as a facilitator on the new sequences of the first episode of Arcane. I continued in this role until the end of episode 3. From episode 4 onwards, I was offered to become lead and have my own team of 5 and then 7 animators to supervise until the season finale. As a lead, I was responsible for my sequence, I had to make sure that I respected the vision set up in the storyboard and layout and above all that I kept the characters’ gestures consistent.
To be quite frank, I didn’t approach this project any differently from any other production. I was not at all familiar with the LoL universe, I only knew it by name.
What seduced me about the project was first of all the cinematography, the framing, the designs and the graphic rendering so particular to Fortiche. Obviously the animation, which is close to what I like to do, something quite naturalistic, subtle, focused on the emotions of the characters and in the action and movements a fairly realistic and solid mechanical body. Secondly, the tone of the series, the desire to tell a serious story that tackles various themes that are ultimately quite mature. I love animation but I don’t necessarily find myself in the world of animated films for children and cartoons.
As a result, the project allowed me to further develop my way of working with cult references. We did a lot of research in films and series. We cut out and shared with each other in the department sequences of films that we liked. We analyse them to understand and feed our knowledge of the construction of an emotion, to have the most accurate acting possible. The animation team is quite incredible. I was able to benefit from the support of the leads already in place and in particular the advice of my former lead Daniel Callaby coupled with that of Rémy Terreaux (also an ESMA alumnus) who is a good friend. And of course Bart Maunoury, the Animation Director, who is always available to help us if we have any doubts. And throughout the project I had a great team with whom we were able to carry out very challenging sequences of which we are all proud.

 

Image credits: Fortiche Productions / Netflix