Arcane editors Ernesto Matamoros-Cox and Lawrence Gan discuss the creation of the animated series League

The first season of Arcane makes many fans want more — and we’ll definitely get more once second season released. But for now, you’ll just have to re-watch the first nine episodes and learn every secret behind the creation of the first animated series inspired by the world of… League of Legends.

Two of the series’ editors, Ernesto Matamoros-Cox and Lawrence Gan, spoke to Dot Esports about the creation. Arcane.

Both editors were approached by Riot to work on Arcane in 2017. And even then they didn’t know much about the universe at first. League, it quickly became clear that Arcane “It’s going to be something special,” says Matamoros-Cox. “[It was] something very different and potentially the future of animation. And we didn’t know how right we were at the time.”

Arcane is the first animated series inspired by League universe and “a lot of pressure” to make it happen mainly because of the high expectations of the community, according to Matamoros-Cox. But Riot has created a great experience for fans who have been playing the game since 2009 and those who reach out for the first time. League universe with Arcane. And according to both editors, this is also thanks to Riot “keeping the project in place” by partnering with Fortiche and working on the series with the animation studio instead of “[sending] move their property to a Hollywood studio somewhere. ”

“I think that just shows dedication and level of dedication,” Gan said. “Because it took so much time, so much effort on behalf of the company to ensure that this high-level quality of in-depth storytelling remains consistent, even as they opened it up into a series world. cartoon.”

Quality of Arcane at a high level in all aspects of the show, from the animation and soundtrack to the writing and editing of each episode. Creators Arcane succeeded in building a program full of contrasts and parallels, metaphorically and explicitly comparing parallel dichotomies set in the same environment.

“The dichotomy between Piltover and Zaun, [the writers] is establishing these two worlds in so many symbolic ways,” said Gan. “I mean, the twin city, symbolizing a lot of relationships, not just Vi and Jinx, but you know, Vander and Silco too. And so I think there’s a lot of threads going on in similar ways, but with different outcomes. “

This attention to detail occurs most in the “moment of reflection,” scenes that are similar and mean similar if not identical. These moments are what both editors point out as something to really look out for throughout the series, especially those in episode three of act one. Specifically, “episode three is when you start to see someone acting as someone else, like a double word saying something,” says Gan. Matamoros-Cox added that “there are moments where you don’t really realize that are telling you where the story is going.”

And despite years of work and countless changes and tweaks to the series, there are moments or scenes that “have to maintain their integrity” because they are the foundation of the story and the feeling. emotions that it must convey to all viewers. Matamoros-Coz said the story “is grounded and rooted in real-life things.” Audiences can connect with it and with the characters because “[Riot] According to Matamoros-Cox.

An example of this appears in the final scene of act one. “In that way [the finale of episode three] was cut where the explosion gives you some time to see everyone’s perspective on the explosion,” said Gan. “And I know that for our partners or, you know, our partners at Fortiche, that’s incredibly important, too. We made sure that no matter what we did, no matter how the editing changed, we kept those moments intact.”

Arcane opened the doors of a vast universe to an even wider audience than before. It’s a bridge between people who like an exciting and epic story and those who have known and loved the characters of a game for more than a decade. The passion, commitment and attention to detail of those working on Arcane could be heard in every note, seen in every frame, and felt chills on our skin every time we heard “I just want to help”.

“I remember reading this, I remember reading the script for the show when we first started and was like, what kind of show is this? This is amazing,” said Gan.

“I mean, really, I don’t think people have any idea how it’s all going,” said Matamoros-Cox. “And it was like, it was very… I don’t even, I don’t know. It’s just, it’s so beautiful. ”

You can listen directly from the two editors above Dot Esports’ YouTube Channel.