Behind the scenes of the Road to Worlds documentary
Riot·9/8/2014, 2:00:19 PM·18 votes·86,191 views
League of Legends has grown over the past four seasons due in no small part to the drive of its talented pro-gamer community. Despite incredibly different backgrounds, these competitive players, heroes in their own right, share similar determination and passion in hopes of winning the 2014 World Championship in Seoul, Korea. Road to Worlds is a three-part documentary series following the challenging journey these heroes, and their families, must travel to follow their dreams and be crowned the best League of Legends competitors in the world.
The story shows the mindset that's required to be a top-tier pro gamer, and gives insight into what drives players to compete. Over the course of the journey, we catch up with the likes of xPeke (Fnatic), YellOwStar (Fnatic), bebe (TPA), GoGoing (OMG), Piglet (SKT), and Hai (Cloud 9).
All 3 episodes are now available to watch here. The team who worked hard on the series is incredibly excited to bring this three-part event to everyone, and want to offer fans the chance to learn more about how the project came to be, and provide some special behind-the-scenes shots. Below, you'll find a Q&A with director Daniel Stolzman and the production team, along with some production photos from the crew. Thanks for watching!
How did you go about finding the story here?
When we set out to make this series we felt like it would be really interesting, especially for new League players, to relive the history of LoL eSports from its scrappy beginnings. It’s amazing how much the sport has evolved over the last three years. We began doing research and heard some incredible stories from Rioters who worked behind-the-scenes through the early days of the sport, all the way back to Dreamhack 2011 with 200 fans watching and the servers running from a backroom closet. While it was tantalizing to chronicle the Riot perspective, in the end, we decided that the most important vantage point was that of the pro players themselves. Guys like HotshottGG, Reginald, xPeke, YellOwStar – those were the true pioneers of competitive LoL in many ways. So we began filming with them in the hopes that we could chronicle the eSports journey through their eyes.
A lot of documentary storytelling is crafted in the edit room. We were working with material from various film teams who documented Seasons 1-3, so it was a lot of footage and storylines to wade through. We had an outline when we began filming this year, but once we got into the edit, that began to change somewhat. We decided to try and limit the number of featured players in each Chapter so that the viewer can really get to know and empathize with a few key players. That’s why you see the focus on the likes of xPeke, YellOwStar and bebe in Chapter 1, then Piglet, GoGoing, and Hai in Chapter 2.
What was it like trying to get these guys to open up about their histories?
In some cases it took a little while to convince the pros that we really wanted to know about their personal and emotional stories rather than just their more game-specific thoughts and memories. But once they understood what we were after, we actually found the players to be extremely candid and heartfelt. This is a group of insanely driven guys who want to excel at anything they do. So when we asked them to do a personal interview, it seemed like they wanted to do the interview as authentically as they could. It also helped to get on their competitive side and mention that other pros were being interviewed as well.
Did you face any resistance from them, and if so, how did you overcome it?
We didn’t really get any resistance from the players once we started filming. Our biggest challenge was scheduling time with the teams and players since they are all so incredibly regimented with their practice time. The second biggest challenge was the language and cultural barrier that we faced, since we were filming with such an international group. Luckily, we had some amazing bilingual Rioters on the team who could have natural conversations with them and translate with me on the fly.
What's your impression of these people's lives?
It’s easy – especially if you play LoL - to think that these guys are living the dream. You see gaming house tours on YouTube and you might think, jeez these guys are having blast, kind of coasting through life playing LoL all the time. I think the first half is true (i.e. they are living their dream) but there definitely isn’t any coasting happening. We filmed with teams all around the world and saw a truly unbelievable dedication and passion for perfection. In my documentary career I have filmed with all types: workaholic politicians, A-list musicians, Hollywood directors, and I can say pro LoL players are some of the most hard-working people I know!
Who surprised you the most?
Faker was the biggest surprise. He is a truly enigmatic figure. For someone called “a god” and considered at, or near, the top of his game, we didn’t get any sense of ego on that guy. He seems 100% focused on personal greatness rather than fame or fortune, which is pretty rare in this world.
What was it like crafting a story on this topic?
We honestly had such a blast working on this. We just wanted to make something that was authentic and compelling.
As a filmmaker, it’s particularly exciting for me to think about new and unexpected ways to tell stories. We often think about tone and how to create the right feeling for people. From the very beginning, our goal was to find a way to capture both the epic and the human aspect of the players’ day-to-day lives. That’s how we came to the decision to shoot tons of slow-motion steadicam footage to get a slightly epic, film-like, feel, contrasted with handheld photography which has a more traditional documentary style.
What questions do you still have?
I’m extremely curious to know where all this esports growth is headed. I think just a few years ago some esports fans may have wanted to see the sport get mainstream recognition, but I’m curious to see if that will really matter in the long term.
Road to Worlds Q&A
How did you go about finding the story here?
When we set out to make this series we felt like it would be really interesting, especially for new League players, to relive the history of LoL eSports from its scrappy beginnings. It’s amazing how much the sport has evolved over the last three years. We began doing research and heard some incredible stories from Rioters who worked behind-the-scenes through the early days of the sport, all the way back to Dreamhack 2011 with 200 fans watching and the servers running from a backroom closet. While it was tantalizing to chronicle the Riot perspective, in the end, we decided that the most important vantage point was that of the pro players themselves. Guys like HotshottGG, Reginald, xPeke, YellOwStar – those were the true pioneers of competitive LoL in many ways. So we began filming with them in the hopes that we could chronicle the eSports journey through their eyes.
A lot of documentary storytelling is crafted in the edit room. We were working with material from various film teams who documented Seasons 1-3, so it was a lot of footage and storylines to wade through. We had an outline when we began filming this year, but once we got into the edit, that began to change somewhat. We decided to try and limit the number of featured players in each Chapter so that the viewer can really get to know and empathize with a few key players. That’s why you see the focus on the likes of xPeke, YellOwStar and bebe in Chapter 1, then Piglet, GoGoing, and Hai in Chapter 2.
What was it like trying to get these guys to open up about their histories?
In some cases it took a little while to convince the pros that we really wanted to know about their personal and emotional stories rather than just their more game-specific thoughts and memories. But once they understood what we were after, we actually found the players to be extremely candid and heartfelt. This is a group of insanely driven guys who want to excel at anything they do. So when we asked them to do a personal interview, it seemed like they wanted to do the interview as authentically as they could. It also helped to get on their competitive side and mention that other pros were being interviewed as well.
Did you face any resistance from them, and if so, how did you overcome it?
We didn’t really get any resistance from the players once we started filming. Our biggest challenge was scheduling time with the teams and players since they are all so incredibly regimented with their practice time. The second biggest challenge was the language and cultural barrier that we faced, since we were filming with such an international group. Luckily, we had some amazing bilingual Rioters on the team who could have natural conversations with them and translate with me on the fly.
What's your impression of these people's lives?
It’s easy – especially if you play LoL - to think that these guys are living the dream. You see gaming house tours on YouTube and you might think, jeez these guys are having blast, kind of coasting through life playing LoL all the time. I think the first half is true (i.e. they are living their dream) but there definitely isn’t any coasting happening. We filmed with teams all around the world and saw a truly unbelievable dedication and passion for perfection. In my documentary career I have filmed with all types: workaholic politicians, A-list musicians, Hollywood directors, and I can say pro LoL players are some of the most hard-working people I know!
Who surprised you the most?
Faker was the biggest surprise. He is a truly enigmatic figure. For someone called “a god” and considered at, or near, the top of his game, we didn’t get any sense of ego on that guy. He seems 100% focused on personal greatness rather than fame or fortune, which is pretty rare in this world.
What was it like crafting a story on this topic?
We honestly had such a blast working on this. We just wanted to make something that was authentic and compelling.
As a filmmaker, it’s particularly exciting for me to think about new and unexpected ways to tell stories. We often think about tone and how to create the right feeling for people. From the very beginning, our goal was to find a way to capture both the epic and the human aspect of the players’ day-to-day lives. That’s how we came to the decision to shoot tons of slow-motion steadicam footage to get a slightly epic, film-like, feel, contrasted with handheld photography which has a more traditional documentary style.
What questions do you still have?
I’m extremely curious to know where all this esports growth is headed. I think just a few years ago some esports fans may have wanted to see the sport get mainstream recognition, but I’m curious to see if that will really matter in the long term.
