OVERCOMING THE SUMMIT - LEGEND OF CDEW
METHOD
“After previously placing fifth, fourth, third, and finally second place in the biggest World of Warcraft Esports event of the year, we follow Chuck “Cdew” Dewlands journey in his last chance to become the world champion.”
The Creative Challenge
The goal was to create the experience of being there as a spectator, while also experience it in Cdews point of view. The problem was that zero footage was given to work with, except for some b-roll footage. The idea was to make a compelling, yet epic video about Method Cdews victory, to reinforce Method as the leading World of Warcraft esports organization.
The Creative Process
I started by thoroughly researching Cdews story, going through hours of archived videos and live streams to find voice clips that would, by combining them, narrate his story. Next, I had to find all the footage that supported the story. I had to go back through years of the archive to find his past victories and losses.
Setting the Stage
by creating a conflict.
The goal was to make the viewer root for Cdew for his personality rather than his gaming-skill. The logical thing was to show his backstory, make sure he’s human, vulnerable, and flawed but also showing classic heroic qualities while also emphasize his inner life as well as his surface problems.
“Learn the rules like a pro, so you can break them like an artist.”
The Climax
The capstone of any production conclusively decides it's satisfactory level. Often people are invested in a movie, querying how it will unfold. If the ending is disappointing, the entire production is deemed unsatisfying. Due to the nature of this video, by continually building up the tension, I realized that the climax, wouldn't be much of a climax, but of equal pressure. I need to break the stress altogether by shocking the viewers, through breaking the rules.
The full plot diagram
Reception
The people over that Blizzard Entertainment seemed to enjoy the video too, as they retweeted the video. They very seldom retweet any content from third parties or other content creators, so this was a pleasant surprise.
Conclusion
The project managed to reach is the goal of creating the experience of being there as a spectator while also experiencing the emotion of Cdew. The goal to make a compelling, yet epic video about Method Cdews victory. The project was a foundation for reinforcing Method as the leading World of Warcraft esports organization.