some scattered thoughts about the recent nalcs/eulcs spring split promos: a thread.
for nalcs promos, riot has never been particularly interested in emphasizing origin of players or "place"; to the extent that the promos are hyping a location, it is la, where the games are played. take, for example, "it all starts here":
"here" is the beginning of spring split, but it is also la -- see the plane bringing ryo and arrow to la, looper sitting by the water, and finally the sehot of the city.
obviously this doesn't hold true for promos for finals, which generally focus on the city where they are held, though iirc the 2017 ones were not particularly geographically focused.
which makes "rise up" fascinating, because, for obvious reasons, riot has for the first time shot a promo that is almost all about pushing the geographic diversity of its new franchised league:
the nba-backed teams get their callouts, clg gets new york, etc. it almost makes the teams with no obvious geographic base (c9, tsm, echofox, tl to some extent) stand out. this feels like the teases at the beginning of owl matches, which also feature geographic "grounding" shots.
going into this, i had the impression that eulcs promos were much more grounded in geography, but actually looking back, that hasn't been true. (please, let's not start with whether riot has done a good or bad job promoting eulcs.)
instead, eulcs makes nods to the origins of their players. take the 2017 summer promo, "this is our time," which features pros speaking in their native tongues: and compare that with the spring promo, which is chuuni yet generic:
eulcs is also home to what i personally consider one of the best location-based trailers made by riot so far, "we have something in common," for the 2017 spring split finals in hamburg: the celebration of fandom and hamburg is so deftly interwoven.
"rise again" feels like riot's attempt to blend the two, with the players speaking their own languages, as well as touring locations that are meaningful for them or their team: it's pan-european for the first time in a long time.
for another look at this approach, i greatly enjoyed the lpl promo for 2018 spring, "game on," which weaves in various pros with almost government-approved markers of chinese culture, which nevertheless to those looking for it geolocates the teams:
lpl promos aren't riot-produced, but "game on" has the same slickness and "celebratory" feel to it, and it also stands in sharp contrast to "rise up" and "rise again". for one, "game on" is indefatigably brightly-lit. it looks "clean," upbeat, energetic.
there are moments of cheesy, but familiar, theatrics, with players snapping, flipping an lpl badge, xiye taking off a mask, etc. i also like the framing of uzi as the "final boss."
maybe this is also an eu thing, but "rise again" has a very gray cast overall, favoring blues in almost every shot. it's also the only promo to heavily feature casting soundbites -- note that "game on" mostly draws on in-game sounds themselves.
and then there's "rise up."
now, as someone who still unapologetically loves the 2017 summer semifinals tease, which i call "run the trophies," (), i looooove a good cinematic sequence which is only set to music.
i can't find them now but i know riot has experimented with sound-only promos in 2017. but "rise up" is a beast all unto itself. there are no player voiceovers. there are no soundclips from casters. the song speaks for itself and everyone else in the video.
it is the ogn/spotv trailer, but with an american gloss. it is slick, it is modern, with lots of orange/blues/exposure by neon lighting, and it /feels/ like something you might see on your team promoting an nba game.
it's not a huge departure from "it all starts here," including the montage of logos at the end. but there is not a single shot of the actual game being played. you barely even see a computer. without context, it's impossible to see what riot is selling -- other than the players.
i messed up threading because i am an idiot so here are the final tweets in this thread OK BYE:
i promise this is the last thing i will tweet about "rise up" but i only just realized this morning that all the city/geographic shots are of roads and travel! honestly, good job riot, this promo is slick as hell and well thought-out
