This article may be brief, but I wanted to highlight some of the incredible work that the LOLESports and League of Legends brands do to capture the stories and personalities of players from around the world. I do not want to demonstrate the wide breadth of personalities or stories that are captured because the videos do it better than I ever could. I want you to try watching these videos if you want to feel connected to your gaming idols or simply other gamers around the world. The various videos and episodes available to watch are exciting, humbling, emotional, engaging and help provide a ‘togetherness’ for gamers around the world.
In an effort to get you hooked, I pulled one of my favorite clips throughout all of the videos I have watched. There are light spoilers in the clip selected below (turn on CC’s when it starts), but I hope it demonstrates the power of these documentaries (to avoid more spoilers, stop at 28:23):
To put it succinctly (as I wipe away my welling tears) incredibility pervades this short section. The story pulls the heart-strings, the emotions expressed are raw. The brief shot of Chawy’s glasses mirroring his grandmother’s obituary sends pangs of emotions from the screen. The beautiful compilation of inline images of his grandparents and father pay homage to an incredible trio. The voiceover tears at your emotions. The way the music slowly and purposefully interacts with the ambient and video noise moves the emotion from scene to scene. Hell, even the way the fonts trickle in and out evokes some sort of serenity.
LolEsports produces many, many clips and episodes of this caliber of film making and immersion. It’s a level of depth that most certainly deserves recognition and that doesn’t stray from hard subject-matter. Some of the most incredible scenes produced have involved parents disowning their children for pursuing professional gaming, or the hardships and passing of close relatives. The player profiles are raw and relatable:
What I love about this clip and many others in LOLEsports’ videos is that they always make sure to capture the silence. Emotion abounds through verbalization and sound, but seeing the quiet emotion on Chawy’s face as his parents hope for his success is so moving. What League of Legends’ player profiles do best is capture the silence.
I could go on forever, but I’ll shut up and leave you a starting list of videos to watch.
A non-comprehensive short-list of player profiles to watch:
- Legends Rising Episode 1: Faker and Bjergsen “History” — A behind the screen look at the history of two of the greatest mid-laners to ever play League of Legends.
- Legends Rising Episode 2: Uzi and brTT “Home” — A very touching story of two very different players and their families.
- Duos: Huni and Reignover — Another touching and exciting compare and contrast of two of the most iconic Korean players to play in the west.
- Drive: The LemonNation Story — A story of hard-work, hardship and passion told by an introverted legend in North America.
- TSM: Legends – Episode 31 – Finished — The vlog series about TSM in 2015 comes to a close with a heart-breaking episode featuring retirement and tears (Gets very sad at 19:00).
- Live/Play Miniseries – Episode 1: Be There — An episode of a vlog series highlighting non-pro gaming culture around the world. The storylines coming from England and Brazil left me in tears.