e.sport / tournament&show – page 11
I had started with the easy one of my famous and soon to be fabulous mix between e.sport and a show.
I have to tackle the difficult one – but the difficult one, of course… it’s complicated.
Once again, what you will read here is only a state of my thoughts.
What is really difficult is to make the transition from one to the other smooth and completely natural.
To be exact: it’s difficult to set up – once the habit is formed, the path is traced, it won’t be.
But you mustn’t miss the path.
The first time I thought of combining the two was a long time ago now, to have a Festival : Impossible that would break all the walls and remain as a UFO in the memories – yes, because if I’m going to work, I might as well be remembered as having worked. Otherwise, I stay home and play.
In this context, the link was obvious because it was immediately linked to the structure of the script, with a villain character who directly attacked the Internet and virtual worlds.
Moreover, it will be a Festival that will break all the walls and will remain in the memories.
Then I came to accept that I shouldn’t keep this thing just for my beautiful festival, because it was the perfect link to the video game worlds and I shouldn’t deprive Altair of it.
In fact, I looked for good reasons to keep the e.sport for the Impossible Festival – I didn’t find enough good reasons. So I agreed to extend the principle.
When asked by developers of e.sport projects, I got on the subject.
I started looking for strong common thematic links between these two worlds of entertainment – and the first crush I had, obviously, was on a pirate story.
That led to the project: Attack on Antigua.
Again, the link is not too difficult to make, since the e.sport part takes over from the stage for everything in the combat domain.
And as a result, I can easily get a complete and fluid show, on stage then on screen, then on stage etc.
These two projects have the same base: the show is written for the tournament – so it integrates it and it’s wonderfully fine.
When I started – because I love it – writing more for Border Depths, I changed the game, because the play already exists.
As a result, it becomes more difficult to integrate the e.sport tournament.
And I’m going to add a big stone in my little garden: the worst thing is that I sincerely think that we’ll have to start working with Fortnite first and thus have a first tournament-spectacle tuned to this game.
Since I’m a girl and I have at least a stubborn old donkey’s head, I prefer the game Borderlands – and so I don’t care about all that, I’m going for the worst – the most difficult – and that’s it.
If I get out of this, the groove is made.
So I chose, in choosing Border Depths, the hardest thing – because I have to adapt it and not create it from scratch.
I hope you’re worried about me – I’ve got a pretty slim chance of making it – and of course I’m going to do what? I’m going to keep going because I’m stupid.
Yesterday, I was at the point of making the e.sport final look like the modern poker game that would decide the fate of the 4 major characters – while the characters eliminated in phase 3 would take the opportunity to comment live and improvise on what was happening on the screens during the tournament.
I know it’s: not bad.
I know that “not bad” can’t work. Not bad ? pffff, not bad or nothing, it’s the same.
I chose – all by myself with my little head – Gorky’s play because it is very adaptable, and especially because it doesn’t have an “ending” – the ending is anything, really.
It can be turned into a social drama that makes families cry – Renoir did that.
It can be turned into a burlesque – if you stay with the text and put forward all the parts that are completely irrelevant
It can be drawn towards video games, because the characters spend their time confronting each other.
And they’re pretty dumb.
And there are steps – so it will be very appropriate to send a little robot with a single wheel and a shrill voice up the steps. I just bought the English translation to see what I could take from the dialogues to give to Clap-Trap (yes, because I’m French and my text is in French and I can’t find the complete English text on the net and ???? you’re interested? but no, I know it’s not interesting).
And I chose this piece because the 4 major characters of Borderlands 3 – and Clap Trap, would be like fish in water in the Gorky universe.
The thing is, I feel like I’m getting dizzy – but yet – I set it up for that.
Then, these 5 characters are going to get in the play – they’re going to be a part of the play, just like Goky’s characters will be a part for the Borderlands tournament.
Without that, I have no balance – and no flow. Don’t you think so ?
These Borderlands characters will take the place of secondary characters in the play – in fact, they will be cast as actors – secondary – in the play.
Yes, I’m at actor-secondary and I know exactly what you’re thinking now, exactly what I’m thinking too: why just actor-secondary?
Because …. I’m going to work on that.
For now, because I’ve used them as characters in every team in the e.sport and taking them as main characters makes my life difficult.
Okay, that rock can move.
The basis : they’re there, right from the start.
How are they there?
By screens at the beginning : so, from the beginning, the Borderlands sets are integrated with the play sets.
They can come out of the screens – I’ve seen directors play with that, when it’s done well, it’s very cool.
If you can get off the screens – you can get on them. The characters in Borderlands and the characters in the play.
(yes, since the characters in the play will have been digitized and modeled long ago for entry into the game, it would be a real shame and a complete moron not to send them into the game during the play)
So they’ll get in.
I’m still figuring out how I’m going to place my phases 3 and 4 of e.sport.
Yes – wait – a little – I get there, wait, wait.
Here it is – 3 was played a few days before – there will be montages of 3 for the entries into the screens at the beginning of the show.
So it will be an immediate and acted principle of the narrative of the piece.
And so it’s not surprising that we’ll be handing over the e.sport part.
There, there will be highlighted only the screens.
Those who did not enter – the losers of phase 3 – will be on stage – poorly lit – and there they can interact.
This means that the overall setting will be designed to develop on both levels: the actual setting on the stage and the settings chosen in Borderlands.
And the whole play will be a back and forth between the two sets and therefore the two universes, thanks to the screens / the stage / the screens, the stage…
Do you see the trick? Of course, you do.
Like now, I’m tired, so I’ll continue this tomorrow.
But now I have something that I like much more – because I absolutely combine the two worlds, from one end of the show to the other, so that one can’t be separated from the other.
Did you feel sorry for me? I hope so, anyway – with all the effort I put in!
Featured Image : screenshot from Borderlands 3 – by GearBox
ALTAIR - Concepts 