by Marla Desat
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| credit: Erica Landrock |
RISE OF THE ESPORTS HERO: THE WORLD OF PROFESSIONAL STARCRAFT (A DOCUMENTARY)
I started watching professional StarCraft
in university. My friends and I would stay up late to watch matches being
broadcast online from South Korea, where StarCraft
has a huge professional scene. Explaining the allure of watching someone play a
video game is tricky, and even my gamer friends sometimes struggled to
understand the appeal. When I watch professionals play, I am seeing the highest
level of skill and strategy in a game I love to play. It isn't always easy to
explain, and that's why I am so excited about Rise of the eSports Hero, a Canadian documentary by filmmaker Erica
Landrock that explores the subculture of professional gamers from an outsider's
perspective. Rise of the eSports Hero premiered
on Global TV on October 26, 2013. The full documentary is available online from
Global.
StarCraft is a science
fiction real time strategy game from Blizzard Entertainment, released in 1998.
Players must collect resources and construct an army, and then battle each
other to claim victory. The game was hugely popular, and in 2010 Blizzard
released its sequel, StarCraft II: Wings
of Liberty.
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| credit: Erica Landrock |
I contacted producer Erica Landrock about the film, and she told me the
idea came from her co-director, Stephen Gillis. "Stephen is an avid NHL
video game player and I would enjoy a round of Super Mario Kart or Guitar
Hero now and again, but never have been one to really get into
gaming," says Landrock. "This in part is what attracted me to the
documentary idea so much. It is a world I really knew nothing about and every
piece of information I learned about it blew my mind."
The documentary follows Chris "HuK" Loranger, Greg
"IdrA" Fields, and Geoff "iNcontroL" Robinson from April to
December 2012. Loranger is Canadian, and that was a big selling point for
Landrock. The documentary follows the gamers to five tournaments, and to Seoul,
South Korea. Living out of suitcases and struggling to acclimatize to different
time zones before a big tournament, Landrock told me that she was impressed with
their dedication and passion for the game.
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| Behind the scenes. Credit: Erica Landrock |
Some protest that professional gaming is not a sport, but Landrock
disagrees. "Is poker a sport? Is Nascar a sport? Is chess a sport? What
defines a sport? The players that we followed definitely are professionals and
masters at their game," says Landrock. "Many would argue they aren’t
athletes because of the lack of physicality of gaming, but I’d challenge anyone
to go to a tournament or follow these players for a few days and you may just
change your mind. The high level of skills, technique, strategy and mental
agility would rival other “traditional” sports any day."
The documentary is available for Canadian viewers online from GlobalTV, and the filmmakers are working on making it available internationally. I highly recommend giving it a watch, even if
you are unfamiliar with StarCraft.
Landrock and her team have made an accessible and entertaining introduction to
the world of esports.
Learn more about the documentary on Facebook.
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