Arcane Bonus Material!
Making-of Videos and Other "Embellishments"
As I was researching for my deep dive about Aristotle and Arcane, I discovered a wealth of Youtube videos by professional artists and other armchair critics on why they think the show is so great. Here are some of my favorites that demonstrate how much thought and care went into this series.
Arcane: Bridging the Rift
If you are interested in the back-story of how this show was made and who the creators are, this five part documentary is essential viewing. It covers the entire process from the inception of the idea to the red carpet premiere. Each episode focuses on different aspects of the production from writing to animation to music creation, and it gives you a clear picture of why this show was pushing so many boundaries. If you only watch one video series on Arcane, this should be the one.
Part 2: Persistence (or When Your Best Still Sucks)
Part 3: Killstreaks Meet Key Frames
Part 5: We Gave It Our Best Shot
Music: The Chorus of Arcane
Riot Games had established itself as a music making company when they hired their own in-house composers and musicians to create themes for their games. When it came time to create the show, rather than over laying scenes with existing pop-songs, they hired musicians to write original songs for the story. They even went so far as to edit the songs along with the film editing. The result was something more akin to a traditional Greek chorus complementing the story almost like a separate character.
This video by Cel-shaded Music Theory is an elaborate breakdown of all the musical themes and how they support the story with lots of music theory to back it up:
For a more detailed breakdown of the show’s final song, What Could Have Been, here is another video that describes the production process editing the song around the show’s dialogue and shot editing. The song was produced by Sebastien Najand & Mako, but it features vocals by Sting and violin by Ray Chen. Check it out here:
Animation
You can’t not notice the unique visuals of Arcane which were produced by a French animation studio called Studio Fortiche. They talk more about the studio’s origins in the Bridging the Rift documentary, but this video is a great perspective to hear the reactions for an animator who has worked at Disney. He points out the things that stand out to him as impressive and why the art looks so unique.
Arcane and Greek Philosophy
I’m not the only one who saw the parallels between Arcane and ancient Greek theatre. Here are two videos by Youtubers who break down why the show feels so Greek. The first video by Five by Five Takes discusses three major themes that are distinct in classical drama: fatal flaws, music, and fate.
The second video by honorablefroggery gives a little more history into the roots of greek tragedy and how it applies to the show. She also gives more details on the Greek pillars of tragedy hamartia (i.e. fatal flaw), peripeteia (i.e. reversal of situation), and anagnorisis (i.e. recognition.)
More Arcane Gems
Fight Scenes
Here is an MMA fighter breaking down the fight choreography of the fight between Vi and Sevicka. It’s not just good animation. It’s actually filled with professional kickboxing strategies.
Writing Women
This youtuber (schnee) has basically made a career out of making videos almost exclusively about the writing in Arcane, and he’s really good at it! In this video, he is talking about how Arcane navigates writing so many strong female characters while avoiding the usual tropes and pitfalls that often appear in pop screenplays.
Q & A with the Cast
This one is a little long, but if you are an acting nerd like me, it is interesting to hear some of the actors’ perspectives on their characters and performances.
Vi vs Amazon’s Galadriel
This girl gives her take on why she thinks Vi is a better written warrior woman than Galadriel in the sub-par Rings of Power. Some of her hot takes may be debatable, but she does make some solid arguments for what makes Vi a stronger character study.
Sterling Martin is an artist and designer living in Chicago, IL. His background includes drawing, writing, theatre, teaching, improv & sketch comedy, and whatever else he can get his hands on to be creative. You can find him on the internet at:
Instagram: @sterfest.art
Website: sterlingmartin.design
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