Animation Review

Shurima: Rise of the Ascended

A cinematic trailer released in September 16th 2014 from Riot Game Studios. 

Director and producer unknown as I couldn't find any form of credits anywhere. 

As the director and producer are unknown, so is the animation studio...unless the animation was done inhouse, in which case it would be Riot Game Studios.

The cinematic currently does not possess nor is nominated for any award of any sort.

The first half of the cinematic is style reminiscent of  stained glass art that are predominantly seen in churches yet it still retains qualities that suggest that it is 3D CGI in origins. The story progress of the animation is told by narration as just like stained glass, the subjects are inanimate and does not show sign of sentient movement. The animation instead creates the illusion of movement through the use of a backlight that illuminates necessary parts of the scene to emphasize point and focus. Scenes transition as the focus and focal point changes with the narration.

The latter half of the cinematic changes animation style from the stained glass. It transitions into 2D animations that have been rendered and animated in a form that gives it 3D quality.

This animation appealed to me because of the way the animation had been integrated along with the story line, the narration and music. I liked the usage of the stained glass because it's static imagery yet still gripping. The latter half of the cinematic juxtaposed the stationary imagery of the stained glass and gave a dynamic importance to the open-ended ending.

I enjoyed the 'drama' of the cinematic and utilized their style effectively.