FinalBossTV BlizzCon Interview with Terran Gregory, Director of "Terror of Darkshore" Cinematic

Blizzard Posted 2018/11/13 at 10:53 AM by perculia

FinalBossTV interview with Marc Messenger

Terran Gregory has been in charge of in-game cinematics since Wrath Gate. He's also created cinematics for other Blizzard products, such as the Diablo III BlizzCon reveal, Junkertown in Overwatch, and Magni Bronzebeard in Heroes.

It's tricky to show emotion in characters like Night Elves, as they have no pupils, but the team conveys expression through the shapes of their eyelids.

It was a challenge to convey a dark atmosphere for the cinematic, without making sure it turned too dark and murky, especially on certain monitors.

"Terror of Darkshore" is more about the message Malfurion sends, instead of him literally killing grunts. The Horde have occupied Darkshore, and when you occupy, there are supply lines vulnerable to attack. Going after the supply lines is the first strike of many. The message is that the Night Elves are coming for you.

As part of her new model kit, Night Warrior Tyrande has a cool new owl model.

When Malfurion ambushes the group of Horde, it starts off mysterious--you don't see him. You only sense something is wrong when the blood elf healer reacts over the span of a few frames. She's taken out first by Malfurion, and in the frames where you see the attack, most of the frame has motion blur--but it's reduced on her face, to emphasize her expression of shock to the viewer.

Blizzard made a new Malfurion bear model for Patch 8.1, which was uprezzed for the cinematic. This is possibly one of the first times we see Malfurion in bear form. It's a cool model, and preserves details of his elven form, such as similar ringlets under his chin/beard.

The visuals of Malfurion shifting from bear to elf were taken from the original Warcraft cinematic, when the night elf is in the woods and transforms into a cat. The light gives over her body, radiating from the face/tattoos and then rolling over the rest of her body quickly.

"Terror of Darkshore" was in production long before the audience had a reaction to the Burning of Teldrassil. The story of the pre-patch was meant to ignite a war and it had to be big. The Night Elves were caught off guard and it was devastating.

In this next chapter, the Night Elves return to Darkshore and we see them similar to how they were in Warcraft III. They are ferocious in their element, protecting their territory.

We see a shot of Teldrassil towards the end of the cinematic, and it's the first time we see the tree extinguished. The visual is meant to show that we're here to still fight over what it stands for.

The cinematic was in production before the start of the Night Warrior customization. The team asked Alex what he thought of new armor for Tyrande, to make her reveal at the end of the cinematic special. The team created a new armor set for Tyrande, which made her reveal at the end more profound.

The position of Tyrande and Malfurion at the end is a callback to the classic Warcraft image of the male and female night elf standing together, with the female in front. Malfurion assumes a position as the 2nd in command--and we've just seen how powerful he was in the cinematic. if he's the 2nd in command, then how powerful is Tyrande?

Tyrande's armor is inspired by the Sentinels and the Wardens, the keepers of vengeance. Terran was inspired by the description of "wielding vengeance as a weapon"--that implies that the Night Elves are now more powerful after they lost.

The music at the end is a march version of Nightsong, the iconic music composed in Cataclysm and also sampled in the Ysera cinematic. Terran worked with Neal Acree to bring this music to the cinematics.

Comment by MaljinwoMalfurion assumes a position as the 2nd in command--and we've just seen how powerful he was in the cinematic. if he's the 2nd in command, then how powerful is Tyrande?Comment by MadcocogirlWell Tyrande can't be THAT powerful since according to Nathanos, the only nightelf capable of killing 4 hordies is Malfurion...Comment by infernobeckonsCinematic is one thing. The in-game lore is something else.Comment by SirKratusI am irrationally annoyed by the troll's ability to wear the red tint of the Mag'har heritage set. Really wish I could wear that on my regular orc warrior.Comment by DrakenkingWell Tyrande can't be THAT powerful since according to Nathanos, the only nightelf capable of killing 4 hordies is Malfurion...Comment by 1809537This post was from a user who has deleted their account.Comment by AlisseraWell Tyrande can't be THAT powerful since according to Nathanos, the only nightelf capable of killing 4 hordies is Malfurion...Comment by RagnarokCzDStart of that song was making me cry ... when i remembered Ysera. :(
And then i did, when i heared the rest. -_- How can anyone destroy such wonderful lyric melody with such bass? -.-Comment by LucroAs someone whose played this game since 2005, I've never once assumed any sort of control/say in creative control of World of Warcraft.

I don't think you've got a firm grasp on what your position is as a player of a video game. Game systems are one thing, but the story has always been crafted YEARS in advance. This has been the case since the very beginning.

If any kind of creative entity started making changes to their story based on what fans wanted, we'd never have cohesive stories, and/or anything good.

Let me make this abundantly clear - Your perception of a fantasy story will never, never have any bearing on what happens in this game.Comment by WepstarThis video was most Epic thing I have ever seen in WoW. Big tnx for that Blizzard. I hope Night Elves will manage to save their lands and rebuild their nation from ashes.

btw I hope to see Tyrande in real "Movie Like" video, just like Saurfang has. That will be MEGA epic!

btw also nice move making Tyrande as close combat fighter. To many woman archers in game we have.

btw also big tnx making Night Elves finally looking like they were in Warcraft 3. This video manage to do that, hope the game scenario will do the same.

btw Tyrande got very sexy legs =)Comment by GwiezTo project some game mechanics onto lore for a second, if feels like Malfurion got tired of needing to be rescued all the time while specced as a healer.Comment by SuzakuThe most scary part was:
""Terror of Darkshore" was in production long before the audience had a reaction to the Burning of Teldrassil. The story of the pre-patch was meant to ignite a war and it had to be big. The Night Elves were caught off guard and it was devastating."

Which basically means that none of our feedback will in any way, at any time matter at all.Comment by Wepstar""Terror of Darkshore" was in production long before the audience had a reaction to the Burning of Teldrassil."Comment by infernobeckonsbtw Tyrande got very sexy legs =)Comment by wranorelThe most scary part was:
""Terror of Darkshore" was in production long before the audience had a reaction to the Burning of Teldrassil. The story of the pre-patch was meant to ignite a war and it had to be big. The Night Elves were caught off guard and it was devastating."

Which basically means that none of our feedback will in any way, at any time matter at all.

And given hw disconnected Blizzard alone is with their Playerbase, I can only assume it will be getting even worse. For NEs of course. Since Horde players have nothing to fear not even seeing Sylvanas killed, based on the latest interviews...Comment by 1809537This post was from a user who has deleted their account.Comment by EridianCompletely agree with Lucro, things are made in advance . Enjoy what we can and go elsewhere if you’re going to be negative about stuff .

They did a great job with this and I’m excited to see what’s next. Stoking the fire is great, as a horde main I’m down for war. I still support sylvy but I also feel torn for Saurfang . I dig the choices ahead as well , keep it up blizz .Comment by 1809537This post was from a user who has deleted their account.Comment by MclagginCinematic is one thing. The in-game lore is something else.Comment by evilmark443The most scary part was:
""Terror of Darkshore" was in production long before the audience had a reaction to the Burning of Teldrassil. The story of the pre-patch was meant to ignite a war and it had to be big. The Night Elves were caught off guard and it was devastating."

Which basically means that none of our feedback will in any way, at any time matter at all.

And given hw disconnected Blizzard alone is with their Playerbase, I can only assume it will be getting even worse. For NEs of course. Since Horde players have nothing to fear not even seeing Sylvanas killed, based on the latest interviews...