“Dr. Ellis uses a dream induction technique to set intentions that allow dreamers to become the hero,” Vreeken tells Muse. “These intentions can range from remembering the weapons or armor you might need to overcome a specific nightmare, or even who you might bring with you to help you in times of need.”

“Much of our dreams are influenced by our waking life. So, if gamers have been stuck in a certain place in Diablo IV, they may discover new techniques to overcome those obstacles.”

Then again, some folks might find beery dreams more refreshing.

CREDITS

Brand: Diablo
Daniela Rodriguez: Director of Brand Marketing
Kevin Carmona: Brand Marketing Manager
Aryan Mohsenzadeh: Brand Marketing Coordinator
Euni Moon Lee: Senior Director of Content Marketing
Krystha Dart: Sr Digital Marketing Manager
Patrick Coyle: Digital Marketing Manager
Maxim Samoylenko: Sr Public Relations Manager 
Laura Herzberg: Public Relations Coordinator 

Agency: VCCP US
Jed Grossman: Chief Creative Officer
Joel Kaplan: Executive Creative Director
Geoff Vreeken: Creative Director
Trevor Larson: Copywriter
Taylor Dahl: Art Director
Matt DeMilner: Art Director
Conor McFarland: Copywriter
Katy Aquino: Director of Creative Operations
Cara Orlowski: Director of Business Affairs
Jessica Ambrose: Executive Producer
Erin Kelly: Integrated Producer
Katie Nichols: Account Supervisor
Brendan Robertson: Managing Partner
Sashi Nair: Head of Strategy

Production
Ross Allen: Director
Mitchell Baxter: Director of Photography
Alex Greba: Gaffer
Colyn Cameron: Sound Operator

Editorial
Ryan Gee: Editor – “Teaser” “Launch” & “Visualizer” assets
Ross Allen : Editor – “Mini Documentary”
Miguel Barbosa: Assistant Editor – “Mini Documentary”

Sound Design & Mix: One Thousand Birds
Andrew Tracy: Sound Designer + Mixer
Andres Velasquez: Original Music
Guin Frehling: Executive Producer
Kira MacKnight: Managing Director + Executive Producer

Props to INGO copywriter writer Philip Frendberg and Bacon director Bart Timmer for creating an immersive, wholly satisfying 90 seconds that vividly encapsulate the WoW proposition through sharp conversation (with a dash of swordplay unsheathed at the end).

The satire hits home, no pricey effects required, with pleasantly understated performances by Ade Dimberline and Judita DaSilva as the warrior and priest.

Here’s another salient exchange:

• Priest: “Do they fly on the backs of dragons? … Scour the world for legendary items? … Is there any wonder in this world?”
• Warrior: “The only items of wonder in this world are tiny dark portals they carry with them everywhere. They stare at them for house and … scroll.”
• Priest: “What a waste of time!”

Thankfully, Blizzard recently released a free-to-play mobile game, Arclight Rumble, so those portals won’t seem quite so empty anymore.

“We tried to find humor by reflecting on our world through the eyes of computer game characters, so it was fun to make them a bit boomer-ish regarding phones,” Frendberg says. “WoW is definitely more fun than scrolling. They’d probably have a blast with Arclight Rumble if someone taught them how to play.”

Below, Frendberg explains how he approached the brief and discusses the attention to detail and abundant Easter eggs in “The Tavern.”

Muse: The warrior and priest are generic WoW types, not playable personalities, yes?

Philip Frendberg: They are not specific characters since we wanted to create our own story. There’s also something interesting in focusing on peripheral personalities who are just trying to live their lives in Azeroth.

You’re targeting newbies, casual fans or the hardcore crowd?

We’re talking to gamers who’ve heard of WoW but haven’t played it yet. We were trying to find ways to tackle some of their barriers to entry. We tried different ways of comparing the game to real life, but it all sort of clicked when we turned it around and let the game reflect on our world instead.

Well, you do a great job of conveying WoW’s atmosphere.

We worked with craftspeople to create props and wardrobe that were faithful to the game without necessarily being exact replicas. I’ve played a lot of World of Warcraft and love fantasy in general, so I had a sense of the tone from the start. But we also had an amazing collaboration with Blizzard, and we collaborated to get the details right. This is the real world to our characters, so even if the premise and dialogue are humorous, our characters are dead serious. I think that approach honors the game as well.

So many Easter eggs…

We thought we were being real subtle, but of course it took about three seconds for the internet to find them. We’ve got…

• Pepe the bird. He’s a popular critter that sometimes rides on people’s heads. You can catch him hanging on top of the stall in the opening shot. Blink and you’ll miss him.
• The poster that one of the adventurer tears down is a reference to a quest where you kill an enemy and turn in his claw (which the adventurer is carrying). It’s not very hard, which is why the people in the tavern aren’t that impressed with the feat.
• And I spent a lot of time working with our graphic designer Kalle Garmark perfecting a portrait of Anduin Wrynn, the King of Stormwind, the city you see in the background in the opening. If you squint and turn up the brightness you can just barely see it hanging on the wall 13 seconds into the film.

Any special significance to the tavern itself?

There are many taverns in the game. And the music piece in the film is called “Taverns” and can be heard in-game as well. But the reason we chose a tavern for the film is because it’s a natural way to feature many different characters and showcase the game.

How’d the shoot go down?

We filmed in Budapest on this amazing backlot that’s built like a medieval town. Azeroth isn’t really medieval, so we had to do some work to make it look right. The tavern was built inside one of the buildings there.

There was a heatwave, but whatever discomfort we were feeling was quickly forgotten when we saw the actors walking around in these heavy armors and garments all day. And on top of that, we were shooting in a tavern filled with candles and a roaring fireplace. But I never heard anyone complain.

To make sure we had the community represented, we had three cosplayers acting in the film: Osanguine, Cinderys and Dancing Fox. They brought their own costumes, which they make themselves, and we were all blown away by their craftsmanship. And pleasantly surprised by their acting!

CREDITS

Client: Activision Blizzard
Vice President EMEA Marketing: Daniel Green
Consumer Marketing Manager EMEA: Tom Read
VP Warcraft Franchise Management: Aleksander Olszowka
Warcraft Franchise Director: Rafael Zuana
Warcraft Marketing Manager: Michael Vousden

Chief Marketing Officer: Fernando Machado
Chief Creative Officer: Pelle Sjönell

Agency: INGO Stockholm
CCO: Björn Ståhl
Copywriter: Philip Frendberg
Project Manager: Rickard Allstrin
Production Manager: Klara Jonssons
Tech Director: Stefan Kindgren
Graphic Designer: Kalle Garmark

Production Company: Bacon
Director: Bart Timmer
Executive Producer: Sam Cantor
Producer: Henrik Berthelsen
Director Assistant: Máté Boegi
Dop: Sebastian Blenkov
Editor: Robin Siwe
Head of Communication: Lasse Cato

Post production: Colony Post
VFX Supervisor: Joel Bringmark
Sound design: Quint Starky

Agency Production: Colony
Agency Producer: Markus Ahlm

Johanna Faries is commissioner of Call of Duty League for Activision Blizzard, overseeing league and business operations, product development, and general management of Call of Duty esports globally. 

In her role, she has led the formation of the global, city-based league, which in its inaugural season includes 12 pro teams across four countries featuring the best Call of Duty players in the world and dedicated amateur competition systems year-round. 

A sports industry veteran, Faries previously spent 12 years at the NFL, holding a number of leadership roles across marketing, league initiative strategy, fan and business development, partnerships, and consumer products. A graduate of Harvard University, Faries grew up a multisport athlete in Potomac, Maryland, has lived abroad in both Israel and the Dominican Republic, and is also a singer-songwriter.

She lives with her husband and sons in Los Angeles.

We spoke to Johanna for our Time-Out series, where we chat with folks in the sports world about their favorite athletes, teams, sports movies and shows, and their love of sports generally.

Johanna, tell us…

Where you grew up, and where you live now.

Maryland (greater Washington, D.C., area); Los Angeles.

Your earliest sports memory.

Starting martial arts training at age 5. That feeling of a crisp new gi and white belt was the beginning of a life-long love affair with sports.

Your favorite sports teams.

I’m a big Dallas Cowboys fan, and grew up watching the likes of Aikman, Smith and Irvin dominate as teammates year after year (this season is an entirely different story, sadly). I also love every team in the Call of Duty League, of course! Couldn’t ask for better partners on this epic esports journey together.

Your favorite athletes.

Michael Jordan, Jim Brown and Simone Biles. Although no explanations are likely needed, I guess I’d say that many athletes evoke greatness, but very few evoke awe. Those three have always helped me see the difference.

Your favorite sports show or podcast.

ESPN’s 30 for 30 is sports storytelling at its best. 

Your favorite sports movie.

There are too many great ones to have a clear winner here, honestly. But I’ll go with A League of Their Own for posterity reasons. My cousin and I once spent an entire summer as kids memorizing every word of this movie. The story and the cast are as entertaining now as they were when it was first released.

A recent project you’re proud of.

Call of Duty League’s inaugural season. What a wild, incredibly fulfilling ride. Despite a global pandemic, Activision Blizzard Esports was able to revamp the entire 2020 season, shifting to a fully digital format that was successful and ensured that none of our fans missed out on a premium Call of Duty League experience.

Someone else’s project that you admired recently.

David Attenborough’s recent documentary A Life on Our Planet was deeply moving and enlightening. It was clear to me that given his age and the fame he’s already amassed in life that his only agenda in doing that project was to care for humanity’s future on Earth. Whether we take him up on his advice is up to all of us.

What sports can do that nothing else can.

Inspire and empower people of any age, any background, any ability, any circumstance, the world over.

What you’d be doing if you weren’t in the sports world.

Divinity school.