Actors in bright, elaborately decorated clothes move to the beat of the rumbling music. A beat on a drum, a wave of a fan - and a scarlet face frowns at the audience; a wave of the hand - and a pale mask grins instead, the corners of the mouth curved in an eerie buffoonish grimace.
How do they do these exciting stunts?
This secret is jealously guarded by two hundred masters of Chinese art, Bianlian and Sombra, who received a new face-changer appearance in honor of Lunar New Year 2020.
Bianlian, the art of face shifting, emerged in the 17th century during the Qing Dynasty as a subgenre of Sichuan Opera. Then the art was simple: the actors changed only a few faces per performance. Today, a professional actor can change more than 18 masks in one performance. Sombra has only six masks, so she has a lot to learn from these professionals.
Now Sombra changes faces as easily as he infiltrates any organization. But to translate this idea into a game, it took the team miracles of skill.
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Sichuan Opera actors can change masks with a nod of their head, a wave of their hand, or the flick of a fan. Sombra does it in a way that suits her high-tech style. Here she is in the red-black-gold mask of the monkey king Sun Wu-kun from Journey to the West. An instant, a glitch in the image - and she is wearing a recognizable purple skull mask, made in the bright style of the Sichuan Opera. “Sombra is playful and elegant, and given her ability to hide and disrupt the system, we thought she would be a perfect fit for face-shifting,” explains Daryl Teng, concept artist of the face. As a hacker who hides his real face, Sombre knows how to change his guise.
Traditional bianlian performances involve changing masks quickly at any time. The team had to decide in which mode Sombra would change them (and a small handy mask sensor on the barrel of the weapon). “We were only going to change the masks during key animations: turning masking on and off, or superpowers,” Gotch explains. "Since it is not visible in most of the game moments, we decided to change [the mask] with that frequency."
In total, Sombra changes six different masks. According to Lead Outsourcing Supervisor John Gotch, this was the hardest thing to do when creating the look. “We had to figure out how to change the masks in the game, it depended on when we wanted to do it,” says Gotch. - When the 3D model was ready, we took the faces that Daryl invented, made 3D models based on 2D illustrations, and then worked with the effects department, introducing them into the game. To ensure that [skin] works with the engine, we only took two masks. First, we wanted to test the technology and make sure that the final result will allow the players to see all the options for the masks. "
The results of a journey to uncharted technological lands? A dynamic, culturally rich idea realized in a futuristic style. Sombra's collection of masks is highlighted by her flamboyant, elaborate clothing that rivals the splendid costumes of the Sichuan Opera, while still fitting in with Overwatch's unique style. “The visual integration needed to take the dramatic style of the opera and refine it in line with the aesthetic of the performance,” Tan explains. The team consults with people who grew up in the respective culture to ensure that the looks match the conceived idea. “As a rule, you don't have to go far - [in Blizzard] there are many different people. With a better understanding of the theme and how it works with the characters, we are working in the Overwatch aesthetic. Then we again ask the opinion of consultants and international partners to make sure
The skins of the past Lunar New Year have been created and implemented in the same way, merging vivid imagery from myths and the world of Overwatch.
In 2017, the department was inspired by the legend of the monk Xuanzang and his disciples Zhu Bajie, Sha Wujing, and Sun Wu-kun, and created a set of skins reminiscent of these characters in Wu Cheng'en 's novel "Journey to the West . "
In 2018, the four signs of the zodiac - Qinglong, Zhuque, Xuan-wu and Bai-hu - were embodied in Farrah, Angel, Zarya and Genji.
And in 2019, Overwatch reborn the great heroes of Luo Guanzhong's famous novel The Three Kingdoms : Lu Bu, Guan Yu, Zhuge Liang, Zhang Fei and Huang Zhong, showcasing the world with lush beards and ornate armor.
This year, the team decided to move away from the embodiment of novels and myths, choosing a new theme for two legendary Chinese looks: opera. “Chinese opera is very visually intense and full of cultural references. The team decided that it would be interesting to research this topic for the creation of the skins, explains Tan. "Graphically, the theme is very rich, there are many opportunities to create an interesting image, it was interesting to see how we fit this into the concept of the characters."
In addition, for both Gotch and Tan, this is a rather sentimental topic.
Gotch recalls how he and
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