CGI use in Stormlight adaptation | Brandon Sanderson

[@cosmerejunkie7931]

Like or Moash will live forever!

[@iankernohan3874]

disliking to preserve my conflicted boy /s

[@cosmerejunkie7931]

Fair enough

[@samreddig8819]

He's blind now. If he lives forever he suffers longer.

[@cosmerejunkie7931]

@@samreddig8819 fair enough. But if he finds a way to kill more of bridge four….

[@pablolococo3785]

@@cosmerejunkie7931 no no no no no no

[@kronos1794]

I want a live-action Stormlight, but then I think about how epic an Arcane level animated Stormlight archive film or show would be. Brandon's stories just feel like they would great live action and legendary with the right animated style.

[@stephalloplayz]

It would be amazing, but we will almost certainly not be getting an adaptation with animation as good in arcane, at least not in that style, for two reasons. One, each episode of arcane cost around ten million. Although this is not super absurd in the realm of big television, for something as long as stormlight, the budget would need to be big. Of course, the budget is privy only to sanderson and hollywood, so maybe they could pay for it, but it would not be a certainly. Secondly, the studio that did arcane is in riot's employee and will almost certainly not be used for anything else in multiple years; this is an issue because that is pretty much the only studio skilled at and acquainted with arcane's style.

[@kronos1794]

@@stephalloplayz I used Arcane as an example but any studio that has a distinct style would do.

[@purpleghost106]

@@stephalloplayz The style is particular to Arcane, but other animation studios would be able to do something similar in kind even if not in direct style. Animation is not a secret sauce with an opaque recipe list, you can guess techniques if you're familiar with the programs used. Once you've seen it done well the possibilty of replication in some manner goes up expontentially (no using a similar style wouldn't be copyright infringment because art *technique* is not proprietary under the law it's considered generalistic like clothing styles-- But also, despite some people's claims it is absolutely not the first studio to combine 3d and 2d elements into a single frame or do paint-over textures, it's just the first one to do it *well* and shine with it)

[@joshyaash]

I think the Castlevania style would be so sick

[@kronos1794]

@@joshyaash And that studio seems like they'd jump at the chance and wouldn't have to be strongarmed into being faithful to the source material.

[@animalobsessed1]

Lol, now he’s just bragging

[@cosmerejunkie7931]

Right? 😂 announcements in the coming months!

[@fictionmyth]

B$ isn't just a phase MOM!

[@bobbyaxelrod5959]

I love that there's not a single video of this guy where he isn't writing a stack of autographs.

[@MistbornTaylor]

I’m so curious to know what these budgets are because to me this sounds like getting close to MCU money. I’d also be curious how they’re going to handle the Singers, whether they be practical, cgi or a mix of both.

[@yeetoburrito9972]

Man I hope they're either practical or a mix

[@latentessence]

he has good connections so maybe he would really get mcu budgets. Kaladin suffering in 4k is all I need

[@JohnSeidler]

I’d assume like they handled the trollocs in Wheel of Time show

[@maximeteppe7627]

I think the star trek treatment is good enough for the singers: good makeup and rubber shells. Of course, wearing said makeup in desert looking places might pose a few issues, but if star wars could do it, I guess it must be possible.

[@mateodoris6856]

It won’t be near that level. Think closer to what The Witcher and WoT have gotten for budgets

[@iMorphious]

Fully animated just feels like the way to go with something as different as Roshar. Like why bother digitally removing plants, adding Spren, doing god knows what to make shardplate and shardblades look good, when you could just pick an animations style and run with it?

[@christoferguson]

I totally agree, but unfortunately animation wouldn’t hit as big of an audience. There are big successes in animation (Arcane, How to Train Your Dragon, etc), but generally they just don’t reach as many people. If you’re gonna spend a lot of money on an adaptation, you need it to reach a big enough audience. But yeah I would love a fully animated cosmere. It’d be so much easier on the worldbuilding, magic systems, and even to have crossovers happening over years without actors aging too much.

[@poppi3362]

You don't realize how much VFX is used even in the simplest of movies where you'd never expect it. VFX is a huge industry and I think removing plants wouldn't be all that big a deal for them

[@thesamuraiman]

You say that, but Mandalorian exists. Plenty of movies do a lot of VFX. Mando, Hobbit, the MCU. It's not really a big deal nowadays. I'd be down for both though. I'd love to see a live action and an animated show.

[@christiansandrini96]

@@poppi3362 it is. It's a tedious and repetitive work that is usually outsurced to India just to make it cheap enough to do it, and it can be avoided by shooting and replacing all the environment with a digital one built from scans, geodatas and a good artistic vision. Source: I work for the people that outsurce those things to india to save money

[@orinblank2056]

@@poppi3362 Yeah people mainly notice the visual effects that are bad enough to stand out. So many movies use such detailed VFX that most people don't even notice 90% of it, since it looks more like a set than a model. With the amount of budget that Stormlight could get I don't think it would be too outlandish. And as much as I love animation, I would absolutely love to see Roshar looking photoreal. I just think that it would look so amazingly cool. Animation would be great, but the level of realism that you could get from live action would be crazy

[@SupremeDP]

Guys, they're not gonna make an animation. I'd love it, but it is NOT gonna happen. Animations are way more niche than live action, and Arcane can only look as good as it does because it's got Riot money behind, and LoL to give it an audience.

[@cosmerejunkie7931]

Preach brotha!

[@angelsmalice6677]

Not true, every stormlight fan would watch it animated, bc we're so invested in it, and it would be better. Then every anime fan would watch it bc it's a good story.

[@snwbrdn777]

@@angelsmalice6677 that’s still a smaller audience than live action

[@premiumcheddar9983]

@@angelsmalice6677 But the problem isn't getting stormlight fans to watch it, because we'll watch it no matter what form it takes. The problem is getting other people to have interest in the series, and animation is unfortunately widely regarded as "for kids" even when it may be the better option.

[@daninanity6651]

So excited I could faint. PLEASE get the right crew for this project because this series is EPIC and needs to be done right. The books weren't just a great read, they were an amazing experience. Guardedly optimistic.

[@orinblank2056]

Yeah I have faith in Brandon, but I also saw how dirty Amazon did The Wheel of Time, so I'm nervous

[@j_atkinson]

The Mandalorian did a lot of different enviroments in one room using real time CGI on the wall that almost does 360 degrees. That saved them a lot of money without having to be on location and the scenery was rendered on the fly. Quite impressive if you watched the show you'd have no idea it was done inside a digital set with almost no green screen. There's a cool youtube video about it.

[@dechain1927]

mandolorian had great sets. id be surprised if he had a comparable budget to mando, but pleased because if they go the live action route itll be very hard to get right

[@tradesmanjaegs4992]

I’m telling you man, 2D solves all these problems. Plus, personally, I just like the idea of 2D stormlight archive. Or if you want to get REALLY ambitious, make it look something like Arcane.

[@lordw1nter878]

Exactly, you don't need to do a Game of thrones for every fantasy adaptation, specially with productions coming from the Cosmere

[@hippie_4762]

Doing mistborn as anything other then an animated show has to be a giant mistake. You could have the greatest wirework since the peak of hong kong cinema and it would still look absurd.

[@ImagineStory-rw5ks]

unfortunately i don't think it will happen since anime or animation in general is still not as popular in western society as live action, and the way Sanderson is talking about it seems like they're heading towards live action. Also, he did mention that he wanted to see a mistborn live action over 2d animation before, but who knows what will happen

[@jessicamartin6515]

Everyone here is wanting Stormlight to be animated and while I’m not against it, personally I would be really excited to see a live-action adaptation - which it sounds like is the direction they are leaning! I trust Brandon and his team and I think it would be really cool, despite my general apprehension when Hollywood gets involved 😅

[@cosmerejunkie7931]

I agree 100% We can be friends! 😂

[@the_well-known_stranger2275]

I would prefer it to be animated, I feel like that would make it far more faithful and there’s things you just can’t do in live action that you can to in animation.

[@Legionbass19]

In live action, people will constantly whine no matter what the casting is. That’s partially why I lean toward animation.

[@purpleghost106]

I'm okay with either, but I think it would be particularly awesome to see it animate in a similar style to Arcane :D

[@donshont]

I mean, i wouldnt say no to an adaptation, the issue is that I don't think you could have a budget big enough to do stormlight justice. Like, the budget needed for spren alone would make it impossible to do right.

[@lydia6477]

stormlight archives is such an animation property it's hilarious. a "live action" stormlight would just be cgi anyway you might as well make it look proper with some more interesting, stylized art that better conveys the feeling behind the books. The cover art as well as the general fandom art style supports this as well. A more arcane-esqu realistic/exaggerated style makes much more sense than celebrity faces. Plus, if it was animated, they could hire Michael Kramer as Kaladin's voice.

[@cosmerejunkie7931]

If they want to make a billion dollar film it won’t be animated. 🤷‍♂️ Not saying it will be a billion dollar film… just that live action almost always = a better return

[@KillahMate]

@@cosmerejunkie7931 Yeah, it's sad how many adaptations that would work better as animation have been denied us because the average moviegoer has a stunted art sensibility and thinks 'cartoons are for kids'.

[@chrisi.d.m575]

Why do they need to make a billion dollar film? It just needs to be profitable, which Arcane and Spiderverse have proven possible?

[@cosmerejunkie7931]

@@chrisi.d.m575 hi Chris! Thanks for the question! I actually said it doesn’t need to be a billion dollar film in my comment. It just has a better chance of being profitable if it’s live action

[@cosmerejunkie7931]

@@chrisi.d.m575 also spideverse barely made money and it has the Spider-Man brand behind it. Arcane was straight to streaming so we actually don’t know the metrics of how profitable that one was. Both fantastic quality tho! But also both didn’t reach the audience they would have if they were live action

[@BlueJayYT]

Wow lots of comments asking for an animated adaptation. I completely disagree.

[@cosmerejunkie7931]

Ya

[@lorddenithal]

He's got the bargaining power.

[@vj420]

with the attention and money the secret project kickstarter raised, you know everybody and their cousin is going to be wanting a slice of the Cosmere. I Guarantee the offers hes receiving for these are pretty substantial. Also note he said "what weve been OFFERED" as in, more than one. this gives me hope for his ability to retain creative rights and do these (and mistborn) correctly.

[@brigida2350]

You guys have to consider that Brandon, like most storytellers, wants his stories to reach as many people as possible. To that end the best option is live action, adult animation is just not that popular.

[@jameslarsen1048]

Except adult animation is widely popular between your more common sources being Family Guy, Rick & Morty, all the Disney animated movies, you also have stuff really taking the forefront in terms "adult animation" like Arcane & The Legends of Vox Machina, and also the millions hours of other anime and cartoons that exist out there. Quality animation and a good story will sell far more as animated than having high fantasy and fiction fall short on a live action screen.

[@premiumcheddar9983]

@@jameslarsen1048 Yes I agree, but unfortunately there is still an extremely large "animation is for kids" group of people that will undoubtedly never watch it if it's animated, and good luck changing their minds on the matter.

[@dustinhiatt3835]

@@premiumcheddar9983 most of those "animation is for kids" folk are gonna be the same ones that will see Stormlight and say "I'm not spending 3 hours on another ridiculous scifi/fantasy movie, those are for teenage boys". The majority of people in their mid-20s and younger (the target demographic of this type of movie/show) already watch anime and adult animation and see it as an equally valid medium to tell stories

[@3ulogy]

I love Stormlight Archive and if it was animated I would not watch it. I can’t stand anime.

[@3ulogy]

@@dustinhiatt3835 so wrong, I hate anime, and I don’t have time or like cartoons lol but I love Stormlight archive so I am the perfect example, I really do not see what is so appealing with anime shit is just strange

[@HiHi-fh4tw]

He is speaking very confidently about these projects happening…….

[@cosmerejunkie7931]

He really is!

[@forstakenlinx1798]

Costuming is essential. Modern fantasy adaptations always have these really washed out and overly clean looking clothes that don’t make any sense given the world they take place in

[@carsonrush3352]

The spren are pretty exactly analogous with anime visual effects. If you take it seriously, it can come out pretty epic. I personally believe that the Stormlight Archives will be better served as an anime. The budget is 1/10th that of live action, and you can make things as surreal as you darn well please. Heck, anime companies tend to be better about staying faithful to the source material.

[@cosmerejunkie7931]

I’m excited for anything cosmere related. I’m not a huge anime guy but I would watch Stormlight if it got adapted

[@FelipeVanDerDonckt]

gonna get a lot cheaper with adobe firefly

[@bendingsands87]

I want a Stormlight short on Love, Death, and Robots in the meantime until a movie/show is made. Ok Thank you Brandon and have a nice day. 😁👍👍👍

[@mattvidurys]

stormlight archive should be animated like Avatar or Arcane... hell perhapse like japanese anime i dont care... i do care... please i just want to see Dalinar catch that monster feet like fking Goku...

[@Bbydunn28]

I kinda always pictured the stormlight archive in more of the castlevania/ blood of zeus animation style than the arcaine style

[@ixakanewkirk8821]

I love anime and animation, but the main reason I want to see this live actions is for crossovers. Either the entire cosmere has to be animated or it all has to be live action, as you have to see characters like hoid in each series, and you can’t do that jumping between animation and live action. Since it sounds like mistborn will be live action, stormlight has to be live action as well imo

[@carsonrush3352]

I disagree. I think Hoid will have a wonderful Deadpool meets mixius picklick vibe if he appears across multiple filmography types. Plus, it would give off the same feeling that you get while reading the books and you realize it's Hoid that they're talking to; just showing up like freaking Where's Waldo in the middle of some other story.

[@wenzel32]

I get your point, but I disagree actually. Ahsoka Tano is from animation, but she also appears in live action later on. Bo-Katan is another one. I think it definitely could work through various media.

[@cosmerejunkie7931]

I’m not too confident in a complete cosmere live action. Characters cast for this movie will be 30+ years older when Brandon finally finishes the cosmere. It would be odd to have wit in the way of kings look younger than Hoid in Dragonsteel

[@ixakanewkirk8821]

@@cosmerejunkie7931 well at that point you can recast a younger actor who looks similar, or use deep fakes like they did in the mandalorian for Luke

[@cosmerejunkie7931]

@@ixakanewkirk8821 recast would probably be the likelier option. The deepfake is definitely not an ideal option. But even so I see success in the cosmere being more likely as good standalone productions with less focus on the greater Cosmere story

[@iActuallyLiveinUtah]

I thought he was gonna say Utah, the salt flats and miles upon miles of desert are good spots for fantasy barron place movies.

[@adoniscreed4031]

With the Spren you definitely gotta do something extra on top of them just simply manifesting in order to avoid that Looney Tunes feel... good sound design and maybe some sort of mystical gust of wind whenever emotion spren manifest to add a feeling of reverence to them...

[@orinblank2056]

Yeah. Live action will be way more work, but the payoff if well done would be more than worth it.

[@Joenah5]

Imagine a Stormlight animated project. You don't have to worry as much about that stuff, and while animation is less popular than live action, it's so much cooler.

[@matt-lang]

A quality animated series is also timeless, as long as they use largely hand-drawn animation over CG-assisted animation.

[@ejensen]

It really isn't much cooler, the story simply isn't well suited for it. All the introspection of the characters, subtlety of the narrative and understatement of the themes would get lost. And we'd be left with just the spectacle. Cookie cutter anime would butcher the story. Arcane-like levels of animation would still fail to capture the tone and themes unless handled very carefully, and the characters would constantly be at risk of being portrayed as caricatures of themselves. Studio Ghibli or Grave of the Fireflies style could maybe get close, but even with those there was rarely much depth developed with the characters, and rightfully so for those stories. I really don't see Stormlight working as anything other than live action, with insanely skilled actors and director at that. If you fuck up the tone you fail to tell the story. And the tone is so much driven by the characters' inner experiences that that has to be front and center. And I haven't really ever seen animation handle that gracefully.

[@cosmerejunkie7931]

It sounds like live action is the plan.

[@elien902]

Live action is way better if done well, just much harder to achieve.

[@ejensen]

@@cosmerejunkie7931 And thank god for that, That ofc isn't by any means a guarantee of quality. But I just don't see how you can even attempt to tell the story any other way.

[@shofizzled40]

Just as long as they keep anyone associated with the WoT the hell away from it.

[@OrangeHand]

While I agree volume stages are a good idea, they do have their own drawbacks that filming on a green or blue screen wouldn't have. Some think the volumes will replace green screens, but I think a mixture of both techniques will become the norm for sci-fi & fantasy projects going forward.

[@ianburns1167]

Honestly I almost thing the Spren *should* look Loony Toons - that's how I imagine them, and I thought it was hilarious and awesome at once. Of course, I also think that the best adaptation would actually be animated. But that's me. Kal and Szeth have to compete for Maximum Anime Energy!

[@Drmcsmrst]

Hey, let’s see how it does in live action format. But if it doesn’t look good, adapt faithfully, or perform well EVEN WHILE being the “paragon of adaptation quality” I’m lording it over everyone who trashes animation as a medium. One of these days we’ll get a good animated adaptation, at least I hope.

[@emmioglukant]

If you look at the anime front, Re:Zero does a damn good job of all that you're rightfully demanding and more imo

[@orinblank2056]

I prefer it to be live action, but I also acknowledge that it will require a LOT more effort. Animation would definitely make parts easier, but well done life action would be miles above anything you could get out of animation, and this is coming from someone who loves animated shows. Plus it just doesn't read like something I would want to see animated in my head. The story is so detailed that when I read it it feels real to me, and I just don't think animation could capture that. Some series feel like they would be perfect animated, a good example being Cradle by Will Wight, but I definitely don't see that for Stormlight. White Sand would be good though. Not just because it's a graphic novel, I just feel like the plot feels more natural animated as well.

[@dinocollins720]

Another fantastic video!!! Thank you!!

[@sagenwilkinson1172]

Very cool very exciting. Is casting still happening or available?

[@maedle99]

I'm atleast hoping he learned something from what happened with Wheel Of Time Some idiot with a bunch of money to waste just can't go up to him and say "give me the property and i'll do it my way". Brandon NEEDS to be picky, i don't care if it's animated or live action

[@joshuahavens4059]

Thank you! The Wheel of Time series is a great book series! The live-action however was complete garbage.

[@_MARSyt]

A couple notes. I want to see a true brotherhood between Kaladin and Moash early on. Moash needs to be handsome and likeable. The Boromir to Kals Aragorn if you will. That will make what happens later so much more rewarding. Second, I pray.. I just PRAY they don't ruin the pacing in adaption. One thing that I really liked about the earlier books was that everyone was separate and didn't know many or any of the other main characters. As their paths began to cross every interaction was something I loved. If you take that away and you start with Shallan already knowing the Kholins it will ruin a lot of that. How do yall envision Syl? I mean other than a tiny woman. What color? Should she be transparent at all? I always kind of thought of her like a tiny force ghost around Kal. Tiny, blue, somewhat see through but more solid than the force ghosts from sw.

[@abnunga]

I feel if they even try Stormlight as movies instead of tv series, they're going to ruin the pacing.

[@SmashedTomatoes]

Honestly, stormlight would be the only thing that could get adapted into an animation and I'd be completely fine with it. It would be the most awesome anime.

[@KuraiSensei]

I say call in MAPPA XD

[@yeetthemeat-yf5vp]

Wtf? All of the cosmere should get animated adaptations. If they do it like arcane it's going to be way better than anything they could do with live Action

[@skullsquad900]

Most things are better animated...

[@cosmerejunkie7931]

Arcane was hella expensive and doesn’t get as animations doesn’t get as many eyeballs as live action

[@Feelosopher__]

@@cosmerejunkie7931 you’re saying that in a lot of comments, but I’m doubtful about the truthfulness of ypur claim lol. Animation gets plenty of viewers. It’s also not just about the animation, it’s the merch it sells too.

[@G4LERNE]

Live action wouldn't suit Roshar at all imo. The place, the sprens, everything would be much more "grounded" if it was all animated. Think about it, seeing windsprens would be incredibly jarring in a live-action show. You couldn't help but notice them. But in a 2D or 3D animation it would just fit right there along with the rest. I'd bet a lot of viewers wouldn't even think of them as anything other than part of the animation style before Kal starts interacting with Syl.

[@salvo4770]

I know it may not be a popular idea but honestly the best media for Brandon stories is anime via (The Last Avatar) Their is just way to much material to try and shrink it to a movie and a TV series that last years with live actors might work but its much harder to replace someone than just a voice.

[@cosmerejunkie7931]

He did say they’d likely “be on set this time next year” so looks like live action is the way they are heading

[@DachiffDisco]

@@cosmerejunkie7931 Just to clarify the live action that will be "in production in 6 to 8 months" is Mistborn, not SA

[@XxD0m]

Yuck definitely not anime.

[@aaronboone4143]

@@XxD0m ??? Have you seen the art style for the show arcane? That would look perfect with stormlight. Plus with animation you aren’t running any risk of bad cgi or bad acting. All they need is a voice

[@Partzivol]

I don't think anime is the way to go just because it's a little harder to convey string emotion in it (of which there is a lot of in stormlight) but 3d animation would be the best I think

[@unwantedmacguffin5611]

Please, please no, not a live action adaption of the stormlight archive with mcu levels of cgi. Please let it be animated.

[@bardiboi1517]

I feel like a storm light series would work much better in 2d animation.

[@dos_gringos9853]

I feel like it would mesh well with something similar to Arcane’s style.

[@benbreeck3363]

"How many spren to you put into a given scene?" As many as necessary, for that scene to tell that part of the story and build the world. No more, no less.

[@timothymcgoldrick57]

Honestly? Just animate it.

[@malcomalexander9437]

I do like that he said they could do the Shattered Plains in Utah, honestly, there really is no reason you can't do a fantasy series filmed entirely in the US. Plus, I imagine the Utah tourism board most likely loved the idea because of all the potential money they could make from fans traveling to see where it was filmed.

[@soundsoffiction2456]

Probably because the US doesn’t have very good film studios or film able landscapes.

[@cringyboring]

I wish stormlight gets lotr rop kind of budget

[@cosmerejunkie7931]

That’s crazy money haha. That would be awesome

[@blakecurry3880]

The books are so big, I can't help but feel like this would be more of an HBO series than a movie.

[@jamesb7924]

I doubt HBO (or any huge production company) would touch the Cosmere until it has much higher sales. The Cosmere is sitting around 20mil books sold now, with over 12 main books, averaging at 1.6mil copies per book. For comparison: Kingkiller is 10mil with 2 main books (5mil per book), GoT is around 90mil with 5 main books (18mil per book), and Harry Potter is 500mil with 7 main books (71mil per book). Sanderon's fandom is very niche compared to those, some are still yet to get a big budget tv show, but Sanderson fans are very vocal.

[@cosmerejunkie7931]

Well Sanderson said “think of your favorite studio or streaming service and I’ve probably had meetings with their top executives” so I’m pretty sure that includes HBO since it’s one of the best

[@poiuy095]

@@jamesb7924 were GoT number counted before or after the show. Is it that they took asoiaf bcs numbers were high OR numbers got high AFTER the success of the series.

[@cosmerejunkie7931]

Great point

[@tylercallagher3485]

@@jamesb7924 But what was Game of Thrones at before the series adaptation?

[@carterdahl9654]

I think SA would be a good animated series

[@ArchlordZer0]

I personally prefer Stormlight in particular to be live-action. I want to see the world realized in the way we imagine it.

[@ejensen]

Not just that, the story itself has so much depth and understatement in everything. Much of that would get lost with any kind of animation, even Arcane never really bothered trying subtlety. With animation much of that would get lost in translation or deliberately stripped away. And we'd be left with just the spectacle, and to me that would hardly be worth the effort.

[@cosmerejunkie7931]

Same

[@malcomalexander9437]

@@ejensen I'm on the opposite end, to me live action just means generic pretty people looking sexy. It's for the lowest common denominator when it comes to an audience. Animation would scare the trend chasers off, unless they were already fans of animation or anime. To me, voice actors are better because they are using their voices and not using their faces. Animation would also be able to capture the fantasy elements are better than live action. Would it mean it gets a smaller audience if it's animated? Yes. Do I care? No.

[@malcomalexander9437]

That being said, if it had to be live action, and I was involved in the production I'd want to contact the people at Toei or Tsuburaya Productions to try and see if we could borrow some suit actors, that way we wouldn't have to make contrived instances of people who should be wearing helmets not having helmets, and so we can have people who know how to emote in face hiding suits. The only reason we were able to see Tony Stark's face in the helmet is because Hollywood actors are narcissists, and directors think audiences are so stupid that they would forget who the main character is if we can't see their faces.

[@cosmerejunkie7931]

@@malcomalexander9437 you don’t have to care but I’ll tell you why I do. I think live action can be done very well and on an epic scale which the right budget which doesn’t sound like a problem here. The reason I care that more people see it is because the more money it makes will prove Sanderson’s works can be successful on the silver screen. This will open the door to more and more adaptations some of which will probably be animated

[@darksalmon]

Robert Downey Jr IS Dalanar. Or Oscar Isaac... Then get Johnny Depp in it (bcuz screw amberturd). All the actors from Game of thrones. And Samuel F (fkin) Jackson. Who else...

[@kavanpuranik98]

Please give us an animated Stormlight Archive adaptation instead. With animation, the backgrounds, monsters etc can be created accurately without an insane budget requirement. Action scenes, Szeth's movements etc will look so much better in animation, imo. I mean, have you seen Fate, Demon Slayer, Attack on Titan, Jujitsu Kaisen? Many of these shows have very unique world, settings or stunt choreography and they look so good animated. Also, with animation, the scale is basically limitless!

[@narog9151]

Please, please,please,PLEASE! Stormlight must be animated!

[@obnoxas]

Man, I just want the team behind the Castlevania show on Netflix to do a bunch of Cosmere shows. There's just no way that live action can capture the same energy that animation can. Good looking live action Cosmere could be good and would definitely be an impressive technical feat, but animation is just so much more expressive.

[@NoahPopejoy]

I would prefer a Studio Mir style anime series for a Stormlight Archive adaptation.

[@lonebattledroid4474]

I think using the screen thing that Mandalorian uses for filming would help a lot with that

[@napland0338]

As I'm reading this, War of the Rohirim trailer came out recently and perhaps something along those lines would be pretty good for an adaptation. In any case, I can't wait for one!! 🙌

[@mathiasjensen1503]

I think people also maybe need to realize that animation just isn't very appealing to A LOT of people. I don't care for it. If Brandon's books where to be picked up for adaption he'd want the biggest audience possible I.E. LOTR levels.

[@captain4318]

I'm very curious about said budgets.. Like, Game of Thrones had huge budgets, and fantastic quality, but no where near as fantasy as Stormlight. Very curious how it all turns out one day, tho! I'll be watching no matter what. Assuming it's a TV show, can't see how Stormlight can be done justice with movies.

[@thedungeonmastermind]

I hope in everything that is holy... that they never do a live-action adaptation

[@shelfenthusiast]

a stormlight archive animated series is the best way to go. i already imagine it animated while reading, it's literally impossible for me to imagine a live action adaptation being anything but offputting. animation has much less limitations, and in my opinion better fits the world Sanderson built

[@MrHarry61000]

For the shattered plains, I'd suggest a kart landscape for parts of it. This is a limestone landscape that due to the formation has large cracks very little flora and fauna. A karst landscape can be found in Ireland in the Burren in County Clare or in the areas surrounding the Adriatic sea such as Croatia etc. Just my two cents

[@Thucydites]

An ‘Arcane’-style animation I think would work really well for the setting of Stormlight

[@SupremeDP]

Everyone keeps pushing for Arcane haha. It's not gonna happen. Not with any big properties. Live action shows are the ones that make the big bucks (or have made in the past years), and also Arcane's animation is almost as expensive as all the CGI a live-action stormlight would need.

[@cosmerejunkie7931]

We’ll said. I would love an arcane style adaptation but live action is the road they are heading down

[@maximeteppe7627]

@@SupremeDP Not really... arcane is reportedly a 100 millions$ affair, but that's for about 7 hours of story, and is very cheap when compared to other 3d animation of a similar quality (spiderman into the spiderverse cost 90millions for less than 2hrs) whereas something like Stormlight archive in live action would probably need to be much more expensive. Keep in mind t the wheel of time has a similar per episode budget and it still fails to capture the sense of scale we would want in a similar epic like stormlight. Granted, it's not all about budget, a show like game of thrones was much smarter about the use of CGI from the start, even before the budgets ballooned, but they could use natural spaces and existing architecture, they didn't have to build everything from scratch the way you'd need to for Roshar. It's very possible that Arcane succeeded mostly by taking the time to mature as a project over years, something that rarely, if ever, happens. I would hope that arcane leads to more mainstream recognition of animation as a valuable medium for "adult" blockbusters, and SA archive could be a good choice to follow on that precedent. I'm also very skeptical about who has the chops to make roshar look any good in live action.

[@SaloCh]

@@SupremeDP Then more normal animation? I get that that wouldn't be as popular but I think an anime-_esque_ (kinda like atla, not over the top) animation would really do justice for such as surreal world, better than live-action.

[@-Lindol-]

If you’re spending an arcane sized budget, go live action

[@lane7251]

I'll take a stormlight anyway it comes, but personally I would prefer 2D or Arcane-like animation. But I might just be poisoned against live action adaptations.

[@apmanda]

I don’t trust live action fantasy adaptions for so many reasons, but chief among them being how rediculously goofy they often come out looking. There are maybe three shows I can think of in the fantasy genre that worked well; one didn’t have hardly any magic and used A LOT of practical effects, another that was already going for the goofy/surreal feel so the oddity worked, and the third being taylored for children but given the same detailed care as the first. Almost everything else looks just as childish and fruity as any animation, except weirder becau you know it’s supposed to be “realistic”. Even star wars (anything beyond the first three eps) doesn’t work for me. Just really weird looking and jarring. Like everyone is walking around at a cosplay event pretending they live on a different planet. Don’t get me wrong, I think there is a lot of potential for live action in the fantasy genres, it’s just executed so poorly so frequently that it’s hard to have any faith in one when it comes out. The trust in success is very low with this one, though I waver because I do like and trust Brandon (mostly, though his aesthetic taste I have found more on the cartoony side of things which is…eh), so I’d like to hope for something good, but I frankly wouldn’t put my money behind it. It’s a HUGE undertaking with a low chance of success if all the stars don’t align.

[@jimmysullivan605]

Yo, Bryce Canyon would be the perfect place to film Shattered Plains scenes!!!!

[@bolicob]

I'll be honest, I kinda always did imagine the spren looking LoonyToon-esque.

[@notchbeard9007]

I think the easiest answer to the spren is to make the harder to attract like Gloomspren. Windspren are described as constantly about on windy days instead maybe they are attracted to storms and extreme winds only.

[@vXIMVASSY]

TBH, id prefer to see it in an Arcane/Spiderverse style, i think that would fit much more than live action. spren could be 2d in the 3d, like cool effects. shadesmar could just be everything is a more d2

[@DoggyP00]

Who framed roger rabbit spren would be a dream in my book

[@erlm595]

hm... I mean, just go Anime like Cyberpunk, Attack on Titan or good 3d Animation like Arcane

[@LeBigsou]

I never thought about spren, yeah that would mean having cgi in almost every scene with characters, dang expensive

[@dustinhiatt3835]

I understand Brandon wanting SA to reach as many people as possible, but I really feel like his aversion to animation is a very outdated viewpoint. There is a definite generational divide on this subject, Brandon grew up in a time where animation was only used in cartoons and anime which was at the time very niche and judged vs now people have seen many amazing animated projects and accept much more readily as a valid form of media

[@christiansandrini96]

Reading the comments I realise how misleading the definition of budget is. The vast majority of users here have no Idea how much vfx costs and how little of the actual budget go to the actual production compared to marketing

[@phatrpr0p959]

As much as i'd love this series.. Pleeeease wait until all the books are out. -Sincerely, GoT watcher LOL

[@orderofscribes]

I personally think a more Castlevania or Arcane animated style would work better for the stormlight archive.

[@sinasaeb2670]

I think that Rosharan faces cant be found irl, animation would be the best way to bring Roshar to the big screen

[@plantmom3699]

I hope whenever Stormlight goes into production that it’s a big box office hit and not some Amazon prime special.

[@gfwinn]

Easy answer. Ditch the live action adaptation. Stormlight was inspired by Anime, and should be made into an Anime.

[@bethgianakouros1184]

Live action is the only way to go!!! You’ll kill half the viewing audience if it’s anime.

[@yourstruly6970]

I feel like a misborn adaptation would be way easier to accomplish on a lesser budget. Most things in that could even be done practically.

[@scottbruckner4653]

Just film most of it in the Mojave Desert. You can do most of a first and second season of a show in the mojave desert.

[@IamHattman]

Jusr going back through WoK and have been thinking that this needs to be an animated series. There's just so much that is different and its much easier to do that with animation.

[@cynthrocks]

Literally Lothlórien's mallorn trees were built. I think we can build some shy grass.

[@KiryuZer0]

well Since the MCU lost a lot of its wind i think its time for a new multi year multi Series Crosover projekt, wonder if somthing like this alrady exists *wink*

[@brian0057]

Stormlight Archive should be animated, not live action.

[@patrickgranstrm2537]

I reccomend an Arcane like series. To capture all the spren, wildlife, nature and magic

[@smosmo4617]

Oh please stormfather let there be a stormlight live action. If done right can be the next great fantasy adventure. These stories deserve a place in the zeitgeist over the next century . I truly believe that with all the story stands for.

[@choppertargaryen3024]

Pattern I think is easy. But Syl is the key. If she fails then everything fails. If she ends up looking like Cortana in the Halo show then that is a huge failure.

[@greenmarble638]

An animated stormlight could be more practical than a live action, but it would be much harder to reach a new audience which would defeat the point of an adaptation in the first place

[@samsmith8381]

As long as Netflix and Amazon stay the hell away from it I’ll be hyped.

[@bob75654]

They could just use the new digital 360 screens they have been using for disney tv shows

[@Luke-fp7ks]

Do animated, focus on the story and characters… live action introduces too much money. With the money comes creative control.

[@charlieteneyck6797]

I’m imaging a movie almost like Avatar if I’m thinking of a live action Roshar.

[@TayschrennSedai]

Swear if they break the story like WoT I will do nothing, but be angry.

[@guardianofthetoasters2323]

I refuse to die until I witness it's birth. If I had to crawl out of the grabe to watch it, I will crawl out of the grave to watch it

[@shcheerchic1011]

Anyone notice he said “that are gonna look real good for the shattered plains” instead of “that *would* look real good” 👀

[@chiokjarse]

From his comments earlier in the year it sounded liked live action Stormlight Archive would only happen after live action Mistborn proved to be a big hit first. This is the first time it sounds like live action Stormlight Archive might be announced soon.

[@kale2560]

i will never recover if they make this shit live action and its corny as hell and just awfully done like WoT

[@ReadingDave]

Why not live action spren, put a filter on them and then merge them into the film?

[@Dennis_The_Peasant]

please brandon just make it fully animated, it will be so much better

[@alphabah49]

Bro getting Rings of Power type money 🤑

[@cosmerejunkie7931]

I’m sure Amazon is one of the studios he’s talked to haha

[@Greentrees60]

I knew the spren would be the difficulty!