Wiles of the Wisp (Dota 2 Short Film Contest 2018 - 8th place finalist)

Breakdown & behind the scenes video: • Breakdown & behind the...
Years before the war of the Ancients, some of the soon-to-be heroes were already running into each other. One of them had made it its favorite pastime to play tricks on unsuspecting passersby, befitting the name its kind was given in fairytales: Wisp.
Hello, Dota friends! This is my fourth time participating to the contest. This year, I wanted to try to get away from the now-typical format of having a bunch of skits that are themed by the premise but otherwise unrelated to each other. I really yearned for a nice cohesive mini-adventure with a focus on character interaction, and much less of a focus on trying to crack jokes. I also wanted to continue portraying the Dota universe outside the game map, hence the focus on visiting new environments! As usual, I wish I had been given a much larger time limit, but I hope you like the end result :)
Higher-quality mirror on Vimeo: vimeo.com/391786346
--- FULL CREDITS
▶ Thomas Ferkol
▶ / eidolonorpheus
▶ eidolonorpheus.bandcamp.com/
Original soundtrack
▶ Alexandra Kern
▶ / zandraartt
▶ / zandraart
Mountain background vista seen early in the short
▶ Maxime Lebled (that's me)
▶ / maxlebled
▶ www.maximelebled.com/
Animation, editing, environments, post-production
All in-engine & Source Filmmaker work
▶ Damon Reece
▶ / demanrisu
▶ coy.ninja/
Co-writer & professional idea bouncer
▶ Yuri Shust
▶ / yuriworkshop
▶ www.artstation.com/yurishust
3D model & materials of the tombstone
#Dota #SFM #TI8 #Animation

[@MaxLebled]

Hello everyone! You might have wondered why I didn't participate to the 2019 short film contest. That's because I was working for Valve on the Void Spirit trailer and augmented reality at TI9. (If you clapped along with Ogre Magi or Earthshaker during the drafts, that was me! Gotcha.)

[@eternal6580]

Nice job !!! Really proud of you!!! I know since that invoker sfm you will work on valve!! Ggwp

[@rencesoriano777]

Nice work on that, you did an amazing job ❤️

[@romeobragas3138]

Nc job

[@limemt2]

Congrats for your work!

[@madnessgaming6852]

Maxime. Can you persuade valve to make proper lore for dota 2? I mean like LoL. Their cinematic really did well and attract people. Dota2 should do it. Because many people doesnt know the background of the story of each character unless they were playing warcraft. Thanks in advance. I really hope every character has a proper lore and link to each other that will be great asset to make dota 2 stay relevant forever

[@Gabrielbarsch]

1:27 YOU PREDICTED THE MANGO TREE !!!

[@MaxLebled]

oh dang, you're right! first the naked axe, then the kid invoker, now the mango tree, what next??

[@h_dduwsc]

My next guess is King Of Pain

[@menjemputimpian6044]

Topson Ana - Io BB

[@mynameisgleeriplaypiano4620]

@@MaxLebled they need to pay you

[@ikhsanarditama2149]

Well thats copyright, he should sue valve

[@dopatwo]

incredible as always!

[@clacktloc5816]

dopatwo :00000 my master

[@theyeolderoman4442]

Y U Here

[@Patacorow]

HI DOPA

[@midormeepo]

wrap it up boys, see you next year

[@s.r.clinkz3712]

Hey sir

[@syazrulaiman7960]

C u next month meep-o

[@shootdawnmusic]

xD

[@haveyouseenthisman1676]

Notice me senpai

[@Fhanta006]

5 tango 5 wards or feed

[@WhereThighs]

You've done a great job of organically using the voice lines here and it tells a neat little story. Nice work.

[@damonreece]

(co-writer here) I have Bristleback's entire library of voice lines permanently seared into my brain now. 😭

[@MaxLebled]

I can confirm that we both do.

[@King-wn2zt]

Haha me too...my favorite voice lines is Bristlebacks

[@NakedGhost3234]

"I don't speak chimey bells" xD

[@VV-mk2ri]

i love the original voice line! great jobb haha

[@Dazen101]

I fucking swear your context entries are gold. I just love all the small details. It's one thing to get a good story going that has good jokes. But look at that lighting and facial expressions. Seriously hope you win

[@Gabrielbarsch]

the champion has arrived

[@helpme7489]

Alived?

[@jazzmusic5371]

Jason Lee idiot how the hell was this try hard? Unlike the other entries the dialogue was brainstormed and well put together that was super hard if you ask me only a moron like you wouldnt get this briliant film

[@soft8oiled]

Would totally watch this as a series

[@awsmstevie]

max with the legendary shorts as always! you have my vote

[@romanpivec7346]

I never get bored by your creations. You are part of what made me love dota so much, apart from cosplaying! :-)

[@CHELOVEK-SAMOVAR]

Твоё участие в этом конкурсе - как участие Шона Бина в любом фильме. Если ты участвуешь, ты всегда побеждаешь. Человек-сполйер.

[@christianmanong7628]

Oh man, best sfm seen so far. Keep up the good work fellas. You have my vote

[@LostCosmonauts]

Full disclosure, Max messaged me to brainstorm title ideas. Still mad that he didn't go with my suggestion: *Careless Wispers* 🎷

[@MaxLebled]

There were much worse puns than that. In fact, they were so bad that my brain has blocked any and all memories of them for my own safety.

[@logoncal3001]

Did you use sempiternal cantrap?

[@aeonno8771]

Erick Wright wow u here to

[@takemyhandjun]

How 'bout 6 months ban

[@bastigerhards4934]

Where is Oracle?

[@zaynrawi8943]

OMG CAN'T BELIEVE YOU ARE BACK!!!

[@kdc8696]

Beautiful entry. Fantastic work as always!

[@FreeLooK]

First one I'm watching and it is just freaking AWESOME!! Congrats

[@patricksusulin9335]

This is amazing. It's like seeing the heroes life when they are not fighting in the war of the ancients.

[@inoyamanaka999]

This Short Film should win the contest last year, hope u can make it more better for this year. Goodluck fam

[@rexjohnfordtobias9979]

this film predicted the TI9 finals, when Miracle- used BB and IO for Ana. Interesting

[@tedmosby7437]

More like OG vs Newbee tho, Ana io tether Topson BB

[@Frautcres]

Amazing work as always

[@dead2me0w]

1:28 Mango tree 7.23?

[@RetroPixelion]

Amazing as always!

[@soul1104]

magnificent as always

[@TheBrownestFalcon]

Really nice and cute. I like the fact that there's not an overarching grand story (which you've done well before with last year's entry), but these short snippets which are really polished and nice.

[@CrystalisDota]

Your work is amazing.

[@Sora-tk1tv]

The animation is smooth! i love it!

[@chunchunmaruace2489]

This is amazing good job bro 👍👍 well played

[@lunaticleroux]

YOUR BACK!!

[@evil8331]

incredible video quality!

[@TuanTran-yk4kx]

So nice man ! great work

[@kristelredl5389]

Как всегда слишком шикарно ❤

[@MrChibivampire]

Best one this year. Got my vote.

[@MrWeissenHerz]

Dis is so amazing

[@abdulazizkodirov5323]

O.M.G. This pure perfection. We need a dota movie 🎬

[@Sterkson92]

Damn, this should be one of the best

[@bonchan4404]

The winner once again

[@archivehans]

Another masterpiece.

[@isanarditama]

Smooth, very detail, and im so happy theres ogre majai, favorite hero, funny. Best entry.

[@This-Is-Nick]

Wow, looking amazing!

[@The69Oskar69]

INCREDIBLE!!!!

[@DreamSerX]

真是太棒了！！！太喜欢你的作品了！

[@raikkus3745]

damn that was so beautiful!!!!!!

[@PenneyBack]

Best one I've seen so far this year, especially good on the lip syncing!

[@errdr2743]

Seeing bristleback tiny io together here from a vid 1 year ago reminds me of the fountain farming OG just did. Predicted?

[@darryl1120]

What a amazing work

[@adibingchalamet914]

AMAZING!!!

[@whatchaWhy]

awesome work! but actually was waiting to see Skeleton King at the end :

[@nima_null4527]

i bet this will be this year's winner.

[@adrianjenkins58]

Definitely should have been top 3! Good luck next year though!

[@sadge1761]

DAMN NICE WORK MAN

[@leotwix4874]

This is the winner for sure

[@greob]

That was awesome!

[@schnitzelpommes8411]

I like it a lot. Thanks!

[@rimhotgultom9630]

Wow. Youve done great job boys..

[@15inchwarrior46]

well u did it again see u all next year

[@midnighthobbyt5161]

Damn. This is so good

[@TheNeon-rh4kk]

This is the first time Bristleback cared a creature, good work there mate!!!! #TheChampionReturns

[@gustlizer7993]

Not just good, but better than perfect

[@melikepie1621]

Love this very much

[@psycholyfe]

Woah that animation though. Looks great

[@theleftyprodigy]

Worth the wait

[@mrf4ncyp4nts]

Rock Man and Ogre share Moment Of Large

[@LostSoul-sm5yj]

This is so good🔥🔥😍😍

[@aeonno8771]

You my sir need to win

[@hysey_7518]

you're hired -blizzard

[@Zooka128]

Honestly no clue how this got EIGHTH. The animation is fantastic, and the voice lines used were perfect. The animation quality on 3rd place was terrible and that actually got top 3. Real shame.

[@MaxLebled]

It's because I tried to not focus too much on comedy and my story ended up being a bit too confusing. I clung onto too many elements that I should have condensed or simplified. I'm still happy about the result though 🙂

[@jessemalisa6804]

Kudos to you for trying out something new this year. You could have gone for something similar to your last year's submission and win again but you opted experimentation. PS: Looking forward on the behind the scenes for "What does a hero truly fear" :)

[@zonyzhao469]

@@MaxLebled Yeah. The level of modeling, animation and voice lines are still top. The story is a little confusing in this 90s film. I guess Max is just trying some stuff he enjoys.

[@elperuano076]

Buen vídeo y saludos desde el Callao Sur América Perú .

[@ricetv942]

IO + BB = Fountains Farming

[@jbmandri6675]

The animation was beautiful.

[@Freedom1044]

We got a winner! Dun you guys just love the way ogre magi sounds :)

[@Vlad-sw4zd]

Weeeell..Definetly better than others so far.

[@terratails0001]

Cutest Dota Short Film I've ever seen.

[@Admin-mo1zq]

Smooth af that animation

[@NekoMG2]

The Best One so far for now, let's see if there any better challenger...

[@MultiChelsea91]

So good man , Ogre May favorite hero

[@andychew9656]

This will be the winner

[@rikimaru4404]

i fucking love it,this better win !!

[@Lana-]

Нереально круто, до малейших деталей

[@karuson2]

Wish there's a dota 2 movie with this kinda stuff.

[@MaxLebled]

god, you and me both, buddy

[@RnBLiKeAStAr]

Me too :D

[@socksucker9308]

and we have the winner !!!

[@adamramba6366]

This is well done and I’m surprised about it

[@cloroxbleach5660]

Amazing. This is so fucking good.

[@Eresz7]

This is must win shortfilm...

[@fenrir2k930]

BEST ONE !!!

[@kobooyahooyeeha]

Clearly this year winner entry.

[@dityakusuma419]

best so far ^^

[@thomasdeng8265]

yo that was pretty freaking good lol

[@ohreally763]

Sorry maxime, but slacks has it in the bag this year

[@averagecommander]

That was 3 minutes long tho

[@TheCitizenship]

тαиуα but that singsong tho.. AngelThump

[@TheTrueChaks]

This video was nice but slacks's video resonates with my soul

[@TheBhrunno]

Hi guys, Can anyone link me slack's video?

[@UTKARSHARJUN]

69th

[@telefrag.]

Maxime shows how it's done once again.

[@cavendizh-1717]

the best visual

[@carbdoto2523]

YEP THIS IS THE WINNER

[@PinoyGameStore]

Looks like we have another winner here, folks!

[@VaibhavShewale]

nice! that all dialogue

[@rokuonjisakurauchi]

I'm 100% sure this Sfm will make to the top 3

[@eatberries3173]

this is great

[@YourBestFriendreally]

Yaaaaay my favorite hero Ogre being adorable

[@ayidamayadi9087]

Amazing

[@FrancoDuerme]

Dude you are becoming the Stephen Spielberg of SFM

[@waysonkwan4961]

This just looks exactly like Disney movie scenes, you're goddamn great !!

[@MaxLebled]

Thank you! It's very high praise to be compared to them.

[@uwaisf]

Oh my God ! you're going to Killing Spree this contest !