Arcane: How to Utilise Different Artistic Techniques to Aid Storytelling

You can’t argue with the fact that the wider public views animation and live-action cinematography differently. Cinema is often seen as a higher and a more superior form of art, which can be differentiated into multiple genres and subgenres such as drama, rom-com, or thriller, while animation is rarely seen as anything more than simple entertainment for children. While it is, unfortunately, somewhat true that most modern animated media can be described as family-friendly mindless slop, the same can be said about a huge chunk of all movies hitting cinemas in the last decade. 

The devaluation of animation in the world of art is quite tragic and ironic as creating art is directly involved in the process of animating a cartoon. As a matter of fact, there have been animated movies and series that were made with a clear artistic intent which attempted to break the mold of animation being perceived as childish or non-artistic, yet they have failed to receive mainstream attention or acclaim. Yet, in recent years, this sentiment of dismissal has been slowly changing. There have been works which serve as proof that animation can be a medium for the creation of a great complex story and something that can be used for to enhance storytelling. One example of such is Arcane.

Arcane is a French-American animated series. Despite consisting of only two seasons of nine episodes each, it took roughly a decade to create. The production of the show’s first season began in 2015, and it eventually came out in 2021. The second season of the show, which took three more years to animate, has recently come out and concluded the story. The amount of time invested into the creation of Arcane makes sense once one takes into account the show’s well executed narrative and visuals. The combination of traditional 2D animation and 3D graphics are truly mesmerizing to look at: every frame is an intricate piece of art. The movement of characters is extremely fluid and life-like, which is extremely impressive from an artistic standpoint. Truly, I recommend watching at least a few episodes of the series to anyone reading this article so that they could appreciate the animation showcased in it.

In the next part of the article, I am going to be discussing certain events that happened in the show. Therefore, if you don’t want to be spoiled, I would advise against reading anything below this point.

It is extremely interesting to me how this show utilizes its visuals as a way to tell its story. For example, by how they are visually portrayed, we can clearly see the difference between the cities of Piltover and Zaun. Zaun’s architecture is a lot more chaotic, utilizing harsh shapes and darker color palettes, than that of Piltover, which, on the other hand, appears more structured, consisting of colossal buildings and boasting a lighter color palette. When it comes to their environments, Zaun has to use their resources mindfully in order to survive, which is reflected the often asymmetrical buildings constructed using materials such as metal. Zaun’s buildings all look different; they do not follow any sort of a cohesive design rule. Contrastingly, Piltover does not have to worry about that as they have access to any necessary resources. Piltovan buildings all have a similar look: walls constructed out of white stone, colorful roofs (mostly blue), golden elements in design, high ceilings. Looking at Piltover, you can easily tell that it is the city of progress.

The use of color in Arcane is phenomenal. In many different scenes across the show, color plays a big role at creating a desired mood. The first episode of season two starts with the funeral of Caitlyn’s mother. Everything surrounding Caitlyn and her mother is black and white, except for violet flowers framing the scene, and it all appears to be somewhat smudged and unclear, which has been accomplished by having the backgrounds in that particular be hand-drawn with charcoal. This shows us her perspective on the world: her mother’s death has left her feeling as if nothing in the world mattered. After a traumatic event like a relative’s death, it is common to feel as if the world has stopped around you. The only person outside of the Kiramann family that is in focus and color  is Vi, Caitlyn’s lover. In my opinion, the flowers being colored symbolize the connection and love that Caitlyn feels towards Vi. This affection between them was ultimately the thing that helped them to get through the events of the show.

Obviously, colors aren’t the only way to create a specific atmosphere in a particular scene. Silco’s first appearance in the show is a great example of how light can be used to set a certain mood. When he first appears on the screen, he is embroiled by shadow. Due to the darkness of his lair, we can only see his slender silhouette. There is a source of light behind Silco, bright enough to make him stand out but not bright enough to fully reveal what he looks like. His head is turned to the left, showcasing his profile and hiding the right side of his face. He remains in this position for a while, eventually pulling out a syringe and injecting himself with its contents. Eventually, he turns his head, revealing his glowing eye. After Silco steps out of the shadow, we can fully see his scarred face. The lighting in this scene is very impactful: it creates a mysterious allure around Silco and makes him look menacing and threatening. The light and the shadows in this scene create a contrast between each other, making for very interesting visuals. 

I don’t think I’ve ever seen a TV show as visually appealing Arcane. It topped Netflix’s most watched charts in countries all over the world and won multiple Annie Awards, which is further testimony to its high quality. A lot of love and skill went into creation of this show, which is easy to see all over Arcane, from animation to voice acting. I really hope that in the future there will be more high-profile projects just like this one.