Beyond The Booth - An Analysis of Tri-Casting and of Joe, Jatt and Deman's Tri-cast from IPL5
Hi there! This post not only marks the start of my first ever article series over here on my tumblr but actually the first 'real' post I've ever made! While I've had a lot of plans to post various bits of content here this is the first that I've been motivated enough to finish and now publish I hope you enjoy it.
Each post on my tumblr (apart from the intro post) is accompanied not only by the article title but the title of the 'column' too so if you're looking for particular content you just have to look for the series title!
'Beyond The Booth' is a look at one of the different sides of gaming and eSports and that is what coverage and shoutcasting is like, as well as any thoughts on event production and running I might have.
As an up and coming (I guess I can call it semi-professional at this point) shoutcaster I do have some experience and understand of the craft although am always, always trying to learn more, something which I hope this series will push me to do. Â
If you'd like to learn more about me personally check out the intro post otherwise know that this analysis is coming from someone who has a reasonable amount of broadcasting experience at this point as well as a personal and professional interest in improving and understanding shoutcasting. Happy reading!
Tri-casting has also been an interesting idea especially within ‘Western’ shoutcasting and traditionally has not been something that been either popular or successful for the most part. Traditional sports commentary has always had the duo-model of play by play and colour commentator, a model that has been heavily adopted by eSports and throughout its approaching ten year history has more or less remained the standard in English eSports broadcasts.
It’s easy to see why the model is so popular, it’s taken from an already established method of commentating and provides the perfect contrast that the action and the strategy of a match needs in order to benefit the game been casted. In its short history eSports has seen a great number of powerful casting duos whose history and chemistry with each other have taken the quality of the broadcasts they produce to another level.
In competitive gaming when it’s so important to have the casters understand the very careful balance of keeping the game entertaining while explaining the deep and complex strategy the two casters need to be incredibly in-sync so each moment within a cast is dealt with appropriately. This is something that has promoted the PBP/C duo for so long as having a specialist for each side will ensure the broadcast will contain the necessary information while still remaining fluid.
Striking that balance has been the thing that has always made me skeptical of tri-casting as what is a third person really bringing to a broadcast? Assuming that your duo is good enough, what mid-point or other element can an additional caster really bring apart from the potential for more mess and ‘noise’ within the broadcast which could completely ruin the fluidity that is required for a successful production.
In essence, for tri-casting to be worth it an additional caster actually has to bring something useful to the table as just being an extra voice is not nearly enough of a benefit for all the potential downside.
Before talking specifics about what worked and didn’t work in regards to J/J/D (Jatt, Joe, Deman) in the IPL5 tri-cast they showcased recently at that same League of Legends event I’ll mention one other instance I can remember of English-speaking tri-casting for LoL that did work to some degree and that put a little more faith in the idea for me.
For those of you with good memories you might remember the tri-cast of Deman, scarra and Jatt from WCG 2011 on the secondary stream which came about after the run of Dignitas had ended in the tournament. This model (unlike what we saw at IPL5) looks more like a PBP/C/C setup and it worked beautifully for a few key reasons.
1) Jatt and scarra are incredibly knowledgeable and were able to provide expert in-depth analysis at all points in the game
2) they’re teammates and had lots of natural chemistry and didn’t ruin the cast by talking over each other despite at that point not having much commentating experience between them.
3) deman’s experience and ability as a caster is not to be undersold here and he mediated the cast very well.
This idea of mediation is something I’ll come back to later when we analyze the IPL5 tri-cast, but when three people instead of two are participating in a broadcast having someone to be able to effectively control the flow of the broadcast can be crucial, much like the PBP commentator in a duo often needs to be keeping everything exciting and fluid even in moments of gameplay that are not as exciting.
In fact ‘mediating’ your colour commentator is something I could write an entire post about although to be fair the best duos will often mediate between themselves naturally, something that comes about from having a lot of experience and chemistry between the two broadcasters and in addition there are also times where the colour commentator is required to help direct the PBP which is another type of mediation (I’d probably coin it as ‘reverse mediation’) so it’s not always on the PBP to be directing everything (although this is more so when they are also doubling as the game observer) but in a tri-cast you often need a much stronger mediation presence to prevent the broadcast from becoming crowded or clogged.
The PBP/C/C model is something that could work for tri-casts but it runs into the potential of being very, very stale if the game is filled with nothing but analysis especially if the colour commentators have little commentating experience and aren’t able to aid the broadcast other than providing great analysis which could detract too much from the entertainment value and ruin the balance.
This particular trio would also require an incredible PBP caster who potentially would be mediating and directing the broadcast as almost the sole purpose in the cast other than provide action moments when they happen for which again puts a lot of pressure on that caster. Â Regardless it is something interesting to think about and a demonstration of a tri-cast being reasonably successful in a League of Legends broadcast.
Moving on finally to the recent IPL5 tri-cast of J/J/D it’s obvious that this is a very different model than the one previously described as is much closer to PBP/PBP/C exchanging the second colour commentator for an additional play-by-play.
What does this mean in terms of dynamics in a tri-cast?
At face value I would guess that this sort of setup would likely be sub-optimal as the issue of crowding I’d imagine would be exacerbated by the presence of two different ‘action’ based casters rather than just having one to direct the other two colour commentators.
As it turns out the approach that J/J/D have taken took this into consideration and while they have essentially adapted the PBP/PBP/C line-up it is not without a bevy of casting experience and understanding about the shift in dynamics from a duo-cast to a tri-cast. I think one of the most interesting aspects about how the three have approached their tri-cast is how they’ve taken the trio and further split it into three different duos.
This has the effect of keeping the ‘traditional’ PBP/C duo intact while still retaining the benefits of having three casters cover one match. Deman and Jatt are already a well-established duo within the League of Legends scene and Joe is such an experienced caster that his natural ability and talent meshes very well with Jatt despite the two not having much casting experience together.
Within this a third duo has also been created and one that I think only works because of their experience casting together, something that has not been the norm in eSports coverage and that’s the existence of Joe and Deman as a duo of essentially PBP/PBP something that is rarely seen (and with good reason it can get really messy) within coverage.
However Joe and Deman have been casting together for a LONG time (well exceeding their current League of Legends casting careers) and that experience really shows as a duo, even when they were consistently casting League together they recognized that they needed to share the spotlight and managed to take two very strong PBP casters and tone them both down just enough to create a very polished and very balanced duo creating a dynamic and chemistry that I think to this day is still yet to be replicated within League of Legends broadcasting despite the ‘model’ of that duo not appearing to hold up just on its premise alone.
While this particular duo has been less prevalent in the tri-casting they’ve done this weekend it’s still something worth mentioning as the history the two casters have together have created some nice moments as well as a lot of consistency despite having two different people cast the action something which I’ll touch on in more detail later.
So what advantages are gained from adding an additional caster since I’ve spent quite a while analyzing the potential downsides. The most obvious initial gain is one of time as by adding an extra caster you’re splitting the workload up which I think was reflected in how Jatt was able to make even more pointed observations than usual and especially how both Joe and Deman were able to keep the energy even higher and more consistent than they usually might.
Not to say any of these casters are incapable of doing so in a duo-setting but having a little more time likely kept the energy levels just that much higher and increased the overall quality of the cast by giving each caster more time to evaluate the game and think about what they wanted to say before speaking.
This was particularly noticeable during games with more periods of excitement as both Joe and Deman were able to alternate casting action which kept the energy high during the intense periods, this also appeared to have the added bonus of letting them feed of the others excitement levels particularly in games that had multiple exciting moments in a row and overall I assume led to more energy than potentially we might expect from them despite the pair both being adept action/PBP casters.
Personally I think Jatt actually ended up with the most amount of casting to do (albeit it’s likely not by much) simply because as the lone colour commentator he is being thrown questions from twice as many usual commentators, in the future I think improvement potentially can be made by trying to share the cast as equally as possible although I appreciate this can be VERY difficult especially when broadcasting live and Jatt’s role as the colour commentator would obviously be magnified slightly as he is the only colour commentator present in the trio just like the PBP commentator’s job would be harder in the previously discussed PBP/C/C model.
In spite of that slight majority both Joe and Deman did also throw moments to each other during the cast as well, presumably as a way of sharing the action of the broadcast and in general the commentary was shared very equally with probably no one commentator at any point receiving more than 40% of the broadcast, something which I think is incredibly important to maintain in a tri-cast as well as being a difficulty that needs to be carefully considered when considering doing a tri-cast of your own or of any potential tri-casts at future events.
One of the pitfalls of a trio however (this was especially apparent in the earlier casts before the three had settled into it) was that is felt like we had more like two and a half casters rather than three at points as one PBP/C duo tended to dominate leaving less commentary to the third commentator something which I think was more of a product of feeling out how a tri-cast should work rather than anything intentional and by the end of the event (i.e. the Grand Finals) the trio seemed to have established the balance very well and impressively managed to remove the need to have one person direct and mediate and more fluidly ascribed a caster based on the situation via instinct something which was impressive given that the tri-cast experiment was tested only through this tournament (as far as I’m aware anyway).
That initial imbalance didn’t seem to hurt the cast much however and in particular Joe was really good at keeping the cast looking beyond the first set of games and bringing in the rest of the tournament as a whole in order to complete the story, often ready with results from other games, bracket knowledge or just general anecdotes or observations presumably, because as I mentioned, each caster has a bit more time in terms of preparation and the experience of the trio was such that no one was ever at a loss at what to say (understandable given the pedigree of the commentators) despite having potentially a lot of ground already covered as one other potential pitfall of the tri-cast would be to have the third caster run out of things to say seeing as a regular duo (that exists within the trio) would be able to cover most of what was going on in a regular match anyway.
Certainly some ‘outside-the-box’ thinking was required within this setting as you are sharing less content between three of you than two would and despite this each commentator was still never at a loss for words nor repeated or overlapped much of what had already been said which enriched the overall broadcast rather than detract from it.
While this whole process had been fairly refined and practiced by the time the finals rolled around Deman certainly also did an admirable job directing and mediating while needed mainly while the trio felt out the elements and dynamics of the tri-cast.
In-short: everyone did what they were supposed to do and constantly accounted for the presence of a third caster, all of which was moving as smooth as butter by the end of the event.
I mentioned this idea of mediation or having a ‘mediator’ earlier and I’ll re-iterate and explain it a little more here.
In a tri-cast is it even more essential than in a regular duo-cast that each caster is given ample time to provide input and bring their usual strengths to the broadcast, given the danger for crowding and cluttering with three different voices is higher than normal, it’s important to designate someone to direct and mediate the flow of the cast which not only includes intros and outros but also to hand out broadcast time and throw to the relevant caster throughout the broadcast to ensure that no one talks over each other and that everything runs as smoothly as possible.
Again concerning J/J/D this was only a problem initially and Deman fulfilled that role with aplomb during the early stages of the tri-cast.
If you as a broadcaster are thinking of taking on a tri-cast or wanting to practice it’s very important that you keep this idea of mediation in mind and depending on the strength, experience and chemistry between the casters may be necessary to ensure who knows who to turn to in terms of mediation and direction.
While the J/J/D broadcast no longer required mediation after a long enough live testing period it still remains something that should be thought on especially if tri-casts are to be taken in another direction: say having a different specialist broadcaster joining a regular PBP/C duo.
As an example: while pro-players are often brought in as substitute colour commentators it may be more beneficial to have them join a regular PBP/C duo and complete a trio to give them ample time to bring their extensive knowledge and expertise to the broadcast which they may otherwise have trouble expressing or explaining themselves due to lack of broadcasting experience.
This may also be something beneficial for those looking to train a newer broadcaster as they can be brought into a ‘safer’ live casting environment where they are not as depended on as one would be during a traditional two man cast.
This does not excuse people from sharing the broadcast however and in the previously described situation would only be utilized in that fashion as a training tool with the understanding that each member of any duo or trio still needs to make their presence worthwhile to the cast as adding more people with little to no reason only hurts the overall presentation.
Other specialists that could be brought into a broadcast to complete a trio could also include something like a developer from the game (useful if the game is a lot newer for example or is being showcased) or a truly specialist player who provides analysis for one specific avenue of a game (assuming it is overly relevant to the match at hand) although both of these are much more narrow cases and a more provided to demonstrate that a tri-cast doesn't necessarily need to consist of one of PBP/PBP/C or PBP/C/C structures in order to be successful and in fact adding a member to a regular duo (in part, this is all a tri-cast is) does add an extra dimension that is able to explore otherwise inexplorable territory.
Thinking about a tri-cast as not just an extra this or that caster but as ‘what extra dimension can we explore?’ allows things that would not otherwise be manageable within a broadcast with an example from the recent tri-cast being Joe’s live other game and tournament updates. This could extend to something like live statistics within the game or just being able to have more time to rewind and analyze situation in even more detail or just simply notice the little things more and have room for more on the spot refinement.
Essentially, a tri-cast can’t JUST be a successful duo cast that is pulled off with three people it has to not only be as fluid and as consistent as a regular two man broadcast but add something extra as well.
I think for the most part the tri-cast experiment attempted by J/J/D was highly successful and proved that a tri-cast is not only possible it is potentially preferable, although the only criticism I would level at the cast would be that I felt like I was getting more and better J/J/D as a result of having a trio rather than a duo (which is great!) but nothing EXTRA that I feel having a whole extra person in a broadcast can provide.
Make no mistake, a tri-cast in English-speaking League of Legends broadcasting is up until this point practically unheard of (I know Four Court Jester did quite a successful one and I personally have attempted one with mixed results) and the results and feedback they are getting should reflect the incredible job they did.
Not once did it feel like the addition of an extra man made the broadcast clunkier and in-fact, in my opinion it did nothing but strengthen each individual caster and ultimately bring a stronger product than just two of either of these casters would've been able to.
I would advise that a tri-cast should only be attempted with strong confidence, understanding and preparation and this venture was undertaken at a huge tournament in a professional setting by casters that have years of experience between them and have shown outstanding individual results as well as understanding of what casting with one or more other people means and how that can affect a broadcast.
Easy arguments can be made that Joe, Jatt and Deman are the premier League of Legends casters and even they did not undertake their tri-casting adventure lightly and as a result brought the world an incredible show of broadcasting that deserves the depth and praise of this analysis.
Tri-casting is an unusual beast in Western eSports coverage and while I have personally initially met the idea with skepticism I have been made a believer now that the casting for IPL5 has ended.Â
This could even open up the door for even more versatility and content during broadcasts, I've even thought that a quad-cast could be something quite interesting with two different duos taking one team only (having the FoW for one side) and casting two different perspectives for the one match, possibly with an option for a third stream that has the standard shared FoW.
Surely what we've seen this weekend is certainly just a stepping stone.
Hopefully this has explained more in-detail about the particular dynamics of tri vs duo casting and the advantages and detriments both can provide.
Also if this is a means to better understand the template of tri-casting and how it may better be implemented then great, maybe this is something that we’ll see more of in future broadcasts, not just in League of Legends but across all eSports.
And finally Joe, Jatt and Deman all deserve one last round of applause for the excellent job they've done and what a precedent they've set for future casts of this type.
If any of the three of you have taken the time to read this not only thank you, but I hope this in some small way was able to help you reflect on your casting and provide not only a highlight of your strengths but potentially any weaknesses you may seek to shore up in future.
Just like the game evolves, the coverage and production surrounding it must evolve too. The Koreans have already showed the world how strong they are in eSports and I believe they have had the tri-cast model in place for quite a while now. This article has very little idea how those sorts of casts work and I’m sure just like from them we learn to play better, we can learn to cast better too so there's even more room for exploration.
Once again, everyone in the world of League of Legends be it player, caster, developer or spectator have a lot to learn and a long and exciting way to go.
Thanks so much for reading.
