Half-Life Short Film Grabs Attention

switchfeet writes "For any of you Half-Life fans out there, this new short film based on the game by The Purchase Brothers is really garnering some attention on pretty much every gaming site out there. 'It's a mixture of live action and game footage, and makes smart use of in-game sound effects, and some really fantastic location hunting. ... The Purchase Bros describe the production as 'guerilla style with no money, no time, no crew, no script, the first two episodes were made from beginning to end on a budget of $500.'"

Comments

Re:Very Cool!

[Shrike82]

I heard Uwe Boll is free. I'll give him a call...

Re:The problem

[grumbel]

The movie is not about Gordon Freeman, which elegantly sidesteps that problem.

From Valve

[Barny]

Valve had this to say in the latest steam news...

The short film Escape from City 17: Part One, viewable on YouTube via the link below, was inspired by the Half-Life 2 episodes and chronicles the escape from City 17 by some members of the citizens resistance. It was created by The Purchase Brothers, a commercial directing duo, and their small team based in Toronto, Canada. They have been Half-Life enthusiasts from the start and have created this short, the first in a series, on a shoestring budget using handmade costumes, some donated equipment, and the Source SDK, not to mention lots of their own blood, sweat and (we assume) tears. It was sent to Valve unannounced, and we were blown away -- the production quality certainly exceeds that of the usual community-made movies we see. We're told the second episode is nearing completion, and we can't wait to see what's in store. We hope that you enjoy the series.

PLEASE NOTE! This live-action video contains scenes of blood and harsh violence, and may not be appropriate for younger audiences or sensitive viewers.

Seems they liked it too :)

bad "marketing" angle

[njen]

guerilla style with no money, no time, no crew, no script

(Time) First of all, as someone who works in CG, I can say without a doubt, that those effects would have taken a while to do. You don't just whip up cloud vortexes and comp them in a mere hour. It's this kind of talk that helps support the belief that you can push a button, and a computer takes care of all the effects.
So it would be prudent to say that the actual filming of the live action component was done in "no time". The entire film from concept to final would have taken at least a few weeks, if not a couple of months I imagine.

(Money) Second, they would have had to work with legitimate copies of 2D and 3D software. If it was done with anything other than Blender, then that's at least a few thousand dollars right there.

(Script) Third, it's the story that makes films great. Without a good script, a film is meaningless. I mean look how much effort the storytellers of the game put in to tell a great story in an fps shooter. I don't think it's a wise thing to boast that one has no script.

I am not trying to belittle the film, as an amateur short with the given constraints it works as best as it can. But I just wanted to expand on the angle that they are trying to push their film from.

Re:Very Cool!

[sanosuke001]

Their site actually said Valve had flown them out to Seattle and has been in touch with them regarding the project. I think their first episode was fantastic and would love to see more. Valve throwing them a bit of cash could definitely increase their vision. A full-length movie would be amazing.

Re:Valve

[Guspaz]

Except, then the Counter-Strike team was hired by Valve. And previously, the Team Fortress team was hired by valve. And then Day of Defeat team was hired by valve. And then the Narbacular Drop team was hired by valve.

There's a pattern here; even if Valve's executives aren't a "group of dedicated gamers", a large proportion of their best staff is. And those executives certainly have a pretty commendable attitude at running a business. They encourage community works (Black Mesa, for example, or this film project) where other large companies would squash them.

And how many other companies have a chief executive who not only encourages customers to e-mail him, but actually responds to many of them? Not enough.

Re:Valve

[ucblockhead]

I wish other companies would realize that this attitude has made Valve money. Rather than attempting shut down Counterstrike for touching their precious IP, they looked at it, bought it and thereby made lots and lots of money.