I've been meaning to write about this web series, Halo 4: Forward Unto Dawn, but I thought I'd wait till it finished before casting my vote. It's Unfrigginbelievable
FUD (I'm abbreviating) is the larges venture by Microsoft into the live-action segment, costing around 10 million dollars to produce, it was filled with a bunch of Hollywood actors and produced like an honest to god, 100 million dollar film. They got Daniel Cudmore (Collosus from X-Men: Last Stand) and Anna Popplewell (Susan from The Narnia Films) to play key roles with Cudmore filling the armour of Halo's Master Chief.
343 Industries marketing campaign for this new video game trilogy is simply remarkable. Halo is a video game, however, due to the series immense popularity, Microsoft dipped and then plunged the series into different media types. The first media that Halo reached was in the form of Novels. These novels provided much needed filler material that connected the Origins of the Chief, to the First Halo and finally the gap between Halo 1 and Halo 2. It was necessary, it was good. Then, the franchise got even more popular, being described as the Xbox's signature title, it became the baby of Microsoft's Xbox.
We all know that babies are indulged, and Halo is no different, over the 10 years of the franchise, it has seen the creation of: Books, Comics, Action Figures, Board Games, Fan Made Machinima, Anime and it was even tabled as a full fledged Hollywood movie! (To be produced by Peter Jackson, thank god that didn't happen) So what makes this so different? What is 343 Industries doing that is so different?
While the books, comics, films, etc were not essential, but more of additives so that true Halo fans would be able to further understand the back story of characters, 343 has made these 'additives' a requirement to understand the story. By linking a novel and the main game directly, it makes the novel an essential read for one to understand the changes in the game (properly that is, I'm sure they've explained it sufficiently in-game). Personally, I find that this is a brilliant strategy, Microsoft got well known sci-fi authors to write the new Halo books, and considering the fan following that sci-fi works accumulate, it would have certainly resulted in new customers for the Halo franchise. Add the field of Live Action and every single filmmaker who loves video games sits up and takes notice, because their dreams have just been made real. It's a brilliant approach cause it consumes the market, it builds the hype for the product even more, especially when you realize that since the first Halo came out 10 years ago, there are new customers entering that special video-game age, so such a strategy is perfect to draw them in.
Enough about that, let's look at Halo 4: Forward Unto Dawn.
FUD is a 5 episode web-series hosted by Machinima Prime, unlike any other Halo Live Action stuff, this was all done by Microsoft, so it's official.
FUD follows Thomas Lasky, a Cadet in the Corbulo Academy of Military Science, (A sort of Halo Westpoint) He and his squad, are not the most cohesive unit, primarily because they are the sons and daughters of high ranking UNSC Personnel. This means that while other cadets have worked to be there, these are the special ones. The squad is interesting as plenty of them show a high amount of arrogence and disdain towards the war the UNSC is fighting (against rebels) and more importantly at the fact that their parents haven't been with them because of the military.
Lasky is not the biggest screw up in the squad not by far, he's the protagonist for one reason only, he's not motivated, and despite having leadership skills, he is hesitant to take them on. The series looks at this, and show how, over the series, he changes as a person and becomes someone he needs to be. He's helped along this journey by his best friend, Cadet Silva (played by Anna Popplewell) who is one of the best cadets, but not really cut out for leadership.
The first episode gives us the lay of the land, we are introduced to the cadets and how Lasky isn't everyone's best friend, in fact he's screwed up plans due to his inability to place faith in his commanders (he's right at making the call, but that's not the question)
The second episode shows us how there is exceptional desire to see this squad become strong as they are all full of potential and none of them are seizing it. Lasky is continuously berated for his errors and his past resulting in a scuffle where he kicks the snot out of his rival. He is reprimanded by his CO, however, the words that are said leave a faint impression on him, as he makes a decision that will change the way his teammates look at him.
I won't say what all happens next, but eventually, the Master Chief comes to pull the squad out of a particularly tough spot. I swear, the first time you actually see the Chief on screen, you are spellbound. The fact that he was actually there, not animated, not CGI (same thing no?) but a real person, in a real suit (a rubber one, but that's not the point!) was amazing!
Did you know that in the books, the Master Chief is supposed to be 6ft 7in, the actor who plays the Chief, Daniel Cudmore, is the same height! I saw that and the gamer geek in me flipped out. Slowly FUD is moving from a simple web series to Halo on film.
The story of FUD is perfect. By the third episode, you know all the important characters and their personal struggles, but it's still not what you'd want in a live action series based on a FPS game, you want explosions, you want the Covenant and war! We all love war, it's why we play the game. FUD takes your expectations and openly mock you as they show you all of this, but from the eyes of fresh recruit. The horror of war, and the despair that is seen as each character falls and the relief when the Chief enters.
The Covenant was done in an intelligent manner, with the 3rd, 4th and 5th episodes all taking place in the night, the ability to see any animation flaws are hidden, and it also simulates the fear that would be there when being chased by a stronger, more advanced race through a dark forest. By emphasizing on the voices, weapons lights and armour lights, FUD does complete justice to the mysterious, sinister nature of the Covenant, although I was sort of hoping for more Chief/Elite action.
The only problem, the absolute only problem that I had was that 343 allowed Spartans faces to be seen. Half the joy of the characters of Spartans was that they are faceless warriors for the players to identify with, by giving them a face, you have created an identity that this Spartan looks like this, and what for? Just so that 343 can show the seeds of doubt as to the age of the Spartans, why they are near child soldiers and not full grown men and women. Perhaps this fits into their story behind the Spartan IV's (yeah, that's happening) or it contributes towards something else that is yet to be revealed.
At fifteen minutes an episode, Halo 4: Forward Unto Dawn is the best think you could watch on youtube as you count the days to November 6th and the launch of Halo 4. In Halo 4, you will see the return of Tom Lasky on the UNSC Infinity, and while no one knows the role of his character in the game, Forward Unto Dawn certainly tells you where he gets his courage and faith from.
I'd suggest you watch it, even if you aren't a Halo fan or a Gamer, there is something truly spectacular when you have someone whom you've played as for most of your childhood appear real. Forward Unto Dawn is that awesome, and so, so much more.
Episode I
Episode II
Episode III
Episode IV
Episode V
Enjoy!
FUD (I'm abbreviating) is the larges venture by Microsoft into the live-action segment, costing around 10 million dollars to produce, it was filled with a bunch of Hollywood actors and produced like an honest to god, 100 million dollar film. They got Daniel Cudmore (Collosus from X-Men: Last Stand) and Anna Popplewell (Susan from The Narnia Films) to play key roles with Cudmore filling the armour of Halo's Master Chief.
343 Industries marketing campaign for this new video game trilogy is simply remarkable. Halo is a video game, however, due to the series immense popularity, Microsoft dipped and then plunged the series into different media types. The first media that Halo reached was in the form of Novels. These novels provided much needed filler material that connected the Origins of the Chief, to the First Halo and finally the gap between Halo 1 and Halo 2. It was necessary, it was good. Then, the franchise got even more popular, being described as the Xbox's signature title, it became the baby of Microsoft's Xbox.
We all know that babies are indulged, and Halo is no different, over the 10 years of the franchise, it has seen the creation of: Books, Comics, Action Figures, Board Games, Fan Made Machinima, Anime and it was even tabled as a full fledged Hollywood movie! (To be produced by Peter Jackson, thank god that didn't happen) So what makes this so different? What is 343 Industries doing that is so different?
While the books, comics, films, etc were not essential, but more of additives so that true Halo fans would be able to further understand the back story of characters, 343 has made these 'additives' a requirement to understand the story. By linking a novel and the main game directly, it makes the novel an essential read for one to understand the changes in the game (properly that is, I'm sure they've explained it sufficiently in-game). Personally, I find that this is a brilliant strategy, Microsoft got well known sci-fi authors to write the new Halo books, and considering the fan following that sci-fi works accumulate, it would have certainly resulted in new customers for the Halo franchise. Add the field of Live Action and every single filmmaker who loves video games sits up and takes notice, because their dreams have just been made real. It's a brilliant approach cause it consumes the market, it builds the hype for the product even more, especially when you realize that since the first Halo came out 10 years ago, there are new customers entering that special video-game age, so such a strategy is perfect to draw them in.
Enough about that, let's look at Halo 4: Forward Unto Dawn.
*********POSSIBLE SPOILER ALERTS********
FUD is a 5 episode web-series hosted by Machinima Prime, unlike any other Halo Live Action stuff, this was all done by Microsoft, so it's official.
FUD follows Thomas Lasky, a Cadet in the Corbulo Academy of Military Science, (A sort of Halo Westpoint) He and his squad, are not the most cohesive unit, primarily because they are the sons and daughters of high ranking UNSC Personnel. This means that while other cadets have worked to be there, these are the special ones. The squad is interesting as plenty of them show a high amount of arrogence and disdain towards the war the UNSC is fighting (against rebels) and more importantly at the fact that their parents haven't been with them because of the military.
Lasky is not the biggest screw up in the squad not by far, he's the protagonist for one reason only, he's not motivated, and despite having leadership skills, he is hesitant to take them on. The series looks at this, and show how, over the series, he changes as a person and becomes someone he needs to be. He's helped along this journey by his best friend, Cadet Silva (played by Anna Popplewell) who is one of the best cadets, but not really cut out for leadership.
The first episode gives us the lay of the land, we are introduced to the cadets and how Lasky isn't everyone's best friend, in fact he's screwed up plans due to his inability to place faith in his commanders (he's right at making the call, but that's not the question)
The second episode shows us how there is exceptional desire to see this squad become strong as they are all full of potential and none of them are seizing it. Lasky is continuously berated for his errors and his past resulting in a scuffle where he kicks the snot out of his rival. He is reprimanded by his CO, however, the words that are said leave a faint impression on him, as he makes a decision that will change the way his teammates look at him.
I won't say what all happens next, but eventually, the Master Chief comes to pull the squad out of a particularly tough spot. I swear, the first time you actually see the Chief on screen, you are spellbound. The fact that he was actually there, not animated, not CGI (same thing no?) but a real person, in a real suit (a rubber one, but that's not the point!) was amazing!
Did you know that in the books, the Master Chief is supposed to be 6ft 7in, the actor who plays the Chief, Daniel Cudmore, is the same height! I saw that and the gamer geek in me flipped out. Slowly FUD is moving from a simple web series to Halo on film.
The story of FUD is perfect. By the third episode, you know all the important characters and their personal struggles, but it's still not what you'd want in a live action series based on a FPS game, you want explosions, you want the Covenant and war! We all love war, it's why we play the game. FUD takes your expectations and openly mock you as they show you all of this, but from the eyes of fresh recruit. The horror of war, and the despair that is seen as each character falls and the relief when the Chief enters.
The Covenant was done in an intelligent manner, with the 3rd, 4th and 5th episodes all taking place in the night, the ability to see any animation flaws are hidden, and it also simulates the fear that would be there when being chased by a stronger, more advanced race through a dark forest. By emphasizing on the voices, weapons lights and armour lights, FUD does complete justice to the mysterious, sinister nature of the Covenant, although I was sort of hoping for more Chief/Elite action.
The only problem, the absolute only problem that I had was that 343 allowed Spartans faces to be seen. Half the joy of the characters of Spartans was that they are faceless warriors for the players to identify with, by giving them a face, you have created an identity that this Spartan looks like this, and what for? Just so that 343 can show the seeds of doubt as to the age of the Spartans, why they are near child soldiers and not full grown men and women. Perhaps this fits into their story behind the Spartan IV's (yeah, that's happening) or it contributes towards something else that is yet to be revealed.
At fifteen minutes an episode, Halo 4: Forward Unto Dawn is the best think you could watch on youtube as you count the days to November 6th and the launch of Halo 4. In Halo 4, you will see the return of Tom Lasky on the UNSC Infinity, and while no one knows the role of his character in the game, Forward Unto Dawn certainly tells you where he gets his courage and faith from.
Episode I
Episode II
Episode III
Episode IV
Episode V
Enjoy!
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