Enter The Freeman: Half-Life Film

Can't please everyone. This was a fan made film on a tight budget and some of you expect blockbuster special effects out of it. lol.

I for one, thought it was absolutely awesome. It was better than a lot of the Hollywood video game movies and it was right up there with best of some other fan made films. Left me wanting more.
 
i think i heard the ingame sound of a weapon switch when the cop first drew his gun.

also really impressed by the shape of freeman's and mystery guy's face.
 
Ocean said:
i think i heard the ingame sound of a weapon switch when the cop first drew his gun.

also really impressed by the shape of freeman's and mystery guy's face.
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Mystery Guy... You mean the G-Man?

They used a ton of ingame sound effects for practically everything... I think even footsteps at one time were from the game.
 
c4v3man said:
Although I never understood why the HEV suit didn't have headgear of some type... that's cool that your body is shielded from radioactive waste and all, but your brain is toast...
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Brains are totally overrated. I haven't used mine in years and I'm doing great, thanks.
 
Ocean said:
i think i heard the ingame sound of a weapon switch when the cop first drew his gun.

also really impressed by the shape of freeman's and mystery guy's face.
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I also heard "Ammunition depleted" from the HEV suit.
 
I'll say what I can after having watched it without sound while on a phone conference call.

It's a lot better than I expected, after hearing it was a fan made short film made for only $3,000.

Sure, some of the costumes are not perfect, and it is shot in the dark to cover up that their set isn't perfect, though it does also help convey a little bit of the "fear" of the situation.

Odd choice of location. I would have shot it (with permission of course) in a recently vacated office building or something like that (god knows there are plenty of those these days) in order for the setting to be closer to that of the game.

My feeling is, given what they were able to accomplish for $3,000, with a real budget, proper sets, proper props, costume designers, etc. a full 2 hours to work with and the schedule allowed by having a fully budgeted film (you can work on it full time cause you are being paid, not evenings and weekends) and some experienced writers, this could be pulled off, and pulled off well.

I wish Valve would sell the film rights to the story, but that they would do so judiciously. Just like with the lord of the rings trilogy, you'd want to get an experienced director who is a fan of the original, and has good creative vision.

If that were the case, a Half Life movie could really be a success.

If it were done cheaply by just another new director who doesn't really care about the franchise and just wants to bang out a film, it would suck, just like every other Video game become movie.
 
Zarathustra[H];1039197506 said:
I'll say what I can after having watched it without sound while on a phone conference call.

It's a lot better than I expected, after hearing it was a fan made short film made for only $3,000.

Sure, some of the costumes are not perfect, and it is shot in the dark to cover up that their set isn't perfect, though it does also help convey a little bit of the "fear" of the situation.

Odd choice of location. I would have shot it (with permission of course) in a recently vacated office building or something like that (god knows there are plenty of those these days) in order for the setting to be closer to that of the game.

My feeling is, given what they were able to accomplish for $3,000, with a real budget, proper sets, proper props, costume designers, etc. a full 2 hours to work with and the schedule allowed by having a fully budgeted film (you can work on it full time cause you are being paid, not evenings and weekends) and some experienced writers, this could be pulled off, and pulled off well.

I wish Valve would sell the film rights to the story, but that they would do so judiciously. Just like with the lord of the rings trilogy, you'd want to get an experienced director who is a fan of the original, and has good creative vision.

If that were the case, a Half Life movie could really be a success.

If it were done cheaply by just another new director who doesn't really care about the franchise and just wants to bang out a film, it would suck, just like every other Video game become movie.
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Also, after having seen breaking bad, I can't help bu think that Brian Cranston could make a really good Gordon Freeman. He could pull of the light hearted goofy/geeky scientist bit, at the same time as pulling out the badass when required.
 
c4v3man said:
Although I never understood why the HEV suit didn't have headgear of some type... that's cool that your body is shielded from radioactive waste and all, but your brain is toast...
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Maybe helmet blew off in the chamber during the resonance cascade? :p
 
c4v3man said:
Although I never understood why the HEV suit didn't have headgear of some type... that's cool that your body is shielded from radioactive waste and all, but your brain is toast...
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It's because he didn't want it to mess up his silly little beard and hair do. Anyway, how do you think he became mute? :p
 
c4v3man said:
Although I never understood why the HEV suit didn't have headgear of some type... that's cool that your body is shielded from radioactive waste and all, but your brain is toast...
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They did (bodies found on Xen). They just left it off so you could see the Characters faces. They do the same thing for helmets in Racing/Football movies.

Look at Top Gun, Their visors were never lowered.:cool:
 
Acer_Sheep said:
I'm going to double post cause we were writing both in the same time, you are so right! I sometimes see a movies where they have silent or barely speaking protagonists and there is nothing worse than lack of communication in movies, very boring and annoying.
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Clint Eastwood would like a _____ with you.
 
Acer_Sheep said:
I'm going to double post cause we were writing both in the same time, you are so right! I sometimes see a movies where they have silent or barely speaking protagonists and there is nothing worse than lack of communication in movies, very boring and annoying.
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Wall-E came out ok.
 
Zarathustra[H];1039197510 said:
Also, after having seen breaking bad, I can't help bu think that Brian Cranston could make a really good Gordon Freeman. He could pull of the light hearted goofy/geeky scientist bit, at the same time as pulling out the badass when required.
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I think it's just the Goatee that gives that impression. While I think he could do an excellent job as Gordon Freeman, I actually see Gordon Freeman as being a little warmer than Walter White.
 
Acer_Sheep said:
I'm going to double post cause we were writing both in the same time, you are so right! I sometimes see a movies where they have silent or barely speaking protagonists and there is nothing worse than lack of communication in movies, very boring and annoying.
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I agree here.

I think the key to making it an interesting, involved film is character development, and thats difficult if not impossible to achieve without communication.

Otherwise it winds up being just another cheap action flick, and while there is action in Half Life, that's not really what its about.

If this were a full featured film, I'd like to see an introduction in the facility before the accident. The scientists making geeky jokes with each other. Freeman interacting with his work buddies. Maybe even a brief scene where he climbs in through the ducts to get Dr Eli Vance's (played by Morgan Freeman) keys he locked in his office (as briefly reminisced in Half Life 2).

The action should really only be incidental, used to drum up the suspense and support the plot. Most of the film should be about the characters, their responses to the terror they find themselves in, Gordon Freeman's creative ways of solving problems (puzzles in the game), and the shock and horror at the fact that after they have fought their way to the surface only to find that the military is not there to help them, but to kill everyone.

So essentially, a suspenseful thriller, not an action film.

This 11 minute fan film is a decent demonstration, but a lot more would need to go into a full film.
 
Are you guys saying if their was a movie it would be ok for him to just press USE on scientist or security guard? +use "Ok i'll follow you" +use "Ok i'll stay right here". Freeman has no in game voice because they want you to feel like you are the Freeman.
 
S0m30n3 said:
Are you guys saying if their was a movie it would be ok for him to just press USE on scientist or security guard? +use "Ok i'll follow you" +use "Ok i'll stay right here". Freeman has no in game voice because they want you to feel like you are the Freeman.
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Yeah, Freeman has to talk and have a personality, unless you want to make it a first person movie, which would be odd. :p
 
Zarathustra[H];1039197756 said:
Yeah, Freeman has to talk and have a personality, unless you want to make it a first person movie, which would be odd. :p
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I did like how they minimzed his lines as much as possible and had him communicate largely through facial expressions and head motions. In a movie like this Gordon has to have some personality, some lines or it just won't be right. It's one area where an aspect of the game just won't translate well to film. But I think this showed us that it can be done. Though I guarantee a whole movie like this would be panned by critics not understanding the character and the fact that his lack of personality is actually a character trait, and one that oddly defines him.

It can work, but it isn't always well received. The Kurt Russel film "Soldier" was enjoyable in my opinion but the critics hated it. The character said very little, but didn't need to in order for the character to work. I thought his silence said more about him than any lines could have.
 
It would take one hell of an actor to pull it off. Not many can exclaim with thunderous silence.
 
Omegas said:
It would take one hell of an actor to pull it off. Not many can exclaim with thunderous silence.
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Unfortunately, even under those conditions I doubt it would be well received by anyone except by fans of the games. I just don't think most people would get it.
 
c4v3man said:
I think it's just the Goatee that gives that impression. While I think he could do an excellent job as Gordon Freeman, I actually see Gordon Freeman as being a little warmer than Walter White.
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Well, Walter White is a character and Brian Cranston is an actor. If the director asks him to make a character warmer, he acts the character warmer :p

I mean, you remember Brian Cranston from Malcolm in the Middle, right? He was able to be pretty warm in that show (or at least warmer than Walter White)
 
Zarathustra[H];1039198609 said:
Well, Walter White is a character and Brian Cranston is an actor. If the director asks him to make a character warmer, he acts the character warmer :p

I mean, you remember Brian Cranston from Malcolm in the Middle, right? He was able to be pretty warm in that show (or at least warmer than Walter White)
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I understand, however I'm simply saying that while Walter from Breaking Bad is pretty close, he's not quite there.

Also, as an aside, I was under the impression that Gordon Freeman was still fairly early in his career. Brian Cranston may be a bit old for the part...
 
fantastic film

how do i donate to make this happen?
 
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