Live-Action Deus Ex: Human Revolution Fan Film Released

[Andy Chalk]

Live-Action Deus Ex: Human Revolution Fan Film Released

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The Deus Ex: Human Revolution fan film teased last week is now out in all its 13-minute glory.

The live-action short film inspired by Deus Ex: Human Revolution we got a glimpse of last week [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/133025-Deus-Ex-Human-Revolution-Live-Action-Film-Teaser-Hits-YouTube-Update] has been released in full, and it is, as I'd hoped, quite fantastic indeed. It's a very thin slice of the full story that covers just a few minutes of Adam Jensen's attempted rescue of his ex-lover, Megan Reed, but doesn't take long before it becomes obvious that this isn't a blow-by-blow recreation of the game.

"We never intended on duplicating the exact storyline from the game. It's set in the world of the game and remains true to the theme with a slightly different approach," director Moe Charif explained. "Having played the game myself, I wanted to interpret the Adam/Megan relationship differently. I know people might get confused, but it's one of the things I wish was different in the game, so we went for it in the film."

The project actually began a few years ago after Charif's DCode Films finished shooting some 30-second promos for TNT. "A few weeks after wrapping that project, we started thinking of shooting a short film that has good narrative, strong CGI and is longer than the 30 second spots we've been mostly working on," he continued. "I'm a big fan of the game Human Revolution. I love the world it's set in. The character of Adam Jensen really intrigues me, so it was only natural to go in that direction. We felt like we could technically pull off the CGI, so we decided to go for it."

Charif wrote the script and then partnered with Machinima to make the film; Eidos Montreal got wind of it after the first teasers were launched (he actually posted photos of the shoot on his Facebook page [https://www.facebook.com/moecharif] back in early 2012) but instead of issuing a cease-and-desist, the studio backed it up, giving Charif "absolute artistic freedom," access to the soundtrack and even free publicity. Everything seen on the screen, however, came from the DCode Films team.

"Everything else was made by us," he said. "The stun gun was completely modeled from scratch by Maruo Rondan, who did the VFX on the project. The costumes were built by JR Martinez and Gordon Tarpley."

The net result is very impressive. The "empty guns" thing is a little cliched but obviously necessary, and the ending is a legitimate surprise. Maybe it doesn't surpass the latest $200 million Michael Bay blast-o-rama, but as a labor of love, given freely to all? Yeah, I like it. I like it a lot.


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[Saulkar]

Not bad but something that has already been repeated ad-nauseam is the utter downgrade of Megan's character. Here, she is relegated simply into a MacGuffin rather than the developed character that was the catalyst of a gut-wrenching plot twist in HR.

 

[gyroscopeboy]

Purely from a writing/production standpoint, that was easily the best fan made short i've seen for anything. Great FX too!

 

[Rad Party God]

Ugh... I can make a better use of the famous "I never asked for this" for more mundane things and sound more badass than this -_-'

Also it doesn't help that I still expect to hear Elias Toufexis' sweet, sexy voice.

But other than that and keeping in mind it doesn't follow the game's story note for note, I reaaaally liked this

 

[LordMonty]

I liked it, nice bit of quality fan work.

 

[cricket chirps]

....I HATE being this guy but while watching the video, the whole time, my brain was just deconstructing it. From some bad moments of acting to some terribly sexist things being done within the very first minutes that just made it feel like a desperate grasp to get people to watch the whole thing. Decent production quality aside, there was nothing going on in this short film worth watching.
Disappointment all around, "woo."

 

[Metalrocks]

really amazingly made. enjoyed every second of it. how come fan made movies are always better then major film companies?

 

[Saulkar]

really amazingly made. enjoyed every second of it. how come fan made movies are always better then major film companies?

Personal investment and manageable micromanagement. With such a small team you can have a smaller number of hardcore fans with a clear vision and passion run the entire thing because there is far fewer logistics in dealing with a project this small. Combine that with the absence of executive meddling and metrics driven design choices meaning that there is more headroom for the entire team to flex their creative muscles.

EDIT: I forgot to add that despite a roaring passion it is unlikely that they would burn themselves out in the process given the shorter production time that is in little doubt limited to free time.

 

[Metalrocks]

really amazingly made. enjoyed every second of it. how come fan made movies are always better then major film companies?

Personal investment and manageable micromanagement. With such a small team you can have a smaller number of hardcore fans with a clear vision and passion run the entire thing because there is far fewer logistics in dealing with a project this small. Combine that with the absence of executive meddling and metrics driven design choices meaning that there is more headroom for the entire team to flex their creative muscles.

EDIT: I forgot to add that despite a roaring passion it is unlikely that they would burn themselves out in the process given the shorter production time that is in little doubt limited to free time.

lol. im aware of that. i was being sarcastic with my question. should have made it clearer. my bad.
but yes, that is a problem, since major companies have an ultimatum and still have to think big since it will be released world wide in theaters, its obvious that at times it cant go as planed to please everyone or to get the main story across or that its true to the universe of the game or book.

 

[Keiichi Morisato]

Not bad but something that has already been repeated ad-nauseam is the utter downgrade of Megan's character. Here, she is relegated simply into a MacGuffin rather than the developed character that was the catalyst of a gut-wrenching plot twist in HR.

honestly, all we got was a really cool fight sequence, no one was fleshed out at all, had this had the run time of an actual movie your concerns with the short film would have been valid.

 

[Scrythe]

I can't believe something like this was produced from the same parent company that still, for whatever reason, insists on keeping DarkSydePhil on board.

 

[Soviet Heavy]

I still think that Escape from City 17 is the best fanfilm ever made for a vidya gaem.


So many fanfilms are well made and yet they absolutely miss the mark on tone and intent. I hate so many of the Portal and Half Life fanfilms for taking black comedy and dystopia and trying to create dramas out of them. Even Half Life, grim as it gets, has a certain alien feel to it, where it isn't dark enough to go into melodrama, but it still isn't light enough to be straight comedy.

 

[antipunt]

I don't get it. Someone explain to me the significance of the ending?

 

[Voulan]

Very, very good visual effects. If I had to criticise it, I would rather they didn't shoehorn the good old "I didn't ask for this" line and made Megan not such a downright damsel. But otherwise, it's a fantastic effort.

 

[Saulkar]

your concerns with the short film would have been valid
would have been valid
been valid
valid.

You may not agree with me and that is 100 percent perfectly fine, but arguing that the poor characterization and length dismiss the egregiously divergent characterisation of an integral character who flipped the normal trope on its head is an opinion in and of itself and cannot be used to argue anything more than one's personal preference.

Hell, even the role and personality of Megan's character, though objective in analysis, is of my subjective interpretation and conclusion.

 

[Chaos Marine]

I almost turned off the video from the first few seconds. Girl can't act. Clearly there were other reasons for her getting the part. Also, nice focusing on the important aspects of the augment who kills everyone. Getting a clear view of her ass was totally necessary as she strutted down the hall. Wish I had the time it took to watch that back.

[Edit] Won't deny that the effects were pretty damned decent though.

 

[webkilla]

Aside from a clumsy use of "I didn't ask for this" - then I think it was a great fan-short

 

[Bke]

it made me sad because:

"Having played the game myself, I wanted to interpret the Adam/Megan relationship differently. I know people might get confused, but it's one of the things I wish was different in the game, so we went for it in the film."

The relationship depicted in this film is kinda generic, and uses so many cliched scenes and actions (Megan saving Adam by tackling the bad guy at the last second etc etc). This completely defeats her character, turning her into princess peach. I mean, I have no problem with reinterpretations of stories, but taking something new and turning it into something old is redundant.

 

[Kian2]

I was mostly disappointed by Megan's characterization. In the game she was on board with what the bad guys were doing so long as it allowed her to further her research. It was a cool twist. She was at most deceived, but not forced at gunpoint. Which makes sense, you can't force a scientist to do research. If you had anyone qualified to oversee that they're not just wasting their time, then you could put that guy to do the research instead.

For the film, they took all the interesting aspects of Megan and threw them away. As if the director was annoyed that after everything Jensen went through the girl wasn't falling head over heels for him.

Aside from that, everything else was pretty cool. Glad I watched it.