Halo Movie Would Have Lacked Faces

[Susan Arendt]

Second time for thread connect fail today for you mister Tito and third for the site overall. You guys don't care anymore do you?

Care about what, exactly? You've made a vague comment, which doesn't help us identify the issue, which implies all you want to do is complain about the problem rather than actually fix it.

I'm assuming about connecting threads to articles, as that's what he was referencing. Whilst it does seem to be complaining for the sake of it, there was nothing vague to me.

While I suppose it could be implied that the second one was for this post, what was the first? And what specifically was the issue? We obviously want to fix things when they go wrong, but we can't do much without information.

The fact that you guys put up the article but didn't put in a working link to the thread. Go back and look at the time disparity between the OP and the first comment. That half hour gap isn't because it took someone half an hour to read and respond to the article, it's because we couldn't freaking get here to post before then. Seriously you guys, this wasn't an issue even for ZP before you made that stupid format switch and gets really annoying running into that Fail Pony on every other thread. What's with the drop in quality control around here? Did you get bought out by Bethesda?

The hostility is unwarranted and unnecessary. If there was some sort of technical issue, I apologize, but berating us isn't the proper way to handle it. The more information we have, the better chance we have of fixing whatever bug is causing the problem. We don't want browsing our stories to be frustrating. Acting like we're somehow choosing to screw you over because we find it amusing or simply don't give a damn doesn't help anyone.

 

[Eldritch Warlord]

OT: This guy's argument is a bit daft. Is there any character that doesn't show off his/her/its face that isn't Masterchief in Masterchief's Halo story (I'm talking about the games here)?
But still, he could always have just had the guy wander around without his helmet on for a bit, if he thought it was incredibly necessary. Sure, it may have annoyed some fanboys, but when has a videogame movie not annoyed some of the more ardent fans?

Well if you're counting all of the games there's also Red Team from Halo Wars, the Rookie from Halo 3: ODST, and Spartan-B312 and Emile-A239 from Halo: Reach who don't show their faces. Though with the exception of Emile these are either blank slate player avatars or minor characters.

Honestly though, it's not like the Master Chief needs to be in a Halo movie. The Haloverse is very expansive.

But I get it, they think the property is unmarketable without him so put him in with an ensemble cast. Halo: Combat Evolved is actually pretty well suited to an ensemble cast if you draw material from Halo: The Flood and implied back-story from later games. Last Voyage of the Infinite Succor has some good stuff to work with as well if you want the Covenant perspective in the film (which I think would be for the best).

All in all I think it's a very doable endeavor and the so-called "lack of faces" is really a non-issue.

 

[blackrave]

Second time for thread connect fail today for you mister Tito and third for the site overall. You guys don't care anymore do you?

Care about what, exactly? You've made a vague comment, which doesn't help us identify the issue, which implies all you want to do is complain about the problem rather than actually fix it.

I'm assuming about connecting threads to articles, as that's what he was referencing. Whilst it does seem to be complaining for the sake of it, there was nothing vague to me.

While I suppose it could be implied that the second one was for this post, what was the first? And what specifically was the issue? We obviously want to fix things when they go wrong, but we can't do much without information.

The fact that you guys put up the article but didn't put in a working link to the thread. Go back and look at the time disparity between the OP and the first comment. That half hour gap isn't because it took someone half an hour to read and respond to the article, it's because we couldn't freaking get here to post before then. Seriously you guys, this wasn't an issue even for ZP before you made that stupid format switch and gets really annoying running into that Fail Pony on every other thread. What's with the drop in quality control around here? Did you get bought out by Bethesda?

In defense of Escapist I never experienced your described problems
Even with just posted content I never had any problems
So are you sure it isn't your side?
And even if it isn't, you have right to complain only if you're PAYING them, and even in this case being a dick isn't a best tactical choice.
So let me loosely translate wise words my SZA teacher once said to me
CALM THE FUCK DOWN!!!


P.S. And in case Escapist actually was bought by Bethesda, when will this website start to support mods?

 

[Saviordd1]

Second time for thread connect fail today for you mister Tito and third for the site overall. You guys don't care anymore do you?

343 needs to drop the "No showing the Chief's face" thing. We know what he looks like. It was in the comics, and though only parts of his face were revealed at a time, we've seen all of it. The books have described it. There's no mystery. It's pointless at this point.

But if they give him a face he might be expected to give him...

*GASP*

a personality!

The sad thing is, he HAS a personality, but the games are to scared to fucking show it.

Good idea, stop the halo games, and just make halo books, those are 10X more interesting anyway...


OT: Bull...fucking...shit, the Halo universe is HUGE, but you cant stop concentrating on the master chief.

Fucking hell.

 

[blackrave]

Anyway, Back to topic
I always thought that face of Master Chief was never shown, because there was something wrong with his face
Like, horribly disfigured by some accident
I always imagined that in movie they could do a scene where he takes off his helmet while being filmed from behind
Then camera circles to show his face and there is a big FU moment, because he is wearing balaclava all the time.
Or something like that
Also if there is a character who wants to know MC better, and asks what is under his mask
Answer
"Skin, fat, muscle and bone. The usual."
would be badass. Cheesy? Maybe, but still badass.

 

[Baldr]

Lacked Faces is just a code word meaning they couldn't use a major celebrities to play Master Chief and Cortana.

 

[MarsProbe]

You already have the face to sustain the franchise, guys. He's the sexy bastard called Johnson.

Aye. Stick a scene in a Halo movie with Johnson shouting "Wrong!" as a covenant takes a sniper round to the face (as per the ODST firefight trailer) and we'll be set. Also, I seem to recall there being plenty of other characters with faces in the Halo franchise. Like Buck. Or a good chunk of Noble Team, to just rhyme off a few more quickly.

Captcha: the dude abides.

Brilliant! In fact, that's the solution there. Master Chief removes his helmet and boom! Turns out it's been The Dude in that suit of armour all along.

 

[Shoggoth2588]

Not every character in a good Halo movie would/should be a Spartan or The Chief. You don't need to show their faces/his face if there is a human tag-along to be the emotional outlet of the narrative.

As for Nathan Drake and Uncharted translating onto the silver screen, it's already been done in Indiana Jones, National Treasure, Tomb Raider...the opening of UHF...

 

[blackrave]

For the record I do still enjoy coming here most of the time. Yes, I know they don't technically owe me anything, but it annoys me that service problems have become such an issue now (and they have, I don't get Fail Pony when it's on MY end trust me) when there doesn't seem to be a legitimate reason for it and I'm disappointed that the people running this site seem to be unaware of it. This place used to be so easy to navigate, threads and videos would show up WHEN they were posted and you wouldn't have to waste time trying to find them. Now with missing threads, dropped posts, the format change, the BANNED avatar and the deletion of all the videos of "the show that must not be named" it's hard not to get a vindictive vibe from this site some days.

While I understand your frustration, I don't exactly understand chosen tone
Yes, shit happens, sometimes more often, sometimes less often, but happens
I would even go so far and claim that we all are under Damocles shitpile
So understanding is crucial in such cases
Especially considering that Escapist website have more visitors now, than few years before.

And regarding Extra Credits- they went to Penny Arcade TV, and those episodes went with them, as those were the property of EC creators. It would be strange if Escapist would keep them on-site
Oh, and yes I said Extra Credits
Want to see something even better?
ExtraCredtsExtraCredtsExtraCredtsExtraCredtsExtraCredtsExtraCredtsExtraCredtsExtraCredtsExtraCredtsExtraCredtsExtraCredtsExtraCredtsExtraCredtsExtraCredtsExtraCredtsExtraCredtsExtraCredtsExtraCredtsExtraCredtsExtraCredtsExtraCredtsExtraCredtsExtraCredtsExtraCredtsExtraCredtsExtraCredtsExtraCredtsExtraCredtsExtraCredtsExtraCredtsExtraCredtsExtraCredtsExtraCredtsExtraCredtsExtraCredtsExtraCredtsExtraCredtsExtraCredtsExtraCredtsExtraCredtsExtraCredtsExtraCredtsExtraCredtsExtraCredtsExtraCredtsExtraCredtsExtraCredtsExtraCredtsExtraCredtsExtraCredtsExtraCredtsExtraCredts
See I'm still alive
It's not like Escapist will track me down and send assassin to deal with mgfcxvgkjvsnijpa bkjdfhyubvndfsjm

 

[Susan Arendt]

Second time for thread connect fail today for you mister Tito and third for the site overall. You guys don't care anymore do you?

Care about what, exactly? You've made a vague comment, which doesn't help us identify the issue, which implies all you want to do is complain about the problem rather than actually fix it.

I'm assuming about connecting threads to articles, as that's what he was referencing. Whilst it does seem to be complaining for the sake of it, there was nothing vague to me.

While I suppose it could be implied that the second one was for this post, what was the first? And what specifically was the issue? We obviously want to fix things when they go wrong, but we can't do much without information.

The fact that you guys put up the article but didn't put in a working link to the thread. Go back and look at the time disparity between the OP and the first comment. That half hour gap isn't because it took someone half an hour to read and respond to the article, it's because we couldn't freaking get here to post before then. Seriously you guys, this wasn't an issue even for ZP before you made that stupid format switch and gets really annoying running into that Fail Pony on every other thread. What's with the drop in quality control around here? Did you get bought out by Bethesda?

The hostility is unwarranted and unnecessary. If there was some sort of technical issue, I apologize, but berating us isn't the proper way to handle it. The more information we have, the better chance we have of fixing whatever bug is causing the problem. We don't want browsing our stories to be frustrating. Acting like we're somehow choosing to screw you over because we find it amusing or simply don't give a damn doesn't help anyone.

*Snip*

For the record I do still enjoy coming here most of the time. Yes, I know they don't technically owe me anything, but it annoys me that service problems have become such an issue now (and they have, I don't get Fail Pony when it's on MY end trust me) when there doesn't seem to be a legitimate reason for it and I'm disappointed that the people running this site seem to be unaware of it. This place used to be so easy to navigate, threads and videos would show up WHEN they were posted and you wouldn't have to waste time trying to find them. Now with missing threads, dropped posts, the format change, the BANNED avatar and the deletion of all the videos of "the show that must not be named" it's hard not to get a vindictive vibe from this site some days.

Frustration is understandable, and I really, really do regret that you feel that way. But I assure you, we're not messing with anyone. We want you guys to love coming here, and technical issues get in the way of that. Also, don't confuse "aren't aware" with "are aware and aren't sure how to fix." The non-creation of a thread to go with a news post has been a bug for quite a while, but it's not a bug we can create on demand, so it's been devilishly hard to fix. Whenever we think we have it licked, it happens again. Our back end tech is entirely custom and, frankly, is showing its wear and tear in a few places. We're doing our best every day to improve your experience because the happier you are, the happier we are. Seriously, you think we like working really hard and having people yell at us every day, accusing us "not giving a damn"? It sucks.

The best I can say is that when you do encounter a tech issue that seems more serious than just a random internet burp, please let us know as quickly as you can, with as much information as you can. (Things like browser, OS, etc.) Give us the benefit of the doubt that we want to do right by you guys, and help us do that.

 

[Evil Smurf]

I think a good director could pull a Halo movie off

 

[Infernai]

So, this film series wouldn't have worked because the main characters lack any form of facial features being visible?

Huh.....

So i guess by that Logic, Red vs Blue shouldn't be as popular as it is!

 

[blackrave]

Captcha: the dude abides.

Brilliant! In fact, that's the solution there. Master Chief removes his helmet and boom! Turns out it's been The Dude in that suit of armour all along.

Can you be more specific, please.
There are few Dudes in media, I can remember

So, this film series wouldn't have worked because the main characters lack any form of facial features being visible?

Huh.....

So i guess by that Logic, Red vs Blue shouldn't be as popular as it is!

Well, they reveled faces of few characters recently, but yes mostly these
?soldiers (calling Caboose soldier is just wrong)
?guys (I'm not so sure about Donut)
?people (once again, I'm not so sure about Simons)
?cannon fodder (Griff is too fat to be fodded in any cannon)
?other (Yes, "Other", I like "Other"!)
are faceless.

But what works for intelligent and highly sophisticated internet people, doesn't work for braindead and retarded movie theater crowd.

Now I should got and check their site
I heard season 10 was on the way.

 

[Trivun]

Second time for thread connect fail today for you mister Tito and third for the site overall. You guys don't care anymore do you?

343 needs to drop the "No showing the Chief's face" thing. We know what he looks like. It was in the comics, and though only parts of his face were revealed at a time, we've seen all of it. The books have described it. There's no mystery. It's pointless at this point.

But if they give him a face he might be expected to give him...

*GASP*

a personality!

He has a personality. He's actually a rather conflicted character. Read the books and you'll understand. And yes, I know they should really have that personality translate to the games, but my point still stands.

Anyway, I'm not sure what to think here. I'm one of the rare few gamers who thought they'd already done videogame movies well with the Silent Hill and Resident Evil films - and that's about it. But, if any current videogame frnchise would translate well to the big screen, it's Nathan Drake and Uncharted. Reason being that it's basically a game version of an Indiana Jones film anyway, except without Nazis or Soviets, and actually good. It would be simple to make a film that's true to the games while still being prety much similar to the early Indy films - and even better if Nathan Fillion plays the lead. Metal Gear Solid, on the other hand, I have no views either way.

As for Halo, I'm currently reserving my judgement. I strongly believe that a Halo film would be amazing if they used the Jackson/Blomkamp collaboration that was originally attached, before they left to make District 9. That same sort of style would work for a Halo film too, but I'd want a new story that is different to the games, but still canon, and enough to introduce newcomers to the franchise while still being an eye-opener for long-time fans like myself as well - that would be a pretty tough feat to accomplish. That being said, the live-action trailers for ODST, Reach, and Halo 4, have all been amazing so far. With 'Forward Unto Dawn', the 90-minute series of short films being released on Halo Waypoint over the months leading up to Halo 4's release, we may yet see a pretty awesome film-substitute anyway, and if it goes well then possibly it would be enough to prompt a full movie later. But until I see it for myself (and I will, as I intend to pre-order the Limited Edition of the game), I won't be making judgement. Pros exist, and so do cons. That's all I'm saying.

 

[MarsProbe]

Captcha: the dude abides.

Brilliant! In fact, that's the solution there. Master Chief removes his helmet and boom! Turns out it's been The Dude in that suit of armour all along.

Can you be more specific, please.
There are few Dudes in media, I can remember

There may indeed be many dudes, but there is only one Dude:

 

[BrotherRool]

I love Uncharted and MGS, they're two of my favourite all time series.

But looking at this, I think of them all, Halo has by far the most chance of making an interesting film, followed by Metal Gear Solid and then Uncharted.

The thing about Halo (and I don't even have a 360 never mind being a Halo fan) is that its actually got quite a cool aesthetic. Spartans look cool, there's lots of space for epic sci-fi shots, they have ring worlds. The four faction war is interesting material.

It would look good on a screen (if done right), make a very strong epic (which normally aren't character focused anyway) and it'd feel like it's bringing something new.


In contrast, MGS tries mainly to look like the real world. You could make a good film out of it, it'd be pretty easy to make a non-complicated storyline if you wanted, although the MGS mythos is confusing as, non of it is integral in the way that you couldn't make a film that didn't touch on it. Just make a cold-war badass spy film with a Metal Gear in it. What the franchise would bring to the table is the completely iconic look of Snake. It's nothing compared to the worlds of Halo, but the image of Snake would still be a good hook.

Uncharted would be like Prince of Persia, a good film, but in the end there's no solid Uncharted look. Uncharted looks like real life or adventure films, it doesn't look like Uncharted. So all Uncharted could be was the chance to make a Indianna Jones film. If they budget it, it could work and they might make a fantastic film which could become a successful series, but it wouldn't feel as connected to the games as the other two would

 

[Korten12]

Anyway, Back to topic
I always thought that face of Master Chief was never shown, because there was something wrong with his face
Like, horribly disfigured by some accident
I always imagined that in movie they could do a scene where he takes off his helmet while being filmed from behind
Then camera circles to show his face and there is a big FU moment, because he is wearing balaclava all the time.
Or something like that
Also if there is a character who wants to know MC better, and asks what is under his mask
Answer
"Skin, fat, muscle and bone. The usual."
would be badass. Cheesy? Maybe, but still badass.

No his face is:

John-117's face has never been seen in the games, and therefore his appearance is left mostly to one's imagination. The novels Halo: The Fall of Reach and Halo: The Flood give some insight to John's appearance. Early in Halo: The Fall of Reach, when Dr. Catherine Halsey and Lieutenant Jacob Keyes go to Eridanus II to observe John as a child, he is described as "a typical six-year-old male, with tousled brown hair and a sly smile that revealed a gap between his front teeth".[31] In Halo: The Flood, referring to John in 2552, he is described as having "Short hair, with serious eyes, a firm mouth, and a strong jaw." He is described as being unnaturally pale, a consequence of spending most of his time in his armor.[32]

For the first time, John's face was shown without a helmet in Halo: Helljumper Issue 1. The comic illustrated the fight between John and four ODSTs. As expected, his face is seen from the side and is covered up in shadow, hiding any specific facial features.
John's face is consistently shown throughout Halo: Fall of Reach - Boot Camp. However, John's facial features are not depicted as an adult.[33]

http://www.halopedian.com/Master_Chief#Appearance

OT: He wouldn't have to use the Master Chief, maybe an adaption of the rain forest wars or the Jovian Moons Campaign would be interesting.

 

[TheRightToArmBears]

Oh sweet baby jesus, don't let this guy make a Metal Gear film. Give us a decent director. Please, dear god. I wouldn't necessarily say it needs a movie, but the potential is there for a fucking awesome one, and this guy can't make it.

 

[FallenTraveler]

So, this film series wouldn't have worked because the main characters lack any form of facial features being visible?

Huh.....

So i guess by that Logic, Red vs Blue shouldn't be as popular as it is!

Okay, with RVB it's a bit different, that is closer to proper animation. As a film-maker this reason makes perfect sense. We, as an audience, need a face to connect with emotionally, if the chief is our main character that means he needs to take off the helmet and look at the audience a good portion of the film. There is actually a rule in film books that say you must show the face of all your characters at some point.

Take the J.J. Abrams films, where the monsters aren't shown until the end, that's to dehumanize them, to make sure the audience does not see anything of any other creature and attach a feeling of familiarity to it. The same applies in reverse, you want your main character to have emotion, and depth, and weight in your story, and you want to make sure your audience cares, therefore, they need to see the human side of the main character.

This does work for RVB for two reasons, as stated above, machinama is a form of animation, and in animation you can connect with a character judged more by their action (and by that I mean motion, as in, how they move and what they do when they move) and the second reason is because it is comedy. Not that you can't connect to their struggles at all, but it's much less necessary in that medium.

So yeah, we need to see the main characters face in a Halo film. They can't do that. Oh well.