Hello everyone Monty here again with another movie. I know I promised that this movie was going to be released on the 22nd, but due to the fact that I foresee some impending issues the web publish is now...




First to be said about this movie is that I sorta sold out. Though I'm supposed to be working on the next episode of my own animated series. The fact that the last movie I published here in January received only about 4,000 in the first 2 weeks whereas a movie of less quality I published here a year ago received 20,000 in the first 2 days. I couldn't help but want to pull a sort of "publicity stunt" here with this movie.

One thing that you can't deny about Halo is that it's popular. In fact the Halo community is so large that if anything Halo related that surfaces on the web, it gets notice. The movie I submitted here over a year ago that contained a Halo-esque character was wildy more popular than the movie I had submitted more recently despite it being technically better.

It hit me with some minor distaste that the world as it is doesn't really want new stuff. They want to see new versions of the stuff they already know... Sorta. It could also be viewed in such that with the growing number of characters and stories out there. By trying to sell my own original story with my (somewhat) original characters I am vying for the attention of people who already have well enough to look at. Looking at it that way it's not so bad that when you think I’m competing against the studios out there that spend a fortune creating stories and characters they're struggling to sell as well.

As an amateur I can't really fight standing on the shoulders of already established characters. But it can at least be admired as to what I do with them. It should also be noted that I am BY NO MEANS a real 3D artist. Real 3D artists would find my methods laughable and never touch to programs I use.

So this here project started late January shortly after I finished my last movie. I had the concepts in my head of what to do for a cool Halo fight long ago when I played the game. It was only triggered after I'd come across the various reverse engineering techniques that had surfaced to extract Halo 2 models. Two weeks go by where I'd research the methods to be able to obtain the models myself, and now I'm working on an entirely different level.

Project “Haloid” begins early February 2007.


For more thoughts on this project go here:




Music
After watching this vid, some of the choices I made can be seen very obviously, some perhaps not. First step I made was choosing a soundtrack that would ultimately influence the layout of the movie. The song of choice ended up being "The Burly Brawl" by Don Davis Vs Juno reactor from the Matrix Reloaded. The high pace and very pronounced notes were utilized cinematically almost throughout the entire sequence. The slo mo's and high notes made for very easy choices as to what to work plan for and how I should do it. The past two months have gone by with me listening to the track constantly on repeat at work driving and while animating. Visualizing it as a template became especially useful for storyboarding, as it was also very helpful to in a way to be able to be "working" even when away from my computer. The tracks around the centerpiece of the video more or less just fell into place. A great mix of the Metroid ending theme by The Wingless from www.ocremix.org fit well into the credits without question. As well as my favorite track from Halo 2 “In Amber Clad” for the opening, despite the fact that I truly assed out those scenes to get this finished on time.


Character
As I explained above in the choice of character was a means of gaining publicity. Further looking into the concept, I discovered that the Master Chief Vs Samus debate had started quite a while ago. It makes sense to ask that sort of question. They of course are both enhanced humans in powered up mechanized suits. But in the end even though the basis for the characters were already established, I ended up improvising from the knowledge that I had, as well as the information I had to research and obtain from various sources to put together two characters that would fight on even ground.

Such can be explain in this Internet styled FAQ/FAC (frequently asked questions/fucking annoying comments)




Internet: Why didn't you use the Samus Suit from Metroid instead of the stoopider looking one from SSBM?
Me: Among the reverse engineering method existing for Nintendo games. It was more difficult (more or less impossible) to get a decent Metroid Prime Samus. I did on the other hand make several posts in a multitude of forums (something I hate doing) and got little or no response. I didn't want to be too bothersome to the great people behind the engineering methods. As a busy artist like everyone else, I respect their time. In the end you just end up working with what you've got.

Internet: Why does it seem like Master Chief is getting completely PWNED by not only Samus with the suit, but Samus without the suit. That's totally not fair.
Me: Well I think the battle between them both armored is pretty well balanced. As for Zero Samus knocking Master Chick (Master Chief) around without even needing her suit, it's not really explained anywhere, but MC technically wasn't fighting back because she was in love... mwahahahahahahahah

Internet: WTF?!?! Samus doesn't have rocket boots?!?! I hate you!!
Me: This was a tough choice for me, yes Samus has rocket boots because the way the storyboard played out in my mind needed more than the little I saw of Zero Samus' abilities in the upcoming Super Smash Brothers Brawl.

Internet: Master Chief should've won you suck!!!
Me: You obviously don't get the point of this movie

Internet: Samus should've won you suck!!!
Me: You obviously don't get the point of this movie

Internet: OMG you ROXORZ!!!! Can you make (insert character here) VS (insert character here)?
Me: I would love to get as much done as possible. These days I can't really tell what my schedule is like other than that I can be sure to be busy. On top of another videogame fight that I have planned. I would also like to continue my own original story too. It's hard to tell cause the movie I made before this one took me 8 months, whereas this one took me 2. I'll hope for the next ones to be just as quick if not quicker, but as of now I have about 17 different movies planned only in my mind.

Internet: What the hell was that shield shit that Samus did? That was stupid!! And why does the Master Chief/Chick whatever blow up?!!?
Me: Like I said before, the storyboarding comes before anything else. And that point in the song called for a climactic pause. On top of that, symbolic of their character, I feel Samus has a more feminine touch, which in turn implies protectiveness. Just as well, the Spartans more soldier-like and to the point. Since I've read all three Halo books, I had a lot to go by to know what they're capable of. Including the ability to self-destruct.

Internet: WHYYYYYY did you make Master chief a girl!?!?!? Master chief’s not a girl?!?!?! WHAT TEH HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU YOU FAG?!?!?!
Me: In the Halo story according to the books there were actually 32 Spartan soldiers, including women. If you look closely you can actually see the number 458 on the "Master Chick's" suit. 458 being the number of the Spartan that made a Cameo in the Dead or Alive series. Not much thinking went into it further than that though. Plus hot lesbians are awesome.

Internet: I love you will you have my babies?!?!?!?
Me: Sorry but I'm taken

Internet: Your stuff is soo good! Why aren't you doing this for a living?
Me: Good question. People keep saying that but no one wants to hire me hahah. But seriously, it's more like, I wonder if I can even do this for money? One thing about artists, the difference between being a fine artist and a commercial artist is pretty huge. And still I don't know where I stand. I work in a unique way with a unique workflow. I have very specific beliefs that determine how I do everything I do. It's stuff that can't ever be questioned, yet at the same time I work a full time job among the many other things that fill up my day’s time. I dream about the day that I could be doing this stuff full time while being able to maintain the costs of living. I wonder how having money involved would change it. I'm completely self-taught with everything I do, and I have a pretty good notion that my methods and workflow does not match up with the conventional ways of doing things. If I were to get a job in this sort of industry, it seems like I would have to start off at a very high position. But I could never ask anyone to put their money on the line for sake of my personal quirks, it's just not who I am. Will I ever earn the right for artistic funding?

Internet: How can master chick/chief have that spark even though she was actually a girl?
Me: Think about it....



Internet: Can you teach me to do stuff like this?
Me: I would love to. Unfortunately as you can tell I'm a very busy person. I hope to see more stuff like mine out there considering in all the time I've spent looking, I've come across very few completed animations. Lots of trailers and tests etc. but very few final projects. There certainly should be more out there, the technology and software is available. Yet the fact that there are so few hobbyist animators leads me to think that the problem is more than just that.

Internet: What the hell is with the ending sequence?!?! Why such gay music?!
Me: Yes… I like KPop (Korean Pop Music A.K.A. GayPop) And I love dancing. Part of my talent is my sense of Rhythm, as well as my mondo DDR Skills. Though since I did the scene last as an “extended scene,” with as tired as I was by the end of this project. I again assed this one out as well. Cause it certainly could’ve been better.

Internet: OMGZ This is awesome!!! Please make more!!!
Me: Currently I have about 17 movies storyboarded in my mind to a bunch of different songs, and the list keeps growing. 11 of those movies are of my original series with my friends and I in a story that I want to tell. The other 6 are with characters I know you would recognize. Like I said earlier, this was to gain publicity to promote my original work, which I would prefer to tell. Will you still be around in a few months when I make another story of characters you haven't seen? Given time I hope my characters become somewhat of a staple just the same. One thing that comes to mind when I think of this balance, the Directors of Star wars, The Matrix Trilogy, Final Fantasy the Spirits Within. As talented as those directors are, and as much esteem and respect they've earned in their past works. What must be maintained is the balance in what I want to show you and what you want me to show you.

In regards to my work, since I work for free, because no one is my boss, everyone is my boss. Knowing that I will earn your respect, and hopefully, I will be able to keep that balance.





Personally I’d like to point a few more things.

In the credits are list several websites of fellow artists that I respect and admire. I took the time while working on this to place some of their relevant artwork onto billboards and wherever I could in the background, even though they pass fairly quickly and blurry. Even though I didn’t get to everyone, I’d like to give a shout out to my fellow artistic and cinematic colleagues

-Alvin Earthworm of the Super Mario Brothers Z series. Keep going I wanna see what happens next! I like it more than the actual Dragon Ball Z series!!!
www.alvin-earthworm.deviantart.com

- Reubenkee is an uberly talented Composer and #1 Mugen Creator. Promise I’ll get to animating that Sexy Robot someday soon!! Can’t wait till your new character comes out!!!
www.reubenkee.com

-Rob Denblyker Creator of the Joe Zombie series, you have to finish! I have to see how it ends!!!
-www.explosm.net

-Most importantly Proxicide If I hadn’t seen MK vs SF 1 those many years ago I would still be caught in a limbo of self doubt about being able to convey a story with limited resources. Keep going forward, you never know who you might be inspiring.
www.newgrounds.com/portal/view/276650

Just as well:

My artistic colleague and talented good friend
Samuel Cabral of www.mademoiselleband.com is ever helpful and has awesome music. And like me DOES EVERYTHING BY HIMSELF

Everyone at Deviantart, you rock!

Rooster Teeth Folks... always cool.

Internet, stay tuned for more…




BTW GAMETRAILERS.COM + 200mb video hosting - youtube nonsense = awesome.
Gametrailers has been good to me and for that this video can only be found here.