MovieChat Forums > Half-Life (2008) Discussion > Your chance to be a director

Your chance to be a director

posted 19 years ago by Two_Lists
36 replies | jump to latest

Hi everyone. I guess as I was you were mis-lead by the title of this movie and are a big fan of the amazing video game. Well guess what, I have long been considering writing a script for a half-life movie and I could do with some decent ideas from you fellow film-lovers to help solve some problems that the game presents.

I intend to write three movies (Half-Life Alpha, Beta and Gamma, obviously to tie in with the radiation theme) that chart the efforts of Gordon Freeman, Adrian Shephard and Barney Calhoun. Alpha will see the introduction of Gordon and Barney, then the experiment will happen and Barney will be knocked out. Gordon will continue on and the movie will end with Gordon defeating the tentacles in "Blast Pit", and Barney escaping. Beta will see the introduction of Adrian and the new foes, the assasins and will end with Freeman entering Xen and destroying the Gonarch. Gamma will continue Freeman's mission in Xen and finally see him finish off the Nihilanth, whilst Shephard makes short work of the other creature approaching in the portal. The trilogy will end with the G-Man giving Freeman his choice and Shephard his fate and the credits will roll.

I would call this, if you will, a brainstorming session and a chance for you to show how good a director you would make (if you're interested in directing). Here are some problems that need solving:

1) None of the main characters (Gordon Freeman, Adrian Shephard, Barney) have any personality. What personality's would best suit them?

2) What actors should play the characters? (I wouldn't actually have minded seeing Shephard being played by a younger Michael Biehn but alas, Shephard's age in the game is 26)

3) Should a new character be introduced? Perhaps a love interest? This could solve the problem of the fact that (save for Shephard) the three of them are predominantly alone in their quest.

4) Should the trilogy idea be scrapped and it just made into one movie? Should Half-Life 2 then be made into a movie?

5) Should the audience be kept in the dark as to the overall goings on as we are when we play the game? (I saw a brilliant overview of the Half-Life saga on a website that explained many things)

6) How close to the game should the film be? Will the game's fans be able to recognize every chapter? Perhaps a chaptering system should be incorporated into the film.

7) Idea's for action scenes? (I quite fancy using "Apprehension" as a tension scene, and having a long drawn out battle with Gordon and the helicopter)

8) Should "Pit Worm's Nest" be scrapped from the film as it too similar to "Blast Pit"?

9) Should we wait for Half-Life three to come out so that we learn more of the story and the G-Man before a movie is made?

10) Possible directors? (Yes, it would be interesting to see how Tarantino handles this but No, not in my lifetime)

11) Should the film follow suit to the game and remain silent throughout then have that amazing music for the big battles? Should there be a classical score?

I had a lot more questions that I wanted to ask but this is getting long and I can't recall them all. Please reply, and if you think of any more questions then post them with the appropriate number (the next question should be number 12).

[–] Spanki 19 years ago

You would have to do this project PERFECTLY for anyone to except it. It would be a very tough job. How ever I will give you some small pointers. I think Gordon Freeman should still be quite in the movie, not mute but hardly talks.
I think you should stay close enough to the original story that you can recognize the key elements and some detail. Like when Gordon sees the aliens for the first time in the cell reacter, or when the troops come in to clear everything out and the scientist gets shot. Johny Depp (as hollywood as he has become) would play an OK Gordon. And I'm not just saying that cause I say that for every role in any movie (like many do). I say this because you look at him in "The Ninth Gate" and see a believable Gordon Freeman, but with acting potential. I think one solid movie would work better than three, but don't go by me. Thats just some pointers.

[–] Freeman_H-L 19 years ago

I have been coming up with half-life movie ideas for a long time now and after reading your alpha, beta, gamma idea I would say you and I think alike. I was thinking we could combine all 3 games into one movie but that would probably make it a VERY long movie, so we can stick with the 3. I think the music should come right from the games and the areas our heroes travel in should look close enough to the games but if they're not exact I wouldn't really care. I think Freeman's character should be a little scared or suprised at the beginning but NOT a total whimp that jumps at every corner or leaves people to die. He should then turn(fairly early) into the Courageous man we know from Half-Life 2. The action secuences should be pretty damn close to the game too(at least in my opinion) but the diffrence being Freeman doesn't kill all the grunts he see's. At the end of the major battles I would like to see some of the grunts cralling to one another seeking aid. The reason I don't want all the grunts to die is because my dad is in the army and stuff like that. I hope you understand. I also think Freeman should talk to some of the grunts after defeating them and ask them what's going on and why they're attaking civilians. This would help the audience with the story. I agree that Freeman and the other heroes should say a few sentences but mostly keep quiet. Back to the personalities... after a little while Freeman should be used to everything and then he should see for the first time some grunts Slaughter a couple of scientists. He should get really angry(No dumb "NOOO!" line or anything like that) and open fire on the grunts killing them. A small part when he feels bad about killing them because he has never killed a human before; then continue on into a really cool action scene from "We got hostiles". At the end the camera should show some of the grunts cralling and warning the surface, thus another really cool part from "We got hostiles". I DO NOT want a love thing and from what I read on various websites Valve doesn't either. I think the audience should be kept in the dark overall but if there are too many questions then we should answer some of them or do what the Matrix Reloaded did and say we are for sure making another movie. I think it would be cool if the audience could recognize parts from the game but not a chaptering system where the screen turns black and the next chapter shows up, that would be too repetitive. I told you my ideas for the two "We got hostiles" battles and I like your idea for the "Apprehension" part as well as the Helicopter battles in "Surface tension". I think we should keep "Pit worm's nest" because it is after all a part in the game. Another thing I think would be cool is when Shepard and the other grunts team up against the Black ops. I think Shepard should not wear his gass mask the entire movie except in parts that are dark and he uses a built in night vision in the mask. I don't think Freeman ever wears a mask on his suit but I think his suit was built for one. It would be cool if some camera angles were in first person with the heads up display and the character holding their weapon. If you ask me now is as good a time as any to make 3 movies based on the first 3 games simply because in the games you play the point of view as the heroes and not other people. The audience should only watch the movie through the characters perspective because that was one thing that was really important for the games. We could keep this idea but make it basically third person with cool camera angles and they talk a little. When it comes to the director... Hell I would do it but I have absolutly no money for this type of project which sucks in my case, nevertheless I read online that a guy who works for Valve wanted maybe Sam Raimi. He's one of my favourite directors so that's no problem for me. The music from the game should be put in their respectable places but maybe some back ground music for some parts to lighten the mood. I saw Johnny Depp in "The Ninth Gate" too and he would make a good Freeman. Another good Freeman in my opinion is Ewan McGregor. I saw him in the third Star Wars and he reminded me of what Freeman would look like, he's also around the same age as Freeman. I think I answered all your questions and inputed some of my own ideas, if you don't mind I would like to keep track along with you to see what other people have in mind maybe via e-mail. Anyways I hope you like my ideas and maybe we could keep in contact. Sorry if this is not organized very well:)

Rangers lead the way!

[–] Two_Lists 19 years ago

Clearly your a Half-Life lover, and as such you have only really answered my questions by inputing things that would bascially make the film an exact replica of the game. Unfortunately this would make for one boring film.

When you cross between genres you MUST make some changes, often ones that hardcore fans reject. You CAN'T have a movie where no-one talks and where there are no relationships between characters. This is different for a game because YOU are Gordon Freeman.

Other than that, your ideas were good though you didn't add much new except vague comments about stuff being the same.

However what I really want is someone to solve the more important questions of how to make a good story out of it that's well-driven and with with good characters. The gloss is already there for us to extract.

[–] Freeman_H-L 19 years ago

I appreciate your advice and you were correct in assuming that I was a Half-Life lover:) Although I do not agree that what I had to say would make for a boring film. I offered those ideas because in my mind they are perfect the way they are and do not require too much editing. I only suggested ideas for two parts in one level, not the entire game. When I said I would like some of the levels to look close to the game I did not mean exactly like it. For example, at the beginning of "Blast pit" when your going up the elevator to the pit, the people making the movie should have a big room and an elevator in the middle so that people who played the game would watch it and say here comes the three headed alien octopus. Same goes for when Freeman goes up the elevators in "We got hostiles". Small things like this could be done and would make the players of the game happy in knowing the movie makers at least tried to keep it authentic to the game. About the "no-one talking", I agree with you. I think the characters should talk even if I am contradicting my earlier comment. I also agree that there should be relationships between characters, just not ones that involve a love aspect. I once read somewhere that a person said Half-Life was basically a movie and I do agree with this statement. Of course there are differences between the two but other than that, well who's to say. I Thank you for your complements and hope we have less disagreements in the future. I will be looking forward to your next comment. Sorry for the delayed reply:)

Rangers lead the way!

[–] Two_Lists 19 years ago

Thank you, you have done the honourable deed of recognising that sometimes love of the game (and what a game it is) does blind us to realities in making it into a film. I bet that at some point some naive young person once finished playing the game and instantly thought that it would be a grand idea to make it into a movie that was basically a carbon copy. I thought this at one point and now that I realise the error of my ways I seek ways to convert the game into an enjoyable cinematic experience that both Half-Life lovers, AND people that have never even heard of the game can enjoy.

Unfortunately, I cannot actually think of any good ways to make relationships between the characters and a well structured plotline out of it that wasn't just one man running around blowing people and aliens up (though a fair dosage of that would obv need to be apparent).

So, you have also said that you would like to see relationships between characters etc. Don't suppose you have any ideas? coz all I have is half-baked notions that have yet to form into anything that would make a worthy script.

[–] Freeman_H-L 19 years ago

My idea for a relationship would be between Freeman and a couple of security guards. At the beginning of the game after the accident Freeman finally gets to the top of the elevators. There a security guard says something like “Gordon, man am I glad to see you. What the hell are these things and why are they wearing science team uniforms.” I think Freeman and that guard should team up in the movie. I remember playing the game and thinking it would be kind of cool if the two of them stuck together for the whole game. This would work at least until Freeman goes to Xen. Then another security guard could join or maybe a grunt like Shepard who tries to help the scientists and the army.

On another topic, I was thinking instead of having Barney leave after the first movie he would be unconscious and when he wakes up it would be the same time as when Shepard arrives. Same thing goes for Freeman, when he gets captured and knocked unconscious the movie can go onto Barney and Shepard. This way all three characters would end at roughly the same time in the third movie. Tell me what you think of my ideas and if they could work.

Rangers lead the way!

[–] Two_Lists 19 years ago

I like your idea of having two or so rangers accompany him, however Half-Life fans would start screaming 'Inconsistency!!' at you if you introduced Barney waking up at the same time as Freeman gets captured. If you remember at the very end of Blue Shift after Barney goes in the teleporter at the end of Leap Of Faith he is transported into a room where we see Freeman being moved, unconsciuos by the grunts, just before he teleports to the outside of Black Mesa where his journey ends.

I was actually thinking that having a scientist rather than a security guard accompany him would be a nice idea, as it would mean that the scientist could explain to the audience what was going on, and give Freeman a mission (as in teh game you just went wherever you could).

[–] Freeman_H-L 19 years ago

Good point and now that you mention it I like your idea for a scientist to accompany Freeman. Also, I forgot about the ending of Blue Shift:) thanks for reminding me what happened. Anyways, maybe he doesn't wake up when Freeman gets captured, but I would like to see him at least in the first two movies. The reason I'm stressing the issue is because he basically has the only happy ending and I want the non-players who watch the movie to walk out and not get pissed off that Sheppared gets stuck on Xen and Freeman is forced to work for the G-man. You are right though, about Barney leaving when Freeman gets captured. I'm glad you liked my idea about Freeman teaming up with some of the Grunts. I'm not sure how realistic it will be considering the fact that all the grunts have trained together for months, maybe years, or have gone on other missions together but we'll see. I was thinking that they are against each other at the beginning but by the end the grunts team up with the scientists and help Freeman against the Black ops. and the Aliens. Maybey we could make a hint towards the soldiers being the guys who start the rebel force in Half-Life 2. That way it would make sense that the rebels are so well trained. Let me know what you think and give me some more ideas. I think we might be getting somewhere with this thing:)

Rangers lead the way!

[–] Two_Lists 19 years ago

Possible Themes:

*Consequences of irresponisbility in using technology/doing unnatural things
*Teaming together to solve problems
*Fighting a common foe
*Moral and scientific responsibility towards nature
*Perseverance/not giving up
*Making tough decisions and sacrifices for greater good
*Significance of mankind in greater scheme of things
*Existence of God (why allow to happen? humans not peak of God's creations etc)
*Morals of beauracracy and business (represented by G-Man)
*Can one man make a difference?

Any more that you can think of? The themes would have to be the foundations to a good film.

Other directorial issues:

Music:

Either
*Classical score
*Try listening to Linkin Park: Cure for the Itch (off Hybrid theory) exactly 53 seconds in. I think it would suit as a general theme tune.
*Hire Radiohead to write a soundtrack

General Colour/Cinematography:
*Stick to a greyish and blue general feel to the interior sections so can contrast later with black and red for the dark and scary scenes and sand-coloured for the surface scenes.

Casting:
*Freeman: Johnny Depp, Michael Biehn,
*Shephard: Michael Biehn, Will Smith,
*Rosenburg: Steve Buscemi, Liam Neeson, Harison Ford
*Barney: Steve Buscemi (God it's hard to think of actors on the spot)
*G-Man: No idea. A quality character actor with a suitable voice I guess

Other Possible Characters:
*Eli Vance
*Female Character
*A squad of soldiers
*Squad of soldiers in helicopter
*Special Ops group
*A child of a scientist that gets trapped but somehow makes it out (i'm joking)
*'Boss' soldier
*'Boss' alien

Another overall idea:

Make it two movies rather than three, both about 3 hours long:

1) Introduce Freeman, Barney. Accident happens. Barney knocked out. Scenes of chaos etc. Freeman goes on quest for freedom. Barney wakes up. Ends with Barney escaping and Freeman being knocked out.

2)Introduction of Shephard, Freeman's escape. Both more exploration. Freeman goes to Xen. Shephard goes to Xen (in that order). Both fight and destroy foes on Xen. Conclusive endings.

Really I'd prefer it if Freeman was the first of the three of them to go to Xen, but to do that would really mess up the timeline.

Btw one of the great and original things that I noticed about Half-Life when playing it was the certain 'Static' sections. It was at these times when you were waiting for something to happen or not really travelling anywhere, and I thought that they were a really nice touch to the game. These include:

*Catastrophic experiment at start
*Barney waiting to be teleported. Barney having to get power for teleporter.
*Barney on Xen turning on transmitter of some kind (not sure)
* (HL2) Freeman at scientist's secret place in City 17 where teleportation fails, Freeman at Eli's place where get grav Gun, Freeman defending locations.

Some of these are almost scenes in themselves and I would like to try to keep the general feel of these moments if I can at some points in the film.

That's a lot for you to comment on, but it took me a long time to write it.....

[–] Freeman_H-L 18 years ago

If it took you a while to write that then it will probably take me even longer to write this. lol.

Possible Themes:

These are some ideas that I picked out of your list because I too think they would make good overall topics for the movie:
*Teaming together to solve problems (against aliens, special ops. random problems that happen, lifting things, etc.)
*Fighting a common foe (aliens, special ops.)
*Perseverance/not giving up (pretty self explanatory maybe a scene when everyone is arguing and Freeman stops them)
*Can one man make a difference? (also self explanatory the whole movie shows this)

I know you want some custom music but I would really like to see (or hear rather) the original music from the games. I want them because I found them to be perfectly placed and sounded great for an action/sci-fi movie. However if you would like to include the original and have custom music by whoever you wanted that's perfectly fine by me. I'll eventually get around to listening to the Linkin Park song you suggested. I like the idea of having a classical score too.

General Colour/Cinematography:
*Stick to a greyish and blue general feel to the interior sections so can contrast later with black and red for the dark and scary scenes and sand-coloured for the surface scenes.

I like the environment ideas that you came up with. One thing that I must ask for is that the cinematographer shows muzzle flashes. Your probably thinking what the hell does that have to do with anything. lol. The reason I ask is because I consider myself very "into" action movies and I swear that I have seen soooo many action movies that have lots of action and potential but they were not any good. I find that when I watch action movies they seem more "alive" when the viewer sees a muzzle flashes. Maybe I'm crazy but I really hope you understand. If you want a good example of what I'm talking about watch Black Hawk Down. I found this movie had very good cinematography.

For the casting I'll just add on to yours or take away the people I don't think would fit the spot.

Casting:
*Freeman: Johnny Depp, Ewan McGregor (in the third Star Wars He looked like an old Gordon Freeman. All we have to do is use the same beard but trim it and dye it so that it wont look old on him)
*Shephard: Michael Biehn, Will Smith (Great list, I never considered Will Smith but that would be really good. Maybe not as Shephard but another grunt who teams up with Freeman and the scientists)
*Rosenburg: Steve Buscemi, Liam Neeson, Harison Ford (I think Liam Neeson is a good choice and so is Harison Ford but I don't know who Steve Buscemi is)
*Barney: Hugh Jackman in my opinion would play a very good Barney and he looks like Barney too.
*G-Man: The Smoking Man from the X-Files would be a perfect part.

Other Possible Characters:
*Eli Vance: Bill Cosby (I actually think he looks a lot like Eli)
*Female Character: If you mean Eli Vance's wife then anybody could play her since she dies (we could make it so that she dies early in the films and not spend the money on expensive actors, lol)
*A squad of soldiers: (Anybody. Hell I'll even get my dads army guys to help out lol)
*Squad of soldiers in helicopter: (Same thing)
*Special Ops group: (Need I say it again)
*A child of a scientist that gets trapped but somehow makes it out (Nice one)
*'Boss' soldier: Who's the boss (I really don't know who your referring to)
*'Boss' alien: Same thing

Another overall idea:

If you want two movies now instead of three you get any complaints from me:

1) Introduce Freeman, Barney. Accident happens. Barney knocked out. Scenes of chaos etc. Freeman goes on quest for freedom. Barney wakes up. Ends with Barney escaping and Freeman being knocked out.

2)Introduction of Shephard, Freeman's escape. Both more exploration. Freeman goes to Xen. Shephard goes to Xen (in that order). Both fight and destroy foes on Xen. Conclusive endings.

Looks good to me. I like the overall run of things. The one thing I would like to know is why would Shephard fight an alien on Xen when He's supposed to fight that big green one at the end of the game on Earth. Another request I would like to make is that Freeman's fight against Nihilanth (I think that's how you spell it) be the last one. What would happen is that Freeman will walk into the teleporter that takes him to Nihilanth, we then see Shephard and he kills big and ugly, meets G-Man, goes to Xen. We will then see Freeman in Nihilanths big cave thing, He'll kill Nihilanth and after a big green explosion will be standing with the G-Man. After several teleportations, Freeman will accept the G-Mans offer and the end.

I get what your trying to say about Freeman going to Xen first, but like you said it would mess up the time lines.

I love your idea of the "Static" parts of the game and including them into the movies. I think I mentioned something like that before.

I really think we have something here that we'll eventually be able to use. Good job coming up with all these things.

Rangers lead the way!

[–] Two_Lists 18 years ago

The 'Other Characters' section was characters that i thought we could make up. I mean, you've gotta have a female character somewhere and it would be nice to give the grunts some personality.

Will reply in more detail later, bit busy now.

And cheers for correcting me on Shephard/Xen/Alien Boss mistake.

[–] Freeman_H-L 18 years ago

No problem on correcting the mistakes. For the 'Other Characters' section, I agree that we have to give the grunts some personality, I think it's a great idea. There is one thing that I feel I must stress however. I read an interview with Valve and I don't think they would mind a female character in the movie but they were very specific about NOT having a love thing between any of the characters. There is obviously an exception with Eli Vance and his wife but lets say between Freeman and someone else, this they do not want. I have to say I agree with Valve, if there is a love thing between Freeman and another female character it would take away from Eli's daughter in Half-Life 2. If you just want a female character to broaden the scale of the non-fans who just want to see a cool movie then it's fine by me. I hope you don't mind, I don't think it's completely necessary anyways, being that if this works we'll probably do Half-Life 2 the movie. If you do disagree we'll find a way to make it work. Let me know what you think of my other ideas when your not busy. Plus I was able to listen to the song you emailed me. You were right, it was pretty good.

Rangers lead the way!

[–] Reserve7 18 years ago

one thing i think you should keep is the chapter names displayed thourghout the movie like they were in the game...think about it...it would add a dramatic effect

"This Is Your Life And Its Ending One Minute At A Time"-Tyler Durden

[–] Freeman_H-L 18 years ago

That's a pretty good idea but I'm gonna have to think about it before I consider it for the movie. If Two Lists likes it then I'm okay with it.

Rangers lead the way!

[–] zastava-1 18 years ago

Freeman: Damien Lewis (Band of Brothers [Major Winters], Dreamcatcher)
Shepard: Bruce Willis, Tom Sizemore
Barney: Steve Buscemi

And the one thing that is a must:
G-man: Christopher Walken.
I don't care if he wants 10x as much as what everyone else gets, Walken must be G-man. There is not a better man in the world for that part.

And Rosie O'Donnell as Nihilanth.

[–] Freeman_H-L 18 years ago

I have nothing against Christopher Walken for the G-man and I think Rosie O'Donnell does look like Nihilanth.LOL.

Rangers lead the way!

[–] M_ak 16 years ago

All I can say, is if for some reason this movie was made, and there was a love-interest. I would not see it.

[–] HippoOfDoom 18 years ago

I know you guys are having fun dreaming about making a Half-Life movie, but sadly the chances of you doing that are extremely small. There are a large amount of people on this board alone who talk about them making the Half-Life movie, I have at one point also, but I don't hope for that anymore. First of all If there is going to be a Half-Life movie Valve is going to be very careful with the project. They aren't going to hire anyone no named to direct it, unless you have one hell of a script. The chance of a Half-Life movie being made is also high at this point, it could happen within the next 5 years since Valve has been interested in the idea. They won't let anything bad happen to their baby, the fans don't need to be worried, they will make the right descisions. But, I hate to be negative, so I will answer the questions that you put in your first post, of course it would be awesome if a fan made this movie, and I will give suggestions for that reason, sorry for being a jerk. I agree with alot of what you were saying, but some of it came across as a completely bad idea to me...

1) Gordon should of course be the quiet type, not mute. He doesn't talk in the game and this is proved when Alyx says,"A man of few words aren't ya." in HL2. So it's not like you are him and you're the one making the expression, there's a fine line between him and you, he's just taking you along for the ride.

2) Johnny Depp or Edward Norton as Gordon, Christopher Walken as G-man, Danny Glover as Eli.

3) No new characters, they destroy everything, remember Scrappy Doo?

4) Yes, one movie for Half-Life, it can work. Then Half-Life 2. Since there's Half-Life 2 Aftermath and then Half-Life 3 and a possible Half-Life 4, Splitting the first movie into 2 or 3 movies would be a bad choice. You don't want a whole series of these movies.

5) Yes, the audience should be kept in the dark, it's what made the game so good, you had to think to figure out the plot, you couldn't just sit there, and passively play it or you would miss things. An important element in the game, should also be an important element in the movie.

6) How close to the game should the film be? Will the game's fans be able to recognize every chapter? Perhaps a chaptering system should be incorporated into the film. The film should be close to the game, something that most video-game movies lose touch with, the good thing about Half-Life is that out of all the games I can think of, Half-Life would probably be the best to adapt into a movie since it's already like a movie, and really cinematic. You can pretty much make the movie exactly like the game except with more dialog, 3rd person, and without some of the completly long, drawn out, portions of the game. I for one like the idea of having the titles of the levels coming up, the game fans would connect with it and appreciate it more, and the normal audiance would see it as a stylish tarentino thing.

7) Make him just a scientist, nothing more, nothing less, who just happens to survive the battles with the help of his Hazard suit and some luck. But they should be enjoyable scenes, not because of the action factor but because of the destruction factor, when that helicopter spins out of control and hits a canyon wall in a firey explosion, who won't love it

8) You never really had a question concerning this but i don't think Shepard's story or Barney's story should be included in the movie, it would be to much to follow, and too much pointless stuff to follow. You don't need to play opposing force or blue shift to understand the story. The story is about Gordon and no one else. Plus if a Half-Life 2 movie is made, which will happen if there's a first one, the two movies will be unbalanced since there are no other characters to follow in Half-Life 2 but Gordon. Shepard and Barney's stories are to unimportant to include, the games didn't even have the same magic that Half-Life had cause they were made by Gearbox with the perpose to hold the fans over becuse it was taking so long to make Half-Life 2. I don't even really like considering those games as part of the story. sorry if you're a fan of them.

9) Probably, there should be a bit more plot progression and foreshadowing to the ending of the series in the first movie.

10) Ridley Scott would be perfect for the first film, Peter Jackson for the second, he would do better with the action and special effects the second one needs.

11) It should be Silent alot of the time, it would make it more creepy, kinda like how Alien hardly had music, most of the time you just heard the humming of machines or various electronics. An instrumental soundtrack by Radiohead would be amazing though and fit perfectly. There's been rumors they're doing the soundtrack to Linklater's A Scanner Darkly.

I guess that's all, I might reply again sometime, I hope you take the suggestions into consideration.

Time, Dr. Freeman? Is it really that time again?

[–] Freeman_H-L 18 years ago

Almost all of your ideas are what I originally wanted for a Half-Life movie, from having no new characters to using Ridley Scott and Peter Jackson for directors. I get what you said about dreaming to make a H-L movie and I have too but I don't Want to direct the movie. I just want to give a fans perspective of what the movie should be. I agree that Valve won't let anything bad happen to Half-Life if it became a movie but it doesn't hurt to give opinions. Like I said earlier, many of my ideas are the same as yours. I also want to keep the same music as the games and the same layout of Black Mesa. The chaptering system is kind of a good idea too. I'm stressing the fact that I don't want new characters because like you I think new characters ruin movies, but I have no problem using characters from the game who didn't have names or big parts and then giving them names and using them for larger parts. I like your idea for Gordon just being the average scientist and not some super hero, who just happens to survive do to his Hazard suit. I like destruction in a movie but I disagree with making the action scenes more explosions and less action. I don't mind the movie being quiet either, but if a movie is too quiet people would just get bored. Watching the same person walking around shooting here and there for two and a half hours would be very boring. I find music lightens the mood, makes horror movies scary and makes action movies exciting. Two Lists will give his ideas and maybe we can incorporate all of them together.

Rangers lead the way!

[–] 18 years ago

[deleted]

[–] Freeman_H-L 18 years ago

The reason I think Ridley Scott was a good choice is because he made the first Alien movie and he also directed Black Hawk Down. If you don't know what I'm getting at then I'll explain. If you combine Alien with its alien (obviously there will be more than one in Half-Life the movie) and horror, then combine it with Black Hawk Down and its soldiers (the marines from Half-Life) and action you will have a pretty good combination for a Half-Life movie. I completely agree with your idea for Speilberg being that he made War Of The Worlds, but I think he would be a better choice for Half-Life 2 the movie because of the similarities between the Striders and the Tripods. The Tripods in War Of The Worlds made me think immediately of Half-Life 2 and I bet many other people who played the game thought the same thing. When Two Lists isn’t busy anymore I’m sure he will give feedback on all the ideas that we've come up with.

Rangers lead the way!

[–] 18 years ago

[deleted]

[–] Synetech 18 years ago

For the record, Valve has already stated that IF they choose to do a Half-Life movie, they would be doing it themselevs. That is, it will be done on their terms and they would be heavily involved, rather than just letting someone else do it and merely charing a fee for the rights. Uwe Boll has reportedly been propositioning them for the rights and been shut down.

--
Fire Box @ Synetech

[–] Two_Lists 18 years ago

Hello, sorry for huge delay. God was my last post really on my birthday? Honestly can't believe that. Anyway:

Right now as I see it to make this into a movie you would have to make huge changes yadda yadda yadda mustn't get too tied to the original etc etc etc. I said all this earlier. In retrospect yeah, making it into three movies does seem like a bad idea now that you have pointed out problems that this would cause with the sequels and it would be asking a lot of the audience as well. However some things I disagree with. For a start not all new characters ruin movies. There are many examples of this but right now, typically enough, all I can think of is Paine's character in the game Final Fantasy X-2 as an example....Anyway, basically as I see it, Gordon Freeman himself would be a new character as we know nothing about him from the games except that he is a scientist and 28 (I think). What's his personality? How can the audience relate to him? I always say that good action in movies is a result of good build up as much as it is the directing of the action. That's why The Island was crap. You have to want the character to succeed a) because you like the character b) because you don't like the enemy c) because you don't want the consequences of the character failing. If you have none of this as a result of a near-silent Gordon Freeman being the only character in the game (and if you say that there are other characters then, yay, we are finally talking about the subjects that I originally posted about, ie character devleopment, plot) saying absolutely nothing and just blasting soulless bugs and grunts away in a near impossible manner for as long as you like, then have been fun being slated as the destroyer of Half-Life for the rest of your life.

Sorry to rant about this but in my opinion we need to work characters and storylines into this or it'll receive exactly the same kind of criticism that The Island and other things like that did. Only worse so because, sure, no one gives a *beep* about The Island, but a lot of people care about Half-Life.

[–] Two_Lists 18 years ago

Thought I would deceptively post in two separate places to make you think I was saying more or something. A few other thoughts buzzing round my head (lol, that reminds me of a Radiohead song as a matter of fact, dam those Brits cam make good music):

*Other possible theme tune thingy on same lines as Cure for the Itch- Led Zeppelin: Kashmir. Though of course you're risking a whole other fanbase being at your throats then.....

*A director? Hmmmmmmmmm. Personally my first choice would be me but then I am slightly bias. Spielberg is a viable posibility but would he want to? Seems to me like right now all he's interested in is war (Personally I bet that if a Vietnam film was ever made from the point of view of the Vietnamese then he would be the one to do it). Old Riddles? Hmmmmmmmm. Black Hawk Down was very dynamic but I feel a lot of that was down to cinematography. He hasn't really proved himself to me yet as such. Seems more the arty type with Blade Runner and him directing loads of commercials, though the action in Black Hawk Down would make a nice template for the Half-Life movie. My suggestions? Hmmmmm. thank God or deity of preference they stopped Uwe Boll.

*Sure, not three films for the one Half-Life game-

Hang on, chinese take away just arrived. Back shortly.

[–] Two_Lists 18 years ago

Woo, replying to myself is oddly thrilling.

Where was I? Ah yes, a suitable director.

Hmmmmmmmmmmmmm. Well I'll give you a list of well-known people that I don't want directing:

Michael Bay
George Lucas
Uwe Boll
Those Anderson guys with very similar names, yet are unrelated
Martin Scorsese
Sam Mendes
Anyone that makes a habit of making *beep* films
Anyone who's last name ends in 'Stein' (not allowed to produce either)
Anyone who's first name is 'Joel' (not allowed to produce either)
Ummmm....Spike Lee
Anyone with excessive amounts of the letter 'a' in their names. I'm thinking of whoever directed Meet The Fockers but the name slips my mind. Carl? Ray?
Any actors-turned-directors
Anyone with serious agendas that will want to use this film as a vehicle to promote them, whether political or religious etc
Anyone with a habit of making really obscure films eg David Lynch

Oooo, oooo, oooo! Just thought of a possible director. James Cameron. Aliens was good....

Actually, scrap the Kashmir idea. Stick with Radiohead, they're in just the right phase to make a good soundtrack at the moment.

Christopher Walken? Sure. Just dye his hair and give him a dialect coach.

For Gordon (and Shephard/Barney pending decision) the ages of the characters are quite young, though I think that that won't be too big a problem. Appearence may not be either as you never really see the characters in the game and most of Barney's appearance was his uniform.

As for new characters: a scientist to give Gordon a general goal and explain minor plot points (but not reveal anything too major before you say anything!), say interesting things such as 'Wow, a resonance cascade.', 'Oh my Lord an alien!' and other such interesting things.

Comic relief will be necessary. Looked at from a bleak perspective to make my point: A catastrophic accident has resulted in the deaths of hundreds of people and soldiers have been sent in by the government to execute all remaining survivors. Also aliens are taking over people's minds and transforming them into sombies, feasting on the dead, and the human race may well face genocide in the not-so distant future. Pretty bleak. Comic relief will be necessary. So maybe a cowardly scientist clinging at Gordon like a child on it's mother's skirt will do the trick. You tell me. By the way if you're just gonna say: 'No it won't.' then please suggest an alternative (and that wasn't specifically directed at you Freeman_HL, more at someone else).

[–] Freeman_H-L 18 years ago

That's fine... I like some of your new ideas and I also like the comic relief idea. Maybe not a scientist clinging at Gordon like a child on it's mother's skirt but we'll think of something (I can't come up with anything at the moment but maybe later). While you were gone I was trying to keep the board alive, asking people what they thought of our ideas and giving some of my own. If you read what I was saying earlier I would like to know what you think of my ideas and if there was anything you wanted to change about them. Anyways, glad you're back and maybe now we can come up with more of a story now that we have the basic questions down.

Rangers lead the way!

[–] Citizens_Auxiliary_Police 18 years ago

Why can't Gordon be mute? Has anyone thought that he might actually have a disability? I'm sure this could be pulled off, seeing as how doing an action/scifi movie with this element involved is prime material for Hollywood because they love getting artsy with things like that.

Gordon did have a love interest -- Gina Freeman, better known as the "Hazard Course lady", the "HEV lady", or "that one HLDM stock model." I read somewhere from an official, yet extremely obscure source that she was his wife and designed the Hazard Suit; they both lived and worked at Black Mesa. Additionally, on one of the OpFor CTF maps (can't remember which) its default MOTD clearly states that Gina Freeman "...led the Black Mesa Resistance against the Kevlar clad Marines" (extremely paraphrased). It generally said that the HEV armor she provided to her team was superior to Kevlar and whatnot.

I included this because although the canonity of the expansion packs is highly disputed, it nevertheless bears mentioning. If you disbelieve that such obscure references could hold any weight, bear in mind that Kleiner, the Administrator, and Gordon's past at the University of Innsbruck are outlined in a letter addressed to Gordon by Kleiner in the manual of Half-Life: Game of the Year Edition.

The mute thing could work because the audience would see the parallel between Shepard and Gordon, and would also notice that the G-Man picks the strong, silent types, which is why Barney escaped with the scientists in a Black Mesa Pathfinder SUV rather than be entangled in the intrigues of the G-Man. Barney does have a well-developed character, in my opinion: he is a working-class man who took two years of community college; he enjoys hunting; he has a friendly, casual demeanor but can turn dark when he needs to (Just listen to the way his lines are delivered when you shoot him: "What do you want on your tombstone?" and my favorite, "You're going to wish you hadn't done that..."), and has a cousin named Otis (a former mall security guard), whom he got a security gig for. Otis would make great comic relief! Anyways, these two characters' well, characters can be gleaned simply from listenting to their "idle" lines ingame...

Long story short: NO Matthew Broderick-looking type HD Blue Shift Barneys please! The original Barney Fife version was solid; I was disappointed in his portrayal in HL2.

Well, take whatever film ideas you need from my ramblings...I guess...sorry if it isn't more coherent, but I am really in the mood for some pornography, so if you don't mind, I have pressing matters to attend to...

[–] Freeman_H-L 18 years ago

If you remember the first couple of pages in the Half-Life hand book Dr. Kleiner wrote how Gordon is not married and without kids so how is Gina his wife? Also Her name is not Gina Freeman. She has no relation to Gordon at all. One last thing to clear this up is that in Half-Life for the PS2, there is a game that goes along with the original Half-Life that's called Decay. In that game you play as Gina and another female scientist who work together to stop the invasion and escape. It is officially linked to the story so don't bother saying it is not. Ultimately it was Valve (not me or someone else) who did not want a love interest in the movie, so you can't blame us for not wanting a love interest if you do want one.

About Gordon being mute, I don't really care if he is mute or not, I'll accept either in the movie. I just like keeping my options open.

Finally, I also don't care who plays Barny in the movie. If you don't want Matthew Broderick to play Barney that's perfectly fine, just find someone else.

One last thing to finish this off is that Otis is not Barney's cousin despite what you might think you know. However, everything else about Barney that you mentioned I like and agree with.

Rangers lead the way!

[–] Citizens_Auxiliary_Police 18 years ago

I stand corrected on the "love interest" thing...I have never played HL: Decay; I suppose the Gina Cross character was introduced to clear up those fan rumors and conflicting sources.

However, although I last played singleplayer OpFor 3 years ago, I could have sworn Otis said something about his cousin getting him the job (one of his "idle" lines) or something in the manual or whatnot...I don't know, it might have been on PHL, which is not an official source (I remember being quite upset that Isaac Kleiner was not Walter Bennett...:p) Anyways, it seems to me that it has been strongly hinted that Barney and Otis are related somehow, probably as a nod to the fact that Otis was also a character on the Andy Griffith Show. (The model name for the HL Security Guard was "monster_barney" because of his resemblance to Don Knotts, who played Barney Fife on the Andy Griffith Show. Fans got wind of this early on and the name has stuck ever since).

I didn't mean to say that I didn't like Matthew Broderick for Barney. I said that I don't like the HL2 version of Barney (based on the HD version), which bears some resemblance to Broderick with facial hair. I preferred the original Barney, who, it seemed, was in his late 40s or early 50s. I don't know why, but that version of him seemed to be a more likeable character.

[–] Freeman_H-L 18 years ago

I'm glad we cleared up all this and like said before I don't dislike some of your ideas its just I found some errors with the story for the others. About Barney and Otis being cousins, they may very well be, to be honest I really don't know.

Rangers lead the way!

[–] 18 years ago

[deleted]

[–] Citizens_Auxiliary_Police 16 years ago

Oh I think I might have remembered where I got that from...I think it's in one of the lines NPCs say when nothing is happening.

www.infowars.com
www.prisonplanet.com
www.martiallaw911.info

[–] Freeman_H-L 16 years ago

it's been 2 years since I sent that last message and out of nowhere you decide to reply. I cant believe my email is still linked to this forum, lol. wow. thats crazy, It's still not true though, barney and otis are not related, but wow, i'll give it to you just for that but holy. wow, I really can't get over this.

Run. Think. Shoot. Live.

[–] Citizens_Auxiliary_Police 13 years ago

Your sig is badass, btw!

www.infowars.com
www.prisonplanet.com
www.martiallaw911.info

[–] Freeman_H-L 13 years ago

Once again it has been another really long time since a new reply came up on this forum! This is too funny. Thanks for the complement by the way. I'm also a HUGE fan of the web sites www.infowars.com, www.prisonplanet.com, and www.martiallaw911.info I watch their Docs on you tube all the time. This is still funny that after somthing like 3 years another post end up on this forum.
Have a good one!

Run. Think. Shoot. Live.