City 17 Madness

The universe created by game developer Valve is a very detailed and interesting one. The story of Gordon Freeman in the Half-Life games is truly one of the most epic and emotional pieces of storytelling ever done in video games.

It’s not surprising many people have gone out to write fan fiction about Half-Life. Many great writers out there have come up with endless ideas for the Half-Life universe. If you’re into the Half-Life series I’d like to point you to the Half-Life section of FanFiction.net.

So why would I mention this on my media blog? Because Half-Life fanfiction has since spread to much more then just writing. Youtube has a number Half-Life related videos, but I’d like to focus on two in particular that really stand out.

Escape From City 17

This particular video was made by The Purchase Brothers and has become insanely popular with over two million views in less then two months. The short film, which is supposed to be the first of three, is set during the events in Half-Life 2: Episode 2. With the city in chaos and the Citadel about the go sky high, the film follows a group of rebels trying to get out of the city.

The editing and special effects in this film are great and the acting, while not of Hollywood standards of course, is not to shabby either. Escape From City 17 is a good example of the things you can do with a green screen and some powerful editing software.

What’s in the Box?

This short-film was made by a Dutch duo. The film is set in a Half-Life 2 like environment. While the direct connection to Half-Life 2 is not made, there are a few things that point in the direction such as a gunship and Combine looking soldiers.

An air of mystery surrounds this film, as it is accompanied by a website that can only be opened with a code of sorts. Many people on Youtube have been trying to break the code and if you want to have a run at it go to whatsinthebox.nl. According to hints on the website something is going to happen regarding the box in November. Whether this is a sequel of sorts is unknown at this point.

So what kind of fan fiction do you prefer? Do you like written or visual fan fiction?

Robin

Lighting 101 – By Christian Bale

For anyone who hasn’t heard yet, Christian Bale, the actor who played Batman in The Dark Knight, went completely balistic on one of the crew members of Terminator Salvation. Apparently they were doing a scene and some guy randomly walked on to the set to check out if his lights were working or something.

The funny thing about this story is that the entire thing was recorded, by accident or on purpose, who knows. Be advised before listening though, it’s a pretty intense audio clip and not exactly safe for work unless you’re allowed to swear a lot.

Download the audio clip here.

I’m kind of two sided on this entire thing and here’s why. I go to school to learn about stuff like backstage work particularly, so I understand how this guy must have thought “let me just check the light real quick, otherwise they have to redo the entire scene just because I screwed up a light”.

That right there is doing more then you’re hired to do. If the director thinks the view of the scene is bad because a light is busted or aimed wrong then he’ll tell you and THEN you can go fix it. Unless you are specifically told to get on the set to fix something you should be as far away from the damn thing as a possible. And according to the audio clip this guy walked right onto the set twice in a row, in my books you’re just dense if that happens. As if everyone on the set being in position to shoot isn’t enough indication for you to stay clear.

So does that justify how Bale reacted? No of course not, but it’s understandable. Acting isn’t an easy job. As much as we all like to bitch at people for bad acting, we couldn’t do it any better ourselves if we tried. So when you spent a week memorizing a scene and have to do it for real it would be nice if things could go right in one try. Can you imagine some dude ruining your scene twice in a row? I think I would be pissed too.

Anyway to make something good come from a bad situation someone took the above audio clip and used it to make a remix. It’s quite nicely done, you can download it here.

Robin

We Made the Papers!

Yes we did! Yesterday’s performance by RED! made the local paper! Here’s a quick translation of the article:

Popstars turn ROC upside down

The crowded cafeteria of the ROC in Hilversum was completely turned upside down during a one time performance by Steffie, Déon and Brandi, AKA the winners of Popstars! Especially Déon gave it all he had during the 45 minute performance, because he is an ex student of the health & sport department at the Hilversum branch of the ROC of Amsterdam. ‘He really felt right at home and didn’t think he’d enjoy it as much as he did,’ Sandra Kamminga, the groups agent, said. RED!, the name of the popgroup, performed a number of songs among which was their own hit ‘Step Into The Light’. After the performance RED! held a Meet & Greet. (Picture by: Teunis Versluis)

Check out the news paper clipping!

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