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My afterglow from FUD episode 4:
Posted By: The Lionheart <angeliclionheart@hotmail.com>Date: 10/26/12 4:23 p.m.

In Response To: FUD part 4 now online! (Vincent)


First of all, let me get this out of the way: Stewart Hendler, 343, Daniel Cudmore, and everyone else has done some extraordinarily fantastic work here with FUD. I am all but certain they have surpassed what Hollywood's level of attention to detail would have been had they been given this series to produce. I am exceptionally pleased and surprised at the level of care that is present in this production as it dares to depict the Halo universe in a live-action way. Well done, guys. Well done.

I really enjoyed this episode, and I am loving Forward Unto Dawn. I hope we see a lot more from this team in the future. =)

Now, that said, I feel like it would be a waste of folks' time for me to go on and on (and on) about everything that this team has done right, because that would make this a very long post indeed. I suppose it's more expedient to assume that if I don't bring it up, that it didn't bother me enough to bring it up. :) Not that it couldn't have been done even better still (something that should always be striven for, but that fact is so obvious that it need not be mentioned repeatedly), just that it didn't bother me enough to mention it here.

With that out of the way, let's get down to business:

The most obvious thing to be spoken of is the depiction of Master Chief Petty Officer John-117. I will go ahead and get this out of the way: In as much as it is possible for a live-action actor to hope to depict a cybernetically augmented and genetically ideal human being flawlessly operating a 600+ lb. powered exoskeleton that is essentially a Flubber suit with hardcore metal plating, IMO, Cudmore's performance was within the ballpark of what is ideally possible. Good job, man.

And that's great, within the context of live-action, it's just that, if a SPARTAN-II is to be done justice, I think that it is all but necessary for SPARTAN-IIs to be depicted either via CGI or with intense, intense training on the part of the actor in the armor to learn how to make their movement less human, more unnaturally smooth, more graceful (read: robotic), and at the speed at which an S2 actually lives and thinks (maybe martial artist/actor Michael Jai White in a MJOLNIR costume after being completely immersed into the Halo fiction, and with extensive coaching). The dialog delivery for Chief was pretty much ideal in terms of its intensity, terseness, and gravity, and it did not feel like John was speaking at the speed of a normal human being, it felt more like he was speaking at his "normal for me is super fast to you" rate, but willfully slowed down slightly for the sake of those cadets who needed a steady voice in the darkness. Make no mistake: SPARTAN-IIs communicate with a noticeable velocity of speech: as though they were in a hurry, while somehow sounding as though they are not "hurried".

As for the armor, I've made my thoughts on that particular design known in the past, but I'll repeat it briefly here: that armor design is the Shinji Aramaki design for The Package, and its was his take on the MJOLNIR Mark 6 armor that John is shown wearing in Halo 2 and 3. Much like the armor in Halo: Bloodline, the comic book whose story I loathe with every fiber of my being, the Aramaki armor design was not bound by canon, merely by creative license. So yes, I very much dislike it because it doesn't make sense. BUT! That design may have been the only armor design that they could make as a costume for Cudmore to wear and actually operate, so that's cool, that's fine. I'm not bothered by its use in the series. They might as well have had him wearing Bungie's Mark 6 rather than Aramaki's, I am not grading them on that, because I'm well aware of the limitations of the physical world. But if it is ever at all possible, I absolutely want to see the updated iteration of the Halo Wars armor design that we see depicted on the cover of the new edition of The Fall of Reach being used in situations that predate August 2552.

I loved how they made John appear and disappear just like he did in the books: suddenly, unexpectedly, quietly (in ABSOLUTE silence), and purposefully. The word Nin-Ja essentially translates to "Person who practices the art of not being seen" and that is exactly what SPARTAN-IIs are: Master Ninjas. Good job on that aspect of the depiction, guys!

I didn't like the writing for John's line "Call me MASTER Chief". Doesn't seem to match up with how he has been known to identify himself. I expected either something vague like "I was sent here to seek out any survivors and, should any be found, extract them" or, far more likely, a simple "I am Master Chief Petty Officer SPARTAN-117" with perhaps some supplementary dialogue, if the context called for it. The cadets would be well familiar with Navy ranks, and would simply default to "Chief" or "Master Chief" as nearly all other UNSC personnel depicted in the games and such always have.

The action scenes were cool, but not something I'd write home about. It was like being hungry and eating something at the food court from your favorite place there that you enjoyed and that satisfied you; you didn't call up your friends and go on and on about it after you were done, but you were definitely happier afterwards. The landing scene was good, although I wonder if he would have even had to compensate for it as much as he did, he wasn't carrying any heavy equipment, and while his body is heavy, the impact of gravity on his body through the armor is significantly reduced and compensated for by the genius that is Halsey's engineering.

I loved the depiction of The Covenant, I think I enjoyed every single possible aspect, the Sangheili retcon was in full effect, with John encountering them on his way in, and not radioing to Kelly that he'd discovered a new Covenant species. I loved seeing the Jackal in the fog the most, maybe, and seeing the very real problem that Kig-Yar marksmen on the rooftops blocks away posed to a group of mostly exposed infantry (Kig-Yar are basically an infantryman's nightmare, and they did a good job of showing why, although I think that they were a bit trigger happy and missed a lot, given who they were). Seeing the new 343i design for the Zealot threw me off, but then I have a soft spot for that particular redesign, so I was happy to just get a better look at it. I feel the new design better expresses how backwards and culturally undeveloped the Sangheili are, as though you really did just give a bunch of rank-and-file feudal samurai or medieval knights energy blades and plasma-based projectile weaponry, and said "Hey, you're a part of the holy Covenant now, be the best soldier you know how to be" and then let them go. It's super sinewy and stylish, plays on their anatomical features, and seems loud and proud, which makes sense given their ability to engage active camo.

Speaking of active camo, I *loved* that about this episode. Perfect demonstration, IMO. The transition from fully visible to fully invisible was handled expertly, I don't think that it could have been done better. And the team's depiction of encountering such a cloaked foe was handled expertly as well, IMO.

The actors were all great, I loved them. I think that they nailed the feel of the UNSC and the cadets nailed the feeling of "I'm a UNSC cadet: I should know what to do here! I've studied so many accounts of what to do in these situations ...but the fact is, at this point I'm still just a student and am as green as a leaf and I am scared out of my mind here because the entire chain of command seems annihilated and I have no real in-field experience to fall back on--I don't know how likely it is that I am going to live through this." The expressions seen on the face of Cadet Chen as he found himself unexpectedly and invisibly stabbed through the spine from the front were particularly good: first a sense of shock that was mixed with confusion, then realization/resignation/despair, then unconsciousness. Well done, Mr. Chau, well done.

I would have loved to have seen a lightning-fast neck-break by the Chief on the Zealot, but I understand that that might have been a lot harder to pull off, so I was content with hearing the knife enter and leave the body of that hinge-headed squidface instead. You might be one bad dude, what with your Zealot rank and all, but you still need a spine that works in order to continue standing up (let alone fight), and since a SPARTAN-II got behind you without you knowing about it, I can pretty much tell you that the continued functionality of your spine is not guaranteed.

Well, that's it for me. I could go on and on quite a lot, but duty calls, and this is fairly lengthy as it is, so I'll just re-iterate that I loved the episode, I love the entire production, there is still SO much room to improve (and I mean that in the best and most exciting way possible), and I can't wait to experience more live-action Halo from perspectives such as these. ROCK ON!!! =D

Message Index



Replies:

FUD part 4 now online!Vincent 10/26/12 5:04 a.m.
     Re: FUD part 4 now online!TDSpiral 10/26/12 5:29 a.m.
           Re: FUD part 4 now online!Archilen 10/26/12 5:44 a.m.
           Re: FUD part 4 now online!Vincent 10/26/12 5:47 a.m.
                 Re: FUD part 4 now online!NotTheVacuum 10/26/12 6:35 a.m.
                       Re: FUD part 4 now online!Ragashingo 10/26/12 6:37 a.m.
                             Re: FUD part 4 now online! *SP*dCon V 10/26/12 7:44 a.m.
                                   Re: FUD part 4 now online! *SP*ZaneZavin 10/26/12 7:54 a.m.
                                         Re: FUD part 4 now online! *SP*dCon V 10/26/12 8:03 a.m.
                                               Re: FUD part 4 now online! *SP*Postmortem 10/26/12 12:08 p.m.
                                                     Re: FUD part 4 now online! *SP*munky-058 10/26/12 12:45 p.m.
                                                           Re: FUD part 4 now online! *SP*SonGoharotto 10/26/12 2:32 p.m.
                                                                 Re: FUD part 4 now online! *SP*The Lionheart 10/26/12 9:58 p.m.
                                   Re: FUD part 4 now online! *SP*scarab 10/26/12 1:25 p.m.
                                         Just like in the games! *NM*SonGoharotto 10/26/12 2:32 p.m.
                       Re: FUD part 4 now online!thebruce0 10/26/12 9:42 a.m.
                             Re: FUD part 4 now online!yakaman 10/26/12 12:46 p.m.
     Re: FUD part 4 now online! *SP*Vincent 10/26/12 5:42 a.m.
           Re: FUD part 4 now online! *SP*ManKitten 10/26/12 8:16 a.m.
                 Re: FUD part 4 now online! *SP*bluerunner 10/26/12 8:40 a.m.
                       Re: FUD part 4 now online! *SP*The Lionheart 10/26/12 10:02 p.m.
                 Re: FUD part 4 now online! *SP*DerekT07 10/26/12 10:48 a.m.
                 Re: FUD part 4 now online! *SP*NsU Soldier 10/26/12 3:00 p.m.
           Re: FUD part 4 now online! *SP*SonGoharotto 10/26/12 11:24 a.m.
                 Nope, I think that's pretty much it *NM*Beorn 10/26/12 11:58 a.m.
     Re: FUD part 4 now online!Ragashingo 10/26/12 6:36 a.m.
           Re: FUD part 4 now online!Vincent 10/26/12 6:58 a.m.
                 Re: FUD part 4 now online!ZaneZavin 10/26/12 7:49 a.m.
           Re: FUD part 4 now online!serpx 10/26/12 8:57 a.m.
                 Re: FUD part 4 now online!serpx 10/26/12 9:02 a.m.
                 Re: FUD part 4 now online!Architechnid 10/26/12 11:43 p.m.
     RIP characters *SP*davidfuchs 10/26/12 7:11 a.m.
           Re: RIP characters *SP*Hawki 10/26/12 8:28 a.m.
                 Re: RIP characters *SP*Postmortem 10/26/12 12:15 p.m.
                       ^This *NM*SonGoharotto 10/26/12 2:33 p.m.
                       Re: RIP characters *SP*The Lionheart 10/26/12 10:10 p.m.
                 Re: RIP characters *SP*Quirel 10/26/12 2:40 p.m.
           Laughed out loud! *NM*Vincent 10/26/12 10:51 a.m.
     Re: FUD part 4 now online!mattroe 10/26/12 8:09 a.m.
           Re: FUD part 4 now online!bluerunner 10/26/12 8:37 a.m.
                 *Ba dum tssshhh*INSANEdrive 10/26/12 8:47 a.m.
                 300 is canon! *NM*Jaydee 10/26/12 9:56 a.m.
                       No, really. It is.Postmortem 10/26/12 12:17 p.m.
                             NICE. *NM*The Lionheart 10/26/12 10:40 p.m.
     Re: FUD part 4 now online!Nikko B201 10/26/12 9:50 a.m.
           "The cavalry has arrived!" *NM*thebruce0 10/26/12 10:04 a.m.
                 Sounds like something Spartan-1337 would say *NM*thebruce0 10/26/12 1:58 p.m.
           What about Beamish?Beorn 10/26/12 10:06 a.m.
                 I was hoping for a Beamish spin-off *NM*bluerunner 10/26/12 10:12 a.m.
                       Don't worry...munky-058 10/26/12 10:42 a.m.
                             Re: Don't worry...Vincent 10/26/12 10:47 a.m.
                             Groan. Nicely done though. *NM*Ragashingo 10/26/12 11:04 a.m.
                             Re: Don't worry...padraig08 10/26/12 12:17 p.m.
                 Re: What about Beamish?Vincent 10/26/12 10:49 a.m.
                       Re: What about Beamish?Ragashingo 10/26/12 11:07 a.m.
                       Re: What about Beamish?Louis Wu 10/26/12 11:17 a.m.
                             Beautiful. *NM*zoojoo 10/27/12 9:22 a.m.
                 Re: What about Beamish?Nikko B201 10/26/12 8:33 p.m.
     Re: FUD part 4 now online!Cody Miller 10/26/12 10:43 a.m.
           Re: FUD part 4 now online!JDQuackers 10/26/12 1:12 p.m.
           Re: FUD part 4 now online!NsU Soldier 10/26/12 3:01 p.m.
           Re: FUD part 4 now online!Buttskunk 10/26/12 7:25 p.m.
     Very pleasedSonGoharotto 10/26/12 11:36 a.m.
           True. *NM*Ragashingo 10/26/12 12:03 p.m.
     FFFFFUUUUUUUUUUUck YES!padraig08 10/26/12 11:57 a.m.
           Re: FFFFFUUUUUUUUUUUck YES!Grizzlei 10/26/12 2:24 p.m.
     Favorite partPostmortem 10/26/12 12:13 p.m.
           Re: Favorite partLurono 10/26/12 1:19 p.m.
     "Come with me if you want to live" & quotesthebruce0 10/26/12 1:52 p.m.
           Re: "Come with me if you want to live" & quotesserpx 10/26/12 2:18 p.m.
                 Re: "Come with me if you want to live" & quotesthebruce0 10/26/12 2:24 p.m.
           Re: "Come with me if you want to live" & quotesSonGoharotto 10/26/12 2:26 p.m.
                 Re: "Come with me if you want to live" & quotesthebruce0 10/26/12 2:31 p.m.
                 Re: "Come with me if you want to live" & quotesuberfoop 10/26/12 4:36 p.m.
                       Re: "Come with me if you want to live" & quotesSonGoharotto 10/27/12 12:18 a.m.
     Active camo is terrifying.Quirel 10/26/12 2:14 p.m.
           Re: Active camo is terrifying.SonGoharotto 10/26/12 2:41 p.m.
                 Re: Active camo is terrifying.Quirel 10/26/12 2:48 p.m.
                       Re: Active camo is terrifying.SonGoharotto 10/26/12 3:57 p.m.
                             Re: Active camo is terrifying.NikGntre 10/26/12 6:56 p.m.
                             Re: Active camo is terrifying.Quirel 10/26/12 10:45 p.m.
                                   Re: Active camo is terrifying.The Lionheart 10/26/12 11:25 p.m.
                                         Re: Active camo is terrifying.Quirel 10/27/12 12:54 a.m.
           Re: Active camo is terrifying.Phlux 10/26/12 3:45 p.m.
                 Re: Active camo is terrifying.The Lionheart 10/26/12 11:32 p.m.
     My favorite part.Chewbaccawakka 10/26/12 2:38 p.m.
     Could be betterGrizzlei 10/26/12 2:42 p.m.
     Mehaffey *SP*Beorn 10/26/12 3:24 p.m.
           Re: Mehaffey *SP*SonGoharotto 10/26/12 3:58 p.m.
           ...Holy crap. *NM*Vincent 10/26/12 4:22 p.m.
           Re: Mehaffey *SP*uberfoop 10/26/12 4:46 p.m.
                 Re: Mehaffey *SP*NotTheVacuum 10/26/12 5:29 p.m.
                       Re: Mehaffey *SP*thebruce0 10/26/12 6:05 p.m.
                             Re: Mehaffey *SP*Ragashingo 10/26/12 6:42 p.m.
                                   Re: Mehaffey *SP*thebruce0 10/26/12 10:19 p.m.
                                         HER HEAD ASPLODE.The Lionheart 10/26/12 11:53 p.m.
                                               Re: HER HEAD ASPLODE.Beorn 10/27/12 12:34 a.m.
                                               Re: HER HEAD ASPLODE.thebruce0 10/28/12 3:14 p.m.
                                                     Re: HER HEAD ASPLODE.Beorn 10/28/12 6:02 p.m.
                                                     Re: HER HEAD ASPLODE.Metalingus627 10/28/12 9:19 p.m.
                                                           Re: HER HEAD ASPLODE.thebruce0 10/29/12 8:38 a.m.
                                                                 Re: HER HEAD ASPLODE.Archilen 10/29/12 8:48 a.m.
                                                                       Ahhh. Got it. :) *NM*thebruce0 10/29/12 8:49 a.m.
                                                                       Re: HER HEAD ASPLODE.Metalingus627 10/29/12 4:10 p.m.
                                                                             Re: HER HEAD ASPLODE.thebruce0 10/30/12 9:16 a.m.
           Re: Mehaffey, "real" covie weapons *SP*asa 10/27/12 8:08 a.m.
     Just a thought or two.Captain Spark 10/26/12 4:08 p.m.
           Re: Just a thought or two.Grizzlei 10/26/12 4:12 p.m.
           Re: Just a thought or two.scarab 10/26/12 8:25 p.m.
           Re: Just a thought or two.SonGoharotto 10/27/12 12:33 a.m.
     My afterglow from FUD episode 4:The Lionheart 10/26/12 4:23 p.m.
           Ditto. *NM*Postmortem 10/26/12 4:37 p.m.
           Re: Tritto *NM*Lawnmower172 10/26/12 7:55 p.m.



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