Half-Life: The Movie - What do you want?

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halflifethemovie

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Hello Half-Life fans.

I am a Hollywood screenwriter/producer currently adapting the video game Half-Life into a big budget feature film. I am preparing to pitch the script to Valve within the next 3 to 12 months and then to major studios thereafter. I am fully aware of the fan bases instability with the idea of a Half-Life film. Every video game based film to this day has either been crap or has completely turned its back on the fans that made the property/brand popular in the first place. However, i am willing to take a break from my busy schedule to give this a try and see if me and my partners can make a fantastic Half-Life film.

Valve Software has refused dozens upon dozens of offers from people like me from Hollywood. However, i believe i and my partners have the understanding and patience to make Half-Life: The Movie as compelling, innovative and interesting as the game was when it was first released.

While i have down plenty of work, research and writing already on this subject, i figured the next logical step would be to connect with as many fans as possible and see what they love about Half-Life and what they think should translate to a feature film.

Now, please, leave the "Half-Life shouldn't be a movie" or "Gordon shouldn't talk" discussion out of this. I have been through these steps already and trust me, i have enough projects and work to do, that if there is any hint that this film cannot be done right, it won't happen. I am sure Valve will just tell me know anyways if they don't like it. So Valve will be the judge of whether it should be done or not. I am not here to piss off a fan base numbering in the millions. The Half-Life fans are going to be the ones to spread the word. If this film is as good as i plan for it to be, the fans will spread the word.

Just so everyone knows, this is an adaption of the first Half-Life game. The central character is indeed Gordon Freeman. Barney Calhoun does have a speaking role in the script, however it only lasts for about 4 to 6 pages.

So, answer me these questions. What do you like about the story of Half-Life? What was it about the experience that brought you in and kept you there?

Also, what are your ideas for a Half-Life film?

Give me any concerns you may have here... the more feedback, the better.

All i ask it that you keep your posts mature and orderly. This is a serious project so i need serious ideas and concerns.

Thanks,
Your friendly Hollywood Producer
 
Warning: The following post has been written by a Half-Life and Children of Men fanboy and is probably more suited as a suggestion to the director, not the scriptwriter.

If you're going to have Freeman as the main character then take a page out of Children of Men's book and never move the perspective from Gordon. Keep the camera with Freeman and never show anything that Freeman doesn't see. This technique is one of the reasons why Children of Men is such a great film and I think it's the only way to keep a Half-Life film close to the game. Before I watched Children of Men I thought there was no possibly way to make a good Half-Life film based around Gordon, but I think stealling its techniques is the only way to show Gordon's story properly (and for God's sake don't have a shitty first person sequence like Doom).
 
I am the current screenwriter (however, it will most likely shuffle to others with further revisions) and Co-Producer, so i will be on the production and have influence from start to finish, so this is a fine comment to make and it does indeed have a ton to do with how it is written.

Children of Men is actually a great influence, as that is the style of direction we may go for. Some of the shots last extremely long. Most films these days, the editing gets in the way of the performances and the story, rather than letting it flow by itself on screen. The sound design in that film is also a great influence. While these things will mostly be taken into account once we have a director signed on and such, this is a good common goal we have.

Our biggest influences with how it is written and the flow is a mix between Alien, Children of Men and the original Die Hard. This may change, but that is the current direction we are running with this.

As far as keeping the perspective on Gordon, we thought about this long and hard, and we may still do it. This is something that we are still going to take a long hard look into and see if it would work. Though, if we did break from Gordon's perspective, it would only be for, at most, 5% of the film. The stuff we have is also very easy to get rid of if we go with staying on Gordon. It would certainly make sense since its a first person shooter we are basing it off of, so thus, if we kept it on Gordon, it would give a similar experience.

However, we do need to design the best way of telling the story. Whether it is the best way or not is undecided. We will bring it up when we pitch to Valve, it is nothing we will get too far away from that we will just forgot about that idea.
 
riomhair has a good view on the Children of men thing. But that should be more for Half-Life 2. And really I'll be more exited when the HL2 movie comes because I prefer the second to the first in the way of environment, story, characters and appeal.


There should be Gman sighting's. Like during a screen off in the background out of focus you can see a figure that is clear enough to tell it's Gman. Speaking of Gman. How are you going to do his scenes? It seems like it will be something very hard to capture on film. If you screw that up you might as well forget the rest of the movie. There are a few threads on who should be Gman in a movie btw. Look for them.

Die Hard/Alien "style?" is a good way to shoot the action in the movie. Except for the outside parts. But just because it's in alien style does not mean you should treat the Vortigaunts like the same. And I can't tell you how it should be. But they are a very important enemy. Be cautious on how you treat them. Remember they will be allies in the sequel.

This is a hard game to capture on film. And the 2d will be even harder and I have to say even if you please us with the first I truly believe you or anyone cannot do it with the 2d. Half-Life 2 is like the godfather of games...well the closest there is right now.
 
riomhaire said:
Warning: The following post has been written by a Half-Life and Children of Men fanboy and is probably more suited as a suggestion to the director, not the scriptwriter.

If you're going to have Freeman as the main character then take a page out of Children of Men's book and never move the perspective from Gordon. Keep the camera with Freeman and never show anything that Freeman doesn't see. This technique is one of the reasons why Children of Men is such a great film and I think it's the only way to keep a Half-Life film close to the game. Before I watched Children of Men I thought there was no possibly way to make a good Half-Life film based around Gordon, but I think stealling its techniques is the only way to show Gordon's story properly (and for God's sake don't have a shitty first person sequence like Doom).
Click to expand...

Exactly. This is the same thing that I thought about after seeing Children of Men, also one of my favorite movies. The way the camera always followed the main character and the extremely long single-shot sequences were what made the movie breathtaking at parts.
 
A Hollywood screenwriter that doesn't capitalize "I", doesn't use their real name, and doesn't list any credits? Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying this isn't legit...I'm just saying that this is gonna be an interesting thread to follow...
 
Half life the movie will be a damn toughie, I wish you the best of luck, dont get distracted away from the fanbase, or everything could start to wither. I can only contribute few suggestions.
Wants-
-The actor to not be a well known one, infact, dont really want any well known actors playing any roles.
-Take all the time you need to make it perfect, id rather wait 5 years for a perfect half life movie, than 1 year for a shoddy infinished one.
Dont wants-
-Any drastic changes, infact no changes other than i dont want the movie to be EXCACTLY identical to every corridor in half life, ofcourse some scenes will need to stay the same.
-An unclear story to those unfamiliar with the game, i heard thats one of the reasons hitman movie failed.
- A huge hype. This is a very risky feat, hype is the last thing you need, trust me.
- To stray away from original concepts and themes.

Best of luck to you.
Parky.
 
Some good feedback here. Thanks a lot.

First off, the reason my name is being kept secret is because our team is keeping this pretty tight and does not want to draw any unnecessary attention to the production before we even approach Valve with our script and take on the franchise. I also don't want anyone to draw any conclusions based on our names and background. I can assure you, however, that a certain German director will not touch this production with a 50 foot pole (we have been asked that in the past so i would thought i would shoot down those questions before they start). I'll leave it at that.

Just to clarify, when i say we are using Aliens and Die Hard as influences, it does not mean we plan to emulate every aspect. Those are just the biggest influences we have currently, as well as Children of Men.

The character of Gordon Freeman is being paid close attention to and will probably continue to be toyed with till even after we talk to Valve directly.

Crash, you would be surprised how many Hollywood screenwriters have bad grammar or formatting. Thankfully we have people to fix those things.

The G-Man situation has been discussed several times already. We are going to take extra care with that. We want the final sequence to be as effective as it was in the game. We might change it slightly, but... well... we will be talking to Valve about that extensively. That is all i can say currently.

The lead talent will be picked with whoever fits the part the best. If a name talent fits it perfectly, thats who we will go with. Though, we will probably try to go with an unknown. We aren't worried about that now, cause it seems like with every project i have been involved with casting, people come out of the wood work and just fit perfectly.

I have told everyone who is involved so far that the only way this will work is if we put the same amount of care into the film as Valve put into the game then we can really create something special. I will wait 10 years to do this right, however i hope it does not come to that, i am willing to ride this out.

We are not making any real drastic changes currently. If you are referring to the location of Black Mesa, we are planning to have all the Production Design team leaders sit through a play through of the game so they know how it is supposed to look. That is how dedicated we are to getting the 'look' of Black Mesa. We plan that within the first 3 minutes, every person that would have played the game will instantly recognize the location as Black Mesa. As far as Xen goes, we might get a little creative with that, but we will see.

One of our biggest concerns is to make the story as clear as possible for the audience members that have not played the game. Let's just say we will be "play testing" both the script and the film (when finished) to a non-gamer audience till we feel they understand and are intrigued by the plot and events in the story.

Marketing is a huge thing for us. We plan to have a really tight marketing campaign that will target the demographics that will see this movie. Hype isn't a bad thing. If the movie is as good as we plan on making it, we will hype it, and people will go see it and like it. It is the nature of Hollywood. Now if the film is bad, well... thats another story.

We do not plan to stray away from the original concepts or themes. Themes... maybe, but concepts no. We aren't going to have the experiment suddenly be a virus that infects Black Mesa and Gordon finds his long lost sister and... never mind, i don't even want to discuss that.
 
Well, when i was refering to hype, obviously hype can be good, but make sure you have a good product before any hype ensues.
 
Parky said:
Well, when i was refering to hype, obviously hype can be good, but make sure you have a good product before any hype ensues.
Click to expand...

While if it turned out horrible, i can't say we wouldn't hype it to the moon anyways, however we won't film the movie unless we have a very good script first, so it won't come to that... and again, i am sure Valve wouldn't let us ruin it.
 
If you do the tram scene at the start of the game, Ellen McLain should be the P.A. voice. This would make alot of fanboys happy.
 
Shoes_Buttback03 said:
If you do the tram scene at the start of the game, Ellen McLain should be the P.A. voice. This would make alot of fanboys happy.
Click to expand...

We do plan to do the tram scene. However, i don't anticipate it to be as long.

I am guessing Ellen McLain did the original, then yes, that would be ideal.
 
halflifethemovie said:
We do plan to do the tram scene. However, i don't anticipate it to be as long.

I am guessing Ellen McLain did the original, then yes, that would be ideal.
Click to expand...
I don't know if she did the original. But she does the dispatcher in HL2 EP1 and EP2, She voices GLaDOS and the turret's in Portal and the overlord in Team Fortress 2. She's big with Valve fans.
 
Cheap acting and over budget special effects. Maybe get The Rock to play as Gordon. Halle Berry as Alyx. I want an A movie budget with B movie writing. Dumb down the story as much as possible- it's important that 5 year olds understand the plot. References to Halo would be ideal. A scene in which is shown through Gordon's eyes, handling a crowbar in the "first person perspective" dealing massive damage to other unfriendlies. Also, if you can somehow tie in the "America = Combine" symbolism, that would be something I'd definitely enjoy.
 
Are you planning to do the entire game (HL1 only) in the movie? If so, you're going to have to make really important decisions about which boss battles (assuming you're keeping any) to leave in.

Also, I have a question about (once again, assuming you keep these) puzzles and their solutions. In the game, it worked because the player was free to look around to find the way around. In the movie, however, the viewer has to watch, and then comprehend what is happening. How are you going to deal with this?
 
We are planning to adapt the entire first Half-Life game. This won't change. We have no intention of working in Opposing Forces or Blue Shift (however, we are useing them as references) or any of the sequels at this time. We are however, working it so it will fit into the sequels and will beable to have the sequels adapted as well, but we don't want to think about that and get too far ahead of ourselves.

Puzzles are a gameplay mechanism Valve used. While there may be a puzzle Gordon has to solve, i don't believe there will be. We are still reworking the script (thus, why i am getting this feedback now), so this could change. However, since the puzzles don't effect the story, we probably won't include them.

Boss battles... we plan to have the final boss included. The rest probably not. Again, those are gameplay elements. However, we plan to have Gordon take down a helicopter or two if that counts.

We are taking extra care on finding a way to tell the story without spoon feeding the audience every detail. There will be a simple story told, and alot of the stuff revealed in Half-Life 2 will be forshadowed but most audience members won't get it just yet, but they won't have to.

That is a complicated issue though, and while i can't reveal just yet how it will be handled, i can assure you we are taking extra care in plotting the story.
 
Ah, the ubiquitous "we". You have a mouse in your pocket?
 
Yeah and they don't come to fan sites to talk to teenagers about a project that hasn't even been given any thought other than "We want to make a half life movie".

Kind of funny how people continue to take him seriously.
 
With all that out of the way, I think the movie only needs one other thing: SNARKS- Get them in anyway you can. In later levels, they were the only way to lighten the mood, and if they're cut, it's going to be an incredibly depressing movie.

Oh, and don't make the G-man sightings obvious- During the tram sequence, if I see the camera pan to the G-man, and stay there for any more than half a second, I will run sreaming from the theater wanting blood.
 
Pesmerga said:
Yeah and they don't come to fan sites to talk to teenagers about a project that hasn't even been given any thought other than "We want to make a half life movie".

Kind of funny how people continue to take him seriously.
Click to expand...

I believe i may have mentioned (i am currently shuffling through a few forums here to bare with me if i didn't) that we have been working 10 months on this (between projects, so thus we haven't really dedicated ourselves to it). We are in no way unprepared.

The reason why i am going to this length to get feedback from "teenagers" (however, many Half-Life fans are adults FYI) is i believe other video game to film adaptions ignored what the fans wanted. I want to try to get a general consensus of what the fans think and what they love about Half-Life.

To the one who asked, the G-Man sightings are not going to be too obvious. Gordon will barely ever see him, though he will notice him once or twice, but the audience will see him quite a lot more, but some times he will be really hidden and it will be quick. However that is something that isn't being written into the script.
 
How do you know he/she's not telling the truth? It's a logical step into making a film that fans of the game will enjoy. Ask the fans. If you don't think he/she's legit then don't post. I don't know if he/she is either. But if he/she is then I want to help them make a note here huge success. And if he/she isn't then I will insult, flame and Rick roll him/her.

*edit*
What I love about Half-Life is how realistic but unrealistic it is. Realistic fiction.
 
To avoid you having to be politically correct and write he/she when you refer to me, i am a male.

That should make your further posting a little easier.
 
Shoes_Buttback03 said:
lol. thanks. Who's making this? Paramount, MGM, Fox?
Click to expand...

Good question.

I am part of an independent production company. We write our own screenplays and shop them to the studios for financing/distribution. That is mostly how its done these days. People such as Quention Tarantino, Will Farrell, Robert Rodriguez, most directors and pretty much every producer has thier own independent production company. That is standard practice and the word independent is sometimes mixed up with 'small or low budget' when it does not neccessarily mean that.

We will be shopping it to all studios for distribution/financing once we have Valve committed to the project.
 
halflifethemovie said:
Boss battles... we plan to have the final boss included. The rest probably not. Again, those are gameplay elements. However, we plan to have Gordon take down a helicopter or two if that counts.
Click to expand...
But...but...but the gargantua! THERE HAS TO BE A GARGANTUA D=

halflifethemovie said:
We are taking extra care on finding a way to tell the story without spoon feeding the audience every detail. There will be a simple story told, and alot of the stuff revealed in Half-Life 2 will be forshadowed but most audience members won't get it just yet, but they won't have to.
Click to expand...
There really isn't a whole lot of stuff connection HL1 and HL2 plotwise TBH other than the g-man and the Vortigaunts. I mean, the Combine don't seem to have had anything to do with the Black Mesa Incident.
 
I know that you've already stated what is going to happend with(most?) gameplay elements, but I feel this is warrented: Will the good Dr. Freeman be bunnyhopping on Xen at all, or will that part of the design be most likely changed, in favour of other methods of transportation?
 
I don't really have much to add to all this, as most of it sounds like stuff I'd like to see in a Half Life movie. I don't know how you're thinking of doing this whole thing, but during a puzzle sequence there should definately be a headcrab launching itself at "our" face from a completely unexpected place. Just something to keep us, the viewers, on our toes.
 
I'm very sceptical about all this but just in case it comes to something, there's a part near the beginning of the We've Got Hostiles chapter where a scientist trying to escape the facility triggers a trip mine and gets killed. This could make for a pretty harrowing cinematic scene if done properly.
 
I agree with chilifan. I think close attention should be payed to the tragedy aspect of the game. Something very bad has happened.

You mentioned you will be having people play through the game to get an understanding of what black mesa should look like. Well the game is very old so i know its not out yet but "black mesa source" the mod in the works have much more updated visuals of black mesa which could give the crew a better idea.

http://www.blackmesasource.com/

go there and look at vids or pics. ALSO i think that music is VERY good dramatic music that could be put into a movie. I dont know the name of who wrote the half life 2 music but i think its a she and i think she should be a part of the movie music. Music makes a movie.
 
I think this was in We've Got Hostiles as well- The scientist hanging onto a broken ladder, before falling. I think something along those lines should be incorpoated into it. i remember seeing this for the first time, and felt incredibly sad that I couldn't help him.
 
Ok so Kelly Bailey, i am pretty sure, wrote the half life 1 and 2 soundtracks. I guess on top of everyone elses input i would like to emphasize the musical part of the movie.
 
Yes, music would have to play a fairly substantial part in this movie. Especially if a sequel, obviously based on HL2, is made further down the road.
 
This is all good feedback. Keep it coming. I will be printing all these pages from all the forums that i have posted this on.
 
I think you should scrap the whole idea and go make a Halo movie.
Much more action packed... Make it centered around marines, though. It'd be epic.. like that fan-made one.
 
So, ignoring most things said in this thread other than the fact that a supposed-film-writer is in our presence, I'm going to outline what I believe would make a great half-life movie.

By the way, even if this guy isn't legit, is it really that big of a deal? Just makes it another half-life movie thread. Anyway, moving on.

FIRST, and probably most important, is to keep the first few level exactly how they are. From the tram ride to the resonance cascade to barney saying "What the hell are these?" to dodging lasers, to getting the crowbar, to Eli on the floor (if you don't know who he is, he's the old black guy from the second game, who is said to be the injured black scientist on the floor by the broken elevator, I think it was... if you really need details like this, I'll be happy to explain more later) All the way up to the giant elevator where you dodge the flying headcrabs. That part is unnecessary, and most things after.

From then on, many things can be mashed together. For instance, turning on the huge generator (which kills the gargantua... I'd really like to see it in a movie) to power up the old rail system to get to the rocket (I'd also love to see the tentacles, maybe gordon climbs up from the rail system to the launch pad, then they get fried when the rocket takes off). The rocket... I'm still not sure why we launch that in the game. It either... uses satellites to shut down the resonance cascade, or it was used to get to Xen. I mean, not ride the rocket to Xen, obviously, but it was a relay to get the portals directed there. Then obviously the big teleporter battle, "Jump gordon!" Xen, jumping from platform to platform, possibly riding one of the mantas, though that's potentially cheesy. The factory would be very cool, then of course the Nihilanth battle, culminating in bashing the baby's brains out with a crowbar.

Other things are also needed- the military coming in, gordon needs to get knocked out at some point (but don't put in residue processing, I always stop playing around that part...), have certain things explained perhaps by scientists, like how Black mesa is an old military base, probably in context he'd be referring to the sentry turrets that have come online. The bullsquids could be very cool, if they were made slimy-er and genreally meaner looking. Have a cool shot of one shooting acid at gordon from across a hallway or something.

one important aspect should be that Gordon himself doesn't necessarily do a whole lot of combat. He's a scientist, albeit with some weapons training, and he's obviously panicked and is probably guilty from thinking he caused the whole mess. Most of the action should be him running away from things, I think. Maybe running from the military, but more shooting at aliens. There should also be cool shots of the army fighting aliens.

I think I'm going to make another post more strictly outlining the plot that I think the movie should follow. It'll be only MY opinion, so it shouldn't be taken so seriously.
 
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