I’m nothing close to a film expert, but I know what I like. If I were to look for a trend in the development of film and filmmakers, it seems that going from great short films to features can be the right step to take. Just take Pixar and Neill Blomkamp for examples. There are many others, I’m sure, but those are some great examples in my mind.

Video game movies have been getting a terrible rep for years, with few “good” ones few and far between. We all know that the source material can be well used in the right hands, but what does that mean?

Understand. Your. Source. Material.

Or at least work with somebody who does understand it. How would this translate into a great movie? Well, we wouldn’t get a movie like Doom or Super Mario Bros.(which I did like, btw). What makes me say that it can be done? Well, short films.

No, I’m not talking about cutscenes. I’m talking about advertising short film campaigns.

Exhibit A

Halo Landfall by Neill Blomkamp

This was part of the massive Halo 3 advertising campaign (which was sort of pointless considering it was Halo and would have sold insane amounts of units without so much more than a release date announcement) that introduced many people to Neill Blomkamp who was previously known for AMAZING short films like Tetra Vaal. Blomkamp was slated to be the director of a Halo movie, with Peter Jackson as the Executive Producer, but after the movie was “postponed”, they had a lot of free time and made District 9.

If you don’t recall, D9 was nominated for Best Picture by the Academy. Not to say that if their efforts were put forth into a Halo movie it would have reached the same status, but Blomkamp’s style with his previous projects and Landfall would have definitely made for an interesting movie. As long as the story was something Blomkamp can work with and not necessarily the main canon of Master Chief. In my opinion, Blomkamp’s best working with a more real and human story. It’s possible to make this happen and work despite what some people might have to say on the subject. (I love MovieBob btw… just disagree with him about this one.)

Exhibit B
Believe
Yes, I know it’s another Halo 3 example, but let’s be honest, faux documentaries are really good sometimes and this is a great example.

The Believe campaign was a series of multiple videos documenting the post-war memorial and first hand accounts of the war between the Covenant and Human existence. It’s touching at moments and very well filmed. The actors do a great job in this and shows that a good film doesn’t really need to be a huge action film, even if the source material sort of demands it.

Just some decent pacing, good writing, and good actors doing a post-war documentary of a future war set in a fictional universe. Yes. My fanboyism might make it better than what it is, but as I said, I know what I like.

Seeing a former “soldier” get shaken by holding the enemy weapon makes for a good scene in my mind. I love it. Not to mention that the full museum set was pretty well built. That’s time and effort put to some really good use.

Exhibit C
Lineage

Assassin’s Creed Lineage is a VERY well made short film that is a prequel film to Assassin’s Creed 2. It’s very well written, has some decent action, and doesn’t feel too forced. It’s a little dark(and I mean the lighting…), but I think that was the kind of setting they wanted. There wasn’t full stage lighting back in those days I guess.

This movie has some amazing shots and is an excellent example of how a video game movie can be made and not be based off Michael Bay style explosions at EVERY turn. There’s some depth to what’s going on and it lends to the source material and leads into further material.

These are just few of the now growing marketing campaigns that don’t just show off in-game footage, but try and tell a mini-story within the context of the game. Lineage is a bit over a half an hour long, so it isn’t too much of a stretch to make a full-length feature film. This can be applied to a lot of games and make great movies. How many more Alone in the Dark and Mortal Kombat: Annihilation‘s must be made before they start realizing that it takes somebody who understands the source material to adapt it on screen properly.

Noteworthy mentions:
Halo Legends

Yes. I know it’s Halo again, but you have to realize that Bungie does do a good job of making sure everything works and fits within their canonical story. Sure there are mistakes here and there, but they’re only human.

Dante’s Inferno

It’s not really “The Divine Comedy” but the animated epic does go with the game, so at least it adapts the crazy adaptation decent enough.

Fully animated isn’t the same as Live Action though, so it was left out.

So.. where’s my Halo movie?

If it is a case of an attack on Ubisofts servers, and just their DRM and Login servers at that, you would think the company would realize that people are unhappy with their DRM practices, however, at this time, Ubisoft is making no attempt to alter or replace their DRM. Perhaps with more attacks or other unrelated downtime, Ubisoft will come to their senses.