Fan-made HL2 movie

Ennui

The Freeman
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A few emails from the community have brought my attention to Escape from City 17 - Part One, a fan-made, no-budget film set in the Half-Life universe, created by the Purchase Brothers. It features impressive melding of CG and live-action footage to make one of the most impressive and pretty fan-made Half-Life shorts ever. Check it out in high quality on Youtube here.
 
Holy shit that was ****ing good. Part II looks great, too. The locations (non CGI) are all top notch for the HL atmosphere.

Zombies look a little lol, though. :p
 
Wtf! I was expecting some really horrible but nice try clip. But this was something else!!!!! Wow that was pretty damn amazing..****ing crazy..
 
Wow that was really well done, especially conisdering their budget :O
 
I just watched it, and thought it was F**king awsome!

although the zombies in part 2 look pretty crap.
 
I came here expecting a crappy fan-made movie using cheap effects and found that I was sadly mistaken. This was well made and I'm very impressed. The zombies look like they could use some work though.
 
That was ****in epic, I was not expecting that! Can't wait for part 2 although...yea they should have left the zombies out.
 
lulz auto-youtube linking screwing your news post over when viewed in the forums.
 
Just saw it on digg.com myself. Very well done. The acting wasn't that bad either.
 
Love it! Acting is eh but what did you expect from a $500 short movie? Can't wait for part 2!
 
****ing wow. Part 2 please :D
 
Love it! Acting is eh but what did you expect from a $500 short movie? Can't wait for part 2!

WHAT? Seriously dude stop nitpicking! Most steven seagall movies have acting that sucks hardcore, this is brilliant for an indie short.
 
The short film Escape from City 17: Part One, viewable on YouTube via the link below, was inspired by the Half-Life 2 episodes and chronicles the escape from City 17 by some members of the citizens resistance. It was created by The Purchase Brothers, a commercial directing duo, and their small team based in Toronto, Canada. They have been Half-Life enthusiasts from the start and have created this short, the first in a series, on a shoestring budget using handmade costumes, some donated equipment, and the Source SDK, not to mention lots of their own blood, sweat and (we assume) tears. It was sent to Valve unannounced, and we were blown away -- the production quality certainly exceeds that of the usual community-made movies we see. We're told the second episode is nearing completion, and we can't wait to see what's in store. We hope that you enjoy the series.

PLEASE NOTE! This live-action video contains scenes of blood and harsh violence, and may not be appropriate for younger audiences or sensitive viewers.
oh yeah Valve took notice, got this as a steam pop-up
 
WHAT? Seriously dude stop nitpicking! Most steven seagall movies have acting that sucks hardcore, this is brilliant for an indie short.

I wasn't nitpicking. I said the acting was kind of eh which it is, but I still loved this short movie and the fact they did this on a $500 budget is amazing! Relax a little bit... you'll live longer.
 
Motion tracking FTW!

Good work - Can't wait to see Ep2
 
Their website seems to be down. Does anyone know if they take donations? They made this with a $500 budget I'm sure a little support from the HL2 community would allow them to make the EPs even better.
 
I wasn't nitpicking. I said the acting was kind of eh which it is, but I still loved this short movie and the fact they did this on a $500 budget is amazing! Relax a little bit... you'll live longer.
I wasn't being serious ;( you make me look like a jerk

EDIT: I dont know about donations but maybe they could get a partner deal with youtube if enough people promoted it.
 
He just hates walking, OKAY!?!

Pretty awesome other than that.
 
that is one of the best fan film to a video game ever! and its to the best game ever.

The only con is the acting, but the incredibly well-done visuals more than made up for it. Can't wait for the next episodes.
 
Looks like they ran over their bandwidth limit within 12 hours of release. I expect they're happy with the reception at least :D
 
I love how they seamlessly integrated CGI, Source engine graphics, and live action.

The zombies in the preview at the end look kind of silly but other than that it's really the best use of movie budget I've ever seen.
 
Ha, I always knew I'm in City 17 - the opening shots are of my city :)

Excellent video, I'm surprised at how well they integrated HL2 objects into the reel. I can only imagine what they would pull off if they had a budget.
 
That reminds me, i really gotta learn how to use Nuke and stop using After Effects.

That was really well done for no budget. A few continuity and special FX issues here and there but most of it is really well done. Hated how they tracked the Metro Cop heads to the bodies of the actors though, that just didn't look right at all. Besides that, it was pretty ace.
 
They should have used ZT's zombie skin. I mean costume.
 
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Left 4 Dead! :D

Valve revolutionized gaming, why not the film industry next? They can rent out their own production team too but have Marc Laidlaw make the script, etc. Amazing movie though and yes the acting was bad but great considering the budget or 15yr olds making their videos.
 
any body know where they got thos prop guns? those would be sweet to have, like the SMG and stuff

Aweosme movie!
 
THREAD STEALER.
picture.php
(Iron Kat got my back)

Oh well, movie's still awesome. :)
 
That reminds me, i really gotta learn how to use Nuke and stop using After Effects.

Even though you probably didn't mean it in this way, i now really REALLY want to see a huge nuke explosion in one of the future episodes with that awesome CGI they got going... holy ****
 
Nice, but those Metrocops are poor shots even by their computer game standard :p
 
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