The making of Infiltration

>> PROJECT – INFILTRATION: HALO 2 <<

:// INTRO

Infiltration was released in the summer of 2007, man, that seems like a lifetime ago.

This was during my early college days. One of the guys from my gaming crew had an assignment come up for his quarterly class at the Art Institute of Illinois. Somehow, he managed to get permission to create a Machinima video for his final grade.

Once he told us, we were off to the races. Everyone on the squad jumped in with both feet, making this project very special to everyone involved.

Personally, I had seen Machinima before but didn’t really care for it. Hell, as of this writing I have yet to watch an entire episode of Red vs Blue. What attracted me to the project was that it was the first time I would participate in a collaborative environment.

Don’t get me wrong, I love the magic of working solo at 3am blasting music and loaded on caffeine. It feels like you’re blasting off into the universe.

Plus, this was someone’s final grade on the line.

Do or die baby.

:// BROTHA PRODUCTIONS

So as we started to get this thing off the ground, we were all on the high of having a name for the group and using our online handles to identify ourselves. Looking back on it, that shit was awesome. But, as the years have passed since this project was released I have realized that you have to pimp yourself out, not your gamer tag.

On the crew, everyone brought something to the table. As it was decided that a Halo 2 machinima would be created, we all had the XBOX available, multiple controllers and copies of the game. One dude provided the workspace ( his apartment ). My man Andrew cut this whole thing on his Mac. That damn machine looked weird too. Like a giant lamp.

Quick note: I have not seen anyone cut video as fast and effortlessly as my man Andrew. Here’s hoping he’s still creating.

We would all go to school then work during the day. The real work however, would start after 9pm.

Fuck man, those nights were full of a variety of tube TVs, energy drinks, pizza and the occasional break playing Halo multiplayer.

My only regret? Not having taken pics of the whole process.

:// THE BEGINNING, DECADES LATER

The project was met with phenomenal success. I could swear we helped our buddy score a sold A.

There were plans for a part 2, but we were limited with the tech available to us back then. Part 2 was more ambitious, and there was no way for it to be completed without having custom tools to help us on the console.

As with any group, we have all moved on. Some might keep in touch, I am honestly not sure.

This was a fun, wild ride.

Here’s hoping everyone involved is still kicking ass.