Halo Infinite
Microsoft . 343 Industries . December 2021
The Cinematic Storytelling of Halo Infinite
In August 2017, I shifted teams within Microsoft to work on what would become Halo Infinite as a Narrative Experience Director. This role meant that I was responsible and accountable for the creation of the entirety of Halo Infinite's cinematic story experience, encompassing various aspects of the game including UI, FX, audio, design, lighting, graphics, and multiplayer.
For this project, I directed around 2 1/2 hours of cinematics and was in charge of the narrative pacing and content for missions.
The goal of Halo Infinite’s narrative approach was to create an experience that pushed the player incrementally further to blur the line between gameplay and story moments.
If you would like to see more discrete documentation examples, please look here:
Narrative Documentation
Grasp the Extraordinary
“
It’s a story about the human spirit, about our indomitable need to reach for unknown horizons. About people working toward the greatest pioneering achievement in human history. And about the cost of that vision, the danger and sacrifice – emotional, psychological, and physical – that’s required to achieve it. How ordinary, imperfect people band together and overcome a myriad of obstacles to grasp the extraordinary.
”
We aimed to support players who valued story and those who sought exceptional gameplay. We interrogated our place in the industry. Our narrative centered around three individuals uniting under extraordinary circumstances. At the heart of this story is one of redemption. Redeem Chief as the hero of humanity. Redeem the memory of Cortana and redeem the Pilot through his proximity to true heroism. Trust formed the primary internal conflict, as all three protagonists had to learn to rely on one another and function as a team. Letting go of the past was crucial for their growth and ultimate success.
The game thrived in moments where characters' distinct personalities shone. The Weapon exuded curiosity and a desire to be present. The Pilot displayed passion, anxiety, caution, and untapped strength. Chief prioritized the mission, remained unwavering, and steadfast. All three exhibited resilience and developed into a cohesive unit. By the game's conclusion, our aim was to reset the stage and leave players eager to witness the future of this trio. The most impactful Halo stories emboldened a sense of adventure, allowing the audience to anticipate character reactions and problem-solving. When all parties were aligned and the player experienced that same reciprocity the experience felt most cohesive.
Mocap December 2019
This was a short video I made after a set of mocap shoots. We wanted the team to understand the care and craftsmanship the actors and the team were putting into the story. These videos helped strengthen 343’s unity and emphasized the emotional core of the experience. This was a significant milestone because it was the first time anyone in the studio got to see our main antagonist, Escharum, voiced by Darin DePaul. This video also showcases a bit of how we made all the cinematics. Every scene was one take and we focused largely on blocking and movement, along with a ton of previs and deft actors, to bring this story to life.
Earliest PRE-VIS
This previsualization is an early test of the storytelling technique we planned for Halo Infinite. Created in July 2018, it aimed to showcase the innovative narrative direction we wanted to pursue. This was created in Cinema 4D and used Octane Render. The main objective was to evaluate a camera constraint rig's effectiveness, manipulating action around the player using points in the environment that the camera would interpolate around. It's worth noting that all voiceover (VO) in this previsualization is sourced from previous Halo games, as VO sessions with the main cast hadn't started during this stage of production. From this, we ended up building a new camera system that sat along side the legacy camera for Halo. During cinematics and in multiplayer this new camera system was used.
Story Overview
Lighting Documentation and Methodologies
Camera Rules: in a No Cuts World
Bespoke Camera Solution Specifications
Example Scene Breakdown
Example Layouts for Narrative Flow
Level Design Experience
This is an early glimpse into the blockout phase of level development. Collaborating closely with the level designer, Alan Wilson, and narrative designers we crafted how the ring could feel like a “haunted house” in space. The goal was to establish that Cortana has died and her memories are implanted in the ring. These memories would emerge as Chief explored and bridged the gap between past Halo games and Infinite. This video exemplifies the process we would undergo. One of the things I would do is create a comprehensive playthrough of the level, incorporating sound effects, voiceover, and annotation. By doing so, it helped to create a blueprint for the desired experiential journey. This iterative process greatly aids the designer by providing a reliable frame of reference at their disposal and also helps the environment art team and various other teams better understand the overall intent.
It is worth noting that certain elements showcased in this video ultimately became the basis of the second game level, “Foundation". This particular level aims to portray the underbelly of the ring, shedding light on Chief and Cortana's initial relationship—from her moment of inception and ultimate pairing.
Tracking Change
I was also in charge of tracking and communicating the goals and ideas of the narrative across each level. The quickest and easiest way was to create excel documentation that states the priority and goals of the scene.
Finaling
Over the course of time this morphed into various sheets that helped us understand what was left on a given scene down to a very granular level.
Testing the Game
Some excel sheets list level by level what is happening so that test can understand what they should be expecting as they play the game.
Test DocuMentation for Lighting
Halo 5 to Halo Infinite Time Gap ‘Clip-o'-Matic’
Closing the Gap
The video above is a narrative clip-o-matic, presenting initial thoughts on Halo Infinite. It aims to link the events of Halo 5 and an early version of Halo Infinite. This compilation was made around five years ago when the story was a bit different and had a greater focus on how Cortana had thrown humanity into ‘the dark ages.’
Early Cinematic Progress
This is an edit I put together as a compilation of work-in-progress assets at various stages of cinematic production. Most of these are in the block-out/previs phase. A lot of the more refined movements are the first instance of raw motion capture playing back in Maya. The raw motion capture is then exported into Halo’s proprietary engine and further refined in Maya as facial animation and cleaned up mocap is gathered. Most of the work here is done by Greg Towner and Matt Campbell with motion capture delivered by our internal 343 Mocap Team.
This was also done to show the team at 343 in the early stages of the global pandemic to help bolster belief and momentum in the project.
Cortana Memory Visualizations
This was something I did early in production to try to understand ways that we could simulate the 'memory' versions of Cortana. We knew that we needed a representation of Cortana that was ghostly—something that clearly articulated “what you’re seeing isn’t occurring in the now.” This was done to help the concept artists and Ian Gargle (FX Lead) understand the feel and tone we wanted to achieve.
In the final game, we created something that feels ethereal and ‘wispy’. Her mesh exudes particles and flows to help communicate that there’s an ephemeral quality to her presence.
This language was then replicated and used across different scenes that all focused on an unveiling mystery and passage of time. This was then supported by volumetric lighting that was parented to the actor’s root or pedestal so that when the character entered the space, volumetric light would follow and aid the feeling of time shifting or entering another plane of existence.