Halo Infinite
Microsoft . 343 Industries . December 2021
The Cinematic Storytelling of Halo Infinite
In August 2017, I shifted teams within Microsoft to help work on what would become Halo Infinite. Over the next few years, my job title would evolve into Narrative Experience Director. This role meant that I was responsible and accountable for the creation of the entirety of Halo Infinite's story experience, encompassing various aspects of the game including UI, FX, audio, design, lighting, graphics, and multiplayer. While I did write some of the scenes, I was not responsible for the entirety of the game's writing or any of its localization.
For this project, I was lucky enough to lead and direct around 2 1/2 hours of cinematics and hours upon hours of narrative-designed content within the players' journey.
The text, images, and video on this page are the same materials I created to communicate Halo Infinite's story to external partners and the internal team.
As you look over different parts of this page, you'll see aspects of how the story was created from a formal perspective.
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 first-person-shooter gameplay. We pondered our place in the industry. Our narrative centered around three individuals uniting under extraordinary circumstances. The grand backdrop heightened the intensity of personal tales. 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 always stood ready. 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 viewers learned alongside the on-screen characters, the Halo experience reached its zenith.
Mocap December 2019
After the mocap shoot, I made a concise presentation for the 343 team to understand our goals. These videos helped strengthen our team's unity and emphasized the emotional core of the upcoming experience. This was a significant milestone for our studio as it introduced the powerful antagonist, Escharum, voiced by Darin DePaul. I also had the privilege of simulating a Pelican flight with Nicolas Roye, who has a great personality. Our creative tribe worked together joyfully throughout the game's development.
Earliest PRE-VIS
This previsualization is an early manifestation 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. By minimizing edits, this previsualization effectively used assets from Halo 5, rendered in Octane using Cinema 4D for desired visual effects. Besides handling SFX and graphics, I oversaw everything except motion capture for Chief. The main objective was to evaluate a camera constraint rig's effectiveness, manipulating action around the player using points in the environment. 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.
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 initial representation may appear quite rough, but it serves as an early glimpse into the blockout phase of our level development. Collaborating closely with the level designer, I will strategically structure the overall experience. It is worth noting that certain elements showcased in this video ultimately became the foundation of our second game level, aptly named "Foundation". This particular level aims to portray the underbelly of the ring, shedding light on the Chief and Cortana's initial relationship dynamics. In conjunction with the level designer, I will construct a comprehensive playthrough of the level, seamlessly incorporating essential sound effects, well-crafted voiceover, and insightful annotation details. By doing so, we can effectively convey our desired experiential journey. This iterative process greatly aids the designer by providing a reliable frame of reference at their disposal, facilitating a deep comprehension of the narrative and emotional requirements for the spatial design.
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.
Test
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 seamlessly link the events of Halo 5 and the upcoming Halo Infinite, reducing the so-called 'Time Gap' by 30%. This compilation was made around five years ago, when the story was not fully realized. The main goal was to establish a shared vision for the game's narrative, while also laying the groundwork for what was to come.
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 this 'memory' of her, so this was done to help the concept artists and Ian Gargle (FX Lead) understand the feel and tone we wanted to achieve. I love the ethereal feel that we accomplished with this version of her. It was then replicated and used as a language 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 would follow and aid the feeling of time shifting/entering another plane of existence.