Halo 4 Cortana
Cortana, UNSC Artificial intelligence (SN: CTN 0452-9), is a smart artificial intelligence construct. She was one of the most important figures in the Human-Covenant war, and was also John-117's partner in various combat missions as well as serving as the AI for the Halcyon-class light cruiser.
Hey everyone!
https://youtu.be/DtARmVklqH4
So I made this music video awhile ago, when I was really into the Chief and Cortana relationship set up in Halo 4, and I'm being honest when I tell you that I never expected or really cared if it drew a whole lot of attention from the community.
I did put a lot of time into it, especially since the first version corrupted and I had to redo it after recovering from depression XD So I wanted a few hundred views at least, but it really hasn't gained much traction and I just want to know what others think of it. This was my first video I ever made, and I was new to editing when I made it, so there are things I noticed upon watching it that I would change, especially the hard cuts to black that occur every 2 seconds for about the first half of the video LOL!
But re-watching it tonight really made me realize how happy I am with how it turned out, and I think some others could get some enjoyment from it too! That's why I'm making this post; to hopefully reach out to like-minded fans who fell in love with the Chief and Cortana dynamic in Halo 4.
I would appreciate anyone sharing this, and I don't say that to get subscribers or likes, I just want more people to see this and maybe get some enjoyment from it!
If you did really enjoy it, I thought I'd share some insight to the thought process behind it :)
!!!SPOILERS!!! I RECOMMEND WATCHING THE VIDEO FIRST, THEN COMING BACK TO READ SOME 'BEHIND THE SCENES' STUFF :)
So the hard cuts to black, while not intentional by me to come off this way, I did realize something cool to their existence. The cuts occur during the kidnapping and training of John, and I think they convey quite well the sudden change in Johns life, the way he was suddenly kidnapped and suddenly going to be trained to be a super soldier. I just think the hard cuts to black reinforce the traumatic and shocking past of John. Or you could just think of it as an amateur editor not realizing how to do a smoother transition ;)
There's also the flip-side, where I transitioned to cutting directly to a scene after John acquires the mjolnir armor. This is supposed to show the events of Halo's 1-4 in a quick way, to reinforce all the s*** John and Cortana have been through together. That way at the end, you get a sense of companionship between the two throughout the video after watching all the significant events of the games play out.
The biggest and most intriguing thing about this particular music video that I think separates it from the rest, is that it shows glimpses of whats to eventually play out in the end. That being Cortana's death :( I didn't just place these in random spots throughout the video either, though the unplanned sync with the music queues really surprised me! I actually sorta mapped it out in my head where I would place these scenes and how they would appear in the video.
The first time you see a glimpse of the death scene is when John meets Halsey in the playground. Halsey creating Cortana by cloning her brain, connects Halsey and Cortana together. So when John and Halsey meet, I felt that it was a great moment to put in the first glimpse of the death scene to catch viewers by surprise. I had a rough outline of where I wanted this video to go, and I planned for, as Cortana's death draws closer, the frequency of the glimpses increases.
The next glimpse occurs when Halsey places the mjolnir helmet on John. Again, another interaction between John and Halsey.
The rest occur when John and Cortana interact, except for one part. It's when John is in the Longsword after Halo's destruction, and he takes his helmet off. I felt like this was an appropriate spot to put in another one of Cortana's scenes since it's a moment where John takes off the helmet and shows his humanity a little. Cortana and him are the only ones in the Longsword, so I thought of it as a subtle character moment between the two.
Then something that may seem odd at first, which is the Didact's death coming off as a unimportant moment in the video. I allowed the music to be silent and sort of somber, because at this point Cortana is dead and the Didact doesn't matter in this video. He's just the plot device that takes Cortana away from Chief, and is dealt with swiftly. Chief is only concerned with Cortana and making her sacrifice not be in vein by detonating the nuke.
I also ended the video with the white screen, before Chief is rescued by the Pelican and talks with Lasky about being a machine. Though that scene is touching, I felt that including it sorta takes away the focus from Chief and Cortana, and more towards Chief and Lasky. I wanted the video to end on just Chief and Cortana, and be about their relationship only.
I also didn't include any scenes from Halo 5, because I feel that including Cortana when she is evil and has this very professional and warrior like armor on, takes away the heart of the relationship between the two. I just wanted this to be a simple, emotional video that concerns itself with the Halo 4 relationship and where that was going. I want anyone to enjoy this, and so I think that by including some scenes from Halo 5 would just confuse people and take some out of the experience.
https://youtu.be/DtARmVklqH4
So I made this music video awhile ago, when I was really into the Chief and Cortana relationship set up in Halo 4, and I'm being honest when I tell you that I never expected or really cared if it drew a whole lot of attention from the community.
I did put a lot of time into it, especially since the first version corrupted and I had to redo it after recovering from depression XD So I wanted a few hundred views at least, but it really hasn't gained much traction and I just want to know what others think of it. This was my first video I ever made, and I was new to editing when I made it, so there are things I noticed upon watching it that I would change, especially the hard cuts to black that occur every 2 seconds for about the first half of the video LOL!
But re-watching it tonight really made me realize how happy I am with how it turned out, and I think some others could get some enjoyment from it too! That's why I'm making this post; to hopefully reach out to like-minded fans who fell in love with the Chief and Cortana dynamic in Halo 4.
I would appreciate anyone sharing this, and I don't say that to get subscribers or likes, I just want more people to see this and maybe get some enjoyment from it!
If you did really enjoy it, I thought I'd share some insight to the thought process behind it :)
!!!SPOILERS!!! I RECOMMEND WATCHING THE VIDEO FIRST, THEN COMING BACK TO READ SOME 'BEHIND THE SCENES' STUFF :)
So the hard cuts to black, while not intentional by me to come off this way, I did realize something cool to their existence. The cuts occur during the kidnapping and training of John, and I think they convey quite well the sudden change in Johns life, the way he was suddenly kidnapped and suddenly going to be trained to be a super soldier. I just think the hard cuts to black reinforce the traumatic and shocking past of John. Or you could just think of it as an amateur editor not realizing how to do a smoother transition ;)
There's also the flip-side, where I transitioned to cutting directly to a scene after John acquires the mjolnir armor. This is supposed to show the events of Halo's 1-4 in a quick way, to reinforce all the s*** John and Cortana have been through together. That way at the end, you get a sense of companionship between the two throughout the video after watching all the significant events of the games play out.
The biggest and most intriguing thing about this particular music video that I think separates it from the rest, is that it shows glimpses of whats to eventually play out in the end. That being Cortana's death :( I didn't just place these in random spots throughout the video either, though the unplanned sync with the music queues really surprised me! I actually sorta mapped it out in my head where I would place these scenes and how they would appear in the video.
The first time you see a glimpse of the death scene is when John meets Halsey in the playground. Halsey creating Cortana by cloning her brain, connects Halsey and Cortana together. So when John and Halsey meet, I felt that it was a great moment to put in the first glimpse of the death scene to catch viewers by surprise. I had a rough outline of where I wanted this video to go, and I planned for, as Cortana's death draws closer, the frequency of the glimpses increases.
The next glimpse occurs when Halsey places the mjolnir helmet on John. Again, another interaction between John and Halsey.
The rest occur when John and Cortana interact, except for one part. It's when John is in the Longsword after Halo's destruction, and he takes his helmet off. I felt like this was an appropriate spot to put in another one of Cortana's scenes since it's a moment where John takes off the helmet and shows his humanity a little. Cortana and him are the only ones in the Longsword, so I thought of it as a subtle character moment between the two.
Then something that may seem odd at first, which is the Didact's death coming off as a unimportant moment in the video. I allowed the music to be silent and sort of somber, because at this point Cortana is dead and the Didact doesn't matter in this video. He's just the plot device that takes Cortana away from Chief, and is dealt with swiftly. Chief is only concerned with Cortana and making her sacrifice not be in vein by detonating the nuke.
I also ended the video with the white screen, before Chief is rescued by the Pelican and talks with Lasky about being a machine. Though that scene is touching, I felt that including it sorta takes away the focus from Chief and Cortana, and more towards Chief and Lasky. I wanted the video to end on just Chief and Cortana, and be about their relationship only.
I also didn't include any scenes from Halo 5, because I feel that including Cortana when she is evil and has this very professional and warrior like armor on, takes away the heart of the relationship between the two. I just wanted this to be a simple, emotional video that concerns itself with the Halo 4 relationship and where that was going. I want anyone to enjoy this, and so I think that by including some scenes from Halo 5 would just confuse people and take some out of the experience.
John's sidekick has arrived (although if you were to ask her, he'd be the sidekick )!This is a revision of the now-retired DrXPS' Cortana model, with a few slight adjustments. Startup company. Her scale has been adjusted to proportionate height against Master Chief's, she no longer spawns underground, her spine bones have been renamed to match Chief's, and her 'root ground' bone has been reinstated.Master Chief model:Master Chief (Unzipped) model:CREDITS:Thanks to DrXPS for the original port of this model, and to for assisting with all modifications.Cortana and the Halo franchise belong to Microsoft and 343 Industries.
ChAIR (stylized) is a registered trademark (Reg. Infinity blade 3 dragoor. Off.) in the United States and elsewhere of Chair Entertainment Group, LLC. Infinity Blade II, Infinity Blade III, Infinity Blade: Awakening, Infinity Blade: Redemption, the Epic Games logo, the Unreal Engine logo, and UE4 and its logo are trademarks of Epic Games, Inc. Off.) and elsewhere.