The following is an e-mail interview with Brian Curtin, producer and director of “Beyond Black Mesa,” a short film based on “Half-Life” and several other games produced by Valve Software.
WEEKENDER: Please tell us about yourself and why you chose “Half-Life” as the subject for the film.
CURTIN: I currently work at Big Communications as an art director/graphic designer. I graduated from (University of Alabama Birmingham) with an art major focused in graphic design. I played three years of college soccer, and short films have always been a hobby of mine.
Well, I’ve played “Half-Life” and all the expansions, and they’ve always inspired me. It wasn’t until “Half-Life 2” was released, and it had such a cinematic feel to it, it was so well put together and designed. That’s when I first thought, “Man, ‘Half-Life’ would make an awesome movie.” It wasn’t until two years ago, a few good friends and I finally accumulated the resources to attempt to make a short “Half-Life” film. That’s when it started, and little did we know what we were getting ourselves into.
WEEKENDER: Where was “Beyond Black Mesa” filmed?
CURTIN: The full film was shot in Birmingham at Wade Sand & Gravel. It has this big, old, rundown factory attached to it and screams “Half-Life.” The film would not have been possible without that location. The best part was that we could do almost anything we wanted to, as long as we didn’t burn the whole place down.
WEEKENDER: Have you been contacted by anyone from Valve? What has their reaction been to the film?
CURTIN: Luckily, we did get a response. We sent them the short film and they enjoyed it. We didn’t get sued, so I guess that’s a good indication. They were nice enough to put “Beyond Black Mesa” as their first Favorites video on YouTube. Secretly in the back of our heads we imagined they would watch it, instantly send a personal jet to fly us to their offices to test play “Half-Life 3” and let us take home Gordon’s crowbar afterwards. On a more serious note, they were very helpful and responsive.
WEEKENDER: What were some of your biggest concerns while putting the film together?
CURTIN: The main goal was to make the most entertaining short film in the “Half-Life” world on a very small budget. We wanted it to have the feel of “Half-Life” and make nods to the series but not actually attempt to replicate “Half-Life.” When Valve decides to make it a film, they will do it accurately and perfectly. We did not have the resources or funding to make that possible, and we wanted to take some creative freedoms to make it unique to us. Since it was shot very guerilla-style, a huge concern was not killing or injuring anyone during the shoots. A few scenes, I was either hooked up to a rope attached to a car as a ripcord and the Combine soldiers could barely see while running around sharp metal objects and other hazards.
WEEKENDER: I liked the multiple references to the games in the series — the map indicating the “Opposing Force,” the sign for Ravenholm Steel, etc. Are there any other Easter Eggs, or references, you’re most proud of including or that a lot people seem to be missing when they watch the film?
CURTIN: As the camera pans to the Ravenhom sign, you can see “Half-Life” graffiti on the side wall.
After the opening scene, the “Beyond Black Mesa” title comes up and the wide shot of the factory is suppose to be blurred and then focuses in, mocking the loading/startup screen of “Half-Life 2” and the new episodes.
During the fight scene, we were going for an “Indiana Jones” reference, when he pulls out the gun and shoots the guy with the sword. Except we made the gun empty and he resorts to throwing it instead.
WEEKENDER: The zombies from “Left 4 Dead” were an interesting addition, especially since “Half-Life” has its own form of zombies. Yet you chose to leave them out and bring in the “Left 4 Dead” zombies instead. I like that they were included as another point of reference but, strictly speaking, it didn’t feel like canon to have them there. What made you think to include the “Left 4 Dead” zombies?
CURTIN: Totally agree, not canon at all. Two reasons. First, it’s really hard to make good-looking headcrab zombies with no budget. So we decided we would rather have good-looking zombies rather than cheap, bad-looking headcrabs. Too bad some people can’t get past it, though. Second, headcrab zombies aren’t that threatening. We wanted to have a more dramatic scene where the zombies are hunting them down and it made for a more dramatic escape. I think it’s interesting fusing the “Left 4 Dead” zombies in the “Half-Life” world.
WEEKENDER: Ok, let’s talk about the swordfight scene, because this is something a lot of people have been talking about and I think it’s important to address this.
At the beginning of the scene, we see a Combine soldier kick a door open and knock Shephard to the ground. This was a huge, “Oh, shit!” moment for me because it looked very real, and very brutal. Unfortunately, it kind of goes down from there, and I’m not the only one who thinks so.
CURTIN: Yes, we knew we would get criticism for the sword. You’ll have to talk to the producer Matt Hall who also played that Combine for more details. He demanded we use the sword and we had a sword, so we didn’t have to buy something like a stun stick. Please remember that all of this was produced with the best of what we had and we tried to play to our strengths. The fight scene is where we had a little fun, and that’s where some of the breakdancing came into play. I don’t really think Adrian Shephard would move like that, but we thought it would make the fight a little more interesting.
WEEKENDER: Moving on, probably the most obvious question is, where do you go from here? Are you going to attempt to turn this into a series or will the next project be vastly different? Will it be video game-related?
CURTIN: We are looking to start another project. It will not be an extension to “Beyond Black Mesa,” but it will definitely be attractive to gamers and any sci-fi fans. If you noticed the leap from “Concrete Hustle” to “Beyond Black Mesa,” we think this next project will be on completely different level of quality.
WEEKENDER: Lastly, if given the opportunity to create a feature-length film based on a video game, what game would it be?
CURTIN: Hands down, “Half-Life.” Though I think it would be the hardest film to do. I know Valve can do it, and I’m looking forward to that day!
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To see the film for yourself, visit www.beyondblackmesa.com. You can find “Beyond Black Mesa” on Facebook.
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