Difference between revisions of "Movies"

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(Created page with "550px|right|An example of facial expression present in the Meet the Heavy video {{Quotation|'''The Director''' on movies|Paint me a picture.}} '''Movies'...")
 
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[[File:Heavy_face.PNG|550px|right|An example of facial expression present in the Meet the Heavy video]]
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[[File:Heavy face.PNG|550px|right|thumb|''[[Meet the Heavy]]'']]
 
{{Quotation|'''The Director''' on movies|Paint me a picture.}}
 
{{Quotation|'''The Director''' on movies|Paint me a picture.}}
  
'''Movies''' are short animated films created by ''Valve'' to promote ''Team Fortress 2''. They typically last for one to several minutes, and are themed around a specific [[update]] or [[class]].  
+
Several short-animated '''movies''' have been created by [[Valve]] to promote ''[[Team Fortress 2]]''. The most prominent of the shorts are contained in the ''Meet the Team'' series, which featured each of the [[classes]] in their own narrative. Other movies have centred around [[Patches#Major updates|major game updates]] or depicted various game development processes such as the creation of [[list of maps|maps]]. Typically, each video has lasted for three to four minutes.
 
 
  
 
== Movies ==
 
== Movies ==
 
{{Quotation|Former '''''Meet the Team''''' overview|Nine mercenaries have come together for a job. It's the middle-ish part of a century a lot like the one we just had. A simpler time. There are three TV stations, one phone company, and two holding corporations that secretly control every government on the planet. Each corporation administers its half of the world with a multi-disciplined army of paper pushers. For any problem lacking an obvious bureaucratic solution, mercenaries like these are contracted to address the situation through a massive application of force. Now's your chance to Meet the Team.}}  
 
{{Quotation|Former '''''Meet the Team''''' overview|Nine mercenaries have come together for a job. It's the middle-ish part of a century a lot like the one we just had. A simpler time. There are three TV stations, one phone company, and two holding corporations that secretly control every government on the planet. Each corporation administers its half of the world with a multi-disciplined army of paper pushers. For any problem lacking an obvious bureaucratic solution, mercenaries like these are contracted to address the situation through a massive application of force. Now's your chance to Meet the Team.}}  
  
<small><center>Click on any of the images below to be taken to the appropriate Meet the Team or Promotional page.</center></small>
+
{| align="center" style="margin-top:1em;"
{| align="center" style="text-align:center;"
 
 
|-
 
|-
 
| [[File:MTTCard Scout.png|link=Meet the Scout]]
 
| [[File:MTTCard Scout.png|link=Meet the Scout]]
 
| [[File:MTTCard Soldier.png|link=Meet the Soldier]]
 
| [[File:MTTCard Soldier.png|link=Meet the Soldier]]
 
| [[File:MTTCard Pyro.png|link=Currently unreleased content#Unreleased Meet the Team videos]]
 
| [[File:MTTCard Pyro.png|link=Currently unreleased content#Unreleased Meet the Team videos]]
 +
|-
 +
| '''''[[Meet the Scout]]'''''<br /><small>Released April 19, 2008</small>
 +
| '''''[[Meet the Soldier]]'''''<br /><small>Released August 22, 2007</small>
 +
| '''''Meet the Pyro'''''<br /><small>[[Currently unreleased content#Unreleased Meet the Team videos|Unreleased]]</small>
 
|-
 
|-
 
| [[File:MTTCard Demoman.png|link=Meet the Demoman]]
 
| [[File:MTTCard Demoman.png|link=Meet the Demoman]]
 
| [[File:MTTCard Heavy.png|link=Meet the Heavy]]
 
| [[File:MTTCard Heavy.png|link=Meet the Heavy]]
 
| [[File:MTTCard Engineer.png|link=Meet the Engineer]]
 
| [[File:MTTCard Engineer.png|link=Meet the Engineer]]
 +
|-
 +
| '''''[[Meet the Demoman]]'''''<br /><small>Released October 9, 2007</small>
 +
| '''''[[Meet the Heavy]]'''''<br /><small>Released May 14, 2007</small>
 +
| '''''[[Meet the Engineer]]'''''<br /><small>Released September 11, 2007</small>
 
|-
 
|-
 
| [[File:MTTCard Medic.png|link=Meet the Medic]]
 
| [[File:MTTCard Medic.png|link=Meet the Medic]]
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| [[File:MTTCard Spy.png|link=Meet the Spy]]
 
| [[File:MTTCard Spy.png|link=Meet the Spy]]
 
|-
 
|-
| [[File:MTTCard Saxxy.png|link=First Annual Saxxy Awards#Promotional video]]
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| '''''[[Meet the Medic]]'''''<br /><small>Released June 23, 2011</small>
| [[File:MTTCard Apple.png|link=Mac Update trailer]]
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| '''''[[Meet the Sniper]]'''''<br /><small>Released June 7, 2008</small>
 +
| '''''[[Meet the Spy]]'''''<br /><small>Released May 19, 2009</small>
 +
|-
 +
|
 
| [[File:MTTCard Sandvich.png|link=Meet the Sandvich]]
 
| [[File:MTTCard Sandvich.png|link=Meet the Sandvich]]
 +
|
 +
|-
 +
|
 +
| '''''[[Meet the Sandvich]]'''''<br /><small>Released October 10, 2008</small>
 +
|
 
|-
 
|-
 
|}
 
|}
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| [[File:MTTCard EngineerUpdTeaser.png|link=Engineer Update (teaser)]]
 
| [[File:MTTCard EngineerUpdTeaser.png|link=Engineer Update (teaser)]]
 
|-
 
|-
| '''[[Trailer 1]]'''<br/><small>Released on July 19, 2006</small>
+
| '''[[Trailer 1]]'''<br /><small>Released on July 19, 2006</small>
| '''[[Trailer 2]]'''<br/><small>Released on August 21, 2006</small>
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| '''[[Trailer 2]]'''<br /><small>Released on August 21, 2006</small>
| '''[[Engineer Update (teaser)|Engineer Update Teaser]]'''<br/><small>Released on May 5, 2010</small>
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| '''[[Engineer Update (teaser)|Engineer Update Teaser]]'''<br /><small>Released on May 5, 2010</small>
 +
|-
 +
|}
 +
{| align="center"
 +
| [[File:MTTCard Saxxy.png|link=Replay Update (teaser)]]
 +
| [[File:MTTCard Apple.png|link=Mac Update trailer]]
 +
|-
 +
| '''[[Replay Update (teaser)]]'''<br /><small>Released on May 7, 2011</small>
 +
| '''[[Mac Update trailer]]'''<br /><small>Released on June 10, 2010</small>
 
|-
 
|-
 
|}
 
|}
  
=== Developer movies ===
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=== Development movies ===
 
{| align="center"
 
{| align="center"
 
|-
 
|-
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|-
 
|-
 
| '''[[Illustrative Rendering in TF2]]'''<br/><small>Released on September 3, 2007</small>
 
| '''[[Illustrative Rendering in TF2]]'''<br/><small>Released on September 3, 2007</small>
| '''[[Creating Viaduct]]'''<br/><small>Released on August 21, 2009</small>
+
| '''[[Creating Viaduct]]'''<br /><small>Released on August 21, 2009</small>
 +
|-
 
|}
 
|}
  
== Meet the Team ==
+
== ''Meet the Team'' ==
 
{{Quotation|'''''Meet the Team''''' overview|TF2 started with nine mercenaries, each with his own distinct personality. Because they live inside a frantic multiplayer shooter, though, the only facets of those personalities people got to see were the screaming, shooting, and being-on-fire parts. Enter the ''Meet the Team'' shorts, showcasing the mercs in their off-hours—arguing with their parents, barking orders at their head collections, or just strumming a guitar by the campfire. Also we made a movie about a sandwich.}}
 
{{Quotation|'''''Meet the Team''''' overview|TF2 started with nine mercenaries, each with his own distinct personality. Because they live inside a frantic multiplayer shooter, though, the only facets of those personalities people got to see were the screaming, shooting, and being-on-fire parts. Enter the ''Meet the Team'' shorts, showcasing the mercs in their off-hours—arguing with their parents, barking orders at their head collections, or just strumming a guitar by the campfire. Also we made a movie about a sandwich.}}
 +
[[File:Camera.png|200px|right]]
  
'''''Meet the Team''''' is a series of computer-animated shorts starring the various [[classes]] of ''[[Team Fortress 2]]''.  
+
''Meet the Team'' is a series of computer-animated shorts starring the various [[classes]] of ''Team Fortress 2''.  
  
* About the ''Meet the Team'' series
+
The clips have their origins as audition scripts for the voice actors who played the likes of the [[Heavy]], the [[Sniper]] and the rest of the characters in the game. The first video in the series, May 2007's ''Meet the Heavy'', is almost word-for-word what Valve used to cast actor Gary Schwartz. The video was made on the heels of a Portal video used to promote the personality of that game. After the first short was released, viewers praised both the quality of the animation and the humour of the script, likening it to productions by professional animation studios such as Pixar. Due to this highly positive reception, Valve announced plans to release a ''Meet the Team'' video for each individual class in the game, with possible side-features for items and [[non-player characters]] such as ''Meet the Sandvich''. Only ''Meet the [[Medic]]'' and ''Meet the [[Pyro]]'' have yet to be released.  Robin Walker has stated that the videos "tie in to the strategy we have with TF2 of continually updating the service ... it makes a lot more sense." "What the videos do is give ways for people who don't even have Team Fortress 2 yet to get some entertainment from the game. And that may turn them into TF2 players and customers." <ref>"[http://kotaku.com/5273555/valve-dreams-of-team-fortress-2-movie-divulges-meet-the-team-origins Valve Dreams Of Team Fortress 2 Movie, Divulges ‘Meet The Team’ Origins]" by Stephen Totilo, Kotaku, May 31, 2009. Accessed July 16, 2011.</ref>
The clips have their origins as audition scripts for the voice actors who played the likes of the [[Heavy]], the [[Sniper]] and the rest of the characters in the game. The first video in the series, May 2007's ''Meet the Heavy'', is almost word-for-word what Valve used to cast actor Gary Schwartz. The video was made on the heels of a Portal video used to promote the personality of that game. After the first short was released, viewers praised both the quality of the animation and the humour of the script, likening it to productions by professional animation studios such as Pixar. Due to this highly positive reception, Valve announced plans to release a ''Meet the Team'' video for each individual class in the game, with possible side-features for items and [[non-player characters]] such as ''Meet the Sandvich''. Only ''Meet the [[Medic]]'' and ''Meet the [[Pyro]]'' have yet to be released.  Robin Walker has stated that the videos "tie in to the strategy we have with TF2 of continually updating the service ... it makes a lot more sense." "What the videos do is give ways for people who don't even have Team Fortress 2 yet to get some entertainment from the game. And that may turn them into TF2 players and customers." <ref>[http://kotaku.com/5273555/valve-dreams-of-team-fortress-2-movie-divulges-meet-the-team-origins Kotaku - Valve Dreams Of Team Fortress 2 Movie, Divulges ''Meet The Team'' Origins]</ref> [[File:Camera.png|200px|right]]
 
  
The videos were not released for promotional purposes and fan service alone but also influenced the game itself. Eric Wolpaw stated that "It helped everyone on the team get a little bit more in tune with who that particular character was, so we just kept knocking them out and they kept on being popular," An example of how the videos influenced the design of the game was the [[Sandvich]], which according to Robin Walker "came almost directly out of the movie… We felt the movie had justified and created a way for us to have a 'Sandvich' in the game and have that action [of eating it] make any kind of sense in our game world." [[Jarate]] was also added into the game after its appearance in ''Meet the Sniper''.  
+
The videos were not released for promotional purposes and fan service alone but also influenced the game itself. Eric Wolpaw stated that "It helped everyone on the team get a little bit more in tune with who that particular character was, so we just kept knocking them out and they kept on being popular," An example of how the videos influenced the design of the game was the [[Sandvich]], which according to Robin Walker "came almost directly out of the movie... We felt the movie had justified and created a way for us to have a 'Sandvich' in the game and have that action [of eating it] make any kind of sense in our game world." [[Jarate]] was also added into the game after its appearance in ''Meet the Sniper''.  
  
 
The videos also helped the game's technology. Valve used ''Meet the Heavy'' to test the facial animation system the studio was developing for ''Team Fortress 2''. According to Walker, the new system, "allowed our characters to have a much greater range of expressions than we were able to do in Half-Life… We wanted a test case for that." Ultimately, what they got to work in the ''Meet the Team'' videos is what would display for players running the game itself at its highest settings. Walker recalled that team's pleasure about "the expression on the Heavy at the end when he's shooting and screaming." It was no fake. "It wasn't this thing that the coolest bit in [the movie] was something that would happen in the game."
 
The videos also helped the game's technology. Valve used ''Meet the Heavy'' to test the facial animation system the studio was developing for ''Team Fortress 2''. According to Walker, the new system, "allowed our characters to have a much greater range of expressions than we were able to do in Half-Life… We wanted a test case for that." Ultimately, what they got to work in the ''Meet the Team'' videos is what would display for players running the game itself at its highest settings. Walker recalled that team's pleasure about "the expression on the Heavy at the end when he's shooting and screaming." It was no fake. "It wasn't this thing that the coolest bit in [the movie] was something that would happen in the game."
  
Attendants of the Spike TV 2010 VGA Awards reported seeing a private screening of a cut of ''Meet the Medic'' during the event. Soon after, an announcement for the release of Meet the Medic was posted on the [[TF2 Official Blog]]. Meet the Medic was later officially released on June 23, 2011.
+
Attendants of the Spike TV 2010 VGA Awards reported seeing a private screening of a cut of ''Meet the Medic'' during the event. Soon after, an announcement for the release of ''Meet the Medic'' was posted on the [[TF2 Official Website]]. ''Meet the Medic'' was later officially released on June 23, 2011.
  
 +
== Source Filmmaker ==
  
== Source Filmmaker ==
+
Source Filmmaker is a video creation tool that manipulates the [[Source Engine]] to animate and record various scenes in game environments. The tool has been used by Valve to create the ''Meet the Team'' series in ''Team Fortress 2'' and the introductory videos for both ''{{w|Left 4 Dead}}'' and ''{{w|Left 4 Dead 2}}''. Source Filmmaker is capable of producing a wide range of cinematographic effects and techniques such as motion blur and depth of field, and enables the use of significantly-higher quality textures for in-game models, as depicted in the ''Meet the Team'' series.
The tool used to create ''Team Fortress 2''<nowiki>'</nowiki>s "Meet the Team" videos as well as ''Left 4 Dead''<nowiki>'</nowiki>s introduction video is the Source Filmmaker, an application that runs inside the engine. It allows users to record themselves many times over in the same scene, creating the illusion of many participants, as well as supporting a wide range of cinematographic effects and techniques such as motion blur and depth of field. (Motion blur has now been added to the games themselves, though only when the view is moving at high speeds - not per-object as in the film-maker). The tool also allows the use of extra-high quality textures for the classes as seen in the Meet the Team videos. This tool was leaked, being only possible to use with the public beta version of TF2. Valve have stated an intention to release the tool publicly at some point in the future. Many videos using the Source Filmmaker can be found on YouTube[http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=source+filmmaker&aq=f].
 
  
== See Also ==
+
The tool was left in the game code and is accessible through the [[Team Fortress 2 Beta]], however, Valve has stated its intention to release a stable version of the tool publicly in a later release. Valve founder and managing director {{w|Gabe Newell}} said in an interview that the Source Filmmaker is "in the pipeline for a public release".<ref>"[http://forums.steampowered.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1803644 Back from Valve]" on [[Steam Users' Forums]], [http://forums.steampowered.com/forums/member.php?u=588243 Political Gamer], posted March 22, 2011. Accessed June 18, 2011.</ref>
*[[Replay]]
 
*[[Replay Update]]
 
*[[Meet the Director]]
 
  
== External links ==
+
== See also ==
* [http://www.teamfortress.com/movies.php Official Movies page on the Team Fortress 2 blog]
+
* [[Replay]]
 +
* [[Comics]]
  
 
== References ==
 
== References ==
 
<references/>
 
<references/>
 +
 +
== External links ==
 +
* [http://www.teamfortress.com/movies.php Official Movies page on the Team Fortress 2 blog]
 +
* [http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=source+filmmaker Videos on YouTube] created with Source Filmmaker
  
  
 
{{Video nav}}
 
{{Video nav}}
 +
[[Category:Videos| ]]
 +
[[Category:Meet the Team]]

Revision as of 09:10, 16 July 2011

Paint me a picture.
The Director on movies

Several short-animated movies have been created by Valve to promote Team Fortress 2. The most prominent of the shorts are contained in the Meet the Team series, which featured each of the classes in their own narrative. Other movies have centred around major game updates or depicted various game development processes such as the creation of maps. Typically, each video has lasted for three to four minutes.

Movies

Nine mercenaries have come together for a job. It's the middle-ish part of a century a lot like the one we just had. A simpler time. There are three TV stations, one phone company, and two holding corporations that secretly control every government on the planet. Each corporation administers its half of the world with a multi-disciplined army of paper pushers. For any problem lacking an obvious bureaucratic solution, mercenaries like these are contracted to address the situation through a massive application of force. Now's your chance to Meet the Team.
— Former Meet the Team overview
MTTCard Scout.png MTTCard Soldier.png MTTCard Pyro.png
Meet the Scout
Released April 19, 2008
Meet the Soldier
Released August 22, 2007
Meet the Pyro
Unreleased
MTTCard Demoman.png MTTCard Heavy.png MTTCard Engineer.png
Meet the Demoman
Released October 9, 2007
Meet the Heavy
Released May 14, 2007
Meet the Engineer
Released September 11, 2007
MTTCard Medic.png MTTCard Sniper.png MTTCard Spy.png
Meet the Medic
Released June 23, 2011
Meet the Sniper
Released June 7, 2008
Meet the Spy
Released May 19, 2009
MTTCard Sandvich.png
Meet the Sandvich
Released October 10, 2008

Promotional movies

MTTCard Teaser1.png MTTCard Teaser2.png MTTCard EngineerUpdTeaser.png
Trailer 1
Released on July 19, 2006
Trailer 2
Released on August 21, 2006
Engineer Update Teaser
Released on May 5, 2010
MTTCard Saxxy.png MTTCard Apple.png
Replay Update (teaser)
Released on May 7, 2011
Mac Update trailer
Released on June 10, 2010

Development movies

MTTCard Render.png MTTCard Viaduct.png
Illustrative Rendering in TF2
Released on September 3, 2007
Creating Viaduct
Released on August 21, 2009

Meet the Team

TF2 started with nine mercenaries, each with his own distinct personality. Because they live inside a frantic multiplayer shooter, though, the only facets of those personalities people got to see were the screaming, shooting, and being-on-fire parts. Enter the Meet the Team shorts, showcasing the mercs in their off-hours—arguing with their parents, barking orders at their head collections, or just strumming a guitar by the campfire. Also we made a movie about a sandwich.
Meet the Team overview
Camera.png

Meet the Team is a series of computer-animated shorts starring the various classes of Team Fortress 2.

The clips have their origins as audition scripts for the voice actors who played the likes of the Heavy, the Sniper and the rest of the characters in the game. The first video in the series, May 2007's Meet the Heavy, is almost word-for-word what Valve used to cast actor Gary Schwartz. The video was made on the heels of a Portal video used to promote the personality of that game. After the first short was released, viewers praised both the quality of the animation and the humour of the script, likening it to productions by professional animation studios such as Pixar. Due to this highly positive reception, Valve announced plans to release a Meet the Team video for each individual class in the game, with possible side-features for items and non-player characters such as Meet the Sandvich. Only Meet the Medic and Meet the Pyro have yet to be released. Robin Walker has stated that the videos "tie in to the strategy we have with TF2 of continually updating the service ... it makes a lot more sense." "What the videos do is give ways for people who don't even have Team Fortress 2 yet to get some entertainment from the game. And that may turn them into TF2 players and customers." [1]

The videos were not released for promotional purposes and fan service alone but also influenced the game itself. Eric Wolpaw stated that "It helped everyone on the team get a little bit more in tune with who that particular character was, so we just kept knocking them out and they kept on being popular," An example of how the videos influenced the design of the game was the Sandvich, which according to Robin Walker "came almost directly out of the movie... We felt the movie had justified and created a way for us to have a 'Sandvich' in the game and have that action [of eating it] make any kind of sense in our game world." Jarate was also added into the game after its appearance in Meet the Sniper.

The videos also helped the game's technology. Valve used Meet the Heavy to test the facial animation system the studio was developing for Team Fortress 2. According to Walker, the new system, "allowed our characters to have a much greater range of expressions than we were able to do in Half-Life… We wanted a test case for that." Ultimately, what they got to work in the Meet the Team videos is what would display for players running the game itself at its highest settings. Walker recalled that team's pleasure about "the expression on the Heavy at the end when he's shooting and screaming." It was no fake. "It wasn't this thing that the coolest bit in [the movie] was something that would happen in the game."

Attendants of the Spike TV 2010 VGA Awards reported seeing a private screening of a cut of Meet the Medic during the event. Soon after, an announcement for the release of Meet the Medic was posted on the TF2 Official Website. Meet the Medic was later officially released on June 23, 2011.

Source Filmmaker

Source Filmmaker is a video creation tool that manipulates the Source Engine to animate and record various scenes in game environments. The tool has been used by Valve to create the Meet the Team series in Team Fortress 2 and the introductory videos for both Template:W and Template:W. Source Filmmaker is capable of producing a wide range of cinematographic effects and techniques such as motion blur and depth of field, and enables the use of significantly-higher quality textures for in-game models, as depicted in the Meet the Team series.

The tool was left in the game code and is accessible through the Team Fortress 2 Beta, however, Valve has stated its intention to release a stable version of the tool publicly in a later release. Valve founder and managing director Template:W said in an interview that the Source Filmmaker is "in the pipeline for a public release".[2]

See also

References

  1. "Valve Dreams Of Team Fortress 2 Movie, Divulges ‘Meet The Team’ Origins" by Stephen Totilo, Kotaku, May 31, 2009. Accessed July 16, 2011.
  2. "Back from Valve" on Steam Users' Forums, Political Gamer, posted March 22, 2011. Accessed June 18, 2011.

External links