Matt Creed
ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT REPORTER
PHOTO COURTESY OF NICOLE ROZEMA // Director Jared Pelletier giving tips to actor Jake Commons during filming of Halo: Faith. The film is based on the Halo video game.
Humber grad Ryan Memarzadeh plays the lead role of a Spartan in Halo: Faith, a short film based on the popular video game franchise.
The film takes place in 2552 in the Halo universe, in which there is a war between humans and aliens known as the Covenant. Memarzadeh plays one of three soldiers – called Spartans – who must protect Planet Reach, one of humanity’s last colonies.
“The whole experience, just all around, was really fun,” Memarzadeh said. “The filming was really fun too, running around in those costumes and props.”
He had to wear the bulky Spartan costume for twelve hours a day during filming, with minimal breaks.
“It was really hot,” he said. “I didn’t know I had that much fluid in my body, I was literally dripping with sweat when I got out of that.”
A trailer for the film was released via YouTube on Nov. 10 and has already received over 50, 000 views.
Memarzadeh, a Humber graduate, attributes the early success of the film to director Jared Pelletier, and co-writer/cinematographer, Erik Tallek.
Memarzadeh said he chose to work with Pelletier and Tallek on this project because of the success he had working with them in the past.
“They’ve got a very clear image of what they want to do,” he said. “They always set the bar way too high for themselves, and then they kick it over and go past it.”
“Our goal right from the beginning was to capitalize on an established fan base,” Pelletier said.
Halo: Faith was shot on a minimal budget of about $800.00 in Aurora, Ont. earlier this year and features CGI contributions from Peter Jackson’s Weta Digital Studios.
The idea behind making the film was to show that anyone with enough passion and drive could make a quality film on a low budget, said Pelletier.
“I think the important thing to recognize here is that this was shot on literally no money,” Tallek said.
“This was shot on cameras that everybody has access to, that anyone can afford, borrow from a friend, things like that,” he said.
“It’s important to remember that it’s not the tools that make the carpenter but the carpenter that makes the whole thing.”
The film is expected to be released online in 2012.