First: lets look at the basic plots and titles for the movies. I'm not saying they should be this, but they are the best version of a script I've seen so far.
1. Half Life: Resonance
This one would be set during the first game and would follow the story of it pretty closely, the major difference I would make is to have Gordon Freeman and Adrian Shepard team up. At the end, Gordon would be transported to Xen, while Adrian is left behind and then reqruited by the G-man. In Xen, Gordon defeats Nihilianth and also gets put into stasis by mr. man.
2. Half Life: Suppression
Suppression would take place during the seven-hour war and would feature Adrian as the main character. This part of the lore is barely mentioned in the games, and ends in the Combine winning. And thats the point. Adrian is also never heard of again in the games, but the G-man appears to reference his failurre during the first dcene of Half Life 2. This could be a straight up war movie, happening maybe a few months after the events of Resonance. In the end, Adrian would of course die, or would he???
3. Half Life: Resistance
Aaaand were already at the start of the final few days in the Half life- timeline. Covering the expiriences that Gordon goes through between his arrival in City 17, all the way through to him leaving Ravenholm. So setting the scene for the rise of the resistance. This film should be droughted in loneliness, making any interaction between characters something important. Much like the game. Splitting the game into 2 movies, in this case, would make sense, it would provide a good narrative on its own, and setting the scene for the destruction of the Citadel in the next one. And making the end set in Ravenholm would be a great way of setting the tone of the final one.
4. Half Life: Anticitizen One
Speaking of the last one; here it is. maybe, well see. As the title implies, it would be the second half of Half Life 2. Highway 17, Nova Prospect and the citadel would all be here, some parts would of course have to be stripped down, but a must is the game of chicken with the razor-train. Mostly retelling the game, The ending would naturally be: "Time, doctor Freeman?" And gordon being put into stasis. And the future of Earth left uncertain, Gordon waiting for his next assingment. The Episodes dont need movies yet. Conclusion to the games first, Dammit! These ideas arent, and probably shouldn't be what the movies will be, but this is a good start, make sure this gets to valve.
Here are the posters and some guidelines to the look and making of the movies, as well as tips and musts for making a half life movie
What comes to the tone and visual style of the motion-pictures. Look no further than Children of Men, with a similar setup and a perfect bleak European setting, Gordons bright-orange HEV-suit would really look like a symbol of hope and act as a strong contrast for the Combines filtered down and grey colours. The tone should be similar to the games, serious but with a spoonfull of humanity, a pinch of humor and a bucket of optimistic and fun characters.
Tips and musts to making the a Half Life movie
-Dont wander too far from the source material, look what happened to the Far Cry movie. Sharing only the name with your source material is the biggest mistake you could make here.
-Victor Antonov. The desinger of the visual style and City 17. That is all.
-Get G-man right. G-man is the most mysterious character in all of gaming. Telling too much or too little would ruin the story and the narrative of the entire franchise. You should mostly stick to what we've seen from him in the games.
-Writing is key! If the story is great but the dialouge and pasing are horrible, youll be in trouble.
-Have someone from Valve look over.
- Make the relationships realistic, so like in the games
Casting and Directing and Writing
Techincally, you could cast anyone who looks the part as Gordon, but he should be playn simillary to Mad Max. Others are a bit harder, there are though some obvious choises; Morgan Freeman as Eli, Sean Connery as Wallace Breen and Rowan Atkinson as Odessa Cubbage. For the rest, hire Andy Serkis and mo-cap him for all I care. No real candidates come to mind. Maybe Edward Norton as Gordon, though he might be too old to play the 27-year-old MIT-graduate.
Writing could be done by the writers from valve, if they can do it properly, otherwise. Here I am!
Though J.J. Abrams was rumoured to be working with valve, his invovment in both star wars/trek, makes him basically impossible. Ridley Scotts visual directing and work on such movies as The Martian and Alien, make him my favourite. Guillermo Del Toro could also prove rather fitting for the rather surrealistic world of Half Life. And if you cant find any "good" ones; Alfonso Cuaron would most likely nail it.
And if youre only making one; make Suppression. But explain who Adrian Shepard at the start, Maybe a flashback during the G-mans mandatory speech.
Sorry for the long post but this is a subject that is very dear to me.
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