Could a Team Fortress 2 animation film work?

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bartholen_v1legacy

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Jan 24, 2009
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This has been on my mind for a while. I'm sure all of you who have seen the "Meet the class" videos have thought what it would be like to have, say, a 30 minute short film about TF2.

A film about a bunch of cartoon guys shooting each other may not sound deep (well, it's not), but TF2's classes offer a surprising amount of themes to discuss when you think about it. Here are a few examples:

Friendship or homosexual relationships between men. By my account the first is not a very discussed theme in movies overall. Of course this would be best carried by the Heavy and the Medic.

War without reason, carried by the Demoman and the Soldier. With the recent "War!" update, it seems that Soldier and Demoman have some hate for each other, but there hasn't been a reason given. One could think of this as a racial theme, since Demoman is black, but other options exist as well; maybe Soldier's ancestor was a dick to Demoman's ancestor, and the war has been going on since.

Loneliness and the need of other people, carried by the Sniper. Sniper is almost always alone, hanging back while others complete objectives. This could also carry the theme of selfishness, because while others carry the battle forward and complete objectives, the Sniper just racks up personal kills. But he needs other classes to protect him from Spies and other enemies.

Gender roles, carried by Pyro. It's been here forever that Pyro might actually be a woman, so I'm going to assume she is. Pyro is often at the very front of the line, getting up close and personal with enemies in battle and often risks her life to go further. Does that sound like a typical "woman role"? Not to me.

Betrayal and the hiding of one's true nature, carried by Spy. He is almost always in disguise, uses treacherous and indirect methods to harass the enemy, only to stab someone in the back eventually. And the Spy would also make a cool character.

Thoughts, comments please. What do you think? What other themes could the movie discuss? Could it actually work on any level?
 

Voodoomancer

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Jun 8, 2009
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bartholen said:
...
War without reason, carried by the Demoman and the Soldier. With the recent "War!" update, it seems that Soldier and Demoman have some hate for each other, but there hasn't been a reason given. One could think of this as a racial theme, since Demoman is black, but other options exist as well; maybe Soldier's ancestor was a dick to Demoman's ancestor, and the war has been going on since.
...
http://www.teamfortress.com/war/administrator/

It's Valve.

They like to elaborate on things.

[sub]Also, pyro's probably a guy[/sub]
 

Meggiepants

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Jan 19, 2010
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It could work for players of TF2, but I have to admit, most of those TF2 videos I don't really get, because I don't play the game. There are a number of inside jokes in them that without a source of reference, people won't find all that interesting.

But for fans, I don't see why it shouldn't work.
 

Samwise137

J. Jonah Jameson
Aug 3, 2010
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I think a TF2 animation could work but probably not in the way you've indicated above. In the span of 21 minutes (the typical time for a short) you'd be hardpressed to develop a plot that intricate. With that many characters, you'd have a tough time even getting them established. I'd love to see a full film based on the TF2 characters but calling it Team Fortress: The Movie would be AWFUL. I'm rambling a bit here but my point is, I'd love to see it (or even work on animating it), but it needs work.
 

TheComedown

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Aug 24, 2009
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I don't think it would work especially with the ideas you put forth, they are all these big deep and meaningful ideas and stuff, but its team fortress 2 for crying out loud lets face it, its not very deep and would ruin all the fun lightheartedness of the game and characters.

A tf2 film could work, but only as a kind of random comedy with something like a small spec ops mission or something with a whole bunch goofy shit going on. But certainly nothing dealing with racism, homosexuality or anything like that.
 

Cccarrer_2

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Sep 15, 2010
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The character designs and storytelling scream, "Brad Bird (Incredibles, Iron Giant) make a movie out of me!"

Those are some pretty deep side stories there.... humor in those cases would also be tragic, especially the sniper one...
 

ProfessorLayton

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Nov 6, 2008
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Not if you're trying to make it serious like that. And only if Valve is behind it. As long as it's like the "Meet the..." videos and made by Valve it will be good.
 

WelshDanny

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May 10, 2010
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I think Tesm Fortress 2 would definetely work as a proper film, however as a comedy thing, not as anything that deep.
 

Saint_Zvlkx

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Oct 16, 2009
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The Pyro IS female. If you're asked to beat your previous best, then it says "Can you beat her record" or something like that.
 

bartholen_v1legacy

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Jan 24, 2009
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I used the "short film" only as an example. Of course it would then be harder to fit any meaningful story into it. And I never meant the film would have to be serious in any way. The themes could be addressed in more subtle ways, like after the Heavy and Medic have won a battle they hug, and just a bit too long and then have a weird glance at each other.

Or when the Sniper gets backstabbed and is lying on the ground, taking his last breaths, he takes an ironic grin onto his face and mutters something. I actually imagined the plot would be like
TheComedown said:
random comedy with something like a small spec ops mission or something with a whole bunch goofy shit going on
where the characters are assembled as some sort of an elite team to take down a crime lord or something, so the themes I listed wouldn't be the whole point.
 

DazZ.

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Jun 4, 2009
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Saint_Zvlkx said:
The Pyro IS female. If you're asked to beat your previous best, then it says "Can you beat her record" or something like that.
That switches between "her" and "his", and again it's just Valve messing around with the possibility like they do on the Blog.
 

Outright Villainy

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Jan 19, 2010
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It wouldn't work as a serious film like you mentioned. I'd probably assume it was parody to be honest. I'd like some sort of epic battle that involves all the classes working together in a cool way though, all the meet the team videos so far have been solo efforts. So it's about time they put some team in the videos!
 

JohanGasMask

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Jun 25, 2009
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What about the scout? Isn't he the one risking his life diving in enemy territory capturing there intelligence, always running and outsmarting the enemy, beating them over the head with a steel bat while dodging bullets. How could you forget about the scout?
Edit: But i think a TF2 short film would work if they would take it just as seriously as the did with the "Meet the..." shorts.
 

Saint_Zvlkx

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Oct 16, 2009
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DazZ. said:
Saint_Zvlkx said:
The Pyro IS female. If you're asked to beat your previous best, then it says "Can you beat her record" or something like that.
That switches between "her" and "his", and again it's just Valve messing around with the possibility like they do on the Blog.
Shut up! You're ruining my dream!
:)