Keep It Clean (trailer)

This article is about the Halo 3: ODST trailer. For the achievement in Halo: Reach, see KEEP IT CLEAN.

Keep It Clean was the first trailer released by Bungie to announce Halo 3: ODST (then-under the working title "Halo 3: Recon"). The trailer was released in two parts, the first a condensed teaser released on September 25, 2008 at 7:07pm PST, the one year anniversary of Halo 3,^[1] and the second, a full-length trailer, on October 8 during the Tokyo Game Show 2008.^[2]

The announcement of a new game was first hinted at in a cryptic blog post on Bungie.net of the same name on September 19. The blog post featured an in-universe communique from a comms officer aboard the prowler UNSC Tokyo Rules, a nod to the then-upcoming Tokyo Game Show.^[3] This was followed by a second blog post titled "PARDON OUR DUST" on September 22; it featured another in-universe communique between Veronica Dare and the commanding officer of UNSC Say My Name, in which Dare takes command of an ODST squad.^[4]

Transcript[edit]

Trailer opens with New Mombasa; there are several skyscrapers in the foreground, including buildings that bear the logos of EnerGuide, SinoViet, AMG, and Traxus. The two tallest buildings are near identical, standing in the middle of the cluster. In the background, a fire rages at the base of the Mombasa Tether; the Solemn Penance is peering from behind it. Gunfire can be heard in the distance.

The scene abruptly cuts to numerous M8900 drop pods entering Earth's atmosphere. Fire and smoke engulfs the base of the pods.

The scene returns to the New Mombasa skyline, now seen from a camera that belongs to the Superintendent; there is an overlay of information. On the overlay, TANAGA.0086 identifies the area as the Tanaga district. The time is 16:11. In the background, the Solemn Penance begins moving away from the Tether.

>POST SCAN CAMERA ACTIVE

>SCAN >>POP:0

>[EVAC COMPLETE]

The Superintendent switches to another camera looking at a deserted street; LUMUMBA.0624 on the overlay identifies the area as the Lumumba district. A smaller group of text appears at the bottom right of the overlay:

_{SIERRA117 LOC LINK}

The Superintendent switches to a third camera looking upwards between the two tallest buildings in Tanaga; MBARAKI.2552 on the overlay identifies the area as the Mbaraki district. Blinking text appears at the bottom of the overlay:

THRESHOLD TRIGGER

The Superintendet's expression in the overlay switches from neutral to frustration. The camera pans upwards; dozens of drop pods are approaching the city. The camera briefly goes out of focus, before zooming in and refocusing. The overlay highlights a squad of 16 drop pods veering to the right. Blinking text appears at the bottom left of the overlay:

AUTH. INQ.

At the same time, a smaller group of text appears at the bottom left of the overlay:

_{ACTIVATING SUBROUTINE "VERGIL"}

_{WARNING! DATA LEAK ON LEVEL 9!}

The remaining drop pods head left, where the slipspace rupture from Solemn Pennace creates a blinding electromagnetic pulse.

AUTH. NEGATIVE

The Superintendent cycles to the Tanaga district camera as static fill the screen. The text overlay and footage are distorted as the pulse grows larger and engulfs the city.

EMP TRIP DETECT

The Superintendent cycles to a fourth, shaking camera; the overlay says ---ERR-]]--- before briefly snapping to MAKADARA.0339 identifies the area as the Makadara district. The drop pods fly across the camera, flying wildly off course.

SAVE SYS STATE

The Superintendent cycles to the Tanaga district camera; it catches a glimpse of the pods being blown crazily across the district before more buildings are caught in the rapidly expanding explosion. The pulse reaches the camera, cutting to black.

Reinitializing, the Superintendent cycles through all his expressions, followed by "Please Remain Calm" warnings being displayed in numerous languages, and then the messages:

PLEASE REMAIN CALM

EXPECT DELAY

ROAD CLOSED

YELLOW MEANS YIELD

OBEY POSTED LIMITS

PARDON OUR DUST

MADDIE, WHERE ARE YOU?

PROCEED WITH CAUTION

DANGER: FLOOD ZONE

FINAL NOTICE: BILL PAST DUE

KEEP IT CLEAN

A random series of numbers, letters and symbols scroll quickly across the black screen.

REINITIALIZE...

The Superintendent's overlay reappears on the screen; the expression in the overlay switches to sadness.

< WARNING! METROPOLITAN DISASTER!

> CHECKING POWER...

> CHECKING COMMS...

> ALERTING EMERGENCY SERVICES!

The Superintendent cycles through all of the cameras. The camera at Tanaga, now tilted at an angle, shows the skyline with smoke pouring from the city. It briefly switches to the camera at Lumumba; it briefly snaps to the near-pristine condition before switching to the current state: in ruins. It switches to another camera, showing more damage to the city. It returns to the damaged camera at Tanaga with a distorted overlay. A single drop pod descends on the city; its trajectory is different from all other pods.

The Superintendent switches to the camera at Mbaraki; the drop pod reaches supersonic speed as it flies between the two tallest buildings at Tanaga and it hits the camera up front. The Superintendent switches to the camera at Lumumba; the drop pod grazes the top of a building on the left, damaging a display board on its wall. It then slams into the side of the building across, creating an incredible cloud of smoke.

MOTOR VEHICLE CRASH

The Superintendent switches to another camera at Lumumba, looking down at the smoke cloud from an elevated position. The overlay calculates the structural and inventory loss caused by the drop pod, and attempts to alert the property owner.

FATALITY ESTIMATE: 99.99%

The overlay's highlight function attempts to locate the drop pod from the smoke cloud.

ACQUIRING VEHICLE ID...

The Superintendent's expression switch from sadness to curiosity.

VEHICLE UNKNOWN

The Superintendent switches to another camera inside the building at Lumumba. The camera zooms into the smokecloud behind a destroyed wall.

ACCESSING N.M.P.D. DATABASE...

NO MATCH

The Superintendent switches to another camera inside the building at Lumumba. The camera refocuses on the drop pod among debris on the floor. The overlay highlights the pod.

ACCESSING U.N.S.C. DATABASE...

The Superintendent's expression switch from curiosity to frustration. The camera distorts briefly.

*SEARCH TERMINATED!*

Static fills the screen, and the camera shuts down.

*SEARCH TERMINATED!* [ONI .SEC.PRCTL-1A]

The Superintendent's expression takes over as the focus in the black screen; its expression switches from curiosity to anger, then to rest.

SYSTEM MAINTENANCE REQUIRED

The Superintendent switches to the Lumumba camera looking at the street.

DATA CORE OFFLINE [16:02:59]

EXTENDED EVENT MONITORING

Time speeds up. The Superintendent contacts the parking bureau, then attempts to dispatch the sanitation services, which did not respond. At nightfall, it begins raining. The display board on the wall flickers.

CIVIL DSP OVERRIDE...

A smaller group of text appears at the bottom right of the overlay:

_{SAY MY NAME}

At 22:02, time slows down again. A ray of light streaks across the street, but the source is obscured by the building. The Superintendent's expression switch from rest to anger. The board displays text: TURN LIGHT OFF PLEASE.

MAINTENANCE INTERRUPT! [22:02:20]

The light is revealed to be a searchlight from a Ru'swum-pattern Phantom; it slowly emerges over the building. The display board shuts down as the overlay highlights the board.

STREET LIGHT SEC SHUTDOWN

The overlay highlights the Phantom. The camera zooms in on the Phantom.

UNKNOWN RESPONDER! N.M.P.D. ALERT!

A smaller group of text appears at the bottom right of the overlay:

_{[DARE.V.500341(S1)]}

As the Phantom flies over the street and its searchlight illuminates the building holding the drop pod, rustling sounds can be heard from the crash site. The Superintendent's expression switch from anger to neutral. The camera pans downward and zooms in on the crash site.

EXTENDED EVENT MONITORING...CONFIRM

The Superintendent switches to the camera inside the building at Lumumba; the drop pod is obscured in the darkness. The Superintendent enables light enhancement on the camera. The Superintendent recalculates the fatality estimate, which is displayed on the overlay, with the percentage rapidly dropping.

FATALITY ESTIMATE: 00.52%

The drop pod's door depressurizes, and blasts open, hitting the camera. Cut to black.

The scene cuts to the Rookie, who cautiously stays inside his pod and scans the area with a suppressed variant of the M7 SMG. He steps out of the drop pod; as he looks around him, he pulls out the SMG's stock to its fully extended setting. He is alerted to the Phantom's searchlight; the Phantom hovers over the building and its searchlight moves across a hole on the roof. As the ODST moves towards the street, he spots a patrol approaching. The scene switches to his heads-up display; his VISR identifies a pack of Jiralhanae, armed with Spikers, Vostu-pattern carbines and a Pez'tk-pattern fuel rod gun.

The patrol passes by the ODST. The Jiralhanae Captain stops to sniff the air and then, apparently as a threat to would-be attackers, barks with determined ferocity before continuing on. The Rookie stays in the shadows with his weapon raised until the patrol leaves. Then, seeing a red light blinking before him, he notices the display screen looming above the wrecked street. Controlled by the Superintendent, the display board now reads "Keep Right" with directional arrows. Another display board activates, with yellow arrows pointing at the same direction. Down the street, a third display activates with a red arrow pointing in the same direction. The first display board now says "Proceed with Caution" as an aid to the lost soldier. Two streetlights activate, one after the other, lighting the path ahead. Taking the advice, the Rookie charges down the streets.

A lightning flash signals a cut to the stormy sky.

Halo 3 ODST

NEW HERO

NEW CAMPAIGN

PREPARE TO DROP

FALL 2009

Bungie

Microsoft Game Studios

Production notes[edit]

The trailer was subtly teased during G4's G-Phoria awards show in 2008. During Martin O'Donnell's acceptance speech on behalf of Bungie for Halo 3 winning the Game Of The Year Award, he began teasing the next Halo game before being interrupted by others, with one telling him to "keep it clean."^[5]
One can see the number 7777777 on the left side of the overlay as the message appears after ">Reinitialize..." is displayed.
Sadie Endesha was originally named Maddie. Her name was changed after the message "Maddie, where are you?" in this trailer caused complaints, as it was unintentionally echoing the disappearance of British child Madeleine McCann.^[6] An edited version of the trailer replaces the controversial banner with one that says "CORE DATA CORRUPTION."
At about the 1:47 mark in the trailer, just after the Rookie climbs out his drop pod and stands up, he turns up his head to look at the sky while keeping his back to the camera. This is the same position he is in on the cover art of Halo 3:ODST, albeit with a different background.
The music in the trailer was later released in the Halo 3: ODST Original Soundtrack, titled as "Prepare to Drop" in the track Finale.

Gallery[edit]

Press kit[edit]

Wallpaper featuring the Rookie.
A street in Lumumba.
M8900 drop pods entering Earth's atmosphere.
Tanaga, seen from the Superintendent's damaged camera.
The Superintendent's interface.
A Phantom approaches Lumumba.
A lightning illuminates the Rookie.
The Rookie at night.
A Phantom's searchlight behind the Rookie.
A Phantom and its searchlight overhead.
The Rookie's VISR mode highlights the Covenant patrol.
The Jiralhanae Captain sniffs the air.
The Rookie notices a display board.

Screenshots[edit]

The Tanaga District of New Mombasa.
M8900 drop pods entering Earth's atmosphere.
The near-pristine, but deserted streets of Lumumba in New Mombasa.
The Superintendent attempts to link with John-117's location.
Dozens of drop pods descending from orbit.
Drop pods falling wildly after being hit by the EMP blast.
Distorted footage of New Mombasa being hit by the EMP shockwave.
The same street in Lumumba, now damaged and littered with debris.
A tilted camera, showing the smoldering metropolis. A single drop pod (top right) enters the city.
A drop pod falling to the ground.
The Superintendent tells the Rookie to "Keep Right".