Editing This Spartan Life

{{Status|RealWorld}}
{{Wikipedia|This Spartan Life}}
{{Fan made}}
{{cleanup}}
{{Machinima infobox
|image =[[File:TLS CUSTOM POSTER.jpg|250px]]
|created =Chris Burke
|director =
|voices =
*Damian Lacedaemion (Host)
*Octobit
*The 5 Solid Gold Elite Dancers
|release =June 28, 2005 - present
|runtime =
|episode =7 Episodes, 9 Video Blogs
}}
'''This Spartan Life''' is an award-winning talk show created by Bong + Dern Productions and produced and directed by Chris Burke, who hosts the show under the pseudonym Damian Lacedaemion. The show first aired on June 28, 2005 and is distributed over the Internet. Created using the [[machinima]] technique of recording the video and audio from a multiplayer [[Xbox Live]] session of [[Bungie Studios]]' first-person shooter ''[[Halo 2]]''. The half-hour episodes are released in six smaller parts, called modules. Guests, such as Bungie Studios' audio director [[Martin O'Donnell]] are interviewed via Xbox Live within the online multiplayer worlds of ''Halo 2''.

Some of the comedy in the show arises from holding serious interviews in a chaotic game world, highlighted via game glitches, combat with unruly guests, and the presence of other players who outwardly appear to be unaware that the show is being filmed at all. These players fire upon other players, camera operators, and even the host and his guests.

''This Spartan Life'' created "Webisodes" for Spiketv.com, for the 2005 Video Game Awards.

==Halo 3==
This Spartan Life is placed in the ''Halo 2'' map [[Headlong]], however, in Episode five, Module four, This Spartan Life transitioned to the ''Halo 3'' map [[Construct]] as its new stage.

The world of ''Halo 3'' was discovered by the Solid Gold Elite dancers originally intended as a secret in TSL canon, it broke out and the transition occurred, the camera effects had also been changed into theater mode, instead of using a live player cameraman, however, fighting is still occurring in the background. 

Also, elements of [[campaign]] mode may make an appearance as shown in the briefing bonus video (not posted on the TSL website).

==History==
The idea of ''This Spartan Life'' was first conceived in late 2004, at Bong + Dern Productions when there was a drop in the amount of audio work for the company. Both ''[[Halo]]'' players, Chris Burke and John Dylan Keith began to develop the idea of a ''Halo''-based machinima series. The creator, Chris Burke, wanted to create a sort of social environment for nonviolent interaction, but he had little success, mainly because "very few people were willing to stop shooting".<ref name="LeeTSL">Lee, Interview: This Spartan Life A Talk Show in Game Space.</ref> After discovering the true potential to hold an intelligent conversation in the game, he was inspired to create a talk show, originally to be called ''The Spartan 117 Dialogs'',{{Ref/Reuse|LeeTSL}} the name of which would have come from the official code for the [[John-117|Master Chief]]. However, before episode one was released the name was changed to ''This Spartan Life'', and all releases have been under that name. The show, while fairly popular, saw a spike popularity with the release of its fifth blog, which centered on network neutrality. That episode became widespread and was shown to the United States Congress.<ref>[http://www.thisspartanlife.com/news.2006.05.10.shtml ''This Spartan Life'': News, 05.10.2006]</ref> ''This Spartan Life'' experienced a surge in media attention, as shown by ''This Spartan Life'''s press page.<ref>''This Spartan Life'': Press.</ref>

==Characters==
[[File:1206208097 Damianandoctobithalo3.jpg|thumb|250px|Damian and Octobit in [[Halo 3]].]]This Spartan Life has a full cast of characters, each with their own unique qualities, which serve to move the show along. As is typical in machinima, the characters have very strong personalities and are heavily characterized in order to make up for the weakness of machinima: the inability to act. The host, Damian Lacedaemion, is a personable soldier in gray with a smiley face emblem adorning his armor. He leads the show with his carefree manner, and when his guests come under fire, he often has to fall back on his soldiering skills to save them. He tries to rise to a "higher level of discourse"<ref>Episode 3, Module 2.</ref> and is the center of the civil nature of the show. Damian has a shotgun, named Phil, which can talk, and prefers to be used exclusively by Damian and will fight anyone attempting to use him without authorization.<ref>Episode 3, Module 1.</ref> The show's DJ, DJ Octobit, is named in a reference to the eight-bit music he plays in the show. He creates the music for the show on his DJ console, which is an explosive round pedestal in ''Halo 2''. It is a floating pedestal in ''Halo 3''. He never speaks, yet he has defended Damian on several occasions. In the first episode he is referred to as Doctor Octobit, but later his name was changed to DJ Octobit. The show also features the Solid Gold Elite Dancers, who are the show equivalent of a talent segment; they usually dance to music by Glomag, the alias of Chris Burke, and a segment in the show is reserved for them. Their dances are usually excellently choreographed, as their characters move in near perfect synchronization.

The show also has a number of less frequently appearing characters. Damian's bodyguard, Fyb3roptik, has only appeared in the later episodes, but has an interesting habit of shooting at Damian every time he appears. The running gag is a fan favorite, hence its continued appearances. Also included is Gunnery Sergeant Spillane, voiced by John Keith, who also writes the show. He has only appeared once, to run the bodyguard competition. Peaches and Sherry, the camera operators, occasionally comment on what is going on, but otherwise have a small role in the show. Clarence, Damian's [[The Guardians|Guardian]] [[Arbiter (Character)|Arbiter]], appeared in Episode 4, but it was later seen that he was killed by a {{Pattern|Anskum|plasma grenade}}. The gamers of [[Xbox Live]] are also an important part of the show, as they appear in every episode and provide the chaotic backdrop for the show.

==Typical Sections of an TSL Episode==
Each episode is about 30 minutes long in total, and contains five to six segments.

*Opening and monologue (Where Damian flies through [[Headlong]] in a [[Banshee]] and does an intro)
*Travelogue (A glitch montage)
*Interview with a guest (Usually two of them per episode)
*Solid Gold Elite Dancers segment (Where they perform a highly coordinated dance)
*Body Count (A political debate section where the two opposing sides argue and try to kill each other at the same time)
*Credits (Comes with the last portion of the episode)

==Halo 3 Limited Edition Bonus Content==
On the bonus disk of the Halo 3 Limited Edition there is a special TSL theme. This theme cannot be downloaded via the Xbox Live Marketplace, and is exclusive to buyers of the Limited Edition Halo 3. In addition, included is a TSL Picture Pack.

==Episodes: The Original Series==
{|class="wikitable" style="width:75%"
|-align="center"
!Episode
!Title
!Original airdate
!Notes

|-align="center"
|1
|[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XEGwcJ43cik&list=PL8qg4rgqBK3jpz3VMv_ZxGTTfyTJSkPo9 Episode 1]
|[[2005#June|June 28, 2005]]
|6 modules
Guests: Bob Stein and Peggy Ahwesh

|-align="center"
|2
|[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eEss1frW2RI&list=PL8qg4rgqBK3j8Z0yIEO71524k6UL9YkEA Episode 2]
|[[2005#August|August 31, 2005]]
|5 modules
Guests: Marty O'Donnell and The ILL Clan

|-align="center"
|3
|[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qE1t-4p47CE&list=PL8qg4rgqBK3gVu2OBSpcHNIcMSIqj_JFM Episode 3]
|[[2006#March|March 1, 2006]]
|6 modules
Guests: Malcolm McLaren and Marty O'Donnell

|-align="center"
|4
|[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HbYE9-DzNL8&list=PL8qg4rgqBK3gf-2Nk-19iUdonTqkgmAIE Episode 4]
|[[2006#October|October 31, 2006]]
|6 modules
Guests: McKenzie Wark and Burnie Burns

|-align="center"
|5
|[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nhp16ff73BA&list=PL8qg4rgqBK3hck9BKzVdI4sSLUhp4JhS_ Episode 5]
|[[2007#August|August 23, 2007]]
|5 modules
Guests: The Raiders Guys and AeroMCs Freestyle Battle Royale

|-align="center"
|6
|[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uLOpXpB75nk&list=PL8qg4rgqBK3h4Cgd231PjOpUD08dpIPuo Episode 6]
|[[2009#July|July 22, 2009]]
|1 module
Guest: Katie Salen

|-align="center"
|7
|[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CSkg2pPbi7k&list=PL8qg4rgqBK3iKj_rJYRlZY105bs96_Qh3 Episode 7]
|[[2012#April|April 18, 2012]]
|1 module
Guest: Tiffiniy Cheng
|}

==Episodes: Blogs==
{|class="wikitable" style="width:75%"
|-align="center"
!Episode
!Title
!Original airdate

|-align="center"
|1
|[https://youtu.be/RipLczB3sUQ?si=lX2Rvqr_AaYgWQrt Blog 01 - "The Life of a P.A."]
|[[2005#July|July 20, 2005]]

|-align="center"
|2
|[https://youtu.be/W7yw1K7h2W4?si=cFu3V4JNRLJFiOw0 Blog 02 - "I Feel Whimsical"]
|[[2005#August|August 17, 2005]]

|-align="center"
|3
|[https://youtu.be/WvTpyNWwiJM?si=keDLK0H42BAz8w5X Blog 03 - "Dispatch from the Bodyguard Competition- Part 1"]
|[[2005#September|September 31, 2005]]

|-align="center"
|4
|[https://youtu.be/1i-vgWtOpps?si=dVRyKJV22etGaiqi Blog 04 - "Dispatch from the Bodyguard Competition- Part 2"]
|[[2005#October|October 19, 2005]]

|-align="center"
|5
|[https://youtu.be/znefOQO7NFU?si=Yove6qA5zRIXdpqi Blog 05 - "Can't Buy Me Net"]
|[[2006#May|May 6, 2006]]

|-align="center"
|6
|[https://youtu.be/5CEynMVStKE?si=IvmSSFjTJg_2aHDT Blog 06 - "Spartans in San Francisco"]
|[[2006#September|September 15, 2006]]

|-align="center"
|7
|[https://youtu.be/kdCKOuxRbmM?si=kwwEocGktHucL_4J Blog 07 - "Civil War"]
|[[2007#March|March 7, 2007]]

|-align="center"
|8
|[https://youtu.be/HKfRdB7FAqs?si=EyO-_DZRLuNdiSkv Blog 08 - "Forge Master"]
|[[2010#September|September 13, 2010]]

|-align="center"
|9
|[https://youtu.be/Ya0Li8sU9ng?si=HzLL3JKu_OeoFZFa Blog 09 - "Dining With Dust Storm"]
|[[2012#May|May 07, 2012]]
|}

=== SpikeTV.com Webisodes ===
Originally only available for a short time on SpikeTV.com. The webisodes were uploaded to YouTube on the official TSL channel in 2022 when a fan reached out to Chris Burke.
{|class="wikitable" style="width:75%"
|-align="center"
!Episode
!Title
!Original airdate

|-align="center"
|1
|[https://youtu.be/5vHzr1QTRMA?si=WO3D3Fzr1mPopDBN Geoff Keighley]
|2005

|-align="center"
|2
|[https://youtu.be/jalv9ZUewR4?si=KskZUTSzqD0oUnlw David Perry]
|2005

|-align="center"
|3
|[https://youtu.be/cFIgmYx_-6o?si=6zOYlqk0ZBeyF39E Kurt Vendell]
|2005

|-align="center"
|4
|[https://youtu.be/L_eduglrFaU?si=Yd5tcJ1CAAx7V1JG Jeph Howard/The Used]
|2005

|-align="center"
|5
|[https://youtu.be/PkiH9YJabdg?si=d5XVoLkysZwumU-g Korn]
|2005

|-align="center"
|6
|[https://youtu.be/b9vfzn5YqiU?si=boC-e7kmnBdrFFF- Solid Gold Elite Dancers]
|2006

|-align="center"
|7
|[https://youtu.be/rrv6mpbnVbU?si=VAoi_MgaF9eX52W3 The Frag Dolls]
|2006

|-align="center"
|8
|[https://youtu.be/d2RLv0-WZ9c?si=8EAPYOPgs6hTEekj Augustana]
|2006

|-align="center"
|9
|[https://youtu.be/gmivUFK0y3M?si=3jUTJwuAjCS2iKcK Tristan Pope and Terran Gregory]
|2006

|-align="center"
|10
|[https://youtu.be/rI9cOeHn4A4?si=tIdeIR4jXirXwJ7H Geoff Keighley]
|2006

|-align="center"
|11
|[https://youtu.be/5lybfSgqIIw?si=pasOIyiL-5uzcujb Julian Gerighty]
|2006
|}

=== Selfies in the War Zone ===
{|class="wikitable" style="width:75%"
|-align="center"
!Episode
!Title
!Original airdate

|-align="center"
|1
|[https://youtu.be/GwodSnvzNfw?si=XWaZaYwPyeO_UNr- Episode 1]
|[[2014#September|September 28, 2014]]

|-align="center"
|2
|[https://youtu.be/yOoNmOSVWio?si=Z3K4Z-B9L_T4zHqw Episode 2]
|[[2015#July|July 8, 2015]]

|-align="center"
|3
|[https://youtu.be/j_CF40tfJb0?si=vxIuInqZSqPUVoS- Selfies In The War Zone: The Music Video]
|[[2015#July|July 9, 2015]]
|}

=== TSL Waypoint ===
{|class="wikitable" style="width:75%"
|-align="center"
!Episode
!Title
!Original airdate
!Notes

|-align="center"
|1
|Marty O’Donell
|[[2010#February|February 18, 2010]]
|This is a remaster of the original Marty O'Donnell interview from episodes 5 & 6 of The Original Series with a new intro.

|-align="center"
|2
|Louis Wu
|[[2010#June|June 5, 2010]]
|

|-align="center"
|3
|Apache N4SIR
|[[2010#September|September 4, 2010]]
|

|-align="center"
|4
|[https://vimeo.com/33691326 Todd McFarlane Interview]
|[[2010#September|September 12, 2010]]
|The official TSL Vimeo lists this video as episode 5. But it was released 4th based on Waypoint archives.

|-align="center"
|5
|[https://vimeo.com/32881170 Interview with OK Go]
|[[2010#September|September 16, 2010]]
|The official TSL Vimeo lists this video as episode 3. But it was released 5th based on Waypoint archives.

|-align="center"
|6
|[https://vimeo.com/13346273 Waypoint Press Conference]
|unknown
|Date of release in Waypoint archives currently unknown.

|-align="center"
|7
|Ascendent Justice
|[[2010#September|September 19, 2010]]
|

|-align="center"
|8
|Frank and BS Angel
|[[2011#January|January 9, 2011]]
|

|-align="center"
|9
|Rooster Teeth
|unknown
|Date of release in Waypoint archives currently unknown.

|-align="center"
|10
|Masters of Forge
|[[2011#May|May 24, 2011]]
|
|}

==Notes==
{{Ref/Sources|2}}

==External links==
*[http://www.thisspartanlife.com Official site]
*[http://www.machinima.com/films.php?series=This+Spartan+Life This Spartan Life] at machinima.com

{{Fan Works}}

[[Category:Machinima]]