Halo 4: Forward Unto Dawn

''This article is about the web series. For the UNSC ship, see UNSC Forward Unto Dawn.''

"We wanted to do something unique from a narrative standpoint that's big in scale."

- Matt McCloskey - Director, Franchise Business Development

Halo 4: Forward Unto Dawn is an upcoming live-action miniseries. The series, scheduled for release in October 2012, is comprised of five 15-minute episodes that will be released on a weekly basis. The series' plot, occurring circa 2526, will revolve around how John-117 inspired Thomas Lasky, a young cadet to eventually become a leader on the. Along with a new character that will also appear in Halo 4, the series will explore the beginning of the Human-Covenant War. It will be hosted on Halo Waypoint and Machinima.com. A 90-minute extended version will be included with the Halo 4 Limited Edition. The series was known as Sleeper during pre-production.

A teaser trailer for the series was released on Halo Waypoint and on YouTube by Machinima on July 2, 2012.

Production
Filming is noted to have started as early as April 28th, 2012 at Simon Fraser University in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, a popular filming location for many notable science fiction series like Stargate SG-1 and Battlestar Galactica. Much, if not all of the series is set at the university, doubling as a futuristic UNSC officer academy, will introduce the main protagonist of Forward Unto Dawn. Propaganda murals depicting Orbital Drop Shock Troopers and fighter aircraft, statues of historic military commanders (including a depiction of Roman general Gnaeus Domitius Corbulo), and other signature futuristic artwork were seen decorated around the campus.

John-117 will play a pivotal role in the series, though he is not the main protagonist. That role is instead filled by Thomas Lasky, who will also be a major character in Halo 4. The Master Chief is portrayed by Canadian actor Daniel Cudmore, best known for his role as the mutant Colossus in the X-Men film series. Lasky is played by Australian actor Tom Green.

As Forward Unto Dawn is set thirty-one years before Halo 4, the production team originally experimented with de-aging Steve Downes' voice so he could voice the fifteen-year-old John-117; Cudmore would act only as the Spartan's physical embodiment. However, the team realized that Downes' altered voice sounded too high-pitched. Thus, Cudmore was given the role of voicing John, whose voice would evolve over three decades to possess the gruffer quality of Downes' performance.

Characters

 * April Orenski
 * Black
 * Chyler Silva
 * Cortana
 * Dimah Tchakova
 * Hughes
 * JJ
 * John-117
 * Mehaffey
 * Michael Sullivan
 * Shere
 * Thomas Lasky
 * Vickers

Equipment and technology

 * Cryo-chamber
 * MJOLNIR Powered Assault Armor
 * MJOLNIR Powered Assault Armor/Mark IV

Weapons

 * MA5D Individual Combat Weapon System
 * M6H Personal Defense Weapon System

Locations

 * Corbulo Academy of Military Science

Organizations

 * Covenant Empire
 * United Nations Space Command
 * UNSC Marine Corps
 * Naval Special Weapons
 * Orbital Drop Shock Troopers
 * UNSC Navy
 * Naval Special Weapons
 * SPARTAN-II Program

Vehicles

 * M12 Force Application Vehicle
 * M12 Force Application Vehicle
 * M12 Force Application Vehicle

Trailers
The official trailer of the series was released on Halo Waypoint and on YouTube by Machinima Prime on July 12, 2012.

A short, "Enlist", was released on Halo Waypoint and on Youtube by Machinima Prime on August 24, 2012.

A short, "Cryo", was released on Halo Waypoint and on Youtube by Machinima Prime on August 31, 2012.

A short, "Flag", was released on Halo Waypoint and on Youtube by Machinima Prime on September 7th, 2012.

Trivia
Many of the murals seen on set are enlarged pieces taken from the concept art of Halo 3: ODST.