Starry Night

Starry Night is a short CG spot released on December 4, 2006 as an ad for Halo 3, and intended to be used as a television commercial.

Video Breakdown
It begins with a young boy and girl lying in grass contemplating the existence of life on other planets. Who they are and where they are is unknown and still up for debate. The boy turns to look at the girl, but instead sees the Master Chief's helmet lying on the ground.

It suddenly transitions to the Master Chief's point of view, with the sound of the two kids screaming merging into a Wraith's mortar detonating. He is lying on the desert ground looking at his fallen helmet. The Master Chief raises his hands up--still dazed and temporarily half-deaf from being knocked out--and staggers towards his helmet (hearing the girl's voice in his head again). As soon as the helmet is put on, the camera switches to a third person view, revolving around the Chief who's crouched on the sand, recovering from the blast that sent him off his Mongoose (shown lying on its side.) Sound finally returns fully and communication from Cortana and some soldiers could be heard (refer to transcript). A MA5C Assault rifle is also shown lying on the ground. The scene switches to Master Chief getting up - now fully recovered - and holstering the rifle to his back. At his point, a few Plasma Mortars could be seen heading high up into the sky, one which is heading towards Master Chief. Quickly, he responds to the soldiers - informing them that he is not lost yet - and reaches for a Bubble Shield and activating it just in time as the Plasma Mortar hits the whole vicinity, sending the Mongoose flying away. As soon as the dust clears and the Bubble Shield is down, the Chief very quickly starts running forward - at the same time arming himself with the Assault Rifle - and narrowly avoiding an explosion from an unknown source. The camera then switches to tailing the Chief's back, where he is shown to be preparing to take a leap from the edge of a small cliff and drop into a battalion consisting of (or at least, shown) six Wraiths, 14 Brutes and one Brute Chieftain who (while the others run away) anticipates the Chief by raising his Gravity Hammer. The final shot shows the Chief "landing on the camera" and it cuts to a black screen with the words "Halo 3" shown.

The kids, the clumps of grass around them, were real. The CGI doesn’t begin until you see the Chief’s helmet for the first time. . As for who the kids seen at the beginning are, Bungie has yet to give a straight answer. They may or may not be John and another female Spartan. It does seem slightly unlikely it is John as the trailer takes place on Earth, and John came from Eridanus. KP has confirmed that the trailer took place on Earth. However, he did not explicitly state that the children were on Earth.

Transcript
(Two kids are laying in the grass, looking up at the stars.)

Boy: "You ever wonder what's up there?"

Girl: "Like what?"

Boy: "Maybe someone up there is wondering what it's like here."

Girl: "I guess. Do you think we'll ever meet them?"

Boy: "I hope so. Don't you?" (He turns to look at the girl, but instead sees a MJOLNIR Mark VI helmet.)

(A Wraith mortar detonates nearby. The lighting changes and Master Chief wakes up. Myriad voices are heard, some in his head, others from his radio.)

Girl: "Do you think we'll ever meet them?"

(Master Chief puts on his helmet, and regains his balance.)

Girl (faintly) : "Time to go"

Cortana: "Chief, leave me!"

Marine #1 (radio): "Is anyone out there?"

Marine #2 (radio): "Chief!"

Cortana (faintly): "Chief!"

Sergeant Johnson (faintly): "Chief!"

Marine #3 (radio): "Marines! Fall back now!"

Sergeant Johnson (radio): "Any sign of the Chief?"

Marine #4 (radio): "Negative, Sir. I think we lost him."

Master Chief: (looking up at incoming mortars, pulls out bubble shield ) "Not yet."

(He throws a bubble shield onto the ground, creating a shield that protects him from another Wraith mortar. Quickly, after the dust clears, he runs forward. While running he holsters his pistol and pulls out his assault rifle. He then leaps off a cliff into a pack of Brutes, and the ad ends.)

Bungie Official: "Product not yet rated."

Video Trivia

 * The pistol Master Chief was wielding was an early look at the M6G.
 * When Master Chief grabs the MA5C Assault rifle, the "On" button and Marathon logo are clearly visible.
 * Master Chief jumps into a crowd of Brutes and Wraiths in the last seconds of the ad.
 * When Master Chief picks up his rifle you can clearly see a Warthog, but when the Chief activates the Bubble Shield, you can clearly see the Mongoose in front of the Chief right before the mortar round makes contact. (Many people claim that the Warthog in question changes to the Mongoose. It is also claimed that this was an intentional move by Bungie. However, upon close examination of the trailer, it is clear that the warthog is behind Master Chief, to his left. While in the other shot, the Mongoose is in front of him, slightly to his right.)
 * Just before Master Chief leaps off the cliff, if you look at the sky, the clouds seem to be in a circle and there is a flash of what could be lightning. This is similar to the Halo 3 Announcement Trailer where just above what might be the Ark, the clouds are spinning in a circle and there appears to be lightning in them. That may mean that the battle part of the trailer is near the remains and ruins of Old Mombasa. This could be either in the Halo 3 level, The Storm or Tsavo Highway.
 * The Brute Chieftain in the ad is seen holding the Fist of Rukt, the Gravity Hammer used by Tartarus in Halo 2.