Starry Night

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Starry Night is a short CG spot, directed by Joseph Kosinski and designed by Digital Domain, released on December 4, 2006 as an ad for Halo 3 and intended to be used as a television commercial.

Overview
It begins with a young John-117 and his childhood friend, Ellie Bloom, lying in grass contemplating the existence of life on other planets. John turns to look at her, but instead sees the Master Chief's helmet lying on the ground.

It suddenly transitions to the his point of view as the Chief, 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. Then, he raises his hands up--still dazed and temporarily half-deaf from being knocked out--and staggers towards his helmet while hearing the Ellie'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). The sound is completely restored now and communication from Cortana and some soldiers could be heard (refer to transcript). An 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 this point, a few Plasma Mortars could be seen heading high up into the sky, one of 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 reaches the vicinity, sending the Mongoose flying away. As soon as the dust clears and the Bubble Shield is down, he starts running forward - at the same time arming himself with the assault rifle while 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 at least six Wraiths, fourteen 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.

Transcript
John and Ellie are laying in the grass, looking up at the stars.

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

Ellie: "Like what?"

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

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

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

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

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

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

Ellie (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."

Production notes
The kids and the clumps of grass around them were taken from real footage. The CGI does not begin until the Chief’s helmet is seen for the first time. As for who the kids seen at the beginning are, Bungie never gave a straight answer. Kevin Paul stated that the trailer took place on Earth. However, he did not explicitly state that the flashback sequence with the children was on Earth.
 * Konrad: Frankie, WHERE does the trailer take place?
 * KP: The trailer takes place on Earth.

The second episode of the Halo 5: Guardians ARG "Hunt the Truth" revealed that the two children from the trailer are a young John and a neighbor called Ellie Bloom.

Trivia

 * The Marathon logo and the "on" symbol are visible on the Master Chief's assault rifle.
 * The Brute Chieftain in the ad holds a gravity hammer that is identical to the Fist of Rukt.
 * The plasma mortars were traveling faster than in game mortars, as a projectile is arcing, gravity creates speed and velocity.