Interview with Pete Cooper of Operation Chastity

If you’re anything like me, you’ve been keeping a close tab on the not yet released Halo motion picture. No, not that Halo motion picture but the live-action fan film project that’s still very much a go. Dubbed Operation Chastity, this lofty endeavor is being led by an incredibly passionate fan that goes by the name of Pete Cooper. He’s hoping a self-funded budget of approximately $40,000 will be enough to bring you a movie about a group of United Nations Space Command Marines fighting the survivors of a crashed alien Covenant battleship. I’m sure the words movie and Halo in the same sentence is enough to have you thoroughly intrigued so let’s dig a bit deeper into this fan driven project and the enterprising man providing the brains behind it all.

For the past six months I’ve been teased with numerous tidbits about Operation Chastity, your upcoming live-action fan film centered in the Halo universe. Where did you get the idea for this rather ambitious project?

Believe it or not the idea for a movie first came together when we were working out, on a whim, how to build a Warthog. I had just gotten back from my annual stateside pilgrimage to DragonCon, and while I was there I had mused on Warthogs and such. When talking things over with an engineer friend of mine, the question eventually rose – what will you do with it? I had been writing and planning a film based on the Doom Comic Movie but that fell through so I figured, hey – why not do a Halo movie? First the movie idea was a short (just messing around, driving to the bank and to supermarkets and so on, freaky little virals) but then someone said, “You’re spending all that money on gear – why not do a feature?” And that was how Operation Chastity was born.

Hold up there just one second. Did you say you are building a real-life Warthog?

The Warthog is a fantastic project. Much like the official Weta Warthog, we instantly looked to common 4×4 vehicles found within the country. Weta adapted parts from the Nissan Patrol truck, and we took the Land Rover Defender 110 as our base. Daniel Carey-George and Props Studios, who have been doing work on it since October, have done absolutely brilliantly with it. Dan’s started cladding it up so they can fiberglass the body – that’s the real exciting bit. Right now, we can tell it’s going to become a Warthog just by looking at the frame and the general shape. Once that’s on, that’s when it is the Warthog, and that will be a very cool thing to see!

Is it too early to call shotgun? No wait, I want gunner! Besides building a completely bad ass Warthog, what is your goal with Operation Chastity? And can you give us a synopsis of the storyline?

I don’t think there’s a real message behind the movie, but the underlying story is fundamentally about soldiers who simply want to go home. I think that’s a story an awful lot of people can understand and relate to after the past seven years of war following 9/11 – families waiting for their loved ones to come home from Iraq, or Afghanistan, or wherever else. But as far as the movie itself goes, what am I not aiming for? I hope to push the boundaries of what people think is possible with fan-driven projects. I want the movie to be something people want to see based on merit rather than just the title. And if I can get a future career out of it, that would be awesome!

I think you have already succeeded with pushing those boundaries. When did you first become a Halo fan anyways? Have you been there since the beginning or were you a late arrival?

My first introduction to Halo was when a friend’s sister bought an Xbox for cheap off of a friend and it came with Halo: Combat Evolved. I remember spending two days straight on Legendary playing it with the huge controllers. It was the summer prior to my going to university so me and this guy were hanging out as much as possible. We didn’t finish it on co-op together until the following summer. I think that was one of my fondest gaming memories.

So you’re more than a little familiar with Halo (and those awesome Duke controllers!), but do you have background in making movies or are you covering new ground? And going back to your film, where is the funding coming from, especially considering it’s a not-for-profit project?

When the project first started, I was an administrator for a leading British prosthetics studio for film and television. I just did paperwork and things but having had an interest in film since childhood, I soaked up everything around me – I loved the atmosphere. Sadly, the economy bit, and I was made redundant in November so I’ve been doing odd jobs ever since. It’s the contacts from working there and networking that have allowed me to assemble the crew I have today – as well as several volunteers who quite literally came out of the blue!

As far as funding goes, I am somehow scraping together the funds to pay for this myself. When we were getting the funds together for the concept art, a few people actually donated to help get them done. Donations have been vital to the project so far and continue to be so I’m very happy people have such faith in the project.

Your background and contacts will contribute significantly to your film’s success I would think. What are some major milestones you have already hit with your movie?

So far, I think one of the biggest accomplishments has been the script! I don’t think people ever truly realize how hard it is to write film scripts. There’s no right way to do it. The most recent draft was finally sent out to my department heads on Sunday, and that was a big relief. It’s my second feature script to date – the other is a project in development with a director based out of Atlanta, Joseph Stovall. Aside from that we have the concept art, which was very popular all across the web. Much of the other big stuff, of course, is still in progress!

The concept art is gorgeous. Beyond beautiful. We just talked about things you have already completed so what is currently in the works?

Right now we have tons of things on the go. Our Warthog is still well under way – Daniel Carey-George, the project manager on the ‘hog, recently had to move the steering column down and across so our driver could actually use it within the vehicle! Matt Worsdell is working on the guns, making Magnums, SMGs, ARs and things. Ed Woodward, our UK prop builder, is busy working on our Marine armor, with assistance from Steve Lim out in China. Patches just got done, we’re looking at locations, Erez Henya is busy working on the preliminary work for the film’s original score… almost too many things to list.

Weapons and patches and music! Oh my! After you’re done with all those crazy awesome projects, what comes next on your movie making agenda?

Well, it’s an ongoing process. After the Marine armor we have Spartan armor, and after that the Brute and Grunt creature costumes. We have uniforms to source, guns to build, the casting of the major roles in the film as well as securing any major talent we might be able to budget for. I have been trying to get in contact with the agent for Halo celebrity superfan Alan Tudyk about a role in the film, but his agent has yet to return my calls – Alan, if by some random stretch you’re reading this, please call me!

Uh yeah, I don’t think Alan Tudyk frequents this site. If he does though, have him call me too! I’d clear my schedule for him, just like I’ll clear it for your movie as well. When do you plan on releasing your film? That way I can go ahead and set aside a block of days right now.

Assuming we manage to shoot in September (our current planned start date), we hope to release the film in time for the San Diego Comic Con. I don’t know if we’ll necessarily be able to do live screenings, as I believe this will hinge entirely on whether Microsoft like the work we’ve done, but we fully intend on releasing the film in one way or another for free online.

I like free! Free stuff rocks. I’m assuming making movies isn’t free though so how much money and time do you expect to invest in this project?

Any action movie takes literally hundreds of thousands of man-hours to complete. The movie making process is staggering. Taking into account the long hours in pre-production making props, scouting locations, casting, rehearsing, transporting equipment, meetings, the shoot itself, post-production… well, needless to say it will be an awful lot!

Ouch. Have you sought assistance from any established communities or individuals to help make all of this more manageable?

I’ve tapped several people from 405th Mjolnir Armor (a Halo costuming and prop site) to assist on the project, and several volunteers have come through to me from the 405th to assist in things ranging from prop construction to web design. My other major source of support has been found on the DVXUser forums, which deal primarily in film making. It’s there we found our composer Erez, as well as our Director of Photography, Andrew Brinkhaus. Shoutout to The Aliens Legacy, too – their support has been invaluable, and more of my crew were recruited from their ranks also! Thanks to everyone who has supported me up until now and that I hope their support continues!

I hope so too! Now let’s wrap this sucker up so you can go make that movie already. Go on now, scoot. Go forth and make a film so we may go forth and watch it! Thanks for the chat, and best of luck to you with your ambitious project.

*Keep updated on the movie here and the production of the Warthog here. Pete can also be contacted directly at troopercooper [at] gmail [dot] com.