GT: Woodsman907
I’m looking for people to help me make a machinima series that illustrates the text of Sun Tzu’s “The Art of War.” Some of you may have heard of it.
For those of you that don’t know, “The Art of War” is a handbook on military strategy. I first started studying the text about five years ago, for those of you doing the math, that was just about the time Halo Wars came out. I finished reading it on September 13, 2010, the day before Reach came out. With all the teachings of “The Art of War” still fresh in my mind, I was able to finish the game on Legendary in under two days. I’m sure this book is what helped me to do that, since I had stopped playing games of any kind completely for about a month prior to the release of Reach. That was also the first time I had ever started a new game on Legendary. When I told my friends about it, I was surprised to find out that nobody I played with at the time had ever even heard of “The Art of War” and when I tried to explain it to them, they didn’t quite get it.
Honestly, it’s really hard to explain the relevance of the book to someone who hasn’t read it. To those who have read it, the text speaks for itself. Unfortunately, most people don’t like to read. In fact, it would never even occur to most people that reading a two thousand year old book could help them improve their skill at a video game. However, everyone considers watching a YouTube video to be a good way to learn how to play. That’s why I want to do a series of videos about “The Art of War” using Halo as an example. (I’m using Halo because it’s my personal favorite game, but the lessons in “The Art of War” can be applied to any game, any other form of organized conflict)
This project will cover all the Halo games across all platforms, so I need people on the 360 and X1, and eventually pc. You’re level of skill doesn’t matter, because this won’t be a montage style video but rather a series of clips artificially designed to illustrate specific quotes from the text. Right now I’m mostly looking for body actors, although there’s a strong possibility that I’ll need voice actors too.
If you’re familiar with “The Art of War” that’s a plus, but not required. The whole point of this is to teach people, so as long as you have the games and Xbox Live you can still help.
This will be an ongoing project, as more Halo games come out, I may find new or better ways to describe this point or that point. The more people I have helping me the better. This might also become a good way to find people to play with, since everyone involved will end up learning about the science of military operations.
If you’re interested, comment here or send a message to GT: Woodsman907
Put “Art of War” in the message so I know who you are. Also put what Halo games you have in the message. If you have both a 360 and an Xbox One then please message me on both platforms.
Most of the Recording will likely be happening on the weekends, it’s just easier for scheduling.
As it says in the title, I considering starting a clan dedicated to this purpose. That isn’t really my priority right now though, I’m mostly just looking for people to be in my YouTube videos. It all really depends on how much interest I see in this project. If only one or two people want to help, that’s no big deal, but if five or six people or more want to get involved, it might get a little complicated to make all those videos. If that ends up being the case, then starting a clan makes more sense.
