| The Codex | |
|---|---|
The Codex official logo. |
|
| Engine(s) | Halo 2 |
| Genre(s) | Space opera |
| Running time | Five minutes per episode (average) |
| Created by | Alexander Winn Ryan Luther |
| Voices | Patrick Malone Alexander Winn John Gilchrist Meghan Foster Lauren Davis Ryan Luther Will Robinson Cal Smellage Ross Vick Lauren Jenks Ryan Terry Art Levy Margaret Thompson |
| Release(s) | 9 February 2005 – 13 August 2005 |
| Format(s) | QuickTime, WMV, DVD |
| Number of episodes | 20, excluding trailer |
| Website http://www.thecodexseries.com/tc/ |
|
The Codex is a 20-episode online machinima series made by Edgeworks Entertainment and set in Bungie Studios' Halo video game universe. Along with its prequel, The Heretic, The Codex is part of the greater Codex Series. Written and directed by Alexander Winn and produced by Alexander Winn and Ryan Luther, the series relates the story of a Covenant invasion of a Human world in order to recover a Forerunner artifact, and the ensuing Human resistance of that invasion. Since its initial release on February 9, 2005, The Codex has earned a large international fan base. In his September 29, 2005 Long Tail blog entry, Chris Anderson, Editor-in-Chief of Wired magazine, described The Codex as the best machinima production that he had ever seen and an excellent example of his Long Tail theory.[1] The series won in six categories in the 2005 Rockets on Prisoner Awards,[2] which are intended to recognize exemplary Halo machinima productions.
On August 13, 2005, the 20th episode of The Codex was released, bringing the series to a conclusion. The production team set the episode limit at 20 because they wanted to end the series before leaving for college. However, the team was also careful to leave a cliffhanger ending, if they wanted to continue the series, they would have that option. On February 9, 2006, it was announced that a prequel to The Codex, entitled The Heretic, was in the planning stages and was to debut in the upcoming summer. The Heretic was delayed, however, to allow all the filming and editing to be completed before the launch. On February 9 2007, Episode One was released, exactly 2 years after the release of Episode 1 of The Codex.[1]
Contents |
Unlike most Halo machinima series, such as Red vs. Blue, The Codex focuses on action and drama, not comedy. Also, The Codex is set in the Halo universe, with many of the same situations as in Halo canon, rather than a completely new world. Episodes were released every Friday, and the Characters and Story pages were updated with the new information from each week's episode, as well.
The story focuses on two sides: the Spartan soldiers and the Covenant Elite army. The Spartan side's most notable characters are Jack Foster, an optimistic wild soldier; Candice McKenzie, a direct commander who has a love-hate relationship with Jack; and the Chief, the commander of the Spartans. The Covenant side's most notable characters are the Praetor, the supreme military leader of the army; Anda Sofadee, leader of the Special Forces operatives of the Covenant army; and the Cleric, who speaks for the religious hierarchy (who are the Holy Prophets from Halo 2).
The Spartans in the series are forced to fight the Covenant with guerrilla tactics and frequent tactical retreats. The Elites however are forced with planning the attacks against the Spartans, and preventing the religious hierarchy (the Cleric) from seizing power. Both sides in the end are fighting for control of the Codex, which has the ability to activate the Halo megastructures all over the galaxy and thereby destroy all life.
The device in this machinima is similar to The Ark. In that it can be used to remotely activate the Array.
| Edgeworks Entertainment | ||
| The Codex Series | ||
|---|---|---|
| The Heretic — The Codex | ||
| Other Productions | ||
| Vox Populi | ||
| Crew | ||
| Alexander Winn | ||
| Game engine: Halo 2 | Other: Machinima, New Media | ||