Short Film Army Of Two: “Close To Home” Shows Off Everything You Love About Army Of Two

Friday, 29th March 2013
Posted in Viral Video
Tags: army, Army of Two, close to home, node, of, skyrim, two, video

In case you weren’t paying attention this week, Army of Two the Devil’s Cartel hit gaming stands on the 26th–and to celebrate, gaming channel Node took on the task of trying to fill out the game’s story by collaborating with EA to shoot a short film set in the Army of Two Universe. “Close To Home” features Pike and Bradley, two members of the corporation “T.W.O” prepping to join Alpha and Bravo in Mexico before getting ambushed in the United States.

The film’s got everything you expect out of the Army of Two franchise: masks, guns, and an overemphasis on the buddy system that fuels a variety of action-film worthy one liners, but there is really something awesome about seeing gaming-style language brought to life like this. If you’re a fan of the Army of Two games, you’ll definitely feel a resemblance to your time spent with Rios and Salem.

This isn’t the first time Army of Two has become a viral sensation on Youtube—the Devil’s Cartel was announced with a short collaboration with Freddie Wong, which chose to downplay the game’s explosive action in favor of a team-based plot that tapped into the co-operative experience of the game.

But what kind of work goes into bringing these film projects to life? I got to take a look when the production crew for Army of Two “Close To Home” invited me to the set for a first look into the short.

Shooting took place at Fantasy II Effects in Los Angeles California–the effects house normally specializes in creating special effects for films like Terminator 2 or Moonrise Kingdom, but today they were using the junkyard property to set up the shootout between the new characters. Chatting with members of the crew, it was clear that most of them were excited about the return of Army of Two, and the chance to bring the series’ cooperative gameplay to life.

Director Casey MacBeath summed up his excitement for the game while talking with him in between shots. “I think one of my favorite parts of the Army Of Two franchise is I know it as as social game. It’s not so much people are playing it by themselves, friends are playing together. They’re sitting down, they’re enjoying the story, enjoying the action, they’re yelling at each other, screaming, fist-bumping, that’s something happening in their own homes.”

The film, which got the blessing of EA leading up to production, is also part of an effort by Youtube Gaming channel “Node” to amp up their gaming-based content. The team produced the Skyrim short “Broken Shield,” and as producer Matty Kirsch explained to me, is working on multiple gaming-based projects like “Army of Two.”

“It’s interesting. We’re coming into a day and age where the IP holders were always ‘this is ours,’ now there’s this trust coming out because you have really good filmmakers making really good stuff, and they can elevate their IP into a different way.”

As to why filmmakers like MacBeath have been able to get these gaming-based films off the ground, Kirsch had this to offer: “10 years ago people weren’t as involved in video games. Now we don’t have to do that anymore because that overexplanation of who these characters are and why they count is gone, because people are already identifying with these characters.”

Looking ahead, it’s easy to see why games like Army of Two inspire these kind of films–since they’re already so filled with moments ripped from movies and television, it’s easy for MacBeath and his team to bring them to life. All they need is a few cameras, the right stunt guys, and someone making sure that they get the mask “just right” for the shoot.

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