Hollywood Halo

They stocked up on Goldfish and Bawls, a supercaffeinated drink they bought at a computer store. Becky Winn made them real food like meat loaf, but they mainly consumed enormous amounts of pizza and Blue Bell double chocolate ice cream. "They called it a download," says Becky Winn. Her grocery bill tripled as teenagers camped out in her son's bedroom for 12 to 18 hours a day.

Each night, when everyone finally went home, Winn spent more hours editing, dubbing in the audio and composing the score. By August, he began to doubt that their project would get finished. "He was so tired, he could hardly even think clearly," his mother says.

Thirty-six hours before Winn was supposed to leave for USC, Luther uploaded "Episode 20: The End of All Things." In one week, they got more than a million hits. To date, they have had more than 15 million visits to their Web site.

Becky Winn remembers Alex lying on the floor when it was done. "I'm exhausted," he told his mother. "Getting to college will feel like a vacation." She thought he was upset, but he was elated. "I love it so much," he told the ceiling. "I know I really want to be a filmmaker."

The Codex Series is now over. Or is it just beginning? In November, the group reunited in Los Angeles to shoot a segment on machinima for mtvU. "It was fricking awesome," Winn says.

Only Malone still bothers to play Halo.