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August 23, 2011 6:46 PM Subscribe
I've tried to watch this twice. I don't know how something so short can still be so boring.
posted by empath at 7:03 PM on August 23, 2011 [2 favorites]
posted by empath at 7:03 PM on August 23, 2011 [2 favorites]
Neat, but I enjoyed Outside Aperture quite a bit more.
posted by mhoye at 7:10 PM on August 23, 2011 [6 favorites]
posted by mhoye at 7:10 PM on August 23, 2011 [6 favorites]
I've tried to watch this twice. I don't know how something so short can still be so boring.
Okay, just because your mommy didn't love you is no reason to take it out on the nice people, okay?
posted by fungible at 7:51 PM on August 23, 2011 [9 favorites]
Okay, just because your mommy didn't love you is no reason to take it out on the nice people, okay?
posted by fungible at 7:51 PM on August 23, 2011 [9 favorites]
A+
posted by Mike Mongo at 7:55 PM on August 23, 2011
posted by Mike Mongo at 7:55 PM on August 23, 2011
Nifty!
posted by egypturnash at 7:55 PM on August 23, 2011
posted by egypturnash at 7:55 PM on August 23, 2011
I love youtube comments
"Fake and gay"
and
"Fake, she touched the operational end of the device"
posted by the noob at 7:57 PM on August 23, 2011 [5 favorites]
"Fake and gay"
and
"Fake, she touched the operational end of the device"
posted by the noob at 7:57 PM on August 23, 2011 [5 favorites]
MetaFilter: The operational end of the device.
posted by loquacious at 8:05 PM on August 23, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by loquacious at 8:05 PM on August 23, 2011 [1 favorite]
Very well done. The music kept making me think of Alanis Morrisette's "Uninvited," which makes me think that some savvy filmmaker soon is going to make bank soon by filling his or her unremarkable movie with a score made up of forboding minimalist takes on half-remembered pop melodies.
posted by Navelgazer at 8:16 PM on August 23, 2011
posted by Navelgazer at 8:16 PM on August 23, 2011
The score you hear in it is by Mike Zarin, best known as the composer of the music in the first Inception trailer.
posted by zarq at 8:25 PM on August 23, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by zarq at 8:25 PM on August 23, 2011 [1 favorite]
Great. And no chaos cinema, the action makes sense and follows chronologically. Maybe that's boring/old school these days.
posted by stbalbach at 8:51 PM on August 23, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by stbalbach at 8:51 PM on August 23, 2011 [1 favorite]
Needs more incineration of companion cubes. What can I say? I'm a monster.
posted by msbutah at 8:54 PM on August 23, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by msbutah at 8:54 PM on August 23, 2011 [1 favorite]
I'd watch a Portal movie, provided that Valve gets to write it. No, it wouldn't have the interaction, and the protagonist is largely silent, but the Portal games have stellar writing and a fairly linear story line. Add to that phenomenal antagonists. The portal gun and the Aperture Science labs would set up some fun stunts and great visuals. And, on top of all of that, here's an role for a non-white woman to be a badass.
They could do great things with a Portal movie.
posted by gc at 9:12 PM on August 23, 2011 [1 favorite]
They could do great things with a Portal movie.
posted by gc at 9:12 PM on August 23, 2011 [1 favorite]
but couldn't figure out what she noticed.
Looked like a slight seam or something in the construction.
posted by kenko at 9:18 PM on August 23, 2011
Looked like a slight seam or something in the construction.
posted by kenko at 9:18 PM on August 23, 2011
Liked this and the Outside Aperture movie (thanks mhoye!). I like the part in Outside Aperture when she was scratching her own back.
posted by Lukenlogs at 9:42 PM on August 23, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by Lukenlogs at 9:42 PM on August 23, 2011 [1 favorite]
One positive comment is that the roiling edge effect on the portals was really well done.
posted by hanoixan at 10:12 PM on August 23, 2011
posted by hanoixan at 10:12 PM on August 23, 2011
you know, one thing I really like about the Portal games is that there isn't human(oid) guards chasing you around trying to kill you. (Apologies to the film makers but it almost felt like a mash-up of Portal and Woody Allen's Sleeper)
It seems like weird, ironic turn-about because typically, when they make a game based on a movie, that's exactly the thing they add to the game to up the ante and make it more "like a video game"
posted by victors at 10:23 PM on August 23, 2011
It seems like weird, ironic turn-about because typically, when they make a game based on a movie, that's exactly the thing they add to the game to up the ante and make it more "like a video game"
posted by victors at 10:23 PM on August 23, 2011
In video games, convincing robots (or robotic turrets) are much easier and cheaper than convincing humans.
In movies, humans are cheap and easy, robots are expensive and difficult.
posted by straight at 10:36 PM on August 23, 2011
In movies, humans are cheap and easy, robots are expensive and difficult.
posted by straight at 10:36 PM on August 23, 2011
Someone could just add a GladOS voice to Cube and we would be halfway to a portal movie.
posted by Ad hominem at 11:55 PM on August 23, 2011 [5 favorites]
posted by Ad hominem at 11:55 PM on August 23, 2011 [5 favorites]
It wasn't just Portal, it was a combination of Portal and Half-Life. Those guards were the guys from Half Life 2 weren't they?
posted by Justinian at 1:57 AM on August 24, 2011
posted by Justinian at 1:57 AM on August 24, 2011
Justinian,
Portal and Half Life are considered part of the same universe. (Black Mesa is mentioned in the closing credits of Portal 1, and Half Life 2 has gear from Aperture Science.)
posted by effugas at 2:16 AM on August 24, 2011
Portal and Half Life are considered part of the same universe. (Black Mesa is mentioned in the closing credits of Portal 1, and Half Life 2 has gear from Aperture Science.)
posted by effugas at 2:16 AM on August 24, 2011
Oh, yeah, I've played them all; I was responding to victors.
I'm guessing you're supposed to find a portal gun on the Aperture icebreaker ship Borealis in Episode 3. When that comes out. (HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHaha). Anyway, I'm sure it will come out real soon now.
posted by Justinian at 2:22 AM on August 24, 2011
I'm guessing you're supposed to find a portal gun on the Aperture icebreaker ship Borealis in Episode 3. When that comes out. (HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHaha). Anyway, I'm sure it will come out real soon now.
posted by Justinian at 2:22 AM on August 24, 2011
Not very smart tactical use of portals. She should be opening portals under the guards' feet and dumping them somewhere, not pulling cool-but-risky stuff like trying to kick a bed through a portal onto someone's head (what if she hadn't quite kicked it hard enough to go through?) and definitely not portaling herself closer to a guard and taking him out by hand.
And she didn't need to fling herself across the gap, she could have just made a portal on the other side.
posted by straight at 6:48 AM on August 24, 2011 [1 favorite]
And she didn't need to fling herself across the gap, she could have just made a portal on the other side.
posted by straight at 6:48 AM on August 24, 2011 [1 favorite]
It takes a while to learn to think with Portals. When I first started playing it, I didn't appreciate the tactical advantage the ability to place them gave you. (I mean, shit - rushing a turret? WTF was I thinking?)
Now I enjoy getting one turret to take out a second. Or getting behind them, setting up a portal for a good drop, and seeing the little things fly...
But a Portal movie? I'd pay good money to see one that was done RIGHT. With turrets. And GladOs. Voiced by Ellen McLain.
No other voice would do...
posted by JB71 at 7:01 AM on August 24, 2011
Now I enjoy getting one turret to take out a second. Or getting behind them, setting up a portal for a good drop, and seeing the little things fly...
But a Portal movie? I'd pay good money to see one that was done RIGHT. With turrets. And GladOs. Voiced by Ellen McLain.
No other voice would do...
posted by JB71 at 7:01 AM on August 24, 2011
It's hard to understate my satisfaction.
posted by The Bellman at 7:14 AM on August 24, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by The Bellman at 7:14 AM on August 24, 2011 [1 favorite]
And she didn't need to fling herself across the gap, she could have just made a portal on the other side.
Using the momentum jump would work in her favor if the guards tried to follow - she could close the portal on the ground and make the guards go splat.
posted by unigolyn at 8:36 AM on August 24, 2011
Using the momentum jump would work in her favor if the guards tried to follow - she could close the portal on the ground and make the guards go splat.
posted by unigolyn at 8:36 AM on August 24, 2011
Can someone please explain to me about how she was able to get the portal gun?
So there was a code on the wall either from herself (her memory was erased?) or from a previous prisoner, right? But why is there a hidden compartment in a prison to begin with? In what appears to be a highly monitored prison, how could someone smuggle/ hide the gun there? I can't figure out the reasoning behind it, other than the filmmaker wanted her to be able to (almost) escape with a portal gun.
posted by sharkfu at 9:39 AM on August 24, 2011 [1 favorite]
So there was a code on the wall either from herself (her memory was erased?) or from a previous prisoner, right? But why is there a hidden compartment in a prison to begin with? In what appears to be a highly monitored prison, how could someone smuggle/ hide the gun there? I can't figure out the reasoning behind it, other than the filmmaker wanted her to be able to (almost) escape with a portal gun.
posted by sharkfu at 9:39 AM on August 24, 2011 [1 favorite]
They could do great things with a Portal movie.
I'm imagining a less violent version of Cube. I'm not sure if that's good or bad.
posted by Hoopo at 9:39 AM on August 24, 2011
I'm imagining a less violent version of Cube. I'm not sure if that's good or bad.
posted by Hoopo at 9:39 AM on August 24, 2011
sharkfu,
It was a test -- she was intentionally given the gun.
posted by effugas at 10:26 AM on August 24, 2011
It was a test -- she was intentionally given the gun.
posted by effugas at 10:26 AM on August 24, 2011
That was really good.
I love the melancholy tone to the Portal games, and it's nice to see fan works pick up that end of the franchise and run with it (instead of iterating endlessly on cake jokes).
posted by ArmyOfKittens at 11:57 AM on August 24, 2011
I love the melancholy tone to the Portal games, and it's nice to see fan works pick up that end of the franchise and run with it (instead of iterating endlessly on cake jokes).
posted by ArmyOfKittens at 11:57 AM on August 24, 2011
But a Portal movie? I'd pay good money to see one that was done RIGHT. With turrets. And GladOs. Voiced by Ellen McLain.
No other voice would do...
posted by JB71 at 7:01 AM on August 24 [+] [!]
I'd happily take a Wheatley in there, too. With only Stephen Merchant as the voice, of course.
posted by gc at 12:20 PM on August 24, 2011 [1 favorite]
No other voice would do...
posted by JB71 at 7:01 AM on August 24 [+] [!]
I'd happily take a Wheatley in there, too. With only Stephen Merchant as the voice, of course.
posted by gc at 12:20 PM on August 24, 2011 [1 favorite]
effugas: "sharkfu,
It was a test -- she was intentionally given the gun"
Hrm. I don't know... that seems like a convenient bit of storytelling. I'd argue that's second only to "it was allllll just a dream!" in storytelling cheats, but I'll try to give it another chance and rewatch it.
posted by sharkfu at 12:39 PM on August 24, 2011
It was a test -- she was intentionally given the gun"
Hrm. I don't know... that seems like a convenient bit of storytelling. I'd argue that's second only to "it was allllll just a dream!" in storytelling cheats, but I'll try to give it another chance and rewatch it.
posted by sharkfu at 12:39 PM on August 24, 2011
Loved it, despite the dramatic dramatic pauses, but the perspective on the loop visuals seemed a bit too compressed, and her size ratio should have been *dramatic*ly larger (so that her loop self would have been smaller), at least to my eyes.
posted by luxuryluke at 2:11 PM on August 24, 2011
posted by luxuryluke at 2:11 PM on August 24, 2011
Hrm. I don't know... that seems like a convenient bit of storytelling.
Like it or not, the entire premise of the Portal games involves characters who are test subjects who are given a portal gun by those who are testing them.
You might as well complain about the "convenient" existence of magic in the Harry Potter movies.
posted by straight at 9:41 AM on August 25, 2011
Like it or not, the entire premise of the Portal games involves characters who are test subjects who are given a portal gun by those who are testing them.
You might as well complain about the "convenient" existence of magic in the Harry Potter movies.
posted by straight at 9:41 AM on August 25, 2011
straight: "Like it or not, the entire premise of the Portal games involves characters who are test subjects who are given a portal gun by those who are testing them.
You might as well complain about the "convenient" existence of magic in the Harry Potter movies"
Having never played Portal, I wasn't aware of that. All I knew going in was the basic idea of how the gun works during gameplay. I was approaching it from basic storytelling standpoint - who opposes the protagonist and why? Knowing nothing else about the world, I'd argue it's a lack of conflict if they just give her a portal gun instead of her figuring out where it's hidden or outwitting a guard to get one or escaping by some other means and then acquiring one outside her cell. Also, if they're just giving a gun to test her, why are they chasing her and risking the guards' lives? None of that may fit with the Portal world, but I don't think the film is giving me all the pieces to understand that world.
From looking up the game on wikipedia, it appears there's computer character named GLaDOS that challenges the main character to solve the puzzles. The absence of that character (or a character that fills the same role) hurts my understanding as an outsider. I think this is a question for all movies made from existing properties - do you make it for everyone or just for the fans? This is a weird hybrid where, in my opinion, it's almost for everyone but not quite.
Magic in Harry Potter movies doesn't seem convenient to me because it's not like Voldemort gave Harry Potter magical powers for fun and then chased him around to try to kill him for his amusement. They both have powers and Voldemort is legitimately trying to kill him because he sees him as a threat. That said, I'd argue some use of magic is convenient. I'm not sure which movie it was, but I think Hermione had a time travel device that she used in one instance but not another, which seemed rather convenient. I haven't read that particular book, so it may have been explained better there, and then we're back to the fans vs everyone discussion.
posted by sharkfu at 11:41 AM on August 25, 2011
You might as well complain about the "convenient" existence of magic in the Harry Potter movies"
Having never played Portal, I wasn't aware of that. All I knew going in was the basic idea of how the gun works during gameplay. I was approaching it from basic storytelling standpoint - who opposes the protagonist and why? Knowing nothing else about the world, I'd argue it's a lack of conflict if they just give her a portal gun instead of her figuring out where it's hidden or outwitting a guard to get one or escaping by some other means and then acquiring one outside her cell. Also, if they're just giving a gun to test her, why are they chasing her and risking the guards' lives? None of that may fit with the Portal world, but I don't think the film is giving me all the pieces to understand that world.
From looking up the game on wikipedia, it appears there's computer character named GLaDOS that challenges the main character to solve the puzzles. The absence of that character (or a character that fills the same role) hurts my understanding as an outsider. I think this is a question for all movies made from existing properties - do you make it for everyone or just for the fans? This is a weird hybrid where, in my opinion, it's almost for everyone but not quite.
Magic in Harry Potter movies doesn't seem convenient to me because it's not like Voldemort gave Harry Potter magical powers for fun and then chased him around to try to kill him for his amusement. They both have powers and Voldemort is legitimately trying to kill him because he sees him as a threat. That said, I'd argue some use of magic is convenient. I'm not sure which movie it was, but I think Hermione had a time travel device that she used in one instance but not another, which seemed rather convenient. I haven't read that particular book, so it may have been explained better there, and then we're back to the fans vs everyone discussion.
posted by sharkfu at 11:41 AM on August 25, 2011
sharkfu, I agree completely with your criticisms. I think this video assumes knowledge of the game (I doubt most non-Portal-players would catch what she did with the bed).
Most of the problems with this video are probably attributable to them not having access to the voice actress for GLaDOS and failing to come up with a suitable substitute.
posted by straight at 1:10 PM on August 25, 2011
Most of the problems with this video are probably attributable to them not having access to the voice actress for GLaDOS and failing to come up with a suitable substitute.
posted by straight at 1:10 PM on August 25, 2011
I think this movie stands alone quite well. The confusion of the subject at the seeming pointlessness of the situation, and the relentless futility of the attempts to escape that situation, are pretty big elements of the game, and come across perfectly. Additionally, the surprise at being given the tools to escape, and then the further surprise of their ineffectiveness... another definite Portal experience you're having there, sharkfu. I also think it worked very well as a silent film, and GlaDOS would have broken that effect completely.
posted by mek at 10:17 PM on August 31, 2011
posted by mek at 10:17 PM on August 31, 2011
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posted by zarq at 6:49 PM on August 23, 2011 [1 favorite]