Dan Trachtenberg's unoffficial short film Portal: No Escape, based on Valve Software's videogame series Portal, brings to mind a few talking points. One of them: if you want eyeballs on your short, picking an existing franchise is a great way to ensure you'll get them (of course, Hollywood uses this same logic to make remakes and adaptations ad naseum). You could do worse than a franchise like Portal, though, which is a terrifically clever series (Portal 2 is one of two videogames I've found time to play in the past year). Shot on a RED with anamorphic lenses, the short is extremely well-made:
One interesting departure from Valve's storyline is that Portal, very notably, (minor spoiler alert, although any trailer will reveal the same thing) does not feature any people in the game other than yourself.
A behind-the-scenes video is apparently on the way.
https://twitter.com/#!/DannyTRS/status/106156716978208768
https://twitter.com/#!/DannyTRS/status/106150664639479808
Finally, here is another short from Dan, this one for BlackboxTV, which appears to be between seasons (or over?):
No matter how you feel about short films, they're most often calling cards made in hopes of garnering the filmmaker more work or enabling a next project to get made. With that in mind, making a fan film can certainly help one achieve that goal, despite being unauthorized. Are there any existing movies/video games/comic books that you would consider adapting into a short film in order to showcase your filmmaking abilities?
Your Comment
22 Comments
I always thought Halo would be a good choice. It's one of the only giant franchises in any genre that doesn't have a movie, so it's an interesting playground.
August 24, 2011 at 3:05PM, Edited September 4, 7:54AM
You should check these out if you haven't already: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BKGhoJ1mgQY
Directed by District 9's Neill Blomkamp.
August 24, 2011 at 4:15PM, Edited September 4, 7:54AM
I would say that doesn't really count as a fan film since it's a commercial for halo 3. I kinda wish he got to do a halo movie.
August 25, 2011 at 1:05PM, Edited September 4, 7:54AM
Why call it Portal? It doesn't have the atmosphere of the game at all. Very professional looking, but to me Portal the movie shouldn't look like Terminator Salvation. I thought one of the main draws of DIY is that you get the freedom to create a unique vision, this looks like a run of the mill studio adaptation of a clever property.
August 24, 2011 at 3:09PM, Edited September 4, 7:54AM
Well said.
August 24, 2011 at 6:29PM, Edited September 4, 7:54AM
Boring.
August 24, 2011 at 8:59PM, Edited September 4, 7:54AM
I'm glad you can just shit on someone's hard work. This isn't really the forum for that , I suggest you leave that comment on gizmodo or youtube when you can be comfortably ignored like everyone else. Unless you're an award winning short filmmaker I'm sure you can leave your bland hating for your mom's basement. Even if this is full of flash at least it got made, it takes no effort to be a dick but tons of effort to make this.
Stop being an asshole.
August 25, 2011 at 1:12PM, Edited September 4, 7:54AM
You know, Darrell, you don't need to be an award winning filmmaker to be allowed to dislike a film... If that were the case, you'd also need to be one to like it.
Me, I don't think the short is boring, but I do think the music is terrible. As for calling people assholes just because they have an opinion... well, you know what that makes you ?
August 27, 2011 at 7:34PM, Edited September 4, 7:54AM
all style, no substance film making. NEXT!
August 24, 2011 at 9:27PM, Edited September 4, 7:54AM
exactly.
August 24, 2011 at 9:47PM, Edited September 4, 7:54AM
Well, I was using it as a talking point about one avenue to furthering your career. So... "Are there any existing movies/video games/comic books that you would consider adapting into a short film in order to showcase your filmmaking abilities?"
August 24, 2011 at 11:25PM, Edited September 4, 7:54AM
For those computer based muso's in the house, listen to the sampled drums around the 2 minute mark... Toontrack's DFH2 kit. *nearly* Unmistakable \m/
August 25, 2011 at 2:16AM, Edited September 4, 7:54AM
You people are hard to please. It's a well made short.
August 25, 2011 at 6:41AM, Edited September 4, 7:54AM
I would love to do X-Men because all the X-Men movies, for the most part, suck.
August 25, 2011 at 6:51AM, Edited September 4, 7:54AM
first: maybe it's because I've never played Portal, but I liked it
and then: it has two million views, which is roughly two million more than anything I've ever uploaded to the web... and I think that's what this post was about
August 25, 2011 at 10:07AM, Edited September 4, 7:54AM
Did anyone even watch the second film? That was fantastic.
August 25, 2011 at 1:24PM, Edited September 4, 7:54AM
Does anyone else not like the look of the Red?? Every film I see looks so cold and lifeless. I understand it fits the context here, but still.....
August 25, 2011 at 2:30PM, Edited September 4, 7:54AM
I want to make a post-apocalyptic Captain Planet fan film. #1 Captain Planet would be something everyone has forgotten about but would recognize immediately. #2 It would touch on humans impact on the earth which has recently been the spotlight of the news. I think it would be perfect.
August 25, 2011 at 7:16PM, Edited September 4, 7:54AM
There you go! I'm surprised when I hear of ANY franchise that hasn't already been adapted for the big screen...
August 26, 2011 at 8:51AM, Edited September 4, 7:54AM
Spoke too soon. See here:
http://www.firstshowing.net/2011/watch-first-green-trailer-for-captain-p...
August 31, 2011 at 10:56AM, Edited September 4, 7:54AM
after spending days inside artificial light the girl didn't react to sunlight ..not so technical issue but something you notice right away..
August 28, 2011 at 8:32AM, Edited September 4, 7:54AM
I have watched this movie on cyberflix tv on my windows laptop with the help of the nox android emulator. You can follow this guide to install cyberflix on nox on your windows pc. https://noxforpc.com/cyberflix-tv-for-pc/
April 9, 2019 at 1:42AM, Edited April 9, 1:42AM