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Portal live-action short film hits YouTube

Los Angeles filmmaker and Totally Rad Show cohost Dan Trachtenberg has written and directed a short film inspired by Portal.

145 Comments

Valve's critically acclaimed Portal series is continuing to prove its potential in other entertainment mediums, having already inspired a comic book and, now, a live-action film.

The seven-minute film, titled Portal: No Escape, was written and directed by Los Angeles-based filmmaker Dan Trachtenberg, who also hosts the Totally Rad Show, a daily pop culture video podcast distributed by Revision3.

Trachtenberg first debuted the film during last month's Comic-Con on the Totally Rad Show panel and has since released it on YouTube. The film stars Danielle Rayne (General Hospital, Law and Order) in the role of Chell, a prisoner in a grim-looking facility who discovers a portal gun and uses it to attempt an escape.

According to Trachtenberg, the film took one and a half years to make, with production beginning prior to Portal 2 being announced.

In the past, Trachtenberg has directed commercials for Lexus, Nike, and Coca Cola.

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solo1g

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Very cool short video but I agree with the others a year and a half seems a lot for a 7 min video

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squall_83

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This didn't take 1 and a half years to make. No way. Either the guy was really busy with other stuff or lazy. In the entire 1 and a half years I bet "actual" time working on it was something like 2 weeks.

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AvatarMan96

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The effects were nice, but that's it. I feel it could have been portrayed much better than it actually was. Who the heck were those guards? Is she in Aperture Science...or PRISON? And where's GLaDOS? The fact that it took 1.5 YEARS to make this makes me laugh. The ending had a nice twist, but it's not enough to change my mind. Sorry Dan, but I'm not impressed.

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Avatar image for PoKeZeMuNKyZ
PoKeZeMuNKyZ

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I actually want this to be made in to a film, that short film was awesome in itself...but a full length film would be frickin amazing

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Frame_Dragger

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Wow, I don't usually care about this kind of thig at all, but.... Wow! yeah, it wasn't "true to Portal"... who cares? That was VERY cool!

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chaos-06

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That was awesome! Still, I can't imagine how what is essentially 5 minutes of video (the credits are like 2 min) took a year and a half to make... unless they actually locked her in that room for a year? Hopefully, there's a lot more of this to come.

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deactivated-5e9ccc97c2587

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nice!

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TrueIori

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Nice

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niches_hugic

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I wasn't impressed. Should have followed the portal story line better.

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DARKNESSxEAGLE

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I wouldn't mind the shortness if it weren't for the fact that half of it consisted of nothing happening.

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MinderBeter

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Wow, but how can 7 minutes of film take 1.5 years to make???

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evolancer5651

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great short film

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raze-boi

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God, that woman is ripped...

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zpluffy

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Why is only 7 minutes long, Id totally pay 10 dollars for an hour version like this in the big screen

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jomijohn

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its totally awesome.......its like the continuation from Portal 2....

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Ultramarinus

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Approved for science.

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gamer_x_99

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Holy crap that was good the ending was so twilight zone creepy.

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lrsp

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I thought it was Thoroughly awesome, especially the ending! Definitely Hollywood movie potential.

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mikemcl29

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sweet... very well made, i want more XD

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super-hiro

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To be honest, I wasn't wholly blown away. You could see that the guys who made this knew what they were doing though.

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Evandemocracy

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I Loved It i Couldn't Image if he Turned this into a Full Length Film Would Be Awesome

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Dasim64

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Very interesting. Would be great to see more of these. They did a really good job on it. However as I watched it again a couple of times I couldn't help but think that they should have had her do more than just pushups and dips. I guess it fit with the repetativeness of the food sliding under the door but that part could have been a bit more interesting. The portal stuff was all really fun to watch though.

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Suraisa

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Sweet we want gladus!!!!

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akiwak

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Great short film, hope it gets a big screen adaptation. So much time and love went into making this short trailer!!!

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justin01

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Nice, didn't see that ending coming!

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GM_Strykr

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That was awesome, and the music was absolutely perfect. No cake for her unfortunately.

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trebor-1000

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if i'd have seen this before knowing the game I would have rushed out and bought it - brilliant - want more.

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JollyGreenOne

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That was fantastic! But I feel kinda sorry for her at the end.

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Lanjin

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Simply amazing

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Santesyu

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Would be totally awesome if they could make a internet series like MK legacy.

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Tetris_block69

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companion cubes

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hockeybub89

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She looked into the operational end of the device.

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epencrep

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That's what we need a open world sandbox portal game with melee action! Can't wait.... Plz hurry Valve Thx :-)

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NaryuKick

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awesome!

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ManB3arP1g

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this is sick. but a year and a half? wow

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lock445

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"In the past, Trachtenberg has directed commercials for Lexus, Nike, and Coca Cola." I mistakenly thought that, at the end of that sentence, it read "Nuka Cola"; I guess a visual error on my part, resulting from the combination of "Nike" and "Coca Cola" right next to each other.

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DrKill09

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Who gives a damn? This has been done. Any moron with Adobe After Effects, or even Sony Vegas could do this.

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Phazevariance

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Kewl, but no GlaDOS

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icetone

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freaking adds by google get in the way of the movie!! >:(

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Tanares

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Feels like a teaser trailer, doesn't it? Very good short movie though =)

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kennyyoung6395

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Still wish I have a Portal Gun.

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Areyal

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awesome

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findingaplace

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Loved it :D

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FLEEBS

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Just saw it. It's pretty freakin' awesome!

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Melsixx

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@hagen Did you not see what she found on the back of her neck? Did you not see the wall projecting the illusion of a city in the end? They put the teletransporter there and they trapped her in that room because it was some sort of experiement. Use your brains dude.....

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kerrman

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Very cool. Loved it.

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dak013

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Fighting with Portals. Next game idea.

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littleboomer

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Awesome, could make a whole movie, or even a new game with this concept

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ShadowOfKratos

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They took that long to make the movie because they were waiting for her to open that wall....

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Jedilink109

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My only complaint is that the portals are WAY too slow when she shoots them. It's like a bug flying through the air instead of being nearly immediate like in the game. I won't even complain about the incompatibility with the 2 game's stories either. Other than the portal speed which should be nearly instant, I think it was pretty great. Anyone who hates this should realize something...IT'S A SHORT FILM. It's not a Hollywood production here. There are things that don't have to be perfect in short films because they're short films. I can't complain about any of the effects because they look great overall but the speed of the portals when she shoots them is just a bit too slow is all. Other than that, it's a great video, hope I can make something as cool as this some time (I'm a film student myself). :)

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