Outside Aperture Answers Portal's Biggest Question

[Hazardlife]

What this video doesn't show is 5 minutes after going to sleep, the Combine beat down her door and drag her away for "repurposing".

The world outside of Aperture Science isn't such a great place.

 

[Hazardlife]

Oops, double post.

 

[l3o2828]

That was awesome, and yes, while it doesnt answer anything, it's still very well done.

 

[sylekage]

THREE WORDS

I liked it...

It was rather nice and touching, nothing too over the top, and she's using the portals in ways I never would have thought haha

I was grinning the whole time through

 

[4RM3D]

This video is epic. 'Nuff said.

 

[Mr Smith]

1. Using portals to scratch your own back is BRILLIANT!!!!

did anyone else thing using the portal to get out of bed was the greatest thing ever?

I was actually very impressed by this. I was starting to hope that this film would go on to show Chell applying her Portal skills to her everyday life. But still, I enjoyed it.

 

[Slimshad]

It was cool, but nothing really happened. She just sat there, trying to bake a cake. I've done that before, and it isn't that interesting to see someone in an orange jump suit do that either.
Congrats for trying to do something, but it would have been better if you actually did anything.

 

[DJ_DEnM]

It's a VERY well made movie, I have to say, but the story, not so much. It had nothing to do with Portal 2 and the beginning was wrong...And assuming Portal 1 was happening at the same time as Half-Life 2 then I doubt she'd be able to live in peace (I've never played Half-Life 2, this is all based on stuff I've heard about it).

 

[MarsProbe]

Very good, I approve of this creation. Some nifty uses of portals there, from the backscratching to putting rubbish in the bin.

As an aside, I wonder why it is the Facebook comments for this short film are all (so far) positive while a lot of the ones that appear here on the forum are so generally a lot more whiney and full of nitpicking. Escapists, are you really all just that hard to please, or is it just that (perish the thought) the relative anonymity of the forums grants you the chance to be a bit of a grouch.

If the latter is true, then colour me disappointed. Chill out people, seriously. You are allowed to just enjoy something every now and then. It won't hurt.

 

[Ophiuchus]

The only problem with this sort of thing is that it makes everything else look rubbish by comparison. Seriously, this just made my day.

 

[samsonguy920]

Sticking with what we know of the Half Life universe, that house looks really good for going through the 7 Hour War and then who knows how long afterward. (I'm guessing a figure with 9 inserted somewhere.) I get the feeling the first Portal takes place after the 7 Hour War itself.
Anyway, that is my one small nitpick. It would take a long time for Chell to shake off her experiences being basically GlaDOS's slave and/or pet, so there is a lot consistent in this. I like to think her drawing on the wall is her way of remembering her only friend who she never met, the Rat Man.
Excellent film.

Spoiler: For those who finished 2...

I am thinking the companion cube is outside, keeping guard over their home. Nothing is going to mess with that burn-scarred, right-angled beast.

 

[beefpelican]

did anyone else thing using the portal to get out of bed was the greatest thing ever?

I liked how she'd gotten very used to solving all of her problems via portal. Like when she uses it to clean up trash.

 

[PortalThinker113]

Wow... any sort of nitpicks one might have on this are immediately silenced by the absolutely perfect mood and feel this film captured. Chell's actress captured her slightly unhinged, obbessive post-Aperture personality perfectly without saying a word, and the little touches they added built up into a fantastic piece of film. Well done, guys, well done. I genuinely love this.

For those concerned with where this falls into Portal canon, the way I read the interview in the article made me believe that they started work on this before Portal 2 came out, so there's no way they could have known what happened in it. Therefore, some inconsistencies are expected. If you're that bothered by such things, imagine this as a "what if" story- what if Chell had gotten up and was able to run away before the Party Escort Bot dragged her back in?

 

[Grabbin Keelz]

Using portals to scratch you back. I thought about that too X3

 

[Pedro The Hutt]

To me Chell felt very much out of character really. The key reason she doesn't speak is that she doesn't want to give GLaDOS or any other AI she encounters the gratification of getting a response out of her. She's a tough cookie, so I just can't see her as a borderline broken girl living her life on a very limited amount of beans and cake materials that somehow stayed fresh for however long she was in her stasis pod before the start of Portal 1. I always figured she'd go and try to get reintegrated into society. Which I'm sure someone with her tenacity is perfectly capable of.

I also sincerely doubt that for having used the thing for all of two hours before her victory over GLaDOS that she had become so engrained with using portals that she now simply can't manage without it. Not that that would stop her from rolling out of bed through a portal for the hell of it. Though then one wonders where her long fall boots have gone. (Or the long fall implants that were grafted to her very knees in the original)

The film's got a nice aesthetic but it just didn't feel like Chell to me. Nor did it look like her, really.

 

[Notsomuch]

I always viewed Chell as the straight man (Woman) of the series, in contrast to the insanity of the aperture labs. You wouldn't think she actually cared about the cake or the companion cube and seeing that sort of portrayal of her character took me out of it. Also, this is isn't important (maybe it is) but at this particular point in the timeline. the seven hour war has come and gone. A more interesting concept would be an out of the oven and into the fire scenario where she escapes Aperture only to immediately encounter the combine. At the very least I would have expected more combine/dystopic imagery.

Very good, I approve of this creation. Some nifty uses of portals there, from the backscratching to putting rubbish in the bin.

As an aside, I wonder why it is the Facebook comments for this short film are all (so far) positive while a lot of the ones that appear here on the forum are so generally a lot more whiney and full of nitpicking. Escapists, are you really all just that hard to please, or is it just that (perish the thought) the relative anonymity of the forums grants you the chance to be a bit of a grouch.

If the latter is true, then colour me disappointed. Chill out people, seriously. You are allowed to just enjoy something every now and then. It won't hurt.

We are allowed to dislike something, just as much as you are allowed to like something. Just because we have a differing opinion on a video doesn't mean we need to "Chill out". I know you are trying to act like the "Cool internet guy that puts all the 'haters' in their place", but you are just coming off as conceited.

 

[Shjade]

did anyone else thing using the portal to get out of bed was the greatest thing ever?

Honestly my favorite part of the video.

The premise overall...I dunno. Where is she, exactly? Why is she basically a squatter, from the look of things? Was she this bad off beforehand - is that WHY she applied at Aperture? Did she just run away from her old life after her escape?

It's a nifty video, but it seems like one that emphasizes the "fan" over the "film" in fan film. Not poorly done at all; just seems like there wasn't much put into the story, even if the way the story is told is pretty keen.

 

[PunkRex]

Daaaaaaaaw, that was so neat.

That was stupidly well done, I loved the aesthetics. So much attention to detail.

Also, I dont know about everyone else but im completely fine with Chell becoming a portal weilding chef. Imagine how quick she would deliver with portals and anti-motion boots.

 

[Sebster 105]

What I like is how it hints at her madness.

 

[Sudenak]

She doesn't have anything though. Unless she was so poverty stricken that her house consisted of just a tiny tv and a betamax player to begin with, she went out and got this stuff after Aperture. That's why this doesn't work as a "life after" movie. It answers zero questions while just adding more. It's a cute, and technically well made, video, but it serves more as an homage than any sort answer.

I look at it in two possible ways:

1 - She just found some abandoned apartment near Aperture Labs and has been squatting there.
2 - In Portal 2, they emphasized science being all that really mattered, so it could be that those employed there only had Cave Johnson propaganda (Aperture food, Aperture entertainment, etc), and nothing else. So her apartment would just be empty, save for Aperture approved stuff.

Or she could just be banana-ham pudding crazy.