Filmakers need to learn something from this:

Many of those who know me in person, know that film and games are two of my favorite things in the world. One of the things that has always baffled me is that despite the insane amounts of money and talent pumped into Hollywood these days, the studio system has consistently struggled with quality film adaptations of video games.

Arguably, Portal 2 (2010) is one of the best console games made to date. The Portal series is at the top of my “best games” list along with the Halo, Dead Space, and Mass Effect franchises. These four franchises are fantastic to me as they combine innovative gameplay, rich content, and a balanced narrative to create a mind-blowing and immersive experience.

I can’t help but wonder how these stories (most of which are 8hrs+ of rich gametime), could effectively translate to a quality film of perhaps 2hrs in length. What makes most of these games so immensely enjoyable to me is their unique immersive qualities that take the player into the body of the primary character and the created world.

Studios have tossed around the idea of a Halo film over the last few years. Will a studio attempt to recreate the ringed world in Halo and bring viewers into the heroic adventures of Master Chief?

Given how disappointing film adaptations of games have been in the past, and the fact that they can drive interest away from a quality game franchise, part of me hopes that the studios will stay away from these titles despite how lucrative a successful film endeavor may appear.

On the other hand, another part of me is still curious how it will turn out. Regardless of the measure of quality, I can easily predict that if a Dead Space or Halo movie hits the silver screen, I’ll pay for a ticket – even if the critics slam it. But despite my small dose of financial support which in no way indicates it’s what I want to see more of, the real question remains: can a studio or filmmaker really figure it out and make a quality adaptation for once?

This Portal 2 short by Dan Trachtenberg gives me hope. You may have to have played Portal 2 to really appreciate this, but perhaps not. What we have here is a reasonably higher budget short film that I would argue is a quality adaptation. In under 6 minutes, viewers are carefully brought into this enigmatic world through the character Chell.

What I think makes this a successful short adaptation is selectivity by the filmmaker in terms of what elements are brought from the game into the film and how they are translated. More importantly, these elements define how the film is made and not the other way around. Instead of forcing a game narrative into a typical hollywood structure, Dan Trachtenberg took a sample of the most fantastic elements of the Portal franchise and worked a film around them.

Could this work for 2hrs+? Perhaps not… But it sure is a great demonstration of how one may better translate a game into a film.

There hasn’t been public mention of a Portal film project in development but after working in the film industry and learning how projects are developed, I predict that some major producers out there are inspired enough by Portal: No Escape to start tossing around ideas of a feature length film. I just hope they truly learn learn from this short film.

From a quality and enjoyment perspective, games and films are inherently  great for different reasons. I believe, to successfully adapt an innovative game into successful a film, filmmakers need to stop trying to force what is believed to make a successful film onto a game adaptation and instead try focusing what audiences love about the game and adapting how they make a film.