portal [short film] work

 the main narrative of portal is the main character, locked in prison cell escaping using a gun which just turned up in her cell. she is very good at what she does and effectively escapes until the twist at the end. the main way in which sound is used in portal is how no one speaks in this film as its more of a physical performance. due to no one having any dialogue, it creates a lot of mystery and makes the mission a lot more tense. this makes the audience feel confused at the start as we wonder why she's in the prison cell and what they need her for. as there's no one talking, this is never explained to us. even though there's no dialogue, this does not make the film boring as the action keeps us entertained and satisfied. 

there is music being used at the end which makes it very dramatic with the constant drumming when we find out she is really in a simulation and she's trapped in the prison cell.  this is effective as it makes it even more shocking when the audience finds out the prison has complete control over her and makes us feel annoyed a bit as she was so close to escaping and just as she had that feeling of freedom when she escaped, it brings us back to reality when we find out the view of the distance is just an image and she's still trapped. this twist is quite unsatisfying as she worked so hard to escape only for the prison to dominate over her and keep her trapped in the prison as part of the simulation. this leaves the audience wanting to find out more and wanting to know her next plan of action of escaping the simulation.

the main character has a lot of character development as she starts off in the prison cell confused and scared but quickly becomes very capable of escaping with no help needed and has a lot of knowledge of how to escape. There is a theme of mystery in this film as we question why she's in the prison cell and how she ended up there. The editing is used well as it shows us her day by day life in the cell which leads her to finding a gun which can create portals with a nice effect and the portals being orange and blue are a nice contrast. There are a lot of dark colours in the film as she  in the prison cell and this is oppressive. The cinematography is dark and claustrophobic. The darkness is broken up by the bright, flourescent colours representing an escape route. This is very effective against the gloomy background. The film is mainly shot in wide camera focus to show us her imprisonment within the cell. inside the escape tunnel, it is very bright and futuristic. The effects are very intriguing and enticing as you follow her journey to what she hopes is her escape to the outside world. There is a contrast between the dark prison cell and the brightness of the outside world which helps us experience her difficult journey to what she thinks [and initially we think to] is her freedom.

 The short film is based on a video game with the same title and was made into a feature length film based on  the success of this project which helps show the importance of short films to the film industry.