Outside Aperture - Portal Short Film 

#1 Reason to buy a Portal Gun: You can scratch your own back

So Chell developed PTSD and now uses the portal gun for simply tasks. Interesting idea.

I don't care if it doesn't match up with the actual storyline or if this video is from three years ago and nobody will ever see this comment, all I care about is that fact that this is the best Portal short film I've seen.

"You will be baked... And there will be cake." -Chell to all the ingredients

"I get to have some cake today, The Cube is watching me, I hope it's proud to see me now, outside, alone, but FREE!!!" These aren't tears, they're... MAN DROPS.

*sees "enable Siri" setting while turning on her new phone for the first time NO

When you think about it, the series is really depressing, but also heartwarming. GLaDOS was Caroline, Cave Johnson and the lab boys forced her to become GLaDOS, to take away her freedom and move her into a computer. She flooded the Enrichment Center with neurotoxin to kill the people who did it to her. Later, she felt bad about it but what was done was done. So she developed a mindset that, like the people who basically killed Caroline but everyone was horrible. She eventually distanced herself from the nice, cheerful woman who Caroline was. She wasn't the same though. She was pretty much a murderer. She awoke Chell, and very quickly begins to show distaste for humans. Throughout Portal 2, she insults you on weight, lack of parents, and personality, just because she doesn't have that. And she killed hundreds of people, and took it out on you. At the end when she says "You were my best friend." She means that as in, you're her only friend. You're the only person who ever, 1, wasn't using her for some higher goal or 2, forced her around like some maid, although you killed her, disobeyed her, and tried to leave her. In reality, you're one of the nicest people GLaDOS ever met. But she wasn't programmed for socializing. She was programmed for testing. She can't keep you around. You are a distraction to her and she gave you the best thing she could before she sent you off. A memento. Like when a best friend moves away in school, they give you a card, a bracelet, a gift, you know. She gave you that pretty much. GLaDOS is one of the loneliest creatures on Earth but she found it in her heart to give you a gift, her one, true friend.

The cake from Portal is black forest cake. I just had a slice of black forest cake. It was a li- erhm, I mean delicious

I want to meet someone who looks at me like Chell looks at cakes.

PTSD can be torture.. Thanks to anyone who was a part of making this short film. I absolutely loved it and watching this made me feel relief from personal issues in my life. Thanks ♡

Honestly short films like this are usually tone deaf to the original content, but this was spot on. Chell wasn’t emotionless or anything, but she was still a “violent mute lunatic.” The dark humor and insanity/absurdity was still present like when chell used the portal gun to scratch her back. The dark lore was always there, always being subtle, and of course, there was some weirdly wholesome moments. Just like a Portal game.

This is the most well done short film I've seen in a long time. The effects, sound design, direction, little Easter eggs, and just overall quality were all excellent. Chell's little mannerisms are so adorable, and her PTSD is heartbreaking. Props to you guys for creating a great silent protagonist in live action

the thing Chell did with the portal gun, when she was scracing her back? yeah, I WANNA DO DAT XD

the reaction to glados and bring your doughter to work day funnily enough makes sense when you take portal 2 into account

I was honestly scared this might end badly like the other Portal short films I've seen, but no. It was just a cute video and she finally got to have her cake. This made me very happy. Thank you. :)

This is so Heartbreaking for me... since everything she has is almost nothing.. i feel bad for chell living like this... like.. she's having halluscinations of being in Aperture Science again, and she can't even trust any electronic if its playing GLaDOs' Voice.. and at the end the only entertainment or joy she had was eating the cake that she was promised with on signing up on Aperture Science.. ;( yet :)

5:31- best use for a Portal Gun EVER

Well, the cake wasn't a lie... Amazing! The cake looked identical too!

:') I loved it, the effects, the detail. Even when she threw away the trash, it snowed the view of the blue portal before she moved it to the floor. And I like how she loved the companion cube. I think everyone feels sad to kill it

Purposes of the Portal Gun: solve complex puzzles previously impossible to solve, cover vast distances in an instant, use an objects or your own continuous momentum to fly across hazardous ravines and materials. Scratch your own back

I love this film dearly after all this years. It is just perfect for me. For starters, it manages to perfectly translate the game’s feel into another medium. This film is full with sense of trauma that becomes experience, of isolation that leads to solitude and serenity. Chell is outside of Aperture, but Aperture will forever be a part of her now. This hits hard. I’m not an active part of the fandom anymore, but Portal will forever define me. I will always find myself content while covered in paint or cooking a microwave cake. And then there’s Chell’s personality in this film. She is determined, she is resilient, and it’s shown beautifully here. She never gives up! She trives and tries with the cake. She tries and tries to live a normal live, to move on, to utilize what aperture left her with instead of fighting or resenting it. I love this film. I hope it will never be forgotten or lost to time.

I feel sad for chell she sleeps on newspaper and..the way she looked at the recipe..so sad:(

Aw, all she wanted the whole time was cake. I love this! It's exactly how I imagine Chell would be after the games.

1:04 : "What is your favorite food: CAKE!" (with the heart in the exclamation point) :D The bit above that is also neat: "Please circle if you have any innate, pathological fears to any... Heights Depths Bullets Weights Fire Death" 1:56: That's an awesome way to get out of bed. 3:31: Aaargh creepy. 4:50: She left out the fish-shaped candies, though.

The realistic depiction of someone with PTSD is astounding, a simple sound or any sort of stimuli that brings back memories of a traumatic experience can cause an anxiety attack, which can cause feeling suffocated, clasutrophobic, and in some extreme circumstances can cause halucinations. many people with anxiety (myself included) have a person, activity, object, or food that brings them down from mental extremes, clearly the Black Forest Cake is Chell's comfort food. comfort objects can also sometimes be the subject of hyperfixations or hyperfocusing, which are also common experiences from people with ADHD, ADD, Depression, Anxiety, or PTSD. honestly the fact that this depiction of Chell is portrayed very realistically is amazing, and is something i can relate to a lot.

Well the film should've called "a day with Chell" haha. But seriously this is a nice fan-film, pretty cool, cute and beautifully executed, one of my favorite video on the RU-vid. Thank you for making this beautiful short film.

Watched this so many times because it's that good! I'm guessing this is Chell's first full day at her new home, as she clearly didn't explore the contents of the drawers. She probably escaped Aperture, explored outside for the rest of the day, arrived at the house by night, had a quick look around at beans/tv, then fell asleep due to being so tired after fighting GLaDOS. Love this!

that's nice, kinda gave me a personal satisfaction that she finally got the cake.

Having the camera “appear” in her house and all the other flashbacks was an amazing touch! Especially having it seem like she chose the cake and chose to be a subject...

Fast forward to 2023 and this is still one of my favourite portal fan films of all time, even outside portal its an amazing video game fan film full stop, I honestly cant believe its been a long time since this was first made, thank you so much for doing such captivating work.

I really like the idea of Chell finally having a cake after leaving

This goes to prove the cake was not a lie

Chell gets the cake after what? 10 years!

this video is a core memory

I just watched 8 minutes of a fictional character baking a cake. Best 8 minutes of my life!

The scratching your own back thing was pretty cool.

OK, the back scratching was hilarious!

This is my favorite portal movie so far. It's kind of a breather from the danger, the effects are good, plus I like the cake making. Looks so fun! :)

5:31 Best use for a Portal gun. ^_^

I still come here 10 years later :) Such a good short film!!

This sells what ptsd is like, the flashbacks, the nightmares…

4:07 LOL Cake Magazine xD DA CAKE IS A LIE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Great match of costume and actor, really fits chell's in-game look. I like how several aspects of the game are nicely mirrored to (what the protagonist thinks is) the reality, and that it appears that she got PTSD, reasonable for such scenario. Also, cool CGI, audio/music and asthetics. Well done. 👍🏻

WHY AM I CRYING IN THE CLUB RIGHT NOW

This is amazing! Perfect actress :)

Whenever I think about Portal, my first thought is always: “Our minds have and will betray us, and GladOS is the example of human corruption, not just A.I” After watching this vid, my new thoughts were: “You know who deserves cake? Chell. Man my mind has some deep thoughts, and then the stupider ones

This was a pretty cool video. I also think during the whole portal 1 story GLaDOS makes a reference to how Chell shouldn't go outside. Many people like myself think that the Seven Hour War is occurring as there are things in Half Life that reference portal such as Black Mesa and Aperture Science being rivals.

Sorry I was late, but happy 10 year anniversary of this fan-made short film!!

Wow, 8 years later and still one of the best portal videos out there. I'm glad I came across this again.

I don't get it, but the visual effects and everything else was awesome!!

This is my personal favorite, the best one I've seen! :D

I end up watching this video at least once a year, and I still love it!!!

This short film is so good for when it came out! You guys must be extremely talented!

Welcome t Cooking with Chell Today we're gonna be baking a CHOCOLATE CAKE !!

4:30 "Do not submerge the device in water." IT'S RIGHT NEXT TO THE SINK JFC

This might be one of the cutest Portal short films there are. Great work!

That was great! I loved that game. I love the credits, I've never seen them done this way.

You gotta hand it to her, the makeup is perfect, especially given the circumstances. In other news, this is pretty damn cool.

This is one of the most touching short films I've ever seen. There is so much story behind Portal that is frequently back burnered. The PTSD aspects in Chell's behavior speak volumes.

5:31 this is quite literally what I would do if I had the Aperture Science Handheld Portal Device

Beautifully made! I love all of the subtle references to the game.

So she painted all the walls in her house in moon rock paint?

This is a Masterpiece. Best Chell role-play I ever seen. Thanks Eisen, Nicole.

More movies should have sideways credits.

A friend that I might meet in real life one day: What would you do if you had a portal device? Me: 5:31 - 5:35 (Note: I thought I was smelling actual cake when Chell was looking at the cake recipes, but then I had to tell myself that it's just me. That's when I stopped smelling cake. 0-0" )

You're very talented, Eisen. This video was witty, emotional, relatable for the fans while still being original. Really awesome!

not even with portals you can see your eyes directly

OMG I JUST REALIZED SHE WROTE CHELL JOHNOSN :O

Me: *GASP* THE CAKE ISN'T A LIE AFTER ALL!!!! YAAAY!!!!!!!

4:18 I remember wanting that cake so badly too... =.

the cake isn't a lie!

I have decided Chell is ace. There is no other explanation for her extreme love of cake. 😀☺

I like this Chell; she's bad at baking. The one that's good at baking, I don't like her. She steals things. Cubes, radios, men...

This is so cool and sad at the same time! I wish you could tell us in a vid how she got that house after leaving Aperture...

_sweats profusely when Chell uses water dangerously close to the Portal Gun_

11 years later I remembered this short film, it's still mindblowingly amazing!

The only person that reads terms and conditions that we like

Great actress.

This is still an absolutely amazing short film even over 10 years after the fact. Thank you for making this, it's an absolute delight to rediscover this every other year and I enjoy it a lot

For some reason, seeing Chell cry when she saw the picture of that cake is really heartwarming to me. Reminds me of my 10th birthday.

5:31 she's scratching her own back that's hilarious

lovely

woah the nostlagie. i rember me when i was young and i enjoyed portal short film and portal video

Why the hell did she put the cake in the fridge with a LIT candle?

This is the best thing I’ve seen for a portal animation #1

i thought the cake was a lie :P

This is so amazing for more reasons than I can begin to list. My deepest sincerest nerd love for the wonderful people who put untold hours of effort into all the steps required to create this. On a totally unrelated note, I believe that 10 years from now I will look back on this video as the reason I now have a foot fetish.

1:56 genius

The fact that she did nothing but bake a cake for her own entertainment all day

She's pretty :D

This made me cry in joy that portal is remembered like this

4:24 She looks likes Oswin Oswald cooking a cake in a locked room o.o

Adorable

I was smiling all the time seeing Chell she's happy about making the cake... It was so cute...

It's been 5 years... And I came back to watch this.

finally chell gets her cake

I rewatch this a lot. Its soooooo good. Like we escaped? But life is not normal....especially for Chell......though she does poses the most powerful gun in existence

Awesome video!I I LOVE IT!!

The cake is a lie

Even to this day, this is still good