Boxes are the new Cake
Today I watched a short film from a company called Valve. For those of you who don’t know, Valve, for the most part, makes games. Their games have a reputation of being very good, innovative, and cinematic; the most famous being the Half Life series and Portal.
The short I watched today was based off of the Half Life series. Titled What’s in the Box? this live action, first person perspective film captures the feel of playing a game in the franchise. While the person who’s eyes you’re looking through never actually talks, you get a clear train of thought. Mostly everything he does has precedent. Like hiding and running from guys with guns.
The title, What’s in the Box?, is not a question asked or answered by the movie. There is a box, and you never find out what’s in it, but by the end I didn’t really care either. I just wanted to know what happens next. The film is confusing– for sure– but it should be, because it starts with a guy getting up off the ground with blood on his gloves and ends similarly. It’s a hectic chase with a guy in panic, and you feel like you’re in it.
This is the first of these films released by Valve, and may or may not be the last. It is interesting, but you may not care for or about it if you aren’t interesting in the games. If you can spare nine minutes, though, why not?
You can find the film here.