Potential Edgar Wright Influence
Was it just me, or did the first episode seem to be influenced by Edgar Wright's style of directing? The quick cuts, rapid zooms and pans, directional transitions, and overall fast-paced comedy seem right out of Shaun of the Dead or Hot Fuzz, which is probably why I loved the episode so much.
Rhys' plan to break into the race was practically an homage to "The Plan" Scene from Shaun of the Dead."The Plan" Scene from Shaun of the Dead.
Loved the episode, Telltale! Whether intentional or not, you reminded me of some of my favorite comedy films. This is by far my favorite comedy game since Portal, and, once the season is finished, might even surpass it 
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Definitely. After I beat the game, I actually described it on Facebook as being like a episode of Firefly directed by Edgar Wright.
I think you're right about that in it being like Edgar Wright's style =D I thought it reminded me a little of SpaceBalls too, with the moment with jumping the guard:
http://youtu.be/THt6zThZEiM
I totally recommend this film btw.
I agree that movie is funny.
This is a great observation.
The similarities are striking.
Never thought about it that way before, but that's a pretty accurate description. Imagine if Edgar Wright and Joss Whedon worked together on the same project! Telltale would have to make a game about that on the spot.
Spaceballs is amazing, and I love Mel Brooks. That's another reference that I didn't catch.
Yeah, Edgar Wright films were a big inspiration as far as the visual language was concerned. We wanted to make sure that not only were we supporting the script's written gags, but coming up with our own beats that were born from visuals that made us laugh. Pretty early on we knew that pushing the visuals to be much more stylized was one of the elements that would help make the game different from the rest of our titles.
Some of my best memories at Telltale involve sleep deprivation and hilarious scripts and performances. Things like the "Banang" gag in 204 were created by people having questionable late night ideas and believing in it enough to put it in the game. I made a concerted effort to have those late night epiphanies and brainstorms earlier in the process so we could build scripts around them.
That montage bit was conceived as a way to have gameplay in a section where it felt like it was lacking, but also not bog down the overall pacing. It was actually one of the first breakthroughs for us as we were exploring the potential of doing comedy in a new Telltale game, and helped us shape the rest of the episode.
Interesting, seems like like it worked out pretty well.
Like others users, I had also noticed the quick pans/cuts, but I assumed that was more of an inspiration from the Borderlands franchise in particular to replicate the "high adrenaline" feel of the game. It's interesting to see that it was actually a more generalized choice for showing visual gags in general.
Seeing as how the newer Telltale series rely more on cinematic presentation, it's fascinating to see how far Telltale has come in watching them use their new skill sets on story genres they previously focused on with their older titles.
The hard work definitely paid off because the episode was amazing! You guys managed to do something that most comedy films that come out today don't even come close to achieving, which is using the visuals and cinematography for humor.
Almost every comedy in recent memory has delivered jokes through dialogue or relied on creating the most absurd image possible. I loved this episode for the same reason the Edgar Wright films are my favorite comedies: the visuals are just as funny as the dialogue. Can't wait for the rest of the season, Telltale!