This split second exchange gives us so much information it still frankly kind of infuriates me. Someone’s gotta pay the bills around here. To get what I mean, let’s look at how much story Overdrift can tell with just two lines of dialogue:īLAKE: It’s called archaeology, Gramps. Rather, it’s just one of the most efficiently told cinematic stories you’re likely to come across. What’s even more impressive is that it’s something Overdrift accomplishes without cutting corners or sacrificing characterization. I mean, I’m not trying to make some sort of argument here that faster=objectively better as far as storytelling goes (and I also realize the inherent silliness of comparing the accomplishments of a 5 minute internet short to the artistic ambitions of a big honkin’ feature length film like, say, The English Patient, or even VGHS for that matter), but DAMN is that one impressive feat of screenwriting. That’s the time it takes most movies to get past their opening credits. Yet Overdrift gets it done-and nails it-in five minutes flat.įIVE MINUTES.
Yeah, it’s a pretty typical Hollywood blockbuster kind of arc-but it’s also one that takes the typical Hollywood blockbuster about 2 hours to complete. By the time the film has ended, we’ve seen our protagonist Blake Kagamura transform from an angry young man running from his past (“Duke threw everything away for the drift! I’m not going to make the same mistake!”) into a fearless warrior who has embraced his destiny (“So what are you gonna do?” “I’m gonna drift!”). Here’s why Overdrift continually blows my mind-and why it became such an enduring topic of conversation in the VGHS writer’s room. But you’re probably wondering what the big deal is here-not to mention what in God’s name does any of this have to do with VGHS? So, okay, now that you’ve watched it, you’ve no doubt been dazzled by its relentless energy, its over the top performances, its brazen commitment to its own insane mythology, and the brute simplicity of its one liners (not to mention the sheer genius of that downshifting-in-an-automatic gag).
I’ll try to play it cool for the purposes of this article. I tend to get this crazy gleam in my eye when I talk about it-you know, that gleam Salieri gets when he’s talking about Mozart in Amadeus that makes you go, “dude, this guy needs to take a vacation”? That’s the one. For sure, Overdrift is near and dear to a lot of hearts around here at Rocketjump, but I suspect I’m probably the only one who would unironically compare it to Shakespeare in mixed company. (Fair warning from here on out: I am pretty obsessed with this film. That might be overstating my case a little bit. It’s also literally the greatest work of fiction ever created by man. Made in 2007 as an entry for the Channel 101 film festival, Overdrift is an epic story about dinosaurs, drift racing, and one man’s search for his destiny amidst the tragedy of his past. Overdrift is a short film created by YouTube filmmakers The Duncan Brothers. If you’re left scratching your head, however, allow me to explain. If you, like me, are a fan of all things D-Dimension, you may find yourself involuntarily pumping your fist and hooting with excitement right now.
I’m not gonna go into the spoilery details, but suffice to say, there’s an arcade game that plays a big part in tomorrow’s episode and that game goes by the name of OVERDRIFT. I also figured that today was the perfect time to strike because the FAR AND AWAY COOLEST reference is coming up in tomorrow’s episode. So when Matt was all up on my grill last week about coming up with article ideas for the website (picture J Jonah Jameson but with a can of Monster instead of a cigar and you’re getting the idea), it struck me that this might be an ideal way for us to talk a bit more in depth about all the cool stuff we ripped off-I mean, “drew inspiration from”-while creating the show! Like NASCAR drivers, but with less GoDaddy.Com and more Nope.Avi. What I’m saying is we wear our influences on our sleeves around here. There’s a lot of reasons we do this (sheer hackitude for one, our inability to resist a good ESRB ratings gag for another-wait, those might be the same thing), but honestly, I think the primary motivation behind our constant cultural namedropping is just an earnest desire to pay tribute to the stuff that inspired us as artists while creating the show*. The pilot touches on everything from Korean pop music to Back to the Future: Part 2 to Twilight, and that’s just the first three scenes. If you’ve been following the Veeg this far, you know it’s a pretty reference-laden show.
#Vghs shotbot phrases series#
Hey everybody-I’m Will Campos, one of the writers of VGHS, with the first in a series of (hopefully many!) blog posts on the influences behind VGHS’ style and tone.