In this video Tony Zhao raises some interesting points about the state of most US comedy films today; they rely too heavily on sound and dialogue to deliver their jokes and don't take full advantage of the possibilities of visual comedy. Visual comedy is largely confined to animation, commercials and the work of directors such as Edgar Wright. He describes a number of areas where Wright manages to create comedy out of an otherwise ordinary situation:
- Transition scenes - comparing examples of a change in location in 'The Heat' (Paul Feig, 2013) and 'Hot Fuzz' (Edgar Wright, 2007). 'The Heat' uses 'generic helicopter footage' of the city, obvious road signs and a soundtrack to keep the audience interested, whereas 'Hot Fuzz' rapid cuts a series of shots which are more considered in their meaning. A phone signal depleting to show he's moving to the countryside, Pegg always facing right to respect his direction of travel and a range of sound effects.
- Foreshadowing and exposition - comparing 'This is the End (Seth Rogen, 2013)' with 'Shaun of the Dead (Edgar Wright, 2004)'.
- Entering/leaving the frame - the shark appearing whilst chumming in 'Jaws' (Steven Spielberg, 1975) the scene at the end of 'Django Unchained' (Quentin Tarantino, 2012) and Wright's own 'Scott Pilgrim vs The World' (2010).
- Perfectly-timed sound effects and dramatic lighting changes -'Scott Pilgrim vs The World'
In talking about his use of close-ups in his films, Wright says that he supports the method of arriving at a scene late and leaving early. His transitions are a way of bookmarking the scenes and controlling when the start and end, ultimately controlling the rhythm of the film. By starting on a characters shoes as the get off the bus rather than seeing it pull up, he forces the edit of something that would be cut anyway.
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