Standard Action Season 2 Preview

Now with more hit points...

I am sure that you all remember my review on the +Standard Action web series. If not, shame on you, it was my first web series review, and you should go read it right now here. For those of you who do remember it, congratulations, you are in for a treat.

Season 2 of the series just recently kicked off with a full-length teaser episode on YouTube. The first actual episode is set to launch on the 8th of January, but this post isn't quite about that. This post is about something much more interesting.

I was recently contacted by the producer (and one of the stars) of the popular series, +Joanna Gaskell, as well as director +Rob Hunt and was given the awesome and unique opportunity of interviewing them to get an inside scoop into the second season. What follows below is that interview. Enjoy!

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The Review: Before we get started, I would like to say that I am a huge fan of the show.

My first question is this: How is the second season going to be different from the first?

Joanna Gaskell: Well, it's going to have a much different pace; the whole second season takes place over a much quicker time period than the first season. It's a bit darker, and feels very much like the second chapter of a story - how Empire compares to A New Hope, for example. Less time is given to you getting to know the characters, and more to them being thrown into crazy situations. On the technical side, we've got some new costumes and new weaponry, and we've just gotten better at pretty much every element of the film making process, so its going to look and sound even more polished than it did last year. It's also a little shorter than last season, which isn't ideal, but we ran out of funds during the production process. 

TR: That's a pretty good way to look at it, comparing it to the Star Wars films, and I can definitely understand running out of money part-way through production. I did notice that the costumes were slightly different from last season in the teaser too. Looks good so far. As far as them getting thrown into crazy situations, are there going to be any tie-ins from the first season? What I mean by that is, will there be any villains or others from the 1st season that make an appearance in season 2? Aside from the main 4, of course.

JG: Oh yes, there will definitely be some reappearances of characters from Season 1. We left a whole lot of plot hooks at the end of first season, and a lot of them will be addressed. I'd recommend taking another look at the last few episodes of Season 1 before the launch of Episode 2.1 - the story is definitely a continuation of what we set in place last year. Though, I think people are going to be really surprised by a few of the directions we take.

TR: I will definitely be re-watching the first season, so I can be sure to catch all the minute details. I like the fact that you will be continuing from where you left off, and I'm sure fans of the series will appreciate that as well. Now, are you going to immediately head in a new direction, or will that be a more gradual change?

JG: Well, there's been a little time that's passed between the end of the first season and the beginning of the second - enough for them to get some more gear, as you can see, and do a little more questing, so it's not like we start right where the first season ended. But the story we started in Season 1 is certainly continuing in Season 2. And yep, we launch off into the new storyline pretty darn quickly. We waste no time!

[At this point, Rob decided to chime in] Rob Hunt: Hey, I've been trying to think of great things to add to this but Joanna has covered everything.

I just wanted to point out that some of the increase in production value has come from the fact that Joanna and I have produced and edited over 50 episodes of another web-series over the last year. A local game shop hired us to create video reviews of board games. Check it out here.

The only other thing is that some of my favorite lines in [the] 2nd Season of Standard Action were ad libbed on the day.

TR: Awesome. Do either of you have any advice for my readers as potential viewers going into the second season?

JG: Umm... no advice, really. Just enjoy! If you watched the first season, you'll know that these characters are complex, with rich backstories. We may be a wacky comedy, but our adventurers have a lot of history, and a lot of thought goes into what they do. We do pay close attention to detail, so if you pay attention as well, you'll most definitely be rewarded later. Also, keep in mind that Season 2 is not the end - we want to keep this story going, and are planning on a Season 3. Season 2 is a chapter in a larger tale.

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And with that, our interview came to a close.

10 stars for the Second Season of Standard Action

As a preliminary rating, the second season will be getting 10 stars. This is based solely off of the teaser episode and my interview. The story in the second season has the potential to be very interesting, especially with the tie-ins from the first season, and this also increases the rewatchability immensely. On top of this, the production value has greatly increased from the first season to the second.

I know that I will be rewatching the first season, and I highly suggest you do the same. If you haven't already seen the first season, head on over to the Standard Action website and take a look.

Have an idea for a review?

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