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Rooster Teeth

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Rooster Teeth Productions
Company typePrivate
IndustryMachinima
Founded2003
HeadquartersAustin, Texas
Key people
Burnie Burns
Matt Hullum
Geoff Ramsey
Jason Saldaña
Gustavo Sorola
ProductsRed vs. Blue
The Strangerhood
PANICS
1-800-Magic
Machinima commercials
Rooster Teeth Comics
Number of employees
259 (2016) Edit this on Wikidata
ParentFullscreen Edit this on Wikidata
Websitehttp://www.roosterteeth.com/

Rooster Teeth Productions is an award-winning production group from Austin, Texas that specializes in the creation of machinima, or films created using real-time, interactive engines from computer and video games. The name Rooster Teeth is a euphemism for Cockbite, an insult used in one of the group's trailers.[1] Originally, the group ran an unsuccessful website called drunkgamers.com, for which Burnie Burns created voice-over-enhanced gameplay videos of Bungie Studios' popular first-person shooter video game Halo: Combat Evolved. Eventually, these videos led to the creation of Red vs. Blue: The Blood Gulch Chronicles, an award-winning comic science fiction series that premiered on April 1, 2003 and ended on June 28, 2007 with the release of episode 100.

In 2004, Electronic Arts commissioned Rooster Teeth to promote its life simulation game The Sims 2 through The Strangerhood, a series that parodies popular culture. In 2005, Monolith Productions commissioned the group to create the mini-series PANICS to promote the computer game F.E.A.R.. Recently, they also produced a miniseries using the game Shadowrun called 1-800-Magic.

Early history

While attending the University of Texas at Austin, Burnie Burns and Matt Hullum collaborated with actor Joel Heyman on a 1997 independent film called The Schedule.[2] The film helped Hullum and Heyman to find work in Los Angeles, California, but otherwise had limited success.[3] Working for a local company named Telenetwork, Burns later met Geoff Ramsey and Gustavo Sorola, and the three formed drunkgamers, a website where video games were reviewed while drunk.[4] According to Ramsey, the group tried to receive free games to review, but "incurred the wrath" of several game developers in doing so.[5]

One of the non-gameplay videos that the drunkgamers crew created during this time was a live-action parody of the Apple Switch ad campaign. This video featured Sorola as the main actor, used Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky's "Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy" as background music, and focused on the lack of games available for the Apple Macintosh computer.[6]

Red vs. Blue

Main article: Red vs. Blue
File:RvB ep58 Sarge Donut.jpg
A scene from Red vs. Blue season 4, made using Halo 2, the sequel to Halo: Combat Evolved

Responsible for covering the Microsoft Xbox, Burns regularly posted gameplay videos of Halo: Combat Evolved and eventually began to add humor to them with voice-overs.[5] The idea for a serial came next,[5] and a trailer for Red vs. Blue was posted in 2002.[7] Six months later, the drunkgamers website closed. However, the following week, the magazine Computer Gaming World asked permission to include the Switch parody in a CD to be included with an issue. To take advantage of the resultant publicity, Rooster Teeth re-encoded the video to point to redvsblue.com, and revived the Red vs. Blue project.[1] Burns also contacted Hullum and Heyman to work on the series.[8]

In a parody of science fiction films and games[9] and of military life,[10] Red vs. Blue tells the story of two groups of soldiers fighting a civil war in a desolate box canyon. Initially, Rooster Teeth expected the series to consist of only six to eight episodes.[11] However, the series became popular quickly, receiving 20,000 downloads in a single day.[12] Accordingly, Burns conceived an extension of the plot.[13] The series' fifth and final season ended with episode 100, released on June 28, 2007.[14] However, the group has continued to released special promotional videos, including a five-part mini-series to promote Halo 3.[15]

Red vs. Blue won several awards, including four from the Academy of Machinima Arts & Sciences.[16] Writing for the New York Times, Clive Thompson credited the series as the first machinima production "to break out of the underground".[17] Red vs. Blue videos have been shown in Xbox demo kiosks,[18] and content that is included with the premium "Legendary" edition of Halo 3.[19]

Other machinima

A screenshot from Apology, an advertisement that Electronic Arts commissioned from Rooster Teeth

In May 2004, at the E3 gaming convention, Rooster Teeth was introduced to The Sims 2 and realized that the game would be suitable for a series that parodied reality television; Electronic Arts agreed.[20] The result was The Strangerhood, a comedy series that centers on eight strangers who awake one day unaware of where they are or how they arrived there.[21] Its first season of 17 episodes completed on April 27, 2006.[22] In 2005, the group collaborated with Paul Marino[23] on Strangerhood Studios, a spin-off commissioned by the Independent Film Channel.[24] This spin-off was the first machinima series to be commissioned for broadcast[24] and won an award for Best Editing at the 2005 Machinima Film Festival.[25]

Also in 2005, Rooster Teeth partnered with Monolith Productions to create PANICS, a short series that chronicles the adventures of Bravo Team.[24] The four publicly released episodes were released between September 27, 2005 and October 18, 2005,[26] and a prequel was released with F.E.A.R. - Director's Edition.[27] The mini-series won an award for Best Writing at the 2005 Machinima Film Festival.[25]

In mid-2006, Electronic Arts commissioned Rooster Teeth to direct[28] commercials for their EA Sports brand of games, including Madden NFL 2007 and NCAA Football 2007, for broadcast on television.[29] Rooster Teeth released some of this work on their website.[30] In late November 2006, controversy arose over a Madden NFL 07 commercial, when Indianapolis Colts tight end Dallas Clark complained about his depiction in the commercial.[31] Hit and tackled multiple times in the advertisement by Philadelphia Eagles players, Clark stated, "I haven't seen the commercial, but I'm upset about it. It makes me look like a punk."[31] In response, Rooster Teeth posted a director's cut, in which Clark plays and dominates every position.[32]

Rooster Teeth used the game Shadowrun to produce 1-800-Magic, a four-episode mini-series that ran from June 7, 2007 to July 4, 2007.

Rooster Teeth Comics

In 2006, Rooster Teeth Productions formed its own webcomic series. The strip portrays the staff members, but they play little role in its creation. Instead, it is drawn by Luke Mckay, a Rooster Teeth employee, and written by Griffon Ramsey, the wife of Geoff Ramsey. The comics are released three times a week, on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays. Additional comics for the site's sponsors are released about once a week.

Grifball

On December 11, 2007 Rooster Teeth Productions created Grifball. It is a customized Halo 3 game mod using the Foundry multiplayer map. It has since gone through many official and fan-made versions. A community page can be found here[1].

Rules

Two teams of between 3-4 players square off in an arena in which each team has a goal. The object is to take the "ball" in the middle of the court and put it in the other team’s goal. The wall size of the level is large to reduce out of bounds and many teleporters are present for easier return to field of play. A & B signs are also present to help illustrate goals to new players.

  • 1. Scoring a goal earns one point and ends the round.
  • 2. Each match consists of five rounds. The team with at least three points at the end of five rounds wins the match.
  • 3. Each player has a gravity hammer and a plasma sword (secondary.)
  • 4. Damage is set to 300% with player health set to 10%. One direct hit will kill a player.
  • 5. Dead players respawn in three seconds at their own goal.
  • 6. The ball carrier has a 3x Overshield, 150% speed and turns orange (hence, Grifball).
  • 7. Friendly players can hurt each other. Learn to use your radar.
  • 8. In the unlikely event that a player finds themselves thrown outside of the arena (beyond the wall,) find a teleporter. It will drop you out in the middle of the arena. Play is not suspended when a player goes out of bounds. It is your duty to return to play.
  • 9. If a ball carrier goes out of bounds, he must return to play within 30 seconds (judged by time on Save Film) or his team forfeits the entire match. If the team leaves the ball beyond the wall, it will reset within 30 seconds. Play is not suspended when either the ball or ball carrier is out of bounds.


Filmography

Notes

  1. ^ a b Oliver.
  2. ^ Moltenbrey, Gross.
  3. ^ Moltenbrey
  4. ^ Gross; Konow, 1.
  5. ^ a b c Konow, 1.
  6. ^ Mac Gamer Switch Parody.
  7. ^ Konow, 2.
  8. ^ The History of Red vs. Blue.
  9. ^ Leggat
  10. ^ Burns, et al., 2003, Audio Commentary, episode 2.
  11. ^ Burns, et al., 2003, Audio Commentary, episode 4.
  12. ^ Thompson, 1.
  13. ^ Waters.
  14. ^ Sorola.
  15. ^ All New Red vs. Blue Series.
  16. ^ Machinima Awards 2003 Results; Mackie Winners Announced!.
  17. ^ Thompson, 2.
  18. ^ Red vs. Blue : The Interview Strikes Back
  19. ^ Falo 3 Details Explosion.
  20. ^ Kosak, 1–2; Thompson, 5.
  21. ^ Williams.
  22. ^ Saldaña.
  23. ^ Burns, et al., 2006, Audio Commentary, Strangerhood Studios episode 6.
  24. ^ a b c Machinima Theater.
  25. ^ a b Mackie Winners Announced!.
  26. ^ FearFans.com.
  27. ^ Gersh.
  28. ^ "Red Vs. Blue: The Cash Is Always Greener".
  29. ^ Hullum, "Working Vacation".
  30. ^ Hullum, "Ahh... Memories".
  31. ^ a b Chappell.
  32. ^ Robinson.

References

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