Roosterteeth: Movie Dream Factory on the Internet

The longest series of sci-fi animations in the history of online video has not started with a vigorous start, but rather begins with a complaint. Two armed soldiers with future world weapons are on duty to defend their bases from the threat of enemy aggression. "Did you ever wonder why we're here?" The red-haired soldier asked. "It's a big riddle of life, isn't it?" Replied the yellow-haired soldier. "Why are we here?" Are we not the product of some cosmic coincidence? Or is it true that there is a God in heaven overlooking all beings who have helped us plan a whole set of people and things? The two men burst into silence. "What is this?!" The red-haired soldier finally broke the silence with a skeptical tone, "I mean, why are we here, in this canyon?" What does all this have to do with God? The two were talking for two minutes, which fused the metaphysical farce and the intertextuality of all the traditional sci-fi plots. Now, the anime has aired a total of 256 episodes in 12 seasons, and is continuing, and should not see any signs of a show ending recently. Welcome to the bizarre world of Red vs. Blue. Rooster Teeth Productions, the American Creative Video production company, is headquartered in Austin, a flagship product of the company and a milestone in the evolution of the engine film. The so-called engine movie, is refers to uses the 3D computer graphics engine to make one kind of animation movie. Red vs. Blue is a satire on the military bureaucracy of the engine film, of course, filled with a lot of bad language, the carrier of the choice is the first person shooter video game perspective. Since the first online release in 2003, the film has become the world's hottest animation film. Although the taste of netizens is very fickle, but the anime seems to have a unique feeling. The film has already harvested billions of clicks on the Internet, and Rooster teeth has also taken the advantage of launching a large number of licensed peripheral products, including DVDs, T-shirts, posters, and toys. "Red vs. Blue" is not only the innovation of this art itself, but it relies on that art form to tell a story vividly, the content is very fascinating. Matt Hullum, co-founder and chief executive of Rooster Teeth, said, "In many ways, the animation has a very traditional performance." It has great characters, fascinating stories that are fascinating to follow, almost unrelated to the so-called form. "Red vs. Blue" is a full-length anime film, Rooster Teeth has made a great use of this feature to create an empire of engine film. And they are expanding their territory. This empire set animation and reality in one, the coverage of the field, including the animation style of the original web animated "Rwby", Show slow motion video "slow lens to see the World" (The SLOsW Mo Guys) is dedicated to directing and displaying gaming websites and YouTube video channels achievement Hunter, as well as commenting on the latest events with pop culture trends weekly commentary podcast Rooster Teeth Podcast. Rooster Teeth's fans belong to the millennial generation, who are accustomed to endless media consumption on a variety of device screens, and the company's weekly launch of about 40 programs is well suited to the needs of fans. Now, Rooster Teeth is launching its biggest innovation challenge since its inception: to participate in the production of a long film "Lazer Team". According to media reports, the film is scheduled to start filming this October. As a producer, Rooster teeth chose to raise funds for film filming through the Indiegogo website. Enthusiastic fans have come forward to raise 2.48 million dollars in just 30 days, not only the Lazer team's first 650,000 dollar funding target – the equivalent of the target financing amount 382%--also created the highest financing record in the Indiegogo Web site. "We have about 15 million subscribers on the YouTube channel, and 37,000 of them have funded our Lazer team fundraising campaign." "Rooster Teeth co-founder and creative director Michael Brunie" Burns said, "37,000 people in 15 million subscribers is a very small percentage." But they all cos into the role of our film in the science fiction conference activities. They are very positive, even if we only mobilize a small number of people in the audience-less than 1 per thousand-we can create records as well. "Young famous Hullum and Burns are Texas State State University students, the school is located in Texas Austin." The two had produced programmes for the school's TV station TSTV and had collaborated in directing an independent film, the Schedule. The film was published in 1997, but there were few concerns during the year's festival. After that, Hullum chose to go to Hollywood and became a visual effects therapist, while Burns chose to stay in Austin and work for Telenetwork, a customer service company. Burns in the Internet field the preliminary cry was in the year 2000. That year, he and the Telenetwork Company's two colleagues Gus Sorola and Geoff Ramsey co-founded a website for the game player service--drunkgamers.com. The site not only provides comments on video games services, but also keen to produce various types of video clips. One of the most famous video clips they filmed was Apple's switch ad. This part of the Apple ads by people crazy biography, caused Burns former classmate HulluM's attention. The film opened his eyes, and he realised that the Internet as a channel for video promotion had enormous potential. "We thought about setting up a company," he recalls, "and then said, ' Remember what we did when we went to college? ' we did something and sold it directly to someone else. We can do this now, just to sell our products around the world. "While Apple's advertising video was booming, Burns launched a trailer for Red vs. Blue, telling stories of two warring armies fighting during the Civil War. About six months later, he used a weekend to produce the first episode of Red vs. Blue. He summoned Hullum, Sorola, Ramsey, and actor Joel Heyman to record funny conversations for game scripts, as well as the hot first-person shooter game "Halo: Battle Evolution", developed by game developer Bungie (Halo:combat Evolved) To intercept the game screen. Burns may not know, in fact, other popular culture enthusiasts have begun to use the first-person perspective shooting game to make movies. 1996, the film "Diary of a camper" is the use of the id Software company's game Quake video production. The film has done more to promote the art form now known as "engine cinema". "The way the video game is played, that is, the engine movie, is actually a lot different from the past," he said. "Video games are actually an advanced tool for displaying the 3D world in real time, and it can interact," Burns said. Developers of this kind of game often don't tell you how to interact with the world until the end of the game. This is not the game we want to play. In the course of the game, we have to learn to communicate, put down the gun, work together to explore the world-this is what we really need. The efficiency of the engine movie making animation is also very high. Burns added, "Unlike the anime studios produced by Pixar Animation Studios, engine movies don't look that much of a simulation." But Pixar's films usually take 300~500 three years to complete. And our five-minute Red vs. Blue Anime video only takes three people. "2003 April Fool's Day, Rooster Teeth released the first episode of the" Red vs. Blue "anime series," Why are we here? "(Why Are We). In just a few hours, the video was linked to popular sites like Slashdot, Fark and Penny Arcade. Although the total is only about 3,000 clicks per download, if you count how many fans have burned the video CD to their friends, then the number will be very large. Ordinary people from the grassroots like the comic, soAlso spawned the second episode of Red vs. Blue. In the second episode of Monday, only one day's downloads were broken 250,000 times. By the end of April, the "Red vs. Blue" series had averaged up to 1 million downloads per episode. This huge download also poses a problem: Rooster teeth did not release the Red vs. Blue series on video-sharing platforms like YouTube and Vimeo, but instead chose to publish the video on its own leased server, but as the volume of downloads increased, Server space costs rose, and the start-up company had to pay 12,000 of dollars for the first month of the launch of Red vs. Blue. Because of this cost, Rooster teeth launched the senior member project which is still in development today. Participants in the project will have the right to watch videos of their members and receive special gifts. The three-month contribution to the project was $9 and the three-year contribution was $60. "Red vs. Blue" Anime is popular, Rooster teeth company has been the focus of Microsoft. Microsoft acquired the Game software developer Bungie in 2000, while also earning its own bag of "Halo", the company's best-known game. Burns said: "Microsoft is a very understanding of the value of intellectual property companies." They could have said, ' It's okay, but there's no need to go on. The story may have to be finished. In fact, Microsoft says, ' We are a company that values innovation. Your anime video looks very creative and everyone likes it. Let's see how it can evolve. ' Microsoft has been looking at it for months, and it's been a few years, and now 12 years on, we've become a fully licensed partner in the Halo game. "Red vs. Blue" is the second longest online anime series in history, after the Flash cartoon anime "Homestar Runner". The 12th season of Red vs. Blue was premiered in April 2014. Three months later, Rooster teeth also replayed the first five seasons of "Red vs. Blue" through Netflix, a streaming media service provider. Hullum and Burns are also dubbing the roles of Red vs. Blue, but the burden of scripting and animation has been largely entrusted to the new generation of young talent. Many talent is out of identity rooster teeth good content to join. Burns estimates that about 30% of the company's employees are fans of its products. The writer and director Miles Luna, the 11th and 12th season of Red vs. Blue, was very pleased with the opportunity he had received and thought he could inject new energy into the film. Burnie once told me that we should not love Red vs for the past. Blue man makes it, and works for those who love it now. We try to create the film we want to see, and believe that if you can make what you and your friends like, others will love it. We have been adhering to this golden rule over the years and it does give the company a lot of help. Luna explains. The surrounding Rooster Teeth Company is making films in studio Austin UBM, where the studios occupy 19,200 square feet. The studio, which covers only 20 acres of photographic and innovative media facilities, was home to Robertmueller Municipal Airport, which was closed in 1999. Richard Linklater (Austin's local director) has filmed "Young frivolous" (Dazed and Confused) and other award-winning films, this year also directed the film "Boyhood" (Boyhood). Together with other local filmmakers, he persuaded the city's government officials to lease some hangar to the Linklater, a non-profit organization, the Austin Film Association (Austin Film powering). Today, the Austin UBM Studio has two studios, a studio, several production offices, and a 87-foot giant landscape scene. With the continuous development of Rooster Teeth Company, the past office space has been unable to meet their needs. This spring, they officially settled in Austin UBM Studio. "We were very excited by the Rooster teeth company, and we thought it was a very special thing because they stood on one foot in the traditional media and film industry and one foot in the new media field." Rebecca Campbell, executive director of the Austin Film Society, said, "We think they have set a tone for us--both at the forefront of the trend and not in the development of the media." "Rooster Teeth's indoor photography site is a complex and sophisticated equipment, set recording, editing, scene layout, props and photographic arc lamp in one." "Movies are a business that relies heavily on rental equipment. For example, if you have people responsible for all the lights, they will bring all the lighting equipment, your film is finished, they will take the equipment away. 365 days a year, we publish content every day, so we hope that in the future, about 90% of the film will be owned equipment, and the other 10% can rely on rental, which will make our operations airtight. Burns said, walking into a soundproof room next to a recording actor conversation, where a portable recording device was configured. In a 24-foot-wide room, Rooster teeth the best results. The room is equipped with24 cameras with motion capture capabilities that not only rely on digital technology to track people's actions, but also use data to make animated movie role models. "This is why we can efficiently use the cost to make a lot of cartoons quickly," Hullum said. "Many animation companies are using motion capture, and may not be able to raise all the talent they want to be involved in planning." If they cannot be dealt with in all aspects, they will have to turn their heads and come back again. And for us, whoever has an idea can be brave enough to try, take the right action, and then get the results. "Motion capture technology is also applied in the animation film" Rwby "inside. "Rwby" series is Rooster Teeth animation director Monty Oum Hot works. The anime film depicts a group of 15-year-old girls fighting against the evil forces of nature to save the world from the aftermath. After the premiere in 2013, the film immediately attracted a loyal audience and was particularly attractive to young women. Rooster teeth recently reached an agreement with Warner Bros., the world's largest television and entertainment production company. Warner Bros. 's Japanese entertainment company, Home Entertainment Japan, has broadcast the anime version of Rwby, a Japanese audience, and is expected to be released in 2015 in Blu-ray discs and DVDs. "This is the first American animation that Japan imports," said Oum proudly. "In addition, a" Rwby "game is also under development. This means that Rooster teeth will be involved in the gaming industry for the first time. Rooster Teeth's creative crystallization evolves and its business model evolves. Although the company did not disclose operating income data, its early implementation of the production of crown sponsorship fees and sales of DVD and T-shirt data has been made public. Profit growth, Rooster teeth also for EA QSL, Ubisoft and other game distribution companies to do commercial advertising. However, before the sixth quarter of the broadcast of Red vs. Blue, the company did not put ads in the film. Advertising is currently the main source of revenue for Rooster Teeth: In addition to the title position of the ads, but also broadcast a series of real ads, advertising Toyota and Kia and other sponsors of products. All broadcast advertising products are absolutely in line with Rooster Teeth core aesthetic standards. For example, a sponsor of Dr Pepper's soda-drink ad slos Mo Guys's advertisement is a crossbow that shoots some drink bottles from Dr Pepper's drink, and the images of the bottles exploding in the air are rendered in very slow motion lenses. Alan Abdine, head of business development at Rooster Teeth, said: "The reason we are so successful at building our brand loyalty is because we maintain our credibility – we guarantee that all the things we create are in the interest of our audience.and respect the fact that we are first and foremost an entertainment company, not an advertising agency of any partner. We will not fool anyone. Fans know that Toyota and Dr Pepper have paid us for advertising, but our profitability stems from our own credibility: Fans watch our films and then decide to buy the advertised products. "Rooster teeth the same cautious approach to the way, place and time of its content dissemination. The company's YouTube channel, which boasts nearly 8 million subscribers and 3 billion browsing volumes, is also a very high viewing point, with YouTube ranking fourth in all non-music channels. However, only the films aired on the website of Rooster Teeth will be broadcast on YouTube. "We have been praised for the continuous progress of our online business, but many of our practices are traditional business skills, and after traditional media attempts, explicit validation is actually available." "We will first display content on our website, then let it be the home video content, then let our partners spread, and then via YouTube," Burns said. Some video channel playback time can be up to one year. However, I think this can be likened to the way traditional media are spread-first in theater, then on cable, then online. We have to be flexible, and now that the environment has changed, we have to accept change. However, all our efforts on YouTube channels are telling users, ' You can actually sneak a peek at our website roosterteeth.com. "Word-of-mouth spread of internet culture is a less attractive trait-the love of the sun." In the network environment, any of the most disseminated ideas in the blink of an instant will become yesterday. In the face of such an atmosphere, how Rooster teeth company successfully with the Times, 12 consecutive years followed the trend of network culture? The company owes its success to a symbiotic relationship with its fans. At the end of 2004, Rooster Teeth's social networking site was online. The site has a community-level forum to post the posts of the cast and the exclusive sponsorship content. Today, the site has more than 1.7 million registered users, the Forum on average add five posts per minute. "Rooster teeth to show you what the Web site users are creating, which has always been very open and transparent. "Everyone gets paid attention on that site-they publish journals, readers can see their ideas, and they publish podcasts that listeners can listen to," says Kerry Shawcross, the screenwriter and Rwby director of the anime film. People will feel like getting to know them a little bit. "Beyond that, the interaction of the Rooster teeth community is not limited to the virtual world. Over the next few years, Rooster teeth organized numerous fan events in North America and the global region. 2011, they set up the RTX Annual conference of the Gaming and Internet industry in Austin, where they held content creators ' workshops, development company presentations, and online celebrity meetings. The first RTX conference ushered in more than 600 participants, the 2014 RTX Congress was attracted to 32,000 people. The event will be paid to participate, each guest fee of 40 U.S. dollars per day, 3rd full participation is required to pay 80 U.S. dollars. When Rooster Teeth chose to raise money for the movie Lazer Team, the company's fans were once again showing a stunning degree of loyalty. "Lazer Team" is a sci-fi comedy, the core of which is a government to protect the Earth from alien invasion of covert operations. The fund-raising activities on the Indiegogo Web site stipulate that, if interested in funding, optional entities and digital version of the goods, including the price of 35 U.S. dollars Blu-ray discs or DVDs, and 10,000 of dollars in the executive Production title screen crown fees, the former buyer more than 8000 people, the latter has 12 people to buy. "Someone is willing to pay because the Lazer team is the film they want to see," Hullum said. They want to declare a so-called ' sovereignty ' and then they can say, ' I have a part in it, I made it. ' "The performance of Rooster teeth's active interaction with the audience during the financing campaign should be commended, such as hosting a meeting with supporters," said Johnvaskis, senior director of the Indiegogo website, who is responsible for pioneering operations It also organised a 12-hour weekend of live media streaming and even a marathon of online television broadcasts. "We think that their activities are not particularly good. One reason is that they are always too cautious. "You need to be in the field before the event, to share your views, to get feedback, and to know what the outside world expects of you," Vaskis said. There are many ways to interact with fans, such as chatting on Social Forum Reddit. In short, no matter how to do is to arouse the enthusiasm of the audience. Rooster Teeth expects the Lazer team to be released in the spring of 2015. At the same time, the company is also developing by hullum known as "rookie superhero show" of "Ray and Vav" and other network projects, as well as a competitive prank program "Social disorder." Fans can be relieved, because the future Rooster Teetch will certainly bring more ideas, surprises. "When Matt and I were in the industry meeting or meeting with people from big media companies, they said, ' anime movies are still the first round of digital media. ' "Burns said," We are very surprised, because although we have been working for 12 years, there are 80 employees, one Congress can attract 30,000 people to participate, but we justJust getting started. Who knows if this time we're in the middle of a wave of the future? Author: Jason Ankeny Translator: Tino