Strangerhood Studios
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''The Strangerhood'' is a
comedy Comedy is a genre of fiction that consists of discourses or works intended to be humorous or amusing by inducing laughter, especially in theatre, film, stand-up comedy, television, radio, books, or any other entertainment medium. The term o ...
series created by
Rooster Teeth Productions Rooster Teeth Productions, LLC is an American digital media company headquartered in Austin, Texas. Founded in 2003 by Burnie Burns, Matt Hullum, Geoff Ramsey, Jason Saldaña, Gus Sorola, and Joel Heyman, Rooster Teeth is a subsidiary of Warne ...
. The series is produced primarily by using the
machinima Machinima, originally machinema () is the use of real-time computer graphics engines to create a cinematic production. Most often, video games are used to generate the computer animation. The word "machinima" is a portmanteau of the words ''m ...
technique of synchronizing video footage from
video game Video games, also known as computer games, are electronic games that involves interaction with a user interface or input device such as a joystick, controller, keyboard, or motion sensing device to generate visual feedback. This feedba ...
to pre-recorded dialogue and other audio. The animation is created using the video game ''
The Sims 2 ''The Sims 2'' is a 2004 strategy game, strategic life simulation game, life simulation video game developed by Maxis and published by Electronic Arts. It is the second major title in ''The Sims'' series, and is the sequel to ''The Sims (video ...
'' as a
parody A parody, also known as a spoof, a satire, a send-up, a take-off, a lampoon, a play on (something), or a caricature, is a creative work designed to imitate, comment on, and/or mock its subject by means of satiric or ironic imitation. Often its sub ...
of
sitcoms A sitcom, a portmanteau of situation comedy, or situational comedy, is a genre of comedy centered on a fixed set of characters who mostly carry over from episode to episode. Sitcoms can be contrasted with sketch comedy, where a troupe may use new ...
and
reality television Reality television is a genre of television programming that documents purportedly unscripted real-life situations, often starring unfamiliar people rather than professional actors. Reality television emerged as a distinct genre in the early 1 ...
. The series details the lives of eight "assorted
stereotypes In social psychology, a stereotype is a generalized belief about a particular category of people. It is an expectation that people might have about every person of a particular group. The type of expectation can vary; it can be, for example ...
" who wake up living in a neighborhood called Strangerhood Lane, with no memory of who they are, where they are, or how they got there. ''The Strangerhood'' is the second machinima series of four from Rooster Teeth Productions. It is preceded by '' Red vs. Blue: The Blood Gulch Chronicles'' and followed by ''
PANICS ''F.E.A.R. First Encounter Assault Recon'' is a first-person shooter psychological horror video game for Microsoft Windows, Xbox 360, and PlayStation 3. It is the first game in the '' F.E.A.R.'' series. Developed by Monolith Productions and ...
''. The series is a parody of
popular culture Popular culture (also called mass culture or pop culture) is generally recognized by members of a society as a set of practices, beliefs, artistic output (also known as, popular art or mass art) and objects that are dominant or prevalent in a ...
, namely television shows such as ''
Desperate Housewives ''Desperate Housewives'' is an American comedy-drama soap opera television series created by Marc Cherry and produced by ABC Studios and Cherry Productions. It aired for eight seasons on ABC from October 3, 2004, until May 13, 2012, for a t ...
'', ''
Lost Lost may refer to getting lost, or to: Geography * Lost, Aberdeenshire, a hamlet in Scotland *Lake Okeechobee Scenic Trail, or LOST, a hiking and cycling trail in Florida, US History *Abbreviation of lost work, any work which is known to have bee ...
'', '' 24'', and ''
American Idol ''American Idol'' is an American singing competition television series created by Simon Fuller, produced by Fremantle North America and 19 Entertainment, and distributed by Fremantle North America. It aired on Fox from June 11, 2002, to ...
''. The episodes are released online at the Rooster Teeth and ''The Sims 2'' websites, and a DVD of the first season was released on May 5, 2006, available from
GameStop GameStop Corp. is an American video game, consumer electronics, and gaming merchandise retailer. The company is headquartered in Grapevine, Texas (a suburb of Dallas), and is the largest video game retailer worldwide. , the company operates ...
stores in the United States and online worldwide. The second season was a stretch goal for the
Lazer Team ''Lazer Team'' is a 2015 American science fiction action comedy film directed, produced, and co-written by Matt Hullum. The first feature film produced by Rooster Teeth, it stars Burnie Burns, Gavin Free, Michael Jones, Colton Dunn, Allie DeBe ...
's indiegogo crowdfunding campaign. Season two consists of four episodes and was released as daily episodes from September 29, to October 3, 2015.


Plot

One morning in the near future, a group of assorted stereotypes awake in a strange town with no memory of who they are or where they came from. Their only clues come from the assorted labels that hold their names (Wade's name badge and Sam's underwear) and a mysteriously creepy voice issuing from their televisions. Over the course of the season, they endure many trials including an unusual reality show kitchen task, a murder mystery among their group, a secret affair and of course their own strange personalities before they learn the horrifying truth behind the unusual events of the Strangerhood.


Strangerhood Studios

''Strangerhood Studios'' is a series of shorts, each about one or two minutes long, featuring the characters of ''The Strangerhood''. The story, however, departs from the main plot of ''The Strangerhood''. For example, the characters are back in the outside world, not trapped on Strangerhood Lane. ''Strangerhood Studios'' was created when the
Independent Film Channel IFC (formerly known as the Independent Film Channel) is an American basic cable channel owned by AMC Networks, originally launching in 1994 as a TV channel devoted to independent films. The Independent Film Channel originally operated as a com ...
asked
Rooster Teeth Productions Rooster Teeth Productions, LLC is an American digital media company headquartered in Austin, Texas. Founded in 2003 by Burnie Burns, Matt Hullum, Geoff Ramsey, Jason Saldaña, Gus Sorola, and Joel Heyman, Rooster Teeth is a subsidiary of Warne ...
and
machinima Machinima, originally machinema () is the use of real-time computer graphics engines to create a cinematic production. Most often, video games are used to generate the computer animation. The word "machinima" is a portmanteau of the words ''m ...
artist Paul Marino to create six shorts for television broadcast.


Characters

As with ''Red vs. Blue'', ''The Strangerhood'' features a cast of diverse characters, each skewed in different ways and to varying degrees. Their natures are summed up by the Omnipotent Voice in episode 2 when it booms "Silence, assorted stereotypes!". There are nine main characters, and a small number of supporting characters. Sam is the
straight man The straight man is a stock character in a comedy performance, especially a double act, sketch comedy, or farce. When a comedy partner behaves eccentrically, the straight man is expected to maintain composure. The direct contribution to the c ...
of the series, often serious in comparison to the other residents; he often describes the situations the residents find themselves in as being ridiculous. Wade, Sam's housemate, is a stereotypical stoner, with bloodshot eyes and memory problems, and is frequently confused by events. Dr Chalmers is an elderly, curmudgeonly intellectual, frequently irritated by his fellow residents. Tovar is a confused ethnic minority, with a silly accent and a penchant for doing foolish things. Dutchmiller is a
yuppie Yuppie, short for "young urban professional" or "young upwardly-mobile professional", is a term coined in the early 1980s for a young professional person working in a city. The term is first attested in 1980, when it was used as a fairly neu ...
stereotype, enthusiastic about everything alternative. Catherine is a stereotypical
dumb blonde Blonde stereotypes are stereotypes of blonde-haired people. Sub-types of this stereotype include the " blonde bombshell" and the "dumb blonde". Blondes are stereotyped as more desirable, but less intelligent than brunettes. There are many blo ...
, who uses other people to her own ends. Nikki is a teenager who is curious as to what is actually going on. Griggs is a stereotypical "tough guy" with camouflage facepaint and a highly aggressive attitude, and is Nikki's biological father in the present time.


Supporting characters

*The Omnipotent Voice: A mysterious voice that can project itself through various devices and objects such as computers and newspapers and who orders the residents about. *Evil Tovar/Tobar: Tovar's evil twin, created by accident. He is "pure evil" while the other Tovar is "pure moron." *The Garden Gnome: A garden gnome that follows Griggs around and talks to him in an unintelligible language. *Sam: A man who lives in isolation underground throughout the series and is the real Omnipotent Voice. Strangerhood Sam stole his name along with his labeled underwear.


Other characters

*In Episode Six "Idol Desperation", Sam calls a number of characters on the telephone to tell them about Nikki. At first, it is the main characters, then moving onto other characters from the sim world, such as the Grim Reaper, the Social Bunny, and some objects such as the gnome and the pink flamingo.


Production

Animation for ''The Strangerhood'' is recorded on three separate
computer A computer is a machine that can be programmed to carry out sequences of arithmetic or logical operations ( computation) automatically. Modern digital electronic computers can perform generic sets of operations known as programs. These prog ...
s. Owing to the limitations of the simulation engine, it was necessary to create a number of clones of each character, each with a different expression — happy, sad, angry, and so forth. The unused versions are herded into an out-of-viewpoint room and exchanged as necessary to obtain the various facial expressions. Lines are used that best match the mouth movements and gestures of the characters. "If we need them to kiss for a scene," explains Burns, "we have to develop their relationship until they're attracted to each other." In June 2014, it was announced that a second season would be produced if the Indiegogo funds for the Rooster Teeth film ''
Lazer Team ''Lazer Team'' is a 2015 American science fiction action comedy film directed, produced, and co-written by Matt Hullum. The first feature film produced by Rooster Teeth, it stars Burnie Burns, Gavin Free, Michael Jones, Colton Dunn, Allie DeBe ...
'' surpassed US$2.25 million. This goal was reached during RTX on 5 July 2014, and a second season was published at the end of September 2015.


Distribution

Videos are released in
QuickTime QuickTime is an extensible multimedia framework developed by Apple Inc., capable of handling various formats of digital video, picture, sound, panoramic images, and interactivity. Created in 1991, the latest Mac version, QuickTime X, is a ...
(QT), DivX, and
Windows Media Video Windows Media Video (WMV) is a series of video codecs and their corresponding video coding formats developed by Microsoft. It is part of the Windows Media framework. WMV consists of three distinct codecs: The original video compression technol ...
(WMV) formats. All released episodes of the season in production are freely available from the official site, in 360-by-240 resolution.


References


External links


Brief Wired news article on ''The Sims 2'' technique''The Strangerhood'' unofficial resource site (via archive.org)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Strangerhood, The 2004 web series debuts 2006 web series endings 2000s American animated films English-language films Film serials Machinima works American parody films Rooster Teeth 2015 web series debuts 2015 web series endings 2010s American animated films