NYU Talk - 1 Mar 2005

From Homestar Runner Wiki

Revision as of 15:52, 11 June 2005

On March 1, 2005, The Brothers Chaps appeared at a talk at New York University. They showed many things including a Sample of Style sequel, a new game and Puppet Homestar touring around New York.

Transcript

Below are the transcripts of the segments recorded by Tom:

In the Lobby

{Matt and Mike are standing at a table before the presentation. Many fans begin to gather around to watch them answer questions and sign autographs.}

MOTHER OF A FAN: So you guys will be talking about the whole phenomena?

MATT CHAPMAN: I guess. I mean, yeah. We'll just be doing...we brought a bunch of stuff to show that's not on the website and things like that. And uh it will all be on the website at some point or on maybe another DVD or...yeah. Um but uh yeah we shot some stuff around campus - so we'll show that.

A FAN: Did you already film that?

MATT CHAPMAN: Yeah yeah. Ryan is our video guy - he's upstairs editing it right now actually. He'll burn a DVD of it.

A FAN: How did you (get) They might be Giants?

MATT CHAPMAN: They just emailed us. John Linnell just emailed us a while back. I guess at first we just like sent each other some free stuff...[indecipherable mention of shirts]...and then they were just like, "If you guys ever want to collaborate, just let us know and just-"

A FAN: Does Strong Bad have genitals on his boxing gloves?

MATT CHAPMAN: Those are his - They're his hands. Like so he doesn't have fingers - he can't take up wrestling creatures. That's why his mouth is really the place where your mouth would go in and then there's a wrestling mask. {Matt uses his hands to demonstrate} It's like, you know if he was wearing a wrestling mask and boxing gloves and fell into a vat of radioactive goo and in turn then that melted it in to one.

{Incomplete- Presumed question about "how it all began"}

MATT CHAPMAN: - Based loosely on the term "children's book" and, uh Mike and our friend Craig and it was just by that I meant Homestar and Pom-Pom and The Cheat and Strong Bad {pause} and then after that just started around messing around with Flash and then...mostly out of demand from people we started selling t-shirts and flash stuff and I worked for an Internet company - Like "quit your job."

MOTHER OF A FAN: And so that supports your-

{Matt answers while he signs an autograph}

MATT CHAPMAN: Yeah. So that's all we do is..is is-

MIKE CHAPMAN: He used to be a retired accountant.

MATT CHAPMAN: Yeah, so our dad's like...it helps to have a retired accountant for a dad.

A FAN: Where did The Cheat come from? Like ... pokemon all along?

{Mike and Matt laugh}

MATT CHAPMAN: It was, uh, it was supposed to a be Pokemon - 'cause it was '96 when we first drew The Cheat and he was more sort of this kinda to be a "sluggy" thing. Uh and uh and, yeah, then he ended up we first saw-

A FAN: How do you guys divvy up the like production stuff?

MIKE CHAPMAN: He writes the voices and I'll be in starting the animation and once he's done with the voices then we kinda just split the scenes up fifty-fifty.

A FAN: Do you guys still record on paper first?

MIKE CHAPMAN: No. We kinda just do it on the fly. We don't have time for that at five in the afternoon. We don't have time for storyboards.

A FAN: You do The Cheat, right? The voice.

MIKE CHAPMAN: Yeah, when The Cheat makes cartoons I do all that- bad impressions of the characters.

MATT CHAPMAN: (to Mike) You don't have the gloves in your pocket, do you?

MIKE CHAPMAN: (quickly) No.

{Section Missing}

A FAN: Have you guys toured anywhere else?

MATT CHAPMAN: We've only done this a couple of other times...so, I went to Florida State University and so we went there and talked. And uh, we went to, we got to the University of Saskatchewan. Which ruled, so cool we had never been to Canada at all.

A FAN: They love us in Canada.

MIKE CHAPMAN: Yeah Exactly.

{A fan shows Matt his Messenger Bag}

FAN WITH MESSENGER BAG: This is, I think, the most apropos use of the patches.

MATT CHAPMAN: Yeah, hell yeah, that's great. {he points at the bag} Nice work.

FAN WITH MESSENGER BAG: This nice thing that unzips here, you don't even see the, uh.

MATT CHAPMAN: Exactly. {laughs}

FAN WITH MESSENGER BAG: I was wondering what the purpose of that thing was when I first got the bag-

MATT CHAPMAN: So you could sew stuff on. Right. And it still looks good.

FAN WITH MESSENGER BAG: {in the background} I don't know why but these two always give me a craving for nachos.

MIKE CHAPMAN: Really?

MATT CHAPMAN: {laughs} He's gotta little south-

FAN WITH MESSENGER BAG: He goes, "Eh Steve!"

MATT CHAPMAN: -southwestern flair to him. That's funny because, uh, a friend of mine drew through this, uh, it was from my wife and I's like wedding present. He like drew us this portrait with these wierd versions of the Homestar characters and then the human version of Eh Steve he drew was this this guy with like- he looked like a flemenco dancer...guy and, which was pretty cool.

A FAN: Am I the only person who wants-

MATT CHAPMAN: What?

A FAN: ...little girl merchandise? [indecipherable]

MATT CHAPMAN: I'll tell my sister that. Yeah, uh. Like she knows that it's on the web and like she's been to like- What? {interrupted by group laughter} But she knows that like. I don't know, that she knows that like a lot a lot of people have seen it and like it and stuff. And so it's like I don't know - Merchandise...would screw her up even worse. We're like afraid that we've done irreparable damage to her.

A FAN:Where's Missy?

MIKE CHAPMAN: She will be coming down here, she-

MATT CHAPMAN: Yeah totally, man. Thanks for making the h---

A FAN: We were unable to get tickets

MATT CHAPMAN: Oh you guys can't get in either? Oh, I'm sorry. Are you doing school here?

A FAN: No. [indecipherable] I just found out about this.

MATT CHAPMAN: (In response) Oh you were just visiting here? Oh, you live here.

{Incomplete Section}

A FAN: ...we watched the first Strong Bad email-

MIKE CHAPMAN: No way! That ruled!

{Indecipherable question. Presumed to be asking about the various interviews on cable shows}

MIKE CHAPMAN: They came to us. We were on Pulse twice and then they came to us and then I guess they cancelled that show. And then 'The Screensavers' came to us.

A FAN: The new format of 'The Screensavers' was good. You were- guys it was a lot of fun.

{Incomplete Section}

The Presentation

Before The Introduction

MATT CHAPMAN: Every time I turn [my machine] on it reinstalls this one printer.

{group laughter}

MATT CHAPMAN: And I'm really sick of it.

{Mike suggests something indecipherable}}

MATT CHAPMAN: {responding to Mike} Well you see I did that once and it just got it rid of the printer all together. I don't want to do that every time.

MIKE CHAPMAN: Do you want help now or do you want help later?

{Incomplete Section}

Introduction

MIKE CHAPMAN: Hi everybody.

THE AUDIENCE: Hi!

MIKE CHAPMAN: I'm Mike Chapman and this is my brother, he's called Matt Chapman.

MATT CHAPMAN: We two are the chief executive officers of the Thorax Corporation LLC. Comma comma period.

Character Animation Video

MIKE CHAPMAN: Our little slave is running downstairs editing together and burning onto DVD right now. He's supposed to be done, but's he's not. So, he will run up here and give it to us and we'll show it at that time... But, in the mean time, we have some other stuff to show you that you may or may not have seen. Matt? Tell them what we did.

MATT CHAPMAN: We haven't even seen this yet. Have we?

MIKE CHAPMAN: No we haven't.

MATT CHAPMAN: So I don't think you have seen it.

MIKE CHAPMAN: As a precursor, we made a DVD a few months ago and there was some bonus stuff on it. One of bonus things was a little background information on how we did the sounds and how Matt did all the voices.

MATT CHAPMAN: Behind the scenes.

MIKE CHAPMAN: Uh, behind the scenes, yes. For the website. And so if you saw that, this is sortof the "follow-up" to that. So...

MATT CHAPMAN: Here, here goes. {He says something to Mike and he whispers back}

{Video begins to play showing Mike in a red shirt with white text}

MIKE CHAPMAN: Hi {dodges a ball thrown at him} I'm Mike Chapman. People are all the time coming up to me on the street and asking me, "Mike, how do you do the animations for your characters on homestarrunner.com?" I tell them...you guys, we're about to go film something with the character Strong Bad being animated and I will show you how to answer your question. Come on! {gestures with his hand}

{Cut to next scene where Matt is wearing a white mask currently flipped up on his head and he is wearing a "motion capture" suit. Behind him is a solid yellow screen}

MIKE CHAPMAN: Alright, we're set.

MATT CHAPMAN: We're ready to go. {As he says this, Matt flips down the mask he is wearing and it appears to be textured like Strong Bad's face} Let's do this. {He begins to wave his arms as the camera zooms out}

{Cut to scene where Matt and Mike are sitting down holding video game controllers}

MATT CHAPMAN: A lot of people think it is just straight up flash animation.

MIKE CHAPMAN: It's a lot more advanced than that.

MATT CHAPMAN: far from the truth. Far from it.

{Camera cuts. Matt continues to animate his body}

MATT CHAPMAN: Gotta limber up... {more quickly} Gotta limber up. Ohh...surprising.

{Camera cuts. Matt is on the left and he lifts up his mask}

MATT CHAPMAN: {To Mike, further right} Tell them how it's done. {starts laughing, hits Mike's shoulder}

{Camera cuts and Matt's face is now obscured by the mask. Mike's back faces the camera}

MATT CHAPMAN: Tell them some more, Mike.

{Matt waves his arms as Mike suddenly turns to face the camera and crosses his arms quickly}

MIKE CHAPMAN: {pointing both hands to Matt} This is our motion capture suit. {Matt gradually lifts up the mask} On it, we have ping pong balls. All the time sending out electronic messages reactive into the air and they bounce off this pretty green wall which is represented and sent to the computer here. {As he is saying this, camera pans to show a laptop computer showing an image of Strong Bad}

{Camera cuts to show a divided screen. On the left, Strong Bad is waving his arms up and down. On the right, we can see Matt waving his arms in an irregular pattern. This lasts for 6 seconds}

{Cut to previous shot with Matt on the left and Mike on the right}

MIKE CHAPMAN: Each ping pong ball represents one spectrum of blue tooth wireless mobility. {As he says this, Matt laughs and bends foward}

{Cut to show Matt close to the laptop}

MATT CHAPMAN: {profoundly} You can talk to the suit, Mike.

MIKE CHAPMAN: Well, {taking a closer look} these ping pong balls {pauses, gesters with his hands} {Matt stares at him at the verge of laughter}

{Cut to show Matt with the mask flipped down. He continues to wave his arms about and then lifts up the mask.}

{Camera cut again to show Matt sitting down and chugging a bottle of a clear liquid}

MIKE CHAPMAN: How did the shooting go today?

MATT CHAPMAN: {drinks more and then lowers bottle} Rough.

{Cut to show yellow screen room. Mike is in front of the camera and Matt is behind him closer to the screen}

MIKE CHAPMAN: {Throws ball at Matt} Hold back.

MATT CHAPMAN: Y-oww! {he yells this as the ball hits his back}

{Cut to show previous shot with Matt sitting down}

MATT CHAPMAN: {puts bottle on table} Overall I think we got some good stuff. We got some good stuff. Strong Bad, ahhhhh {wiggles his fingers disapprovingly} But, you know. Homestar {reaffirming grin}

{Cut to show close up of Mike sitting on a desk with the laptop. The same image of Strong Bad as before is displayed.}

MIKE CHAPMAN: {looking to the right at Matt (offscreen)} Move it up, you just gotta a few more sec- {as he says this, the right arm of Strong Bad's image flickers and then disappears entirely. His left arm continues to move up and down} Woah, hey hey hey.

MATT CHAPMAN: What?

MIKE CHAPMAN: You lost an arm.

MATT CHAPMAN: What?

MIKE CHAPMAN: You lost an arm.

MATT CHAPMAN: {denyingly} No.

MIKE CHAPMAN: One of his arms. {he gets up from the desk} One of the arms came off. {camera pans to the right to show Matt still waiving his arms. His face is obscured by the mask}

MATT CHAPMAN: I got it. I got it.

MIKE CHAPMAN: Hey hey. {he taps on the mask}

MATT CHAPMAN: Ahh {letting out a yell} Ahh. I got it.

MIKE CHAPMAN: {lifting up the mask} One of your arms came off. What happened?

MATT CHAPMAN: {streches out his arms and examines them} They look good to me.

MIKE CHAPMAN: Take a closer look. {louder} They don't look good to me.

{Matt studies his left arm and starts to grin}

MIKE CHAPMAN: {grabs the ball nearest to Matt's right hand and holds it up} What is this? What are these? This is the problem right here. {repeatedly hitting two balls together as Matt grins}

{Matt puts his mask down and moments later Mike lifts it up again}

MIKE CHAPMAN: {showing the ball to Matt} These are wiffle golf balls. We need ping pong balls.

MATT CHAPMAN: {pointing to the balls on his suit} these I got-

MIKE CHAPMAN: Table tennis balls.

MATT CHAPMAN: {assuredly} I got ping pong balls.

MIKE CHAPMAN: Yeah, on everywhere else except for this part. That's why his arm disappeared. {holds up several wiffle balls} These things have holes all over them. Looks like a mouse chewed through these things.

{Quick camera cut}

MATT CHAPMAN: Table tennis. What you said.

MIKE CHAPMAN: These are practice golf balls. And so it doesn't go as a far-

MATT CHAPMAN: {interrupts} Guy from the sports place said.

MIKE CHAPMAN: Yeah but these aren't gonna work, though. The guy from the sports place isn't a technological genius like us. And what needs to be done is to make me look like liquid like animation.

MATT CHAPMAN: {rubs his nose} Look, you- {his mask falls down on its own} You want to try on this suit? Hmm? For a day?

{Camera cuts to show Matt sitting on the floor next to the wall}

MATT CHAPMAN: Look. I do what I do because I love this job. That sounds like somebody's a little angry. {awkward pause}

{Cut to scene where Matt and Mike are sitting down holding video game controllers}

MATT CHAPMAN: You know, doing this with my brother.

{Camera cuts to show Matt sitting at the desk with the laptop. He flips the mask down}

MIKE CHAPMAN: Careful {comes over and grabs Matt's shoulder} Get up, that's my chair. Get up, that's my chair.

MATT CHAPMAN: Oww. {he abruptly gets out of the chair}

MIKE CHAPMAN: Get up, that's my chair. Get up, that's my chair. {sits down}

{Cut to show Matt waiving his arms in front of the yellow screen again}

MATT CHAPMAN: Uh yeah, itchy man. Focization. Art of focization itchy man {he continues to move arms about in various poses until he flips down his mask and faces the floor}

MIKE CHAPMAN: {offscreen} Off the form there, ichy mayo. {Matt gets up}

{Cut to earlier scene where Mike is preaching Matt about the wiffle golf balls}

MATT CHAPMAN: I didn't buy those.

MIKE CHAPMAN: I told you to go pick up some lunch and some ping pong balls and some duct tape.

MATT CHAPMAN: I did.

MIKE CHAPMAN: You didn't get lunch. {looks to the balls in his hand} And you got these.

MATT CHAPMAN: {grins and puts arms at his hips} I got me lunch.

{After a short pause, camera cuts to show Ryan Sterrit sitting at a computer when Matt enters the door}

MATT CHAPMAN: Hey.

RYAN: {turns his head to face Matt} Yeah?

MATT CHAPMAN: Hey, uh. {whispering} Can I talk to you for a second?

RYAN: Yeah, come on in.

MATT CHAPMAN: {approaches Ryan} Uh, remember the other day I, uh, asked you to go get, go get some ping pong balls for the...motion capture suit.

RYAN: {nodding head} Yes.

MATT CHAPMAN: Yeah, um, I got in a lot of trouble. {Camera zooms in to clearly show the wiffle golf ball package Matt is holding in his hands} These aren't, these are wiffle golf balls. This one has holes. And I guess that does - we can't get good data.

RYAN: The guy at the furniture store said these were ping pong balls.

MATT CHAPMAN: {belittling} The furniture store? You got these... {holds package up} They sell...wiffle golf balls?

RYAN: Yes...{moves his head incoherently}

{Matt starts to crack up as the camera cuts to show him in front of the yellow screen. He taps his feet back and forth and then he lowers his mask. Camera cuts again to previous scene in the computer room with Ryan.}

[Incomplete Section]

Peasant's Quest Video & More

Puppet Homestar Answers Questions

PUPPRT HOMESTAR:Mister Limozeen in the front row, your question? PUPPET HOMESTAR: I...{audience laughter}...that was just answered, I'm-- I am telekinetic. I'm telekinetic. And it's just a cartoon, and you shouldn't worry about it and... all that. Yes?

A FAN:Did any other chara--

PUPPET HOMESTAR: Alan...

A FAN: Yes.

PUPPET HOMESTAR: ...with an "I"...

A FAN: Did any other characters come?

PUPPET HOMESTAR: Um... I'm the only one that fits in a duffel bag. {audience laughter} Strong Bad's too big. We need to make like a custom... carrying case. {audience laughter} And get some roadies. He's like a Marshall stack, that guy. {audience laughter} Um... what's the status... quo, you guys?

{Pause.}

PUPPET HOMESTAR: 8 minutes of it? Am I funny? {unintelligible} ...okay. Sounds like we've got something to show ya's -- that we shot today, on campus, here in New York... on campus. {audience laughter} I'm gonna... go. {Puppet Homestar is put back in his bag} Ow! Ow! Now I'm there. {audience laughter}

{unintelligible noise.}

MIKE CHAPMAN: So, we took the puppet out --

{audience applauds.}

Future Game Preview - Stinkoman 20X6

Animation on the Plane to Canada

Coach Z Video

Brief Summary

A brief summary of what they did follows:

• First Matt and Mike sat downstairs in the lobby of NYU's Kimmel Student Center signing autographs and talking to fans. At least on two separate occasions, Matt was willing to talk on people's cellphones as Strong Bad and/or Homestar.
• Matt and Mike aren't much for introductions; they opted to start by showing off an early cut of a humorous sequel to "Sample of Style" (on the DVD) where TBC told how they made the characters move (a "how do you animate the characters" answer). They parodied the "motion capture" greenscreen and ping-pong-ball setup, much like that used for Gollum in Lord of the Rings. This was an early cut; they're bound to release this someday in a more concise format.
• They also showed the Peasants Quest video, followed by a special feature where they simply played video of Matt fixing the hair of his fake wig. Later, they showed some footage that took shots from the video and removes each special effect one at a time.
• They showed an old planned feature that never happened where Bubs shows a bunch of Bazooka Joe comics, mostly making fun of the fact that they rarely had punchlines.
• They showed Coach Z's "These peoples try to fade me" video, a hidden track on the CD.
• The results of their "lets animate a cartoon on the plane!" competition. Mike made one with a fridge on a beach with some really well-animated grass here and there. There were some notes on it written from a father to his kids. The other cartoon made by Matt took some of the flight safety card drawing and animated them, including one where an airbag and a passenger have a conversation, and another where a passenger about to exit out the emergency door look out the window to see fish swimming by.
• They explained the origins of the Homestar Puppet and the Bubs With Growling Teeth and a Horn doll; both were samples sent by a Japanese company (pretty sure it's the one that makes Cheat dolls).
• A funny puppet short with Homestar travelling around the NYU Area. Whether a condensed version of this will appear on the site has yet to be seen.
• They showed off a preview for the then-unreleased game, Stinkoman 20X6. It parodies the original NES MegaMan games.

Photos

"Bubs' Dumb Bubblegum Comics"

"Processing" the data

A new game - 'Stinkoman 20X6'

Matt's "Scientific" animation suit

Rain drops keep falling on our heads...

Hotel Room Animation - An Open Forum