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www.postmagazine.com 33 POST SEPTEMBER 2014 ook out broadcast and cable — Web series are now destination viewing. House of Cards and Orange is the New Black have taken Internet programming to new heights, and fans of the long-running Red vs. Blue have been tuning in for over a decade. The CW boasts a successful digital platform where Very Mallory has proved its pop- ularity, and Solid Dudes Kitchen found a big fan base on the Web for its one-of-a- kind series. But the Internet isn't a one-way street. The movie reviews and industry inter- views of the Siskel and Ebert-inspired Just Seen It have leaped from the Web to public television nationwide. Here's a look at some of the Web's top shows and the studios that create them. RED VS. BLUE Red vs. Blue, from Austin-based Rooster Teeth (www.roosterteeth.com), has the distinction of being the longest-running Web series and the longest-running American sci-fi series, even counting those on television. Now in its 12th season and "still going strong," the series includes footage from first-person shooter Halo games used in a machinima technique where the characters become digital puppets in new scenarios. "The first five seasons, 'The Blood Gulch Chronicles,' created by Burnie Burns and Matt Hullum, started us as a company," says writer/director Miles Luna. "We went out and bought Halo 1 and Halo 2 and Xboxes, and made this sci-fi comedy. Fortunately, Microsoft and Bungie Studios thought the shows were really funny, and we started working together. It was kind of, you-scratch-my- back-I'll-scratch-yours: We kept making Red vs. Blue and, since it was based off of Halo, it was a great reminder to go out and get the game." Season 6 began the new "Recollection" trilogy. Halo 3 introduced a new theater mode feature with more dramatic shots and angles, which gave Rooster Teeth a bigger machinimation toolkit. "So we start- ed doing more complex things in produc- tion and the narrative," says Luna. "We had more plot-heavy storylines and added new characters with more depth and drama." Well-known Internet animator Monty Oum joined in Season 8 using SmithMicro's Poser software to capture plates in machinima and create original animated fight scenes and other shots that matched the look and lighting of the game. Rooster Teeth got even more am- bitious with Seasons 9 and 10, collec- tively known as "Project Freelancer," where they told a present-day story with machinima and a flashback story animated in Poser and Autodesk Maya. "We created entire sets ourselves. It looked smoother, brighter, sleeker," says Luna, who came on board in Season 10 to help shoot machinima and do some writing. He moved up to writer/director the following season and was faced with a how-do-you-top-that situation. "We decided we didn't have to. We went back to Halo-only machinima for Season 11 and fans responded really well." The new season once again integrates animation. "I like the small character mo- ments that animation gives," he says. "It's not just crazy combat — in the first shot we have one character giving another the finger, so we're really having some fun with it this season." Animators Kristopher Peterson and Chris Dike are using Maya for the entire season and motion capture for the small character moments. Episodes average five to seven minutes, although one 15-minute episode this season proved to be "quite an undertaking." At the end of each season Rooster Teeth cuts all the episodes into a fea- ture film available on DVD and Blu-ray through the Rooster Teeth Website and major retailers; Seasons 1 through 5 are also available on Netflix and Hulu. After all these seasons, Rooster Teeth isn't about to run out of material for Red vs. Blue, either. "Every time Halo releases a new map pack I buy it on Day 1 and won- der what we can use the new multi-player maps for," says Luna. "Season 12 introduces a new world we've never explored before — with road trips and teleportation — all via beautiful maps in Halo 4, which we use as our sets, and Forge mode to make more customized maps." SOLID DUDES KITCHEN, THIS F***ING PLACE After shooting the "Home Brew" episode of their quirky cooking and food appre- BY CHRISTINE BUNISH L The team at Rooster Teeth (above) have the distinction of having created the longest-run- ning Web series, Red vs. Blue (left), now in its 12th season. COURTESY ROOSTER TEETH PRODUCTIONS PHOTO CREDIT: BRIAN HUYNH