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Red vs blue
 

 

red vs blue
Red vs. Blue Series to Wind Down 
Slashdot - Apr 04 12:40 PM
Via Joystiq, the news at the Red vs. Blue site that the 100th episode will be their last. Despite the 04/01 posting date of the announcement, it looks like the reality is that there are only a handful of episodes of the Blood Gulch Chronicles left. "One hundred is a great number, and it seems like the perfect place to call it a show. I am sure you have some questions about our plans for the ...
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red vs
Wings' Kronwall injured vs. Stars 
Sports Illustrated - Mar 30 5:24 PM
Detroit Red Wings defenseman Niklas Kronwall was helped off the ice and taken to a hospital after injuring his right hip on a check from the Dallas Stars' Joel Lundqvist just 24 seconds into Friday night's game.
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regurgitation
Parkinson's drug pulled from US market 
AFP via Yahoo! News - Mar 30 9:09 AM
Manufacturers of the Parkinson's disease drug pergolide have agreed to pull it from the US market because it increases the risk of serious heart valve damage, US drug regulators said.
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rei ayanami
i wish you were here 
Anime News Network - Dec 30 3:35 PM
The M34 virus is a deadly plague that's sweeping cross the globe, mutating all who come in contact with it into deadly, rampaging monsters.
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rei
Attention Outdoor Enthusiasts: New Portland-Area REI Coming Soon 
KOIN News 6 Portland - Apr 04 11:06 AM
CLACKAMAS, Ore. - Clackamas Town Center is adding stores, including a fourth Portland-area REI store. The mall is undergoing a 250,000-square-foot expansion and renovation, adding about 40 new stores and restaurants and a 20-screen movie theater and a six-level parking garage.
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renaissance
NAUGATUCK: Push for Renaissance Place begins 
Republican-American - Apr 03 2:10 AM
More than 300 supporters of a planned downtown revitalization project called Renaissance Place flocked to a posh downtown office of a local attorney to show support for the plan on Monday night.
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renamon

rental agreement
Justice Department Settles Discrimination Case With Former Owners and Manager of Las Vegas Rental Property 
[Press Release] U.S. Newswire via Yahoo! News - Mar 15 12:26 PM
The Justice Department today announced an agreement with the former owners and manager of Bonanza Springs Apartments in Las Vegas, Nev., to settle allegations of discrimination on the basis of race, disability and familial status. Under the settlement, which must be approved by the U.S. District Court in Las Vegas, the defendants must pay $285,000 to identified victims of discrimination and ...
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republica
Arce in Miami Sunday! 
Fightnews.com - Apr 04 11:34 PM
Two-time world champion Jorge "Travieso" Arce, who will be looking to become a three-time world champion on April 14 when he takes on WBC Super flyweight champion Cristian Mijares, will make a stop in Miami on Sunday to appear on the highly popular Univision show Republica Deportiva.
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republika
Come see the pyramids ... in Bosnia? 
The Christian Science Monitor via Yahoo! News - Mar 29 1:00 AM
Until recently, residents of this central Bosnian town never gave Visocica hill much thought.
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research
Hauptman-Woodward research team studies reaction to anti-inflammatories 
BizJournals - 36 minutes ago
A research team from Hauptman-Woodward Medical Research Institute has received a $1.7 million federal grant to continue to study the body's reaction to aspirin and other anti-inflammatory medications.
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resident evil 4
Resident Evil 4 Waggles To the Wii 
Slashdot - Apr 05 7:38 AM
AbsoluteXyro writes "IGN reports that the Wii version of Resident Evil 4 was confirmed earlier today, as Famitsu spilled the beans on the title in its latest issue. The new version boasts point-and-shoot gameplay, along with a bevy of motion controlled actions that Capcom hopes will put you in the game. Better yet, the game features the visuals of the Gamecube version and all the bonus content of ...
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resident evil
Resident Evil Wii will be seen in 480p, 16:9 glory 
Addict 3D - Mar 28 6:14 PM
Speaking to IGN, Capcom's senior director of strategic planning and research Christian Svensson has confirmed that Resident Evil: Umbrella Chronicles for Nintendo Wii will be presented in Expanded Definition 480p progressive scan and 16:9 widescreen.The revelation shouldn't be too surprising, considering the previous iteration Resident Evil 4 was letterbox widescreen on the GameCube (and given ...
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resignation letter
BISD board to consider principal's resignation 
Brenham Banner-Press - Mar 31 7:45 AM
Brenham school trustees expect to receive a letter of resignation from a campus principal when they convene at noon Monday at the administration building, 711 Mansfield Street.
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resignation letters
No applicants yet for vacant Charleston school board seat 
Journal Gazette & Times-Courier - 1 hour, 20 minutes ago
CHARLESTON -- School district officials are still looking for people interested in filling a vacancy on the board.
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resistencia
Learning Calendar 
Austin American-Statesman - Mar 28 3:01 PM
Mim Watson Books Arts Lecture 7 p.m. Friday. Award-winning book artist Jamie Kamph speaks on the development of her work and the intersections between art and conservation in her career. Ransom Center, Prothro Theater, 21st and Guadalupe streets. Free. 573-1078.
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Roth jury to resume deliberations Thursday 
News 14 Carolina - 1 hour, 2 minutes ago
RALEIGH -- Jury deliberations will resume Thursday morning in the trial of a former Wake County deputy charged with beating a minister in a restaurant parking lot. Christopher Roth is on trial for misdemeanor assault.
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retaining walls
Connecting you with your landscaping dreams. 
The Fort Dodge Messenger - Mar 28 9:01 PM
New construction and existing landscaping renovation irrigation system sales & service. Wood or stone decks, patios and walkway. Landscape lighting, yard decor-seasonal decorating, nursery stock available, retaining walls, water gardening-ponds.
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reverse lookup
Understand and Secure Your Windows DNS Infrastructure 
Server Watch - Mar 15 8:57 AM
The Internet would be brought to its knees if DNS functionality were disrupted. With the advent of Windows 2000, your Windows network has a DNS Achilles heel, too. In the days of NT 4, Windows depended on the Windows Internet Naming System (WINS) for name resolution.
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reverse osmosis
City council candidates offer diverse priority lists 
Hutchinson News - Apr 02 2:26 AM
As candidates for the Hutchinson City Council campaign around the city, much of what they are hearing are questions about growth and economic development.
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reverse phone lookup
Intelius Named Best Online Consumer Information Service Finalist in 22nd Annual CODiE Awards 
SYS-CON Media - Feb 06 12:08 PM
Intelius, Inc., a company that empowersconsumers and businesses with online information for intelligent decisions,today announced that it has been named a finalist in the Software &Information Industry Association's (SIIA) 22nd Annual CODiE Awards for thesecond year in a row.
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reverse phone number lookup
Stay Safe Online 
Gwinnett Daily Post - Feb 04 4:47 AM
LAWRENCEVILLE Amanda01 is an AOL user whose interests include playing with her baby brother, Billy Jr., going to English class and collecting seashells.
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revolutionary war
Massachusetts: Revolutionary War and life lessons at Buckman Tavern 
USA Today - Apr 02 12:48 PM
Built around 1710 and restored to its original appearance, Buckman Tavern is most famous for being a gathering place for the local militia before the Battle of Lexington. But the yellow clapboard building is more than just an old pub with a military past: From inside emerge broader tales of men, women and children living and working in the 18th century.
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revolutionary
New marker commemorates Clems Branch Revolutionary War camp 
Lancaster News - Apr 06 7:07 AM
A new South Carolina historical marker commemorating Col. Thomas Sumter's Clems Branch camp during the Revolutionary War has been erected by the Lancaster County Historical Commission after review and approval by the S.C. Department of Archives and History.
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rhine
Germany Reopens Rhine River for Traffic Around Cologne 
Bloomberg.com - Mar 31 8:13 AM
March 30 (Bloomberg) -- Germany reopened the Rhine, Europe's busiest waterway, for traffic after cleaning up a container vessel that spilled its load last weekend.
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rhodes
Notes: Rhodes wants to wear No. 42 
MLB.com - Apr 04 9:33 PM
Notes: Rhodes wants to wear No. 42
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rhythmic gymnastics
AT&T and USA Gymnastics to Chronicle Journey of Nation's Elite Gymnasts Through 'Behind the Team' Online Series 
[Press Release] PR Newswire via Yahoo! Finance - Mar 29 1:49 PM
USA Gymnastics and AT&T Inc. today announced an unprecedented effort to give a behind-the- scenes look at the nation's top gymnasts in a 25-episode online series, "USA Gymnastics: Behind the Team," as they prepare to represent their country on the world stage through 2008.
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richard petty
Richard Petty believes NASCAR should be tougher on cheating 
Savannah Morning News - Apr 05 11:39 PM
The only way NASCAR will control cheating is to send race teams home, seven-time champion Richard Petty said.
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rickenbacker
Rickenbacker sentenced to one year, plus one day, in prison 
The Times and Democrat - Apr 03 10:08 PM
It was a somber former Orangeburg County Council Chairman John Rickenbacker who stood before a federal judge Monday as he was sentenced to 366 days in federal prison for bribery.
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riddles
Faring well in pandemic 
Newsday - Apr 09 5:19 AM
New analyses of devastating 1918 influenza show fewer died in cities with a containment plan One of the enduring riddles of the 1918 pandemic - the worst flu season in the history of humankind - was why some cities were spared the high death toll that ravaged other municipalities.
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rifampicin
Patient adherence for successful tuberculosis treatment 
EurekAlert! - Mar 27 7:46 AM
Nearly 2 million people die from tuberculosis each year, mainly in the poorest countries. The pathogen, Kochs bacillus, can pass easily by aerial infection from one individual to another.
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right here waiting
Former Fernwood landscaper takes gardening trade to Bermuda 
Pocono Record - 1 hour, 52 minutes ago
Tired of waiting for spring to start gardening? Former Fernwood landscaper and East Stroudsburg resident Michael Beattie solved the problem by moving to Bermuda. Here's a look at his garden.
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rika
The Mario Bava Collection 
DVD Talk - Apr 04 7:13 AM
Kill, Baby ... Kill! It's been a full seven years since the Image Mario Bava Collection premiered brilliant European versions of Mario Bava's most noted titles.
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Rimonabant USA: Update 
[Press Release] PR Newswire via Yahoo! Finance - Mar 26 5:35 AM
Sanofi-aventis announced today the FDA notice for its first in class CB1 receptor antagonist rimonabant, now scheduled for an Endocrinologic and Metabolic Drugs Advisory Committee Meeting to be held on June 13, 2007.
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rink hockey
USA Hockey Nationals: Fondy to play must-win game against Detroit today 
Fond du Lac Reporter - Mar 30 9:48 PM
The Fond du Lac mens hockey team will have to win today to advance to the semifinals of the USA Hockey Adult National Championships on Sunday, at Blue Line Family Ice Center. The Bears lost to Portage Lake, 3-2, in their second game of the tournament, forcing a must-win game against the Detroit Raters, at 7:30 p.m. on Rink A. Fondys Corey Munger slipped a pass to Scott Holtz, who slapped a shot ...
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rio de janeiro
Corinthians fans in 'soap' protest 
CNN.com - 1 hour, 26 minutes ago
RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil (Reuters) -- Angry Corinthians fans carrying brooms and boxes of soap powder ran on to the pitch during training on Friday and forced the session to be called off.
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Finalists named for Rio Hondo post 
Whittier Daily News - 2 hours, 21 minutes ago
WHITTIER - With just about a month to go before the semester ends, Rio Hondo College trustees say they are set to interview a handful of top candidates who are vying for the campus' top leadership post.
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Red vs blue
For divisions in United States politics, see Red state vs. blue state divide.
Red vs Blue: The Blood Gulch Chronicles
Red vs Blue official season 4 DVD cover.
Engine(s) Halo: Combat Evolved
Halo 2
Marathon Infinity
Marathon 2: Durandal
Genre Comic science fiction
Running time Five minutes per episode (average)
Creator(s) Burnie Burns
Matt Hullum
Geoff Ramsey
Gustavo Sorola
Voice actor(s) Burnie Burns
Yomary Cruz
Dan Godwin
Joel Heyman
Matt Hullum
Geoff Ramsey
Jason Saldaña
Gustavo Sorola
Kathleen Zuelch
Nathan Zellner
Release(s) April 1, 2003 – April 1, 2006
Format(s) DivX, WMV, QuickTime, DVD
No. of episodes 77, excluding special videos
http://rvb.roosterteeth.com/

Red vs Blue: The Blood Gulch Chronicles, sometimes abbreviated as RvB, is a comic science fiction video series created by Rooster Teeth Productions and distributed via the Internet and DVD. The series chronicles the story of two opposing teams of soldiers fighting a civil war in the middle of a desolate box canyon, in a parody of first-person shooter (FPS) games, military life, and science fiction films. Initially intended to be a short series of six to eight episodes, the project quickly and unexpectedly achieved significant popularity following its April 1, 2003 Internet premiere. Therefore, Rooster Teeth decided to extend the series, whose fourth season ended on April 1, 2006.

Red vs Blue emerged from Burnie Burns' voice-over-enhanced gameplay videos of Bungie Studios' FPS video game Halo: Combat Evolved. The series is primarily produced using machinima technique of synchronizing video footage from a game to pre-recorded dialogue and other audio. Footage is mostly from the multiplayer modes of Halo: Combat Evolved and its sequel, Halo 2, on the Microsoft Xbox video game console.

Both within the machinima movement and among film critics, Red vs Blue has been generally well-received. Praised for its originality, the series has won four awards from the Academy of Machinima Arts & Sciences. It has been credited with bringing new popularity to machinima, helping it to gain more mainstream exposure, and attracting more people to the art form. Graham Leggat, former director of communications for Lincoln Center's film society, described Red vs Blue as "truly as sophisticated as Samuel Beckett".[1] Although episodes continue to be released online, the four currently completed seasons are also available on DVD, making the series one of the first commercially released and successful machinima products.

Contents

  • 1 Plot
    • 1.1 Season 1
    • 1.2 Season 2
    • 1.3 Season 3
    • 1.4 Season 4
  • 2 Characters
    • 2.1 Main characters
    • 2.2 Significant supporting characters
  • 3 Background
  • 4 Production
  • 5 Reception
    • 5.1 Impact on machinima
  • 6 Distribution
  • 7 Notes
  • 8 References
  • 9 External links

Plot

Red vs Blue tells the story of the Red and Blue Teams, two groups of soldiers engaged in a civil war. Each team occupies a small base in a box canyon known as Blood Gulch. According to Simmons (Gustavo Sorola), one of the Red Team soldiers, each team's base exists only in response to the other team's base. Although both teams generally dislike each other and have standing orders to defeat their opponents and capture their flag, neither team's soldiers are usually motivated to fight each other. Teammates have an array of eccentric personalities and often create more problems for each other than for their enemies.

The main Red vs Blue storyline spans four seasons, and a fifth season was planned to premiere in July 2006.[2] Rooster Teeth also periodically releases self-referential public service announcements (PSAs) and holiday-themed videos, which are generally unrelated to the main storyline. In these videos, the members of both teams still act in-character, except during introductions that refer to the Red vs Blue series itself. On June 16, 2006, Burns announced a six-part mini-series, Red vs Blue: Out of Mind, which chronicles the adventures of the mercenary Tex (Kathleen Zuelch) after her disappearance in season 4. The mini-series premiered exclusively on the Xbox Live Marketplace, but Rooster Teeth hopes to make it available on their main website once all episodes are released.[3]

Although the background of Red vs Blue is primarily taken from Halo: Combat Evolved and Halo 2, its creators consciously limit connections to Bungie's Halo fictional universe. A video made for E3 2003 portrays Master Chief, the protagonist of the Halo series, as a larger-than-life member of the army, and the Red vs Blue trailer and first episode establish that the series is set between the events of the two games. Beyond these references, however, the series follows an independent storyline, which, according to Burns, is intended to make it accessible to those unfamiliar with the games. For example, even though the season 4 cast includes a character from the alien Covenant Elite race, Rooster Teeth never portrays that character in its original Halo context.[4]

A scene from Red vs Blue. From left to right: Simmons, Grif, Sarge, Donut, Tex's future robot body, Sheila (the tank), Caboose, and Church.

Season 1

Main article: Red vs Blue (season 1)
April 1, 2003 – September 28, 2003: episodes 1–19

The indifference in Blood Gulch is disrupted by the introduction of new players to the "conflict". Donut (Dan Godwin) enters the fray on the Red Team. On his first day, he captures the Blue flag when his new teammates, Grif (Geoff Ramsey) and Simmons, send him on a fool's errand during the absence of the team leader, Sarge (Matt Hullum). Meanwhile, a rookie named Caboose (Joel Heyman) and a battle tank named Sheila (Yomary Cruz) join the Blue Team and accidentally kill the group's self-appointed leader, Church (Burnie Burns). At the request of Tucker (Jason Saldaña) and Caboose, Blue Command hires a mercenary named Tex to help. Church briefly returns as a ghost to warn his teammates about Tex, who soon arrives and attacks the Reds. After severely injuring Donut, Tex succeeds in returning the Blue flag, but is captured by the Reds. Church again appears to the Blues to explain that Tex is actually his former girlfriend, whose mind is partially controlled by a psychotic artificial intelligence (AI). He organizes a rescue mission that succeeds after some difficulties. In an attempt to keep Tex stationed in Blood Gulch long enough for him to remove the AI from her head, Church possesses the Red Team's robot, Lopez (Burnie Burns), to warn them of Tex's impending attack. He fails and, much to his horror, she is killed in action by Donut in revenge for her previous attack. Church runs to her side, stealing Lopez's body in the process.

Season 2

Main article: Red vs Blue (season 2)
January 3, 2004 – June 11, 2004: episodes 20–38

Three months after Tex's death, DuFresne (Matt Hullum), a medic who is soon nicknamed "Doc", arrives in the canyon. On loan to both armies due to a lack of resources, he checks on the Blue Team just before the Reds attack. After the skirmish, the Blues surrender and give Doc as a hostage to the Reds, who soon tire of his personality and ditch him in the middle of the canyon. Meanwhile, Church continues to attempt to acclimate himself to his new, stolen robot body but eventually loses control of it. Tex returns as a ghost and informs the Blues that her evil, megalomaniacal AI, O'Malley (Joel Heyman, later Matt Hullum)[5], had jumped to Caboose right before her death, thereby explaining his recent aggressive behavior. Church and Tex possess Caboose and force out O'Malley, but the AI survives by taking control of Doc. Later, Donut is captured by the Blues during a reconnaissance mission, and Sarge is forced to build two new robot bodies for Church and Tex in exchange for his return. Meanwhile, Sheila and Lopez form their own robot army and join the exchange in order to conquer the Blues. This culminates in a Mexican standoff, during which Tucker discovers that both teams are apparently secretly controlled by the same Command; the Reds and Blues have the same contact, a man named Vic (Burnie Burns). O'Malley suddenly appears, kidnaps Lopez, and escapes with him through a teleporter. The Red and Blue Teams call a truce and form two-man teams to pursue O'Malley. However, the teleporter malfunctions, and the teams become scattered across various locations outside Blood Gulch.

Season 3

Main article: Red vs Blue (season 3)
October 12, 2004 – May 18, 2005: episodes 39–57

Sarge and Caboose manage to escape from immortal, respawning, flag-obsessed Red and Blue soldiers ("Grunts")[6] in Battle Creek. On behalf of Vic, O'Malley hires a mercenary named Wyoming (Matt Hullum) to kill Tucker to preserve the secrecy of the apparent conspiracy. After Simmons repairs the teleporter, the Red and Blue Teams regroup on Sidewinder and confront O'Malley. However, a reality-shattering bomb destroys the present and propels everyone, except Church, into the future (represented by Halo 2); Church is thrown into the past (represented by Marathon 2 and Marathon Infinity). In the future, the Reds and Blues battle O'Malley at his new fortress but become trapped inside with an active time bomb, who is later revealed to a be a sentient, foul-mouthed entity named Andy (Nathan Zellner). In the distant past, Church learns of The Great Prophecy from Gary, a computer. This prophecy states that, in the future, a blue being known as The Great Destroyer will use The Great Weapon to bring The Great Doom to billions of people. Believing that the prophesied blue being is Caboose, Church travels forward in time to Blood Gulch, in the recent past. He then attempts to prevent the problems that the teams had encountered in the previous two seasons, and, in turn, the events leading up to The Great Doom. However, in a causality loop, Church realizes that his own actions cause these issues. Eventually abandoning the idea of changing the past, he travels to Sidewinder and rejoins the main group as the explosion occurs, thus propelling himself into the future with everyone else. He arrives just in time to ask Gary, who still remains in the fortress, to stop Andy from destructing. Shortly after, O'Malley lays siege to his captured fortress with an army of robots, only to have them obliterated by an unknown being, who then confronts O'Malley himself. Unknown to the Blues, the Reds leave mid-battle in search of a mysterious distress call and arrive back at Blood Gulch, much to Grif's dismay. The season ends on a cliffhanger as a creature creeps up on an unsuspecting Church.

Season 4

Main article: Red vs Blue (season 4)
August 29, 2005 – April 1, 2006: episodes 58–77

As the Red Team re-explores Blood Gulch, Simmons' insistence that Sheila still roams the canyon leads to his exile from the group. In retaliation, he paints himself mostly blue, takes command of the empty Blue Base and Sheila, and captures Grif. Back at the fortress, the Blue Team attempts to confront the new Alien (Nathan Zellner), only to experience humiliating defeats until Caboose manages to befriend him. With Andy translating, the Alien reveals that he is on a sacred quest to save his people and has come to the fortress to retrieve The Great Weapon, an energy sword. However, because Tucker accidentally discovered the weapon first, only he can use it. Threatening to kill everyone otherwise, the Alien forces Tucker, Andy, and Caboose to partake of his quest; Tex trails and later joins them. The team eventually finds a temple occupied by the Grunts from Battle Creek. As Tex defeats them, Tucker uses the sword to open a gate to a flying ship, of which the Alien quickly takes command. Wyoming suddenly re-appears, however, and shoots the ship down, thus killing the Alien, before fleeing with Tex in pursuit.

Meanwhile, Church returns to the Blue Base in Blood Gulch and encounters the blue Simmons, whom he pretends not to recognize, and accidentally contacts Vic Jr. (Burnie Burns), a distant descendant of Vic who scoffs at Church's mention of Blue Command. Simmons returns to the Red Base to relay information learned from Vic Jr. about the war, and Tucker, Caboose, and Andy return to the gulch and inform Church of the events at the temple. However, Tucker becomes ill for an unknown reason, and Church calls Doc, whom O'Malley still controls, for help. On his arrival, O'Malley exchanges Doc's aid for something to be named later. The Reds find Lopez, who had returned to the canyon with O'Malley, and discover that important instructions that Red Command has placed inside Lopez's head can only be played in Spanish. While Church confirms Doc's diagnosis that Tucker is pregnant, Sarge distracts Caboose and steals Andy to translate the plans, which turn out to be unhelpful. Upon hearing of Andy’s disappearance, Church becomes enraged at the whole situation and confronts the Reds with Sheila; in response, Sarge radios Command for reinforcements. Andy reveals that the Alien had the ability to impregnate others with parasitic embryos, and, off-screen, Tucker gives birth to a creature heard speaking in a high-pitched alien language. Caboose informs Church that O'Malley had left Doc after Sarge had contacted Command. As Church runs back to the Blue Base, a ship crashes into the gulch, right on top of Donut.

Characters

The Red Team, from left to right: Sarge, Chupathingy (the Warthog), Grif (Chupathingy driver's seat), Simmons (Chupathingy gunner), and Donut.
Main article: List of characters in Red vs Blue

Red vs Blue features characters whose personalities are skewed in different ways and to varying degrees. These quirks and the ways that they interact and conflict with each other drive much of the plot and humor. The series has revolved around eight main characters, four on each team. Several other characters, both team-affiliated and unaffiliated, human and non-human, have played significant roles at various points in the story.

Main characters

Main article: List of main characters in Red vs Blue

Sarge is the staff sergeant[7] and leader of the Blood Gulch Red Team. A military man with a Southern United States accent, he is the only Blood Gulch soldier on either team consistently serious about the Red versus Blue civil war. His sociopathic battle plans often entail unnecessary casualties in his own men. In particular, a common planned outcome is the death of Grif, who is habitually lazy, irresponsible, and uninsightful. These characteristics earn him the disrespect and ridicule of both Sarge and Simmons, Sarge's sycophantic, insecure right-hand man. Despite this, Simmons and Grif are often seen together, either chatting or bickering. Donut, the eager rookie who joins the team in episode 3, tends to annoy his teammates with his naïveté, garrulousness, and cheerfulness and becomes more effeminate and childish as the series progresses.

The Blue Team, from left to right: Tucker, Sheila (the tank), Caboose (in Sheila's cockpit), Church, and Tex.

On the other side of the canyon, Church is the cynical de facto leader of the Blue Team. Often shouldering the responsibility of actually solving the various crises that the Blood Gulch teams encounter, he often ends up taking their brunt, leaving him increasingly disillusioned and antisocial. His serious, reasoned approach conflicts with the personalities of Tucker and Caboose. The former is snide, averse to work and battle, and obsessed with women; the latter, although physically strong, exhibits varying degrees of stupidity and childishness throughout the series. Rounding out the Blue Team is Tex, Church's former girlfriend who is hired by Blue Command to join the team as a mercenary in episode 10. Able to eliminate entire teams of soldiers by herself, she is described as "the most lethal soldier in Blood Gulch".[8]

Significant supporting characters

  • Lopez: A robot built by Sarge that, due to a damaged voice card, can only speak Spanish.
  • Sheila: The AI inside the Blue Team's tank.
  • Doc: A medic who exhibits extreme pacifism.
  • O'Malley: An evil, megalomaniacal AI who can travel from host to host via radio.
  • Andy: A bomb built by Tex to destroy O'Malley. He also translates for the Alien.
  • Alien: A creature who leads most of the Blue Team on a "sacred quest".
  • Gary: A computer terminal built to maintain knowledge of The Great Prophecy.
  • Wyoming: A freelancer hired to kill Tucker.
  • Vic: A sardonic, unhelpful communications officer.
  • Vic Jr.: A distant descendant of Vic who is also a sardonic, unhelpful communications officer.

Background

Red vs Blue emerged from Burnie Burns's voiceover-enhanced gameplay videos that he created for a website called drunkgamers.com, which was run by Geoff Fink (later Geoff Ramsey) and Gustavo Sorola. Having played Halo: Combat Evolved extensively, the drunkgamers crew discussed one day whether the Warthog, an automobile in the game, actually looked more like a cat. This discussion, re-created in episode 2, was "the spark for the whole series".[9] With the idea that a full story could be developed, Burns created a trailer for Red vs Blue, but it was largely ignored, and, for unrelated reasons, drunkgamers soon closed. Four months later, Computer Gaming World contacted Ramsey for permission to include a drunkgamers video in a CD to be distributed with the magazine. Ramsey granted permission, but he and Burns felt that they needed a website to take advantage of the exposure from Computer Gaming World. As a result, they resurrected the Red vs Blue project and re-released the trailer to coincide with the Computer Gaming World issue. The first episode proper was released on April 1, 2003.[10]

Rooster Teeth was initially unaware of the machinima movement. Co-producer Matt Hullum stated in an interview with GameSpy in 2004, "When we first started Red vs. Blue we thought we were completely original. We never imagined that there were other people out there using video games to make movies, much less that it was a new art form with a hard to pronounce name and an official organization."[11]

The nature of Red vs Blue was different from Burns's initial expectation. A partial character introduction released between the original trailer and the first episode featured extensive action and violence and was set to Limp Bizkit's song "Break Stuff". However, as the project developed, the crew realized that it was going to focus more on situation comedy rather than on the heavy action initially implied.[12] Indeed, although the series parodies video games, Ramsey noted, "We try not to make it too much of an inside joke. And I think we use more bureaucracy and military humor than anything else, which everybody working in an office can identify with."[13] Rooster Teeth noted that Red vs Blue has a wide variety of influences,[14] including Homestar Runner,[15] Penny Arcade,[4] and possibly Mystery Science Theater 3000.[13]

Rooster Teeth also initially envisioned the project to be short, but the series grew beyond their expectations. Burns and Ramsey had preconceived a list of jokes for Red vs Blue and initially planned the series to last between six and eight episodes. By episode 8, however, they realized that the series had fleshed out more than expected; they had covered only about one third of their original joke list.[16] Later in season 1, Burns estimated a series of 22 episodes; however, driven by the series' popularity, he realized that there was more potential story than could be covered in that length,[17] and was able to conceive an extension of the season 1 plot. Just before the debut of season 4, Ramsey's only indication of final series length was that Rooster Teeth planned "to make as many episodes as they can".[18]

Production

Main article: Red vs Blue production
A Red vs Blue scene filmed using Halo 2. Compare to the scenes above from Halo: Combat Evolved.

The writing process for the series has changed over time. Early in season 1, Burns wrote the episode scripts from week to week, with minimal planning in advance;[4] major plot events were conceived shortly before they were filmed.[19] For the second season, Matt Hullum became a main writer.[20] A rough plot outline is now written before a season begins, although the actual content of an individual episode is still decided on a more short-term basis.[21] Because Red vs Blue is loosely based on the Halo universe, Rooster Teeth encountered some difficulties when trying to synchronize events in the series with the release of Halo 2.[22]

Aside from a few scenes created using Marathon Infinity, Marathon 2, and the PC version of Halo, Red vs Blue is mostly filmed with interconnected Xbox consoles. As the series title suggests, the videos are largely set in the Halo map Blood Gulch and its Halo 2 counterpart, Coagulation. However, some episodes have been filmed on other maps, including Sidewinder from Halo and Zanzibar from Halo 2. Within a multiplayer game session, the people controlling the avatars "puppet" their characters, moving them around, firing weapons, and performing other actions as dictated by the script, and in synchronization with the episode's dialogue, which is recorded ahead of time.[23]

The "camera" is simply another player, whose first-person perspective is recorded raw to a computer. As the recording occurs within the game, a few different bugs and post-production techniques have been exploited in order to achieve desired visual effects. In particular, Adobe Premiere Pro is used to edit the audio and video together, impose letterboxing to hide the camera player's head-up display, add the title and fade-to-black screens, and create some visual effects that cannot be accomplished in-game.[24]

Reception

Red vs Blue attracted interest immediately; the first episode had 20,000 downloads within a day.[25] Shortly after episode 2, Bungie Studios contacted Rooster Teeth. The crew had feared that any contact from Bungie would be to force an end to the project, but Bungie enjoyed the videos and was supportive;[26] one staff member called the production "kind of brilliant".[27] A deal was arranged to ensure that the series could continue to use Bungie's game properties legally,[1] without license fees[27] and without creative guidelines from Microsoft, Bungie's parent company, except for specifically commissioned videos.[14] Red vs Blue continued to attract more attention, and, by April 2004, Kevin J. Delaney of The Wall Street Journal estimated that weekly viewership was between 650,000 and 1,000,000.[1]

Red vs Blue was widely acclaimed within the machinima industry. The first season won awards for Best Picture, Best Independent Machinima Film, and Best Writing at the Academy of Machinima Arts & Sciences' 2003 Machinima Film Festival.[28] Two years later, at the 2005 festival, the third season won an award for Best Independent Machinima and was nominated for five others.[29]

Among film critics, the response was generally positive. Darren Waters of BBC News Online called Red vs Blue "riotously funny" and "reminiscent of the anarchic energy of South Park".[17] Reviewing the three season DVDs for Cinema Strikes Back, Charlie Prince wrote, "Red vs. Blue is hysterical in large part because all the characters are morons, and so the seemingly intense conflict with the opposing base doesn't exactly work the way you'd think it would."[30] Leggat described the series as "[p]art locker-room humor, part Beckett-like absurdist tragicomedy, part wicked vivisection of game culture and sci-fi action films and games".[31] Ed Halter of The Village Voice dismissed the humor as shallow and described the first season as "Clerks-meets-Star Wars".[32] Leggat defended the humor, arguing, "The literary analog is absurdist drama."[1]

Another common criticism of Red vs Blue was that its season 3 plot was too far-fetched and out-of-character. Charlie Prince wrote, "By the third season, however, the Red vs. Blue idea seems to be running out of steam.… It's not funny so much as just odd."[30] Writing for the Honolulu Star-Bulletin, Wilma Jandoc agreed that the first part of "season 3… throws the teams into a ridiculous situation and has limited member interactions, leading to a lack of witty dialogue."[33] In an about.com review of the season 4 DVD, writer Eric Qualls noted that season 3 was "a little too long, and too complicated, and the jokes were a bit too far apart."[34] Nevertheless, both Prince and Jandoc expressed optimism that the series would improve from this low point, and Qualls stated that the fourth season had "returned to the series' roots" as "some of the funniest stuff you’ll ever see".[34]

Rooster Teeth Productions has created special Red vs Blue videos for various events. For example, Microsoft has commissioned Red vs Blue videos for Xbox demo kiosks found in game stores and for a developer conference.[35] Barenaked Ladies has also commissioned videos for their concerts.[1] Other videos have been specifically created for gaming magazines, including Electronic Gaming Monthly and Computer Gaming World; gaming conventions, including E3 and the Penny Arcade Expo; and the Sundance Film Festival.

Red vs Blue has also received praise from soldiers stationed in the Middle East. In August 2005, Burnie Burns wrote, "Whenever someone tells me that they are in the military and they watch Red vs Blue, I half-expect to be put in a choke hold for having such goofy characters playing soldiers. Instead, I get endless tales about how Sarge reminds them of their CO or how the guy in their platoon that aims the 20-megaton artillery 'is just like Caboose'."[36] An August 2005 blog entry by Kimi Matsuzaki of 1UP.com displays photographs of soldiers holding various weapons, as well as copies of the first and second season Red vs Blue DVDs.[37] Geoff Ramsey later stated in an interview, "We get a lot of merchandise and DVDs out to Iraq and get a lot of great e-mails back."[13]

Impact on machinima

Red vs Blue is widely credited with attracting public attention to machinima. Although examples had existed since the 1990s, Clive Thompson credits Red vs Blue as "the first to break out of the underground".[38] Tavares, Gil, and Roque call it machinima's "first big success".[39] Thompson notes that "Microsoft has been so strangely solicitous that when it was developing the sequel to Halo last year, the designers actually inserted a special command — a joystick button that makes a soldier lower his weapon — designed solely to make it easier for Rooster Teeth to do dialogue."[27] The series has inspired other machinima productions, including The Codex[40] and Sponsors vs Freeloaders.

In the machinima industry, the series has been mentioned as the most successful example of the trend towards serial distribution. According to Hugh Hancock, this format allows for gradual improvement as a result of viewer feedback, and gives viewers a reason to return for future videos. In fact, Hancock argues that this model was necessary for Red vs Blue's success: "Sunday night is Red vs Blue night, just as (in the UK) Thursday used to be Buffy. Had RvB released their films as single downloads of an hour and a half, they'd have had nowhere near the success they currently enjoy."[41]

Distribution

Videos are released in QuickTime (QT), DivX, and, starting with episode 26, Windows Media Video (WMV) formats. All released episodes of the most recent season are freely available from the official site, in 360-by-240 resolution (except 320-by-240 for WMV). A few episodes from the previous seasons are available from a rolling archive; each week, the videos are rotated to the next set. This setup is intended to help to control bandwidth costs;[42] as of September 2005, the official Rooster Teeth website was serving 400 terabytes of data monthly.[43] However, nearly all freely released episodes of Red vs Blue are also available from websites such as Machinima.com, PlanetMirror, Archive.org, FilePlanet, Google Video, and YouTube.

Members of the official website can gain sponsor status for a fee of US$10 every six months. Sponsors can access videos a few days before the general public release, higher-resolution (720-by-480 for QT and DivX, 640-by-480 for WMV) versions of the videos, and special content released only to sponsors. Additionally, while the public archive is limited to rotating sets of videos, sponsors can access content from previous seasons at any time.[44]

Although it is distributed serially over the Internet, Red vs Blue is also one of the first commercially released products made using machinima, as opposed to a product merely containing machinima. DVDs of the four completed seasons are sold through Rooster Teeth's official website, as well as at some GameStop and Hot Topic stores in the United States.[45] Each season is released on DVD within two months of that season's final episode. For the DVDs, the episodes of the main storyline are edited together to play continuously as a full-length film. Because the episodes as individually released often contain dialogue that continues into or past the fade to black at the end of the video, Rooster Teeth either removes that dialogue entirely or films extra footage to replace the original fade to black.[46]

A third version of the season is further edited for time for showing at the Lincoln Center and at other film festivals. In a 2005 interview, Burns noted that the first season, normally 75 minutes in length, was cut to 55 minutes for these venues, with an entire episode omitted.[47] Burns also noted in a website news post that the 135-minute season 3 DVD version had to be shortened to "a watchable-in-a-theater runtime of 100 minutes".[48]

Notes

  1. ^ a b c d e Delaney.
  2. ^ Burns, et al., Red vs Blue Season Four, Audio Commentary.
  3. ^ Burns, Out of Sight.
  4. ^ a b c Smith.
  5. ^ O'Malley is voiced by the actor responsible for whichever character he is possessing at the time.
  6. ^ Burns, et al., Red vs Blue Season Three, Audio Commentary, episode 39.
  7. ^ Burns, et al., Red vs Blue Season Three, Character profiles, Sarge.
  8. ^ Burns, et al., Red vs Blue Season Three, Character profiles, Tex.
  9. ^ Burns, et al., Red vs Blue Season One, Audio Commentary, episode 2.
  10. ^ The History of Red Vs Blue; Konow, 2.
  11. ^ Kosak.
  12. ^ Burns, et al., Red vs Blue Season One, Audio Commentary, introduction.
  13. ^ a b c Konow, 4.
  14. ^ a b Oliver.
  15. ^ Burns, et al., Red vs Blue Season One, Audio Commentary, episode 16.
  16. ^ Burns, et al., Red vs Blue Season One, Audio Commentary, episode 4.
  17. ^ a b Waters.
  18. ^ Konow, 5.
  19. ^ Burns, et al., Red vs Blue Season One, Audio Commentary, episode 8.
  20. ^ Burns and Hullum, Red vs Blue Season Two, Audio Commentary.
  21. ^ Konow, 3.
  22. ^ Burns, et al., Red vs Blue Season Three, Audio Commentary, episode 39.
  23. ^ Burns, et al., Red vs Blue Season One, Audio Commentary; Delaney.
  24. ^ Burns, et al., Red vs Blue Season One, Audio Commentary; Moltenbrey.
  25. ^ Thompson, 1.
  26. ^ Konow, 2.
  27. ^ a b c Thompson 3.
  28. ^ Machinima Awards 2003 Results.
  29. ^ 2005 Award Nominations & Selections; Mackie Winners Announced!.
  30. ^ a b Prince.
  31. ^ Leggat.
  32. ^ Halter.
  33. ^ Jandoc.
  34. ^ a b Qualls.
  35. ^ Red vs. Blue : The Interview Strikes Back; Delaney.
  36. ^ Burns, We're Huge in Normandy.
  37. ^ Matsuzaki.
  38. ^ Thompson, 2.
  39. ^ Tavares, Gil, & Roque, 4.
  40. ^ Whitley.
  41. ^ Hancock.
  42. ^ Video FAQ; Red Vs Blue FAQ.
  43. ^ Totilo.
  44. ^ Sponsorship FAQ.
  45. ^ Where To Buy Rooster Teeth Products.
  46. ^ Burns, et al., Red vs Blue Season One, Audio Commentary, episode 18.
  47. ^ Marks.
  48. ^ Burns, It's Official.

References

  • 2005 Award Nominations and Selections. 2005 Machinima Film Festival. Retrieved on 2006-01-09.
  • Burns, Burnie (August 10, 2005). It's Official. Red Vs Blue. Rooster Teeth Productions. Retrieved on 2006-02-20.
  • Burns, Burnie (June 16, 2006). Out of Sight. Red Vs Blue. Retrieved on 2006-06-19.
  • Burns, Burnie (Writer, Director), et al. (2003). Red vs Blue Season One [DVD]. Buda, Texas: Rooster Teeth Productions.
  • Burns, Burnie (Writer, Director), et al. (2004). Red vs Blue Season Two [DVD]. Buda, Texas: Rooster Teeth Productions.
  • Burns, Burnie (Writer, Director), et al. (2005). Red vs Blue Season Three [DVD]. Buda, Texas: Rooster Teeth Productions.
  • Burns, Burnie (Writer, Director), et al. (2006). Red vs Blue Season Four [DVD]. Buda, Texas: Rooster Teeth Productions.
  • Burns, Burnie (August 5, 2005). We're Huge In Normandy. Red vs Blue. Rooster Teeth Productions. Retrieved on 2006-03-02.
  • Delaney, Kevin J. (April 9, 2004). When Art Imitates Videogames, You Have "Red vs. Blue": Mr. Burns Makes Little Movies Internet Fans Clamor For; Shades of Samuel Beckett. The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved on 2006-01-08.
  • Halter, Ed (December 31, 2003). Tracking Shot: The Blood Gulch Chronicles. The Village Voice. Village Voice Media, Inc. Retrieved on 2006-01-09.
  • Hancock, Hugh (November 23, 2004). Editorial - Serialise This!. Machinima.com. Machinima, Inc. Retrieved on 2006-01-01.
  • The History of Red Vs Blue. Red Vs Blue. Rooster Teeth Productions. Retrieved on 2006-01-08.
  • Jandoc, Wilma (December 5, 2004). "Red vs. Blue" mines game for comedy gold. Honolulu Star-Bulletin. Retrieved on 2006-01-09.
  • Konow, David (September 24, 2005). The Cult of Red vs Blue. TwitchGuru. Tom's Guide Publishing. Retrieved on 2006-02-28.
  • Kosak, Dave (November 16, 2004). GameSpy Examines the Teeth of the Rooster. GameSpy. IGN Entertainment, Inc.. Retrieved on 2006-02-22.
  • Leggat, Graham. Cock Byte: Masters of Machinima. San Francisco International Film Festival. San Francisco Film Society. Retrieved on 2006-06-11.
  • Machinima Awards 2003 Results. Machinima.com. Machinima, Inc. Retrieved on 2006-02-12.
  • Mackie Winners Announced!. 2005 Machinima Film Festival. Retrieved on 2006-01-09.
  • Marks, Chris (July 9, 2005). Interview - Burnie Burns and Gus Sorola. The Unofficial Rooster Teeth Productions Resource Site. Retrieved on 2006-03-06.
  • Matsuzaki, Kimi (August 4, 2005). Big booms and big guns. Kimi Matsuzaki's 1UP Blog. Ziff Davis Media Inc. Retrieved on 2006-03-02.
  • Moltenbrey, Karen (November 2005). Out of Character. Computer Graphics World. PennWell Corporation. Retrieved on 2006-03-01.
  • Oliver, Caitlin (January 2005). Red vs. Blue Q&A. @anime! Ionfuse. Animero Studios. Retrieved on 2006-03-01.
  • Prince, Charlie (August 23, 2005). Red vs. Blue: The Blood Gulch Chronicles is Hysterically Funny (But Skip the 3rd Season). Cinema Strikes Back. Retrieved on 2006-01-09.
  • Qualls, Eric (May 22, 2006). Red vs. Blue Season 4 DVD Review. about.com. The New York Times Company. Retrieved on 2006-06-09.
  • Red vs Blue FAQ. Red Vs Blue. Rooster Teeth Productions. Retrieved on 2006-06-09.
  • Red vs. Blue : The Interview Strikes Back. Bungie.net. Microsoft Corporation. Retrieved on 2006-01-08.
  • Sponsorship FAQ. Red Vs Blue. Rooster Teeth Productions. Retrieved on 2006-06-09.
  • Smith, Bryan (February 21, 2006). Burnie Burns Interview. HaloGrid.com. Retrieved on 2006-06-03.
  • Tavares, José Pedro, Rui Gil, and Licino Roque (2005). "Player as Author: conjecturing online game creation modalities and infrastructure". Retrieved on 2006-08-03.
  • Thompson, Clive (August 7, 2005). The Xbox Auteurs. The New York Times. Retrieved on 2006-01-08.
  • Totilo, Stephen (September 28, 2005). Machinima Pros Make a Living Playing "Halo" — With Their Feet. MTV.com. MTV Networks. Retrieved on 2006-03-03.
  • Video FAQ. Red Vs Blue. Rooster Teeth Productions. Retrieved on 2006-06-09.</ref>
  • Waters, Darren (August 7, 2003). Animators turn to video games. BBC News Online. BBC. Retrieved on 2006-01-09.
  • Where to Buy Rooster Teeth Products. Red Vs Blue. Rooster Teeth Productions. Retrieved on 2006-02-20.
  • Whitley, Glenna (January 19, 2006). Lights, Camera, Play!. Dallas Observer. Village Voice Media. Retrieved on 2006-05-23.

External links

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