Stick Figure Death Theatre
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Stick Figure Death Theatre was created in 1996 by Matt Calvert. As the name suggests, this site is home to stick figure movies of characters (usually) meeting their doom. Movies were originally rejected if they had stick figures and no death, but this has been widended to include anything with stick figures. Mr. Calvert has this to say of its origins:
“I was working for an ISP in California in the mid-90s and wanted to learn how to make animated GIFs. Thinking back to my time in high school and college, I used to doodle things in the margins of my notes during class. Some of the things I doodled were stick figures getting their head chopped off, being hit by a car, shot and so on. I decided to animate those.
I made three short, simple movies from my doodles and, since I didn’t want them to go to waste, I put them up on my personal website. Eventually, word spread around about the site and it grew in popularity. People then started sending me in their own movies, and the rest is history.”
SFDT has received notice in Wired, Maxim and Details magazine. Initially, users could submit animated GIFs only, but this was eventually opened up to allow Flash animations as well. GIFs eventually fell by the wayside and now only Flash movies can be submitted.
[edit] Website Sections
The SFDT Showcase is the section of the site where users can submit their own stick figure movie creations. All entries must go through a review session before being accepted or rejected. The 'Under Review' section displays those movies that are waiting to be reviewed. All movies that are submitted have to be in Adobe Flash format. In addition to the latest movies, there is also an All-Time Top 50 list and the latest Drawing Board submissions.
The Drawing Board is SFDT's section for test animations. Users can submit short animations they are working on. Most users will use this section to submit their entries for the Friday Funk.
The Sound Board is a section where people can upload and download sounds to use in their movies.
The Vault is SFDT's Support Center. Here, people can read and submit tutorials. These cover Beginner's Guides, Flash, Action Script, Animation, etc.
In-House Movies contains movies made but the website's creator, Matt Calvert. At the bottom of the page can be found the first movies ever made for the site.
[edit] Popular Series
Over the course of SFDT’s reign on the Internet, many popular series have been created.
[edit] Xiao Xiao
The first series to gain notoriety on the site, the concept behind these movies are simple: one man must face many opponents and disposes of them quickly. These highly professional animations are the work of Zhu Zhq. At times, the action scenes are obviously inspired by The Matrix. In fact, two of the animations are re-productions of scenes from the movie and tie-in to the Heineken promotions for it.
In 2004, Zhu Zhq sued the Nike corporation for an ad campaign featuring a stick figure bearing his artistic likeness. Initially winning the suit, the Beijing High People’s Court eventually overturned this decision.
[edit] Joe Zombie
Created by Rob DenBleyker, this series has long been a favorite of website visitors. The story behind this series involves a dead “super soldier” of sorts, his real name being Joe Rombie. Sgt. Baxter of the Stickville Police has been dispatched to take care of him. There are currently 6 episodes but there is a seventh that will come out some time in the future. But there is more to it than we’re lead to believe as the story unfolds…
Joe Zombie is made in a very cinematic style, something not done before on the site. The animation is very crisp and clean and has a style all its own. Music for the series also varies from heavy metal to John Williams scores.
Rob DenBleyker and friends currently run the webcomic Cyanide and Happiness at Explosm.net
[edit] Rival
This series finds its inspiration in John Woo style action films and their type. Max’s father owns a dojo in which a ruthless businessman, Stalkwell, wants ownership. In the process of trying to take it over by force, Stalkwell kills Max’s brother Dean and the war is on.
Peter Murphy is creator and animator of this series. An art student in Scotland, the atmosphere and animation are unlike anything seen in a stick figure movie up to this point. The stick figures here are treated as three-dimensional objects and the action comes at you non-stop.
More of Mr. Murphy's work can be found on his website
[edit] Dissy Dis Dis Dis
As with any website where people submit their own work, there is bound to be a lot of poor quality works. To this end, Brad Waara, Chris Nosal and Kirk Waara sought to make fun of the schlocky counterparts of the stick death world.
This series features these poorly made movies in the guise of a talk show. On it, the creators of these object’s d’art are invited on simply to be disposed of, and quickly. The series keeps it fresh by changing the format- one episode has a pirate theme while another has a death match between contestants.
Chris Nosal, co-creator, has since gone on to make another successful series comedy shorts, Bad Guys
[edit] Friday Funk
In order to keep visiting animators on their toes, SFDT has a weekly contest called the Friday Funk. Overseen by the enigmatic FUNKMAN, a new challenge is posted every Friday in which anyone may enter. These challenges are almost always animation-based, but sometimes a new spin will be put on them (such as drawing comic strips). Each Friday, the current contest is closed and a few entries are selected to be displayed on the main page.
[edit] Forums
Stick Figure Death Theatre also houses a forum, like most websites. Here, members can show off their artistic work (drawings, animations, Photoshop, etc.) as well as get help with Flash. There's also a section for shooting the breeze as well as site News. The Cage is unique in that it is a place where anyone can air a beef they have or settle a dispute with another member. The forum has a loyal following of talented animators and welcomes newbies, encouraging them to improve their skills in animation and Flash.
[edit] References
- Explosm.com - Home of webcomic "Happiness and Cyanide", Joe Zombie, and many other stick figure movies or pictures.
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[edit] External links
- SFDT
- SFDT Showcase
- The Drawing Board
- The Sound Board
- Friday Funk
- Forums
- Joe Zombie
- Stick Death Article (about the art of "stick death")
