Mike Chapman
From Homestar Runner Wiki
Michael "Mike" Raymond Chapman (born September 20, 1973) is the co-creator of Homestar Runner. One half of creative duo the Brothers Chaps, alongside younger brother Matt Chapman, he serves as one of the principal creators of homestarrunner.com.
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[edit] Career
[edit] Education
Raised in Georgia, Mike attended Dunwoody High School along with his brother. Mike studied Fine Art at the University of Georgia, earning a degree in photography in 1996. As of 2006, the physical degree was still rolled up in the cardboard tube it was mailed in.[1] Mike enrolled at a postgrad Master's photography program at Louisiana State University. However, after a year of classes,[15] he realized his esoteric approach to photography meant he "didn't have the desire or the skills to be a commercial photographer", and he dropped out of the program in 1999.[2]
Mike's other artistic pursuits were largely unschooled; he only took one introductory computer class in school.[15] A "self-taught graphic designer/animator/illustrator/writer/musician",[1] Mike worked as a freelance designer after college.[3]
[edit] Homestar Runner
In June 1996, Mike and his friend Craig Zobel co-wrote The Homestar Runner Enters the Strongest Man in the World Contest, originating the Homestar Runner world and characters. This was a short handmade picture book parodying children's stories. Mike, working with Zobel and/or his brother Matt, would occasionally revisit these characters: an unfinished sequel book Homestar Runner Goes For The Gold!, an animation in Mario Paint, or online short story Where My Hat Is At?.
The idea to launch homestarrunner.com began in 1999. The Chapman brothers were living together in an apartment in Georgia and, when learning about the creative possibilities of Flash, Mike and Matt chose Homestar Runner as the subject to use when teaching themselves the program.
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[edit] Characters
From Sample of Style:
I'm Mike Chapman from HomestarRunner.com. People are all the time asking me "Mike, how do you do those stupid voices for your dumb animal characters?" and I say "I'm Mike! Matt does the voices!"
Although Matt is the primary voice actor for the site's characters, a few secondary figures are portrayed by Mike. Pom Pom's "voice" is a sound clip of Mike blowing bubbles into milk.[8] Mike voices the Powered by The Cheat iterations of characters, impersonating Matt's voice intentionally poorly; he uses similar voices for characters like Shark-Tooth Bubs and Craig. Mike once substituted as Strong Sad's voice, in cheat talk, when Matt was too hoarse to deliver the character's line.[4]
Other characters voiced by Mike include:
- The announcer in Where's the Cheat?, and announcer #2 in Strong Bad Sings.
- Blue Laser Babies
- The Knight
- The Worm
- Teeg Dougland
- That Time of Year narrator
- The Exact Same
Mike portrays the following characters via photo or video appearances:
- Videlectrix Programmer Number Two
- Dolph Hauldhagen
- Dave Olafstenston of Taranchula
- Thy Dungeonman
[edit] Music
Mike is a songwriter and vocalist, and plays bass guitar, synthesizers, and Synthcart. He has performed music as a member of sloshy both on the site and in live performances.
Outside of Homestar Runner, Matt has released music as part of groups 3-Dee, Hi-Score, and Air-Sea Dolphin.
[edit] Favorite Music
In a 2003 interview,[5] Mike provided his top 5 favorite albums (in no particular order):
- Tom Waits — Rain Dogs
- Modern Lovers — The Modern Lovers
- Beastie Boys — Paul's Boutique
- Mudhoney — Superfuzz Bigmuff
- Built to Spill — Ultimate Alternative Wavers
Mike has also expressed interest in The Glands, The Flaming Lips, Will Oldham, and Outkast.[6] He took the photographs for the cover of Thursday album Full Collapse.[5]
[edit] Personal Life
Mike is the second-youngest of Don and Harriet Chapman's five children. Eldest brother Donnie is occasionally cited as a creative influence on The Brothers Chaps, particularly in sharing his interests about older video games or music.
Mike began dating Missy Palmer, voice of Marzipan shortly before the site started in January of 2000.[7] They were married February 28, 2004. Their daughter, referred to as the Very, Very Little Girl, was born in 2006 and appeared in Homestar vs. Very, Very Little Girl.
[edit] Fun Facts
- Mike has listed several toons as his favorites:
- His favorite character is The Homestar Runner.[9][10]
- Mike has also expressed fondness for the Fat Bluebird.[11]
- Mike was a panel member for the "Beyond Saturday Morning" discussion group at the 2004 Atlanta Film Festival.[12]
[edit] See Also
- Matt Chapman
- The Brothers Chaps' Fansite Acknowledgments
- Mike's 2007 birthday card
- Mike Chapman filmography
[edit] References
Additional videos and interviews are available at Interviews and Public Appearances and Articles.
[edit] External Links
- The Brothers Chaps Wikipedia article
- Mike Chapman on IMDb
- Panelist biography from SXSW 2005 (archive link)
