iStudy Interlude

Ever wonder about those amazing iStudy ‘toons? Meet the creator as he interviews one of the ‘toon characters.

Transcript of the Interview

An interview in a lounge, with Dave, a late middle-aged designer who draws the iStudy cartoons, and Brian, one of the characters Dave draws. Dave is shown as a photo, while Brian appears in the photos as his drawn character.

Dave: Geez, I can’t believe how cute this little guy is! [Dave is feeding a cartoon squirrel on the coffee table in front of him.]

Brian: Yeah, she’s my favorite…

Dave: ‘She’… sorry… will she be okay while we talk?

Brian: Yeah… she’s used to all this drawing stuff. [The squirrel climbs on to Brian.]

Dave: Great! So I’d like every body to meet one of our student interns… Brian, thanks for stopping by!

Brian: No prob, Mr. Stong; glad to do it.

Dave: For those who don’t know you, Brian; what is it that you do for us?

Brian: Well I guess I’m an actor… I play a character in Dr. Bixler’s iStudy modules. [Brian reaches for some illustration boards.]

Dave: You brought some stills, too. Were you in all of the modules, Brian?

Brian: Close, Mr.Stong. Every time we used animals… or food, anyway.

Dave: The episode you did at Kern is it pretty typical? [Dave shows several of the boards, which are drawings from the iStudy cartoon strip.]

Brian: Yeah. They still don’t want me seen riding my long board, but I got to carry it in that episode.

Dave: If you missed it, this is Brian covered by his squirrels outside of Kern Commons. He’s the squirrel wrangler. Amazing stuff.

Brian: Thanks. Some of those squirrels were untamed walk-ons! Hard to avoid on campus; it’s easier inside. The last one we did, I only had to control one primary squirrel and one double inside the HUB.

Dave: Double?

Brian: Yeah… in case my primary gets distracted, we can use the other one to finish a scene. It gets pretty hairy sometimes.

Dave: Hairy? Cute… You called the HUB episode ‘the last one’- are they done?

Brian: We all thought so. When Dr. Bixler moved we thought we were done. But it looks like we’re gonna do some more. I’ve gotta find out if Jose is up for it. He was gonna take a job with the ITS Help Desk.

Dave: They tell me Jose’s a pretty smart guy.

Brian: Yeah. We room together and he manages all our technology. Maybe we can entice him back with a few perks?

Dave: He’d certainly be worth it. I’ll see what I can do! Everybody else coming back?

Brian: I think so.

Dave: Have you heard if you’re having an impact?

Brian: Not in so many words, Mr. Stong. But I figure if they want us back, we aren’t hurting anything…

Dave: Indeed! Any surprises in store for us?

Brian: Surprise! It’s us again! [Brian makes a goofy face.]

Dave: No surprise there, Brian; you do good work.

Brian: Yeah. You too, Mr. Stong.

Dave: Awww… thanks, man. I know you’re short on time; thanks for taking a break to stop by. Now everybody knows the plan.

Brian: Anytime! [Brian gets up to shake hands.]

Dave: ‘It’s us again.’ I like that! I’m gonna steal it… Hey… I think your friend wants to stay!

Brian: I think she just wants to update her Facebook page… [The squirrel is in the background climbing up to the lab computer keyboard.]

The Interview