2. INTRODUCTION
Adande Thorne, aka Swoozie, was just an average
teenager who expressed himself through video blogs
(Vlogs). He describes hisVlogs as 1000% true
experiences about relatable topics such as girls, sex,
school, jobs, and even more out of the ordinary
interactions with famous celebrities such as Chris
Brown and Jessica Simpson. Swoozie’s rise to
Youtube stardom was through his video “Confessions
of a Disney Employee” where he uses his own style of
film and animation through a program called Muro,
in combination with his own storytelling charisma.
Swoozie states, “I’d say my real talent is storytelling.
When I do it, I feel like it’s the reason I’m ‘here’.”
Through his captivating storytelling Vlogs, Swoozie
now has 624,661 subscribers on Youtube and over 70
million video views.

3. STYLE OF SIMPLICITY
Swoozie is also a professional gamer, so his nerdy Star Wars/
video game references reflect in his videos. In the picture
below, he uses a popular character from the Japanese anime
Dragon Ball Z to create a sense of humor as he uses an energy
blast to incinerate his boss. By recreating popular characters
with his own style, Swoozie gives the audience a new look at
what they once knew. They say “Ah!” and feel a sense of
nostalgia when they recognize their childhood cartoon stars.
Swoozie’s artistic genius lies in his ability to make something
simple like stick figures, humorous while still showing every
aspect of the character we need to know. In the above picture
he drew a stick figure of Aladdin. Although he is drawn
simply, we can identify him through his purple hat, blue vest,
and loaf of bread showing his “street rat” persona. “…it’s for
both comic relief and simplicity” says Swoozie. During our
conversation he told me that something about the simplicity
of the characters is just funny. By using the simplicity of stick
figures, Swoozie is able to shape their expressions and gestures
with a few modifications.

4. STORYTELLING
Swoozie describes his videos as 1000% true. This is what makes his videos relatable and
entertaining to people. Popular topics entail girls, sex, jobs, school, and drinking. By listening to his own
experiences, we connect with him better and take the advice he has closer to home and apply it to ourselves.
He invites the public eye to his private matters because of the raw story that takes place that cannot be
imitated in the same way. Swoozie even describes when he almost loses his V card (virginity). Throughout
the video he always keeps the audience entertained . Even though his stick figures are simple, the way he uses
color and simple strokes on the face to display the emotion in combination with his witty dialogue makes
people interact with the video by clapping loudly from their chairs or sympathize yelling“noooo!” and “you
were so close!”.
What makes Swoozie really amazing is how he interacts with all of his fans. He states that, “I’m
on my laptop during breakfast, lunch and dinner replying to emails/ Facebook/ YouTube comments and on
my ‘days off’ the majority of the day goes into email replies etc. It’s so much fun interacting with people who
truly appreciate what you do”. All of the support that Swoozie receives motivates him to make more videos; it
shows as he garners over 600,000 subscribers and over 70 million video views.

5. Storytelling continued…
Swoozie wants his audience to go through what
he calls “cinematic experiences”. With every
story he tells, he wants to create the suspense
and eye grabbing experience that movies entail.
He states how girls do not want to be taken on
dates, they want to be put in “cinematic
experiences”. One example he gives is when girls
are grabbed, shoved against a car, and than
kissed. This is what girls really want, and the
next time he had the opportunity: he made it a
“cinematic experience”.

6. “Video Game Girlfriend”

7. TECHNOLOGY
By utilizing DeviantArts animation program, Muro, Swoozie is
able to create his videos faster than before. He first started with
just a pencil, paper, and a scanner. Through Muro he is able to
use his layering style to the maximum. In my conversation with
Swoozie he states, “The ideas do just pop in but I spend a bit of
time thinking through how to deliver- color- black and white- do
the mouths open and close or just open and stay open etc”. Once
he gets an idea in his head the next step in his process is to find a
location for him to snap a photo and use as his background
photo. He then starts to draw out his humorous stick figures on
paper and once he is satisfied with the look, he draws them on
Muro and layers it on top of the setting as depicted in the image
on the left.
In an interview with www.wired.com, Swoozie describes his
fascination with Muro stating, “If I write in a script that the Back
to the Future car flies in and crashes through the wall and wood
goes flying everywhere like splinters, my imagination becomes
The art of making his videos look simplistic actually
the only limitation I have”. He goes on to say, “Because I’m using
entails a very detailed process. The layering process that
live-action and Muro in combination, it’s like the perfect
Swoozie uses in his videos envelops multiple forms of art: marriage”. After he finishes the visual images in his videos, he
from film, music, animation, to pure pencil and paper. works on the music creating his own beats through his
The creativity and eagerness to explore the connection of PlayStation 2 to accentuate his nerdy persona.
artistic mediums is what gives birth to Swoozie’s own
style which he exemplifies in his popular works “Cheating
in High School” and “Confessions of a Disney Employee” ;
both videos have over 2 million views each. The final
result is a display of artistic expression and humor.

8. CONCLUSION
 Swoozie’s combination of engaging narration and
simple yet comical stick figure animations create a
work of art. The topics he discusses in his Vlogs can go
for pure entertainment value or relate deeper
meanings such as advice on girls and school. Swoozie’s
fan base at the moment may be a majority of male
teens, but with more exposure I believe that people of
all ages and gender would be inclined to support him
as well.