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	<title type="html"><![CDATA[Forums - Bricks in Motion - BRAWL 2014: Loyalty:#:]]></title>
	<link rel="self" href="http://bricksinmotion.com/forums/feed/atom/topic/19492/"/>
	<updated>2014-08-05T06:04:50Z</updated>
	<generator>PunBB</generator>
	<id>https://bricksinmotion.com/forums/topic/19492/brawl-2014-loyalty/</id>
		<entry>
			<title type="html"><![CDATA[Re: BRAWL 2014: Loyalty:#:]]></title>
			<link rel="alternate" href="https://bricksinmotion.com/forums/post/330299/#p330299"/>
			<content type="html"><![CDATA[Great work!  I don't have too much to add without just repeating what's been said above so I'll try and keep it brief.  

I, too, love the camera movements.  They were absolutely brilliant.  The animation was not bad, and the music fit really well, also.  

Two things I would have liked to have seen changed:
I think a bit of color correction would have gone a long way with this one.  I think subduing the colors a bit or darkening the shadows and lowering the contrast just a tad would have done wonders.  As it is it's not bad, but it could have been great with a slightly different color to it.  Here's two really rough examples of what I mean, I think either of these would have been a lot more interesting that what you left it as:

[img]http://i.imgur.com/kl15K3n.png[/img]

[img]http://i.imgur.com/hPnFnq6.png[/img]

I also would have liked there to be a few sound effects when the boss guy is smoking, maybe a few inhales or exhales and he puffs his cigar would have added a lot.


Overall, nice film with a decent story, awesome camera movement, good voice acting and sound, which makes for a good result!  
Nice work!]]></content>
			<author>
				<name><![CDATA[JonnDthunDer]]></name>
				<uri>https://bricksinmotion.com/forums/user/128068/</uri>
			</author>
			<updated>2014-08-05T06:04:50Z</updated>
			<id>https://bricksinmotion.com/forums/post/330299/#p330299</id>
		</entry>
		<entry>
			<title type="html"><![CDATA[Re: BRAWL 2014: Loyalty:#:]]></title>
			<link rel="alternate" href="https://bricksinmotion.com/forums/post/330132/#p330132"/>
			<content type="html"><![CDATA[You have dramatically improved from your last two films. This is definitely your best brickfilm yet. The voice acting, the cinematography, the sets. I would say that the shot of the guy dipping his cigar would have been a really difficult shot to pull off; what if the stud had wobbled around a bit? And you did that very well.

My only gripe is that the classical music during the shootout scene seemed a little unfitting. But, that's a small issue. Awesome job, overall!]]></content>
			<author>
				<name><![CDATA[Mickey]]></name>
				<uri>https://bricksinmotion.com/forums/user/3007/</uri>
			</author>
			<updated>2014-08-02T23:26:21Z</updated>
			<id>https://bricksinmotion.com/forums/post/330132/#p330132</id>
		</entry>
		<entry>
			<title type="html"><![CDATA[Re: BRAWL 2014: Loyalty:#:]]></title>
			<link rel="alternate" href="https://bricksinmotion.com/forums/post/329874/#p329874"/>
			<content type="html"><![CDATA[I just have to say, you've mastered animating with an auto focus point and click camera. I don't think you can do much better than this with this kind of camera. However, I hope you can invest in something that has manual focus someday, as I'd love to see a brickfilm from you where the focus doesn't go all loopy. 

I think all that cautiousness you've had to endure could really pay off with an even better software + camera setup. I can only imagine what you could do with that.

Keep up the awesome work! :)]]></content>
			<author>
				<name><![CDATA[Walter Benson]]></name>
				<uri>https://bricksinmotion.com/forums/user/129762/</uri>
			</author>
			<updated>2014-07-31T01:25:44Z</updated>
			<id>https://bricksinmotion.com/forums/post/329874/#p329874</id>
		</entry>
		<entry>
			<title type="html"><![CDATA[Re: BRAWL 2014: Loyalty:#:]]></title>
			<link rel="alternate" href="https://bricksinmotion.com/forums/post/329809/#p329809"/>
			<content type="html"><![CDATA[[quote=Squid]I'm not sure what to call the spin thing, but I would guess dolly.
The camera isn't actually moving on a dolly, but by moving the set that way you sort of imitate the use of one.
But whatever it is it's really impressive, and it makes me feel a little lacking for having not tried anything like that.[/quote]

Thanks!  It was actually pretty easy to accomplish, although the method I used would only really work with fairly small sets.  I was worried that keeping the lights in the same position and turning the set would result in changing light or flicker (which is why I used one lamp more or less directly overhead, and used my other to illuminate the windows behind Virgil's desk),and that adding/removing walls would cause set bumps, but it worked surprisingly well.  I suppose one could rig up a camera to turn around a set, but it would be pretty awkward to pull off (with the way my current animation desk is set up, at least).

[quote=Squid]Near the end part I felt a sort of chill, it was a really cool scene and well executed.
However, I felt that some different music could have worked better there.  Perhaps something low and foreboding, a little suspenseful and very dramatic.[/quote]

[quote=Rockydude411bricks]I do agree with squid though, how the music should have been more suspenseful. [/quote]

I'm really glad that scene was effective.  It actually annoys me a bit, since I feel the animation when Virgil asks Mr White whether he's the traitor is really bad and looks a bit amateurish and lolzy, and it kinda pulls one out of the film.  Regarding the music, I was experimenting around a bit.  I wanted to use the lack of music to create tension.  For example, a film such as [i]No Country for Old Men[/i], has virtually no music, which really helps build up tension in certain scenes.  I was seeing if I could achieve such an effect.  Plus, one needs the right music, as it can come otherwise off as cheesy.  But it's definitely something I'll consider next time, thanks for the suggestions!]]></content>
			<author>
				<name><![CDATA[Mr Vertigo]]></name>
				<uri>https://bricksinmotion.com/forums/user/127487/</uri>
			</author>
			<updated>2014-07-29T20:24:14Z</updated>
			<id>https://bricksinmotion.com/forums/post/329809/#p329809</id>
		</entry>
		<entry>
			<title type="html"><![CDATA[Re: BRAWL 2014: Loyalty:#:]]></title>
			<link rel="alternate" href="https://bricksinmotion.com/forums/post/329750/#p329750"/>
			<content type="html"><![CDATA[I really liked it, great job. The cinematography was stunning and the writing was great. I do agree with squid though, how the music should have been more suspenseful. Good Job dude. :)]]></content>
			<author>
				<name><![CDATA[Rockydude411]]></name>
				<email><![CDATA[rockydude411@yahoo.com]]></email>
				<uri>https://bricksinmotion.com/forums/user/130340/</uri>
			</author>
			<updated>2014-07-29T01:55:52Z</updated>
			<id>https://bricksinmotion.com/forums/post/329750/#p329750</id>
		</entry>
		<entry>
			<title type="html"><![CDATA[Re: BRAWL 2014: Loyalty:#:]]></title>
			<link rel="alternate" href="https://bricksinmotion.com/forums/post/329677/#p329677"/>
			<content type="html"><![CDATA[I'm not sure what to call the spin thing, but I would guess dolly.
The camera isn't actually moving on a dolly, but by moving the set that way you sort of imitate the use of one.
But whatever it is it's really impressive, and it makes me feel a little lacking for having not tried anything like that.

Near the end part I felt a sort of chill, it was a really cool scene and well executed.
However, I felt that some different music could have worked better there.  Perhaps something low and foreboding, a little suspenseful and very dramatic.]]></content>
			<author>
				<name><![CDATA[Squid]]></name>
				<uri>https://bricksinmotion.com/forums/user/3704/</uri>
			</author>
			<updated>2014-07-28T14:32:52Z</updated>
			<id>https://bricksinmotion.com/forums/post/329677/#p329677</id>
		</entry>
		<entry>
			<title type="html"><![CDATA[Re: BRAWL 2014: Loyalty:#:]]></title>
			<link rel="alternate" href="https://bricksinmotion.com/forums/post/329665/#p329665"/>
			<content type="html"><![CDATA[That was neat! The spinning dolly was well done. There was a bit of dippy focus, though.]]></content>
			<author>
				<name><![CDATA[jampot]]></name>
				<uri>https://bricksinmotion.com/forums/user/189/</uri>
			</author>
			<updated>2014-07-28T11:52:56Z</updated>
			<id>https://bricksinmotion.com/forums/post/329665/#p329665</id>
		</entry>
		<entry>
			<title type="html"><![CDATA[Re: BRAWL 2014: Loyalty:#:]]></title>
			<link rel="alternate" href="https://bricksinmotion.com/forums/post/329664/#p329664"/>
			<content type="html"><![CDATA[That was a great film. The story was amazing, the sets were really detailed and the voice acting was good. I loved the camera movements, but at certain times during those movements it went out of focus. I know you can't really help this as you said you used a point and shoot camera with auto-focus; yet you managed to achieve really good movement.
The bullet time effect was nice and looked very impressive in the video.

I enjoyed this video a lot and I hope you achieve high in the competition.

Well Done!]]></content>
			<author>
				<name><![CDATA[megagill74]]></name>
				<uri>https://bricksinmotion.com/forums/user/125844/</uri>
			</author>
			<updated>2014-07-28T11:33:48Z</updated>
			<id>https://bricksinmotion.com/forums/post/329664/#p329664</id>
		</entry>
		<entry>
			<title type="html"><![CDATA[Re: BRAWL 2014: Loyalty:#:]]></title>
			<link rel="alternate" href="https://bricksinmotion.com/forums/post/329662/#p329662"/>
			<content type="html"><![CDATA[[quote=Mighty Wanderer]That dolly (the spinning is called a dolly, right?) was amazing.

The story had good pacing throughout, though it would have been nice if the flashbacks had been made black-and-white or color corrected differently, since they had me confused at first as to if they were or weren't part of the current time.
Overall it was a really good entry for BRAWL, it had a good length and interpreted the theme well. Good job.[/quote]

Thanks!

I'd say it's probably called a 360-degree pan or circling-camera-motion-thingy.  I'm not sure if there's even an official name for it.  A dolly is when the camera moves sideways (for example, like [url=http://youtu.be/1fJ0BdmzVqQ?t=28s]this[/url]).  A pan is when a camera pivots on its axis, so it has a sort of side-to-side swinging motion.  For this shot, I actually used a turntable I designed for camera pans, then attached it to the bottom of the set (which was relatively small, measuring around 18x18 studs), and turned it while the camera stayed in a fixed position, adding and removing walls as needed.

Regarding colour correction, I can see what you mean, though if I made it black-and-white the colour mod wouldn't be visible (and didn't occur to me to use the letter mod).  Plus it does sort have a different tone than the office, which has much more pinkish-orange light.

[quote=backyardlegos]A few things. The sets are very good, probably the strongest part of the film. They have a nice amount of detail without being distracting, and I love that bookcase. The cinematography was also quite good, it really helped keep the film engaging. The story was a bit cliche, but I stayed interested the whole way through. Animation wise it wasn't perfect, but certainly not bad enough to take away from the film, sort of average, I'd say. The only really distracting things that I think need immediate improvement are the random camera jitters and the bumping of the props. Camera jitters are always disconcerting and pull the viewer out of the film, and in a serious style film like this the bumping of props does the same thing. You should try to eliminate these issues in the future, but other than that I think it's a very solid film. :)[/quote]

Thanks!  I'd be curious to know why you thought it was a bit cliche, and how I could improve upon it.  I'm annoyed by the set/camera bumps and auto-focus problems.  Still, BRAWL 2014 was a huge learning experience for me personally--I went from knowing basically nothing about animating dialogue to figuring out a way to animate it with relative ease.  I also feel I improved considerably in my animation.  I'm planing on making a short film so I can apply the things I learned during BRAWL, but with less stress and time constraints.]]></content>
			<author>
				<name><![CDATA[Mr Vertigo]]></name>
				<uri>https://bricksinmotion.com/forums/user/127487/</uri>
			</author>
			<updated>2014-07-28T10:52:03Z</updated>
			<id>https://bricksinmotion.com/forums/post/329662/#p329662</id>
		</entry>
		<entry>
			<title type="html"><![CDATA[Re: BRAWL 2014: Loyalty:#:]]></title>
			<link rel="alternate" href="https://bricksinmotion.com/forums/post/329457/#p329457"/>
			<content type="html"><![CDATA[A few things. The sets are very good, probably the strongest part of the film. They have a nice amount of detail without being distracting, and I love that bookcase. The cinematography was also quite good, it really helped keep the film engaging. The story was a bit cliche, but I stayed interested the whole way through. Animation wise it wasn't perfect, but certainly not bad enough to take away from the film, sort of average, I'd say. The only really distracting things that I think need immediate improvement are the random camera jitters and the bumping of the props. Camera jitters are always disconcerting and pull the viewer out of the film, and in a serious style film like this the bumping of props does the same thing. You should try to eliminate these issues in the future, but other than that I think it's a very solid film. :)]]></content>
			<author>
				<name><![CDATA[backyardlegos]]></name>
				<email><![CDATA[backyardlegos@gmail.com]]></email>
				<uri>https://bricksinmotion.com/forums/user/4579/</uri>
			</author>
			<updated>2014-07-26T23:54:09Z</updated>
			<id>https://bricksinmotion.com/forums/post/329457/#p329457</id>
		</entry>
		<entry>
			<title type="html"><![CDATA[Re: BRAWL 2014: Loyalty:#:]]></title>
			<link rel="alternate" href="https://bricksinmotion.com/forums/post/329451/#p329451"/>
			<content type="html"><![CDATA[That dolly (the spinning is called a dolly, right?) was amazing.

The story had good pacing throughout, though it would have been nice if the flashbacks had been made black-and-white or color corrected differently, since they had me confused at first as to if they were or weren't part of the current time.
Overall it was a really good entry for BRAWL, it had a good length and interpreted the theme well. Good job.]]></content>
			<author>
				<name><![CDATA[Mighty Wanderer]]></name>
				<email><![CDATA[nebulaewanderer@yahoo.com]]></email>
				<uri>https://bricksinmotion.com/forums/user/3518/</uri>
			</author>
			<updated>2014-07-26T23:47:01Z</updated>
			<id>https://bricksinmotion.com/forums/post/329451/#p329451</id>
		</entry>
		<entry>
			<title type="html"><![CDATA[BRAWL 2014: Loyalty:#:]]></title>
			<link rel="alternate" href="https://bricksinmotion.com/forums/post/329441/#p329441"/>
			<content type="html"><![CDATA[[url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C9MZ2nhiO6Q]Watch Here.[/url]

My BRAWL entry.  Virgil Wolf, a crime boss, and his lieutenant Mr White have a discussion about trust and betrayal in the wake of an attack on Wolf's gang.  Enjoy!]]></content>
			<author>
				<name><![CDATA[Mr Vertigo]]></name>
				<uri>https://bricksinmotion.com/forums/user/127487/</uri>
			</author>
			<updated>2014-07-26T23:36:36Z</updated>
			<id>https://bricksinmotion.com/forums/post/329441/#p329441</id>
		</entry>
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