• Joined: December 26, 2008

Topic: Plant (Updated)

Directory Link

After a crazy month full of filming, effects work, editing, writing, etc. I am proud to release my latest short film, Plant. This was a co-production with VNAnimation. A lot of people put some great work into this film, and they're worth thanking.

Thanks to VN, who put in a lot of hours to get some great stop-motion animation for the film. You were awesome. Thanks to Ben Boatwright (Schlockading), for scoring the film. You did a fantastic job of bringing this thing to life. Thanks to Phillip Heinrich (Smeagol) for recording the narration for us. And thanks to everyone else who gave me feedback, criticism, and sometimes praise.

As I mentioned, this film was made in about thirty days in order to hit the deadline for a contest we're entering. It was definitely rushed, but I'm proud of what we were able to put together in that time. I look forward to your comments and critique - every reply makes my next film a little bit better. Thanks!

Vimeo 
Youtube
Mediafire

Shot Breakdowns (Vimeo Link)

- Leo

Last edited by Leonardo812 (February 15, 2009 (05:47pm))

  • VN
  • Member
  • Offline
  • Joined: December 26, 2008

Re: Plant (Updated)

Thanks for your thoughtful words Leo, you're awesome too. mini/smile I hope ya-all enjoy!

Life is like a box of LEGO, you never know what you're gonna build. - mrgraff

VN's Website

  • Location: umm... at my computer!!!
  • Joined: December 26, 2008

Re: Plant (Updated)

Its a little short in length but it is a very very cool film... Visual effects are just amazing. Animation is just as awesome. I think overall this is a cool little film..

Nice work guys. Can't wait for your next co-production.

-Drew mini/sunnies

Call me Andrew or Drew.

atrglock's Website

  • Location: Tokyo, Japan
  • Joined: December 27, 2008

Re: Plant (Updated)

Incredible! Everything here is nigh-on perfect. The CGI looked very pretty, the animation and sets were great and the score worked perfectly with the video. I love it. 5/5

https://i.imgur.com/1JxY79v.png

Hazzat's Website

  • Location: UK
  • Joined: January 24, 2009

Re: Plant (Updated)

Technically very good, although I thought the plant texture didn't quite work - it just looked kind of sparkly when the tendrils were all busting out. I'll come back with a proper review later.

Oblong Pictures | Youtube | More Youtube | Twitter

0ldScratch's Website

  • Location: Netherlands
  • Joined: January 10, 2009

Re: Plant (Updated)

Amazing. I especially liked the effects and animation. Just perfect.

-Thijs

Lego Call of Duty | Instagram
  • Location: Germany
  • Joined: January 14, 2009

Re: Plant (Updated)

Hi,
very nice film of you two.

First off, I really like the whole idea, as I said in another thread.
The animation was really good; the CGI just awesome. I loved the scene where the plant broke through the building!
Maybe it's a little too short - you really want to see what happens next. But never mind.

Really nice film!

http://www.abload.de/img/cooksige238.jpg
YouTube | Flickr                                 "Bad Taste on YouTube"
  • Penta
  • Admin Team
  • Offline
  • Location: Ireland
  • Joined: December 27, 2008

Re: Plant (Updated)

I usually don't like lots of CG in a brickfilm, but I think it was pulled off really well here. It wasn't in-your-face and there was a good balance between  real sets and CG. Animation and camera pans, as usual, were impressive. I was left thinking "wtf?" by the end, though.

The History of THAC video | YouTube | Letterboxd | Twitter

Penta's Website

  • Location: United Kingdom
  • Joined: December 27, 2008

Re: Plant (Updated)

I really liked that. The CGI was well done, and I counldn't really see anything that would put me off this film the slightest. Well done VN! mini/bigsmile

-storgero

YouTube | PlayStation Network: storgero | Xbox LIVE: storgero | Steam: storgero
  • Joined: December 26, 2008

Re: Plant (Updated)

Thank you all for taking the time to comment, and keep them coming! 

SmallTimeProductions wrote:

I usually don't like lots of CG in a brickfilm, but I think it was pulled off really well here. It wasn't in-your-face and there was a good balance between real sets and CG.

You know, this film was a little crazy because I knew from the start that it would have at least some amount of CG in it. I actually storyboarded it pretending that I could do anything, so I had all these huge, crazy shots. I then looked at it from an effects artist's perspective and narrowed it down to what I could actually do. Although the timeline meant that I didn't have as much time to work on some shots as I would have liked, overall I'm happy with how the digital effects turned out. I'm glad they added to the film. mini/smile

- Leo

  • Location: Your...
  • Joined: December 27, 2008

Re: Plant (Updated)

Yeah pretty nice film.

CGI was good except for the plants, they just looked sparkaly and all glowing mini/bigsmile

but for the rest a great film.

-Darkman

https://i.imgur.com/C9qJKA8.jpg
youtube]                   Twitter]

Darkman's Website

  • Joined: December 27, 2008

Re: Plant (Updated)

Absolutely fantastic. The animation was as usual, brilliant, and CGI was well done. IT was very enjoyable but the ending had me a bit confused. A great idea to have two amazing brickfilmers create a fantastic visual achievement. Great job guys! mini/wink

NXTManiac

https://i.imgur.com/IRCtQGu.jpg
  • Location: Alberta
  • Joined: December 26, 2008

Re: Plant (Updated)

Insanely amazing. Great job on the CGI.

Youtube | Blog
  • Joined: December 26, 2008

Re: Plant (Updated)

Hey guys,

I'm trying to get up a download link or two for those who would rather download the film, but I'm having a lot of trouble. Two questions:

1) I added a Mediafire link at the top, but I've been having huge troubles with Mediafire. VN and I weren't able to work out a download last night. Could someone check that link to make sure it's working for users besides myself?

2) Can you download directly through Vimeo? The Vimeo film page for me has a WMv download linkfor the original file I uploaded. I believe that I can download it, but I'm not sure if other users can. If someone could check that out, that would be great.

Thank you for the help, and sorry for the trouble.

- Leo

  • Joined: December 27, 2008

Re: Plant (Updated)

Yep, download works on MediaFire. mini/smile

NXTManiac

https://i.imgur.com/IRCtQGu.jpg
  • Joined: December 27, 2008

Re: Plant (Updated)

Leonardo812 wrote:

2) Can you download directly through Vimeo? The Vimeo film page for me has a WMv download linkfor the original file I uploaded. I believe that I can download it, but I'm not sure if other users can. If someone could check that out, that would be great.

You can only download the source video if you're a member and logged in on Vimeo, otherwise it won't appear. So yes other Vimeo users can download it too, it also won't have the compression which Vimeo uses when it's being streamed on the website.

I will have a review coming up later, from what I saw it was very good though. I'm currently editing a film which I really have to finish this week, so all most of my time is being sucked up by this.

  • Joined: December 26, 2008

Re: Plant (Updated)

Those shots were gorgeous! Animation was well done. I really enjoy the CGI too. I was just a little confused at the end of the film. I had no idea what it meant at the ending until the second watching. Very enjoyable and awesome. I only have one little problem with it: The main character turned peach when he woke up. I guess That happened during color correction.

  • Location: Gravity Falls, OR
  • Joined: February 4, 2009

Re: Plant (Updated)

Very enjoyable, but I think it would have been really cool if the plant tendrils had been made form palm tree trunks, but you did a great job.

Beyond the Eleventh Dimension - Subterranean: A LEGO Cyperpunk - Face animation cutouts

Youtube - Facebook - Twitter

SlothPaladin's Website

  • Joined: December 26, 2008

Re: Plant (Updated)

I put together a little video with a couple of basic shot breakdowns. I'm also thinking of writing an article on the digital effects in general as well as the all-CG shots. And suggestions on that?

Shot Breakdowns Vimeo Link
Note: Still processing at the time of this post.

SlothPaladin wrote:

Very enjoyable, but I think it would have been really cool if the plant tendrils had been made form palm tree trunks, but you did a great job.

Another user (Nathan Wells) commented on this on Youtube as well. I actually considered not doing the plant in post, but decided that it would be far too complex given the time. We couldn't afford to have to re-shoot too many shots, and animating that in stop-motion could potentially have been a huge pain.

- Leo

  • Location: Gravity Falls, OR
  • Joined: February 4, 2009

Re: Plant (Updated)

I completely understand, didn't watch the youTube version so I missed Nathan's comment but I like to toss out on camera ways it can be done, in case someone reading may want to do a similar effect on camera, however the 3D did not take any enjoyment away from the experience.

Beyond the Eleventh Dimension - Subterranean: A LEGO Cyperpunk - Face animation cutouts

Youtube - Facebook - Twitter

SlothPaladin's Website