Bricks in Motion
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Hello Guys,
My films, they aren't well 'professional-looking' if you get what I mean. No matter how smooth the animation,
how detailed the set, how great the quality, my films don't look ... good. Little Help?
-Rob
I think your films are great! The thing that matters most is that their unique, everybody's videos are different because they have their own style of brickfilming. And I personally like yours 
Thanks, maybe it's me being a perfectionist 
-Rob
I've found that better sets can make a WORLD of difference for a film. Sets are very important, because they give our films that Lego element. They put the BRICK in Brickfilm, if you know what I mean.
Lighting is also very important, but because it varies greatly with the shot you want to get, tips on lighting are difficult.
Ease in and out. I know that you've heard this a billion kazillion times before, but your animation isn't exactly.....consistent. Also, try a little bounceback. That should help.
Camera angles are very important to the type of shot you want. also, pans and dollies are actually attractive to the eye and can make a movie look a lot better.
All of the above was typed with the best intention, I hope I helped.
Last edited by Golden (June 17, 2011 (04:07am))
Many cuts are the key to a cinematic looking film. If a certain camera angle (shot) is shown for too much time, the video gets boring. This has got to do with how our brain works. A film we perceive as interesting when the shots aren't too long and the picture changes a lot. This should get you far.
When shots are too long, for example there's a conversation going on and you just put the minifigs in front of the camera and let them talk for 2 minutes, it get's boring. We wouldn't need video in that case because it'd be pretty much all about the audio. For our brain it'd be a static image. And also, don't just switch between close-ups of the faces. This will eventually get boring because of repetion. Try to make shots that are different from each other.
Other things that could help you: reduce light flicker (very important for professional look), keep the camera steady, SHOOT IN 16:9! and don't just put blue paper in the background that I can easily identify as blue paper. A narrow focus often helps (for example to blur out the background) if your camera can do it, too.
Hope this helpz.
I agree with all that is said, but there are a few key elements that I will say. One, I think that you should get another camera, or change your lighting system. From what I have seen, your films have the same quality; they're dark and grainy. Also, your sets tend to be redundant. All of your sets from my judgements have been in small rooms, usually with just one wall. I would do corners or outdoor shots to mix it up a little. Lastly, you should try to improve a little on your animation. Now I'm certainly not saying that your animation is bad, but I think that there are some elements that you can work on. Of course, ease in to movements and ease out. It's basic physics, when an object is at its highest point, it has it's most potential energy, and for an object to have potential energy, it must be at a stand still, thus the object must be fully eased out before it can go back into its cycle. Also, you could try bounceback as Golden said. You should also try combining gestures. For example, if you are animating dialog, and your character is moving his/her arm, the other parts of the body should not be still. They should also move slightly.
I hope that we helped, and trust me, these aren't techniques that we have mastered, and we probably need to work on them just as much as you!
Thanks for all these long-winded replies! I'll work on those.
-Rob
I have found out that dollys and pans really help your film...especially when they're really smooth!
Having just the right camera angel and lighting is good, but something that I think really just makes something easily more professional looking is filming in widescreen. Some may disagree, but I find it give everything this cool look.
Try to find your style and embrace it. Modify the flaws into your own perfect.
Here are some tips i find helpful.
What frame rate are you using? I think frame rate is an important factor of professionalism.
Lighting: Use three lamps. One key light, one fill light and a backlight to light from behind.
If your capture program has frame averaging, try that. It removes most of the grain.
Ease in and out: In real life, things don't move at a constant rate. It accelerates in an out, like a car.
Rotoscoping: If your capture software has that feature, you can import a video clip as a reference video. If not, you can use Quicktime or something like that and step through the video frame by frame.
Angles: Never use the same angle too long. That's boring.
Camera movement: That can improve everything a lot. Tracking and pans are examples of this.
Set building: Don't use one wall. For the walls, don't mix up colors.
Watch other videos to get inspiration.
Hope this helps
Many cuts are the key to a cinematic looking film. If a certain camera angle (shot) is shown for too much time, the video gets boring. This has got to do with how our brain works. A film we perceive as interesting when the shots aren't too long and the picture changes a lot. This should get you far.
When shots are too long, for example there's a conversation going on and you just put the minifigs in front of the camera and let them talk for 2 minutes, it get's boring. We wouldn't need video in that case because it'd be pretty much all about the audio. For our brain it'd be a static image. And also, don't just switch between close-ups of the faces. This will eventually get boring because of repetion. Try to make shots that are different from each other.
Not only do cuts help your cinematography, they also help eliminate light flicker. If you have a webcam like the Logitech 9000 (I think that you do), when you shut down your computer for the day, then go back on the next day, your settings will have changed a bit. Breaking up a long scene into smaller scenes with different angles every time allows you to only do one short scene a day. The next day, you film the next scene after the cut (my definition of "scene" is from cut to cut). Make sure that once you start filming a scene, finish it before shutting down. This way, the slight change in lighting isn't noitceable because you are showing a different angle of your set than in the last scene.
pacific wrote:Many cuts are the key to a cinematic looking film. If a certain camera angle (shot) is shown for too much time, the video gets boring. This has got to do with how our brain works. A film we perceive as interesting when the shots aren't too long and the picture changes a lot. This should get you far.
When shots are too long, for example there's a conversation going on and you just put the minifigs in front of the camera and let them talk for 2 minutes, it get's boring. We wouldn't need video in that case because it'd be pretty much all about the audio. For our brain it'd be a static image. And also, don't just switch between close-ups of the faces. This will eventually get boring because of repetion. Try to make shots that are different from each other.
Not only do cuts help your cinematography, they also help eliminate light flicker. If you have a webcam like the Logitech 9000 (I think that you do), when you shut down your computer for the day, then go back on the next day, your settings will have changed a bit. Breaking up a long scene into smaller scenes with different angles every time allows you to only do one short scene a day. The next day, you film the next scene after the cut (my definition of "scene" is from cut to cut). Make sure that once you start filming a scene, finish it before shutting down. This way, the slight change in lighting isn't noitceable because you are showing a different angle of your set than in the last scene.
Good point!
You could Letterbox your video to give your films a more wider aspect ratio like pro films. I downloaded a package full of different templates free of charge which you could overlay directly into your film. I believe this is the link.
(my definition of "scene" is from cut to cut).
A cut to the next cut is a 'Shot' a 'Scene' is only changed when the location is changed in a cut/the time is greatly changed.
Edit:
Many cuts are the key to a cinematic looking film. If a certain camera angle (shot) is shown for too much time, the video gets boring. This has got to do with how our brain works. A film we perceive as interesting when the shots aren't too long and the picture changes a lot. This should get you far.
When shots are too long, for example there's a conversation going on and you just put the minifigs in front of the camera and let them talk for 2 minutes, it get's boring. We wouldn't need video in that case because it'd be pretty much all about the audio. For our brain it'd be a static image. And also, don't just switch between close-ups of the faces. This will eventually get boring because of repetion. Try to make shots that are different from each other.
This is untrue. In some of Hitchcocks work he had shots that were 10 minutes long. And one shot style stuff can be amazing. Children of men is supposed to have scenes like that (I've not seen it I'll take RP Hoogles word).
This four minute music video directed by Edgar Wright is all one take in the style of Bugsy Malone.
Edit edit: Soy Cuba, I am Cuba has long shots too. School up.
Thanks to Squash
Last edited by Cartoonkid98 (June 23, 2011 (04:20pm))
Oh, I get it now. Thanks for clearing that up!
It's not untrue. I haven't seen the films you are talking about (shame on me) but what I pointed out is a biological fact. Of course there can be exceptions, though. One exception for example would be this: a person close to you shoots a video with their mobile phone camera saying funny things or something into the camera, possibly with another person - this can be great fun BECAUSE you know the people but if it were two strangers you probably wouldn't even watch the first 10 seconds. Interest is a complex phenomenon for sure. But good point!
That music video you linked... one thing to mention about all this: I said the brain didn't like monotony. But when the camera moves all the time, I know it's still one shot, but this is something different too, I would say. I mean, it's all about the brain getting new information. If the camera movement gets repetitive, then it gets boring again.
Besides, that music video was extremely boring. I couldn't watch more than the first 30/40/50 seconds. And anyhoo, who watches music videos because of the video? It's all about the music, isn't it? Although I do admit that there are quite good music videos out there, which are NOT boring...
Cheers
Last edited by pacific (June 24, 2011 (09:24am))
Can you cite this biological fact?
Would have to see if I can find it. Read it somewhere.
EDIT: Sorry, no proof. Can't find it. 
Last edited by pacific (June 25, 2011 (12:16am))
Hi,
I'm Mrguimera793 and I'm here to try to give you some tips that might help you. The first thing you just have if you want to have a professional looking video is a script, you can produce a movie without a good script (and good ideas for scripts take a while).
Once you have an idea you just write your script I know it's very time c0onsuming and very tiering but it'll help. In the script you must put this 3 things at least: The escene number, the dialog, what happens in the escene, and set.
Once you finished your script you must read it and make sure it looks clear and make any anotations you need.
Then, when you begin with the roduction of your film you must ckeck out these .... things before starting to film: The light, the set, the script (very important) and of course make sure you remmember every single tecnic that you've learned.
And the good luck.
Hope it helped.
Now I want a little bit of help from you (please). I've got a video in youtube (http://www.youtube.com/user/Mrguimera793?feature=mhee) and I'd like some constuctive critisism so that I can improve my animations. The video it's just a test that I did to make sure that my camera worked and that I could do a goodlooking animation. (this video dosen't have a script because it's just a test) please, could you watch it and tell me how do you think that I could improve?
Thanks for your time,
Mrguimera793
video link: http://www.youtube.com/user/Mrguimera793?feature=mhee
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