Bricks in Motion
We are a friendly filmmaking community devoted to the art of stop-motion animation using LEGO® and similar construction toys. Here, you can share your work, join our community of other brickfilmers, and participate in periodic animation contests!
A place to discuss, share, and create stop motion films.
Ad
You are not logged in. Please login or register.
I recall making a thread similar to this except I made "categories" and gave each a silly and irrelevant name. But this thread is for posting your self-given rules and restrictions for using Brickarms, Brickforge, Cutting bricks, and Decals. I'm more of a Purist, or a person who only uses Lego made parts, though I will use decals or modify Minifigures digitally if need be. What is your Brickfilming Philosophy?
Last edited by RealBrick (August 25, 2011 (07:30pm))
well i use Brickarms, but only that. i'm not big into decals, cutting bricks, etc. i usually just use plain LEGO, with the exception of Brickarms..
I like to smother my bricks in plasticine.
Sometimes I cut my Legos in times of need. 
EpicDavi, I have one thing to say to you:
YOU PSYCHOPATH!! 
Eh... I will not modify bricks myself, but I'd be perfectly fine with using Brickarms or Brickforge if I thought the film needed peices LEGO simply just didn't make.
P.S. TO THE NUIMOBILE!!
well i use Brickarms, but only that. i'm not big into decals, cutting bricks, etc. i usually just use plain LEGO, with the exception of Brickarms..
Pretty much this. ^^^
BrickArms and LEGOs.
And I would never cut any LEGOs.
-LASF
I made my own energy sword by cutting a piece from a bioncle/lego set.
I find that if cutting a brick for a film is necessary, than it should be done. My goal is to make a film the best it can be. I find that being a "purist" is quite pointless as a film maker.
Echoing JP above, if it needs to be done-do it. Nothing wrong with cutting or altering a brick or two. If it seems you're cutting and tweaking a whole bunch-it's time to look at your building skills.
I liked SlothPaladin's post in his Interdimensional Adventures thread where he used Mega Bloks to protect the set from the heat of a lamp. I hope he saves those bricks so they can be used to protect once again, or in a film that needs warped bricks.
I buy lego in bulk at yard sales and sort through them to toss out non-lego pieces and find broken bricks. Instead of throwing the broken ones out, I have a small tub for broken lego. I stepped on a white door when I was ten-that went in my bucket. Found some superglued and sheared pieces-bucket. Lots of friends gave me their lego and a lot of weapons were wrecked. Long before I started animating I had a broken Lego bucket.
My broken tub isn't overflowing. It has a nice amount of pieces so that if I need a broken piece-it's there. I try not to intentionally break my lego-but that doesn't make me a purist. (If I want a spear to go through a minifig without drilling a hole, I can just snip the end of one of my broken spears and affix it to either side.) I also like decals - and printed bricks. There are some people who can engrave words into lego bricks for a fee. They're not super expensive and they look really nice.
Have fun.
Jared
I don't like using brickarms and brickforge, i only use official lego, i also don't cut bricks or paint them, but i do have some bricks i broke by accident that i like to use to give a nicer look.
I have, twice, cut LEGO pieces.
Never again.
I have nothing against doing it, apart from that I might want that part in whole later on.
Decals I'm fine with, because I just blu tack on paper decals with a tape coating...
I agree with legogod and Brickyman. I would not advise cutting a brick for no reason, only if necessary. That's just my opinion though.
Lol, the first time I tried cutting a Lego brick (an armor piece of which I wanted to remove the shoulder pads to make the minifig's arms more movable) I badly cut my finger rightaway. 
I agree with the above posters thought that said "If it needs to be done it will be done".
However, for me this only applies to parts I can easily replace by buying them again off BrickLink - I would never, say, cut a Jango Fett minifigure (unfortunately I don't even own one, and they're so da** expensive).
I'm quite a purist. I own no brickarms (shocking), no custom modeled minifigs or custom decals. Everything in my films is LEGO, blood, tears, anything. I think it makes it look more as if the LEGO has a life of it's own. If a minifig lives in a town made of plastic, it would be safe to say if he's shot, red plastic studs will pour out of him. The only time I ever cut my bricks is to shave away at the inside of a minifig head to make it turn easier. So yeah, you could say I'm a purist.
The only thing I'm okay with is decals on bricks, if done well. If I need a sign on a storefront or a gravestone to say something, I'd do that. I'm not okay with decals on minifigs, it doesn't look right if Lego didn't do it.
I feel that custom parts don't look right next to official Lego. I think that cutting bricks is cheating.
With clay, I think it's acceptable to use clay as some subtances, but not to imitate a modified head. I use clay for liquids or very soft solids, and I use bricks for solids. Bricks look more rigid, and clay looks more pliable. I don't like to use bricks for things like water because a bunch of studs says "SOLID" to me. When clay is used as water, it makes it loook more like a liquid. I wouldn't use real water, because it's very hard to control in stop-motion.
With a soft solid like snow, I would use some fake snow. No, not like the mat or the little flakes that get everywhere, I mean the stuff you add water to and it looks just like real snow. Bricks don't look like snow to me because they look hard, not soft. Snow is a soft solid, so it should look soft. Snow is also moldable, so it should look that way.
But with sand, another moldable soild, I would use bricks. Sand is rough, not soft. The studs make it look rough.
Use LEGO. He he
Basically, a brickfilm should be LEGO pieces. Having other pieces (brickarms, and the rest) messes up the consistency of a completely LEGO world, and everything else is out of place.
Seeing stuff like clay, markers, or other things on LEGO just makes me feel sick. Also, when people use clay for stuff, it looks like clay, it doesn't look like blood, it doesn't look like water or what ever you're trying to make, it just looks like some clay on the LEGO, and it's gross.
Also, cutting or modifying pieces bothers me as well, I hate seeing LEGO ruined. 
So, yeah, I'm a purest for the most part, but I have exceptions:
I actually think decals are okay as long as they are done absolutely perfectly, not some marker poorly scribbled on a clone, but decals that look just like something LEGO would do, something professional level. This, however, is very rare. If you can't so something well, don't do it at all.
I'm also okay with using sticky substance (I like to use kneed-able erasers) but it should be used to hold stuff up at odd angles, never to be seen by the camera, and when you're done, make sure you clean it off well, I hate seeing sets and minifigures covered with random blobs of gunk. But when used well, they really are helpful for film making, I found them extremely great for making How to Not Rob a Bank.
Also, cutting or modifying pieces bothers me as well, I hate seeing LEGO ruined.
I'm the same.
I would NEVER cut a Lego.
-LASF
I'll do what I need to do. I like Brickarms also, as they look clean and professional. I wouldn't ever use some hacked up janky looking gun because it's "custom". I still want everything to look good. I'll use custom figures when necessary, but the same rules apply. I have several WWII soldiers I got from Brickarms that look nice.
I cut them when I am making some custom part, like these, but if it's just for like someone to get a sword stuck through them then forget it cuz a dude with a hole in his chest is pretty useless afterwards.
Draw on them, cut them, burn them, melt them, whatever the film in question requires. Using custom pieces (or Mega Bloks *gasp*) is totally okay as long as they fit in with the rest of the elements (which they always do).
Posts [ 1 to 20 of 40 ]
