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!
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I made this mostly because I wanted to try out lightning, but I found my self doing more than just that.
Some camera angles were quite weird, there were some nice tests though (jumping for example).
Which ones, can you specify?
The Good:
The jumping shot, good animation, good masking.
The panning shots had nice animation and the panning was done well, but once again the camera was too high. (That seems to be a very common theme.)
The Bad:
The fighting, the camera was way too high, so the action was barely visible. The camera movement was bumpy, and what I could see of the animation was fair.
"Look to the sky"-The animation was bumpy, the guy wiggled around as much as he leaned back.
"On-set disaster"-Choppy, and the camera moved too quickly.
The Ugly:
1st and 3rd shot, because the camera is pointed way too high.
"Looking around"-it's bumpy and a bit choppy. And of course, guess where the camera's pointed.
"Tree spasms"-It's a tree appearing and disappearing, and I don't get it. But at least you put it back the right way each time.
"Lightning without man"-OK, but it was too short to know much. You should also have a frame for the lightning to fade out/in.
*Please keep in mind that the ratings are only relative to this test montage, and even the worst one is fairly good.
Once you get the camera pointed back down, you'll have some pretty nice shots. The pans were very nice, and quite hard to pull off, so I'd say you have those mastered.
Also, I was expecting that, in one of the panning shots, you would have the door open up and knock the guy down.
Not sure why, but I was. 
As I watched the fight sequence I began to give up. But I agree that the camera was too high. I have a scene coming up where I have to show dialogue being said through the opening of a door. Would an over-the-shoulder shot look good? I'm willing to post a picture here or on my update thread.
As I watched the fight sequence I began to give up. But I agree that the camera was too high. I have a scene coming up where I have to show dialogue being said through the opening of a door. Would an over-the-shoulder shot look good? I'm willing to post a picture here or on my update thread.
I like over the shoulder shots and anything looks better than a shot where camera is simply too high
As already has been said, camera is set way to high (I kinda giggled when I read "look to the sky"). You should set the camera lower, or get the camera closer to the characters, which could work quite well in a dialogue (but of course that dipends on the director's style and choices). However, the dolly shot was done very well, despite the camera angle, and I liked that you made it go through a wall.
You should really center the camera on the figure's face most of the time. You seemed to keep making it so that there was a whole lot of blank space above them, which looked really awkward.
The lighting could also use a bunch of work. There was no transition at all, and it seemed to also be on at the same brightness for more than one frame, which you should never do with lightning.
Like it's been said, the camera was too high most of the time. I would say the dollies were pretty good. Another problem was that some of the movements were far to small to be realistic (like the jump, it was too quick; and the head movements were pretty small as well).
My Set and Set Up
And this is the final shot... Still needs to be lowered right?
100 frames in, bumps the camera. It's gonna be a long night.
Also here's a pictures of what it was going to look like until I gave up.
Last edited by Binding Brick (January 14, 2013 (05:42pm))
It looks ok, just watch some movies and analyze some of the shots. When planning shots live-action and brickfilms don't differ much, cinematography is IMO a rather simple subject, it just requires attention to detail and some time to set up everything the way you want. Don't be afraid to steal some shots from your favorite directors and movies 
here's a nice over the shoulder shot IMO
P.S. Don't be afraid to move the camera closer to female minifig's back, I'm pretty sure it's gonna look even better
Last edited by Leo's World (January 16, 2013 (02:07pm))
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