• GHB
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  • Joined: March 21, 2012

Topic: Kickstarter Project Recommendations

So my friend and I just recently started pre-production on a new film that we hope to be around 45 minutes. Now, there are a few programs we want, and I'm looking into buying a new DSLR if possible for this film. (Not to mention tons of lego bricks for set design.)

Now, I'm pretty sure we could make the film pretty decent working with what we have, but what if we could actually get our hands on this equipment and take this film to it's full potential? My friend's dad said doing a kickstarter would be a good idea, and my parents sort of seemed to approve of this idea too. My questions are:

1. Will we actually get lucky enough to earn some good money?(Of course, we'd have some "prizes" or whatever)

2. Do we need to have a good reputation in filmmaking/brickfilming first?

Thanks guys!

-Grant

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  • Location: Middle Zealand
  • Joined: July 6, 2011

Re: Kickstarter Project Recommendations

I'm just going to be honest: I think that to actually get funding for a brickfilm on kickstarter, you need to have a really good reputation, and some really great work already released that you can point too when convincing people to give you money. Someone like NickDurron can pull it off because he's made a lot of really really impressive films (Picturesque is arguably one of the best brickfilms ever made). You animation is by no means bad, you just haven't made anything good enough that people are going to want to pay money to see something else from you, almost no one currently active on this site has done so. Most of the people who make up the primary brickfilm audience don't have the money to donate to other people projects, that's just the way it is. So honestly, I don't think you should do a kickstarter campaign; unless you just want to do it for the fun of it.

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  • GHB
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Re: Kickstarter Project Recommendations

backyardlegos wrote:

I'm just going to be honest: I think that to actually get funding for a brickfilm on kickstarter, you need to have a really good reputation, and some really great work already released that you can point too when convincing people to give you money. Someone like NickDurron can pull it off because he's made a lot of really really impressive films (Picturesque is arguably one of the best brickfilms ever made). You animation is by no means bad, you just haven't made anything good enough that people are going to want to pay money to see something else from you, almost no one currently active on this site has done so. Most of the people who make up the primary brickfilm audience don't have the money to donate to other people projects, that's just the way it is. So honestly, I don't think you should do a kickstarter campaign; unless you just want to do it for the fun of it.

Yeah, I thought so. Well, we can always work with what we have right?

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  • Location: Eureka, California
  • Joined: January 10, 2009

Re: Kickstarter Project Recommendations

I have to agree entirely with backyardlegos.

Kickstarter isn't the only way you can get money. Depending on your age, you can do yardwork for neighbors, or get a paper route, or even start working part time. This is how I earned disposable income when I was 14-17.

Also, a 45-minute brickfilm is a ridiculously long run time. A brief glance at your YouTube channel shows that you haven't animated anything over a couple minutes. That's completely fine (most of my films are 2-4 minutes long), but I think it is unrealistic to expect to ever meet that goal of 45 without completing a few medium-length projects, like 10-15 minutes.

Don't start out making a film with the primary goal being "I want this to be 45 minutes." Your goal should be "I want to tell this great story." Some stories only need to be told in 2, 5, or 10 minutes. Disney's recent short Paperman is perfect at 5 minutes. And anyone remember 9, the CGI short film on YouTube that ended up as a feature-length film starring Elijah Wood? The feature-length film had great setpieces but suffered from rushed pacing and flat characters weighed down by a convoluted plot, while the short film told a concise, tight story in a much shorter time (and no dialog to boot).

Good luck with your projects!

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