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.
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It looks amazing Backyard! I really really like it.
The inside is nothing special, it's never really visible, so I threw a "phone" together that actually looks pretty bad. I'm glad you guys like the outside though. 
The short it's from should be up pretty soon, I'm working on the post right now.
I'm adding the finishing touches to my next set for Alex and Derrick: Five Years Later.
This is going to be very tricky to actually animate.
I really like these kitchen appliances. The walls could use color perhaps? Or is this at the university?
The kitchen is intentionally drab. This is a "low-point" in the story so I wanted to reflect that in the set design.
But normally, I'd definitely go with more color!
That's got to be the most beautifully cluttered kitchen I've ever seen...
The fan and the fridge are great.
Cool kitchen. I also like the fan. It's better than the one I designed for a side project. Maybe I'll adapt some of its features, if that's legal.
How do you expect to animate on that without bumping some of the clutter? I couldn't do that in a million years!
That kitchen looks so beautifully ugly that it makes me want to weep tears of joy.
Seriously though, that's a great set. You certainly haven't lost any of your set-building skills. I especially love that fan and fridge. Though I'm not sure what the thing consisting of two clear radar-dishes under the fan is supposed to be--is it some sort of lamp?
*Starts breaking down and crying at the sheer amazing-ness of the set.*
OK, I'd like to think I've seen some decent sets in my time, but one common quality is that most of them have a very 'clean' look. Getting a messy/grimy look is fairly hard, but you've nailed it. It's sure to look fantastic in action, but like Pushover asked, how do you intend on not bumping everything between each frame?
Nathan Wells said on twitter
This set and its props are mostly held together by sticky-tack and prayers
Last edited by END films (November 8, 2013 (02:29pm))
That is absolutely amazing, and I have absolutely no idea how you are going to animate on that, but then again, you've pulled plenty of amazing stuff off in the past, and if you succeed, I think that's going to be one of the most impressive shots in a brickfilm ever. Good luck to you. Also, I love the open dishwasher.
Though I'm not sure what the thing consisting of two clear radar-dishes under the fan is supposed to be--is it some sort of lamp?
Yeah, I'm pretty sure those are the lights that hang from a ceiling fan. But, I love that set, really. That has to be one of the best brickfilm sets I've ever seen.
I'm glad everyone likes the set! It's one of my favorite sets I've ever built. Pity it only shows up in two shots, but I think it's worth it.
Those are indeed intended to be lights hanging from the ceiling fan. They might be my biggest obstacle to animating, so they might be removed.
I don't think animating will be prohibitively difficult, though I doubt I will get it right on my first try. All of the action for this shot takes place in front of the center table, so I won't have to worry about animating anything in the background. Essentially Alex is swiping at the rats with his broom. In theory it should be simple, but this is stop-motion. Nothing is ever simple.
I believe in the free spread and adaptation of ideas, so if you see anything you like, absolutely go ahead and adapt my ideas. I adapted the fridge design from something I saw on The Brothers Brick. All of the best LEGO designs are built and adapted from other designs.
I'll be animating this shot in a few minutes. I expect it will take me most of the day.
Godspeed.
It's funny how it's the things that are ugly in real life often look so beautiful when rendered into LEGO--settings that are grim or dull in reality look amazing in bricks. (Although, there is some live-action stuff that manages to do the same things with such settings as well--Batman Begins and the TV show Sherlock spring to mind.) There's probably a philosophical debate just waiting to be had here.... but I digress.
So anyway, I'm definitely looking forward to your new film Nathan--any idea when it will be finished?
It's funny how it's the things that are ugly in real life often look so beautiful when rendered into LEGO
I've never really thought about it like that...I guess the simplistic colours of the lego make it seem like some sort of work of art, some of the more grim features aren't always identified
I find some of the most difficult things to make with LEGO are broken, abandoned or dirty things. LEGO is inherently shiny, clean, and orderly, thanks to being made out of high-quality, generally geometrically-shaped plastic. Even gray colors are bright, especially after the color changes to gray, dark gray and brown years ago. Cluttering up the set helps lend to feeling of "uglyness," but I was having trouble making this kitchen set and an earlier dorm room set look actually dirty.
My solution? Use actual dirty LEGO. I have LEGO from sets dating back to Classic Space, where grays and whites have yellowed significantly. Scratches are also abundant. By mixing this dirty LEGO in with my clean LEGO, it helped grunge up the look of the set. Almost all of the gray tiles in the kitchen floor are old dirty LEGO, while of course the dark tan tiles are new.
I think normally "ugly" things can look fantastic in films, especially animated films, because they can be stylized and exaggerated. Coraline, ParaNorman, Nightmare Before Christmas are all good examples. Set design and cinematography can go a long way to create a mood. Earlier I mentioned I intentionally built my set primarily with gray bricks because at this point in the story it was a "low point," and I wanted to reflect that visually. That's also why I chose to use fleshtone figures for the first half of Driven. I found the bright yellow of normal minifigures to be too bright and cheery to fit the dystopian mood I sought.
I'm happy the discussion this has generated! It's great to see more in-depth discussion of aesthetics in film and particularly brickfilming.
I'm hesitant to put a date on when I expect Alex and Derrick: Five Years Later to be released, because my life is a lot busier now and progress on animating is slow, but I'm hoping for a January 2014 release. But don't hold me to that.
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