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.
BiM Celebration - "The Celebrations"
My entry into the Bricks In Motion Celebration contest. This is my new personal favorite brickfilm that I've ever made. It's short, sweet, and really meaningful.
Nice job setting up a number of different takes on it!
Nice job setting up a number of different takes on it!
Thanks. I really wanted to not only show off a bit of my LEGO collection, but, also, I wanted to show the gap between the more "famous" brickfilm subjects and LEGO themes, and the outcasts, misfit, and otherwise damaged pieces most brickfilmers own.
I wanted it to be uplifting, yet, comical - something that's difficult on it's own, and, nearly impossible within just 30 seconds. 
Your animation has greatly improved since your last brickfilm. Great job.
Your animation has greatly improved since your last brickfilm. Great job.
Admittedly, my animation, editing, composing, and directing skills have been at this level for a while. With my first feature-length brickfilm project going through many rewrites and delays, I almost never had time to animate for fun anymore. - My THAC X video really showing a bit of rust. Even as recent as my attempt at a BRAWL 2014 film (not finished), my animation had seen better days.
With the news of this contest, and the Documentary and DVD (and Blu-Ray) project, I dusted off my collection, turned on my camera, and decided to go at it again. - And I'm glad I did.
I hope to be able to animate more in the future, perhaps even giving tutorials to starting (and even veteran, yet inexperienced) brickfilmers. For instance, in this video, I tested out animating at 30 fps on 2's (really taking 2 pics for ever 1, practically animating at 15 fps, yet, making difficult shots like the carousel, much smoother when I boost it to 30. It's something that most professional studios do (Like Aardman, for example) and, doesn't take any more time than animating at 15 fps does. - Usually only requiring a simple click in most animation programs. (For instance, Monkey Jam can be set on the view-screen, Helium Frog can be set in the preferences section)
I'm glad you liked the film, funmiproductions. It's personally my favorite project that I've ever done. I'm proud I was able to release it in time for this contest, and possible inclusion in the upcoming Bricks In Motion collection! - It's as if two of my dreams have just come true. 
I love the misfit bricks. Awesome animation. I really like your brickfilm.
I love the misfit bricks. Awesome animation. I really like your brickfilm.
Thanks. I'm actually thinking of making The Misfit Bricks an original series - a spinoff from this video. I'm still working out the details right now, but, I think it'd be a really cool project as - just about every brickfilmer can relate in some way, it gives a good message to anyone that feels like a "misfit" themselves, and, it's simple, fun, and entertaining!
I'll be sure to make more brickfilms soon. I'm glad I'm starting to get back into the swing of things! Hopefully, some great projects can come from my new found excitement. (I might even make some more spin offs based on the other themes showcased in this video)
I thought you were going in the direction of a "montage of celebrations". But, you surprised me with that ending, and I liked what you did instead. Nice job.
I thought you were going in the direction of a "montage of celebrations". But, you surprised me with that ending, and I liked what you did instead. Nice job.
Thanks for the comment Mickey.
Originally, the idea popped in my head to showcase several different celebrations - not only showing off a bit of my LEGO collection, but also showing how easy it is to make a jungle and spaceship look big, when in reality, the sets are actually very small. However, as I love narrative stories (especially ones with a strong moral or character focus) I knew that something more was needed to tie the whole thing together!
The whole ending pretty much spawned from a bit of the rebel inside of me. I remember (and still recommend) Nathan Well's "Bricks in Motion" tutorial series. In it, he shows how, in set building, less is more, animators should practice cycles for common movements, and how important camera placement is. All of those rules are pretty steadfast, and, after re-watching his series, it's really easy to see how it's helped me improve and learn. (Just notice the sets for the Spaceship and Jungle, the low camera angle for the Pirate ship, and how I use the "negative space" in the city shot to further separate the final scene from the rest of the film)
However, I always thought that Nathan Well's ending comments were a little too stylistic. He talked about how "using multi-colored walls should never be used, ever." Sure, they look bad and amateurish, but, I really wanted to use them... in a way that would be justifiable. So, I came up with the idea of the Brick Misfits.
Every brickfilmer has a misc. bin, a cluttered area, or 'damaged' parts (ones with teeth marks, ones that have broken over time... etc.) I realized how much potential such a group of parts could now have - and jumped on the idea to have the whole thing tie together with a nice meaning. - "Everyone has a place, everyone has meaning."
I had so much fun an the 30 second short, I'm thinking of making the Brick Misfits a series. It would promote BricksInMotion.com, preach a good idea, has a lot of possibilities, and would be a heck of a lot of fun! I'm glad I was able to create such an idea, and enter it into the upcoming DVD! - It my personal favorite brickfilm, and, really, out of all of my other brickfilms, this one probably shows off my imagination the most.
Posts [ 9 ]
