• Location: Summerside, PEI, Canada
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Topic: Sand?

Just wondering if anyone has had much luck with sand and brickfilming. I've got a little project that I've been mulling over in my head for a while now, and I have a quick scene in a desert that needs realistic sand.

A few years ago I was doing tests using some fairly fine dirt that looked good, but that was for a western-style desert, which is often more dirt anyway.

Now I'm thinking I might need to look into some very fine grain sand, and maybe try to mix it with glue to create a cement that would look right without making it messy to work with. Obviously I wouldn't be trying to do a walk or run cycle on the sand, I would probably use a rig to support a mini-fig above it instead, and force the perspective.

Any thoughts on this? I'm happy to brainstorm and try a few ideas when I get closer to being able to shoot it, for now it's just something that's been bugging me.

Ladon's Website

  • Joined: December 4, 2012

Re: Sand?

I haven't had experience with sand and brickfilming, however, Egyptian Holiday is an excllent example of sand used effectively.

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Re: Sand?

I'd imagine sand would be hard to work with since, like you said, it's very fine. You could use glue, but that might make it sticky and hard to work with.

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Re: Sand?

Go Le Go! recently released their brickfilm Infinite, which heavily features sand, including a walk cycle in sand.

They also released an in-depth behind the scenes video that might be of interest.

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Re: Sand?

I was thinking of the scratches that would result. eek.

Anyway, I'm trying to think of something that would "emulate" the look, yet be gentle on the bricks.

Ah! Bread crumbs? Panko maybe.

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CyberCom's Website

  • Joined: February 7, 2011

Re: Sand?

I've used sand in my BRAWL 2011 entry. The major problem is obviously the fact that whenever your fingers touch the sand, the movement of the sand can be usually very noticeable and distracting, but this can be avoided if you work very carefully.

Although, perhaps you could fill up an entire piece of cardboard or paper with sand by glueing/taping (using double-sided tape) it onto the cardboard/paper, and then put an additional unglued layer of sand on top wherever the minifigure is moving/the action is happening.

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Tobias's Website

  • Location: Summerside, PEI, Canada
  • Joined: December 27, 2008

Re: Sand?

Wicked, this is exactly the brainstorm I was looking for!

Thanks Nathan, I skipped ahead and checked out the walk-cycle. I couldn't see any signs of a support rig, but they might have just done a decent job of editing it out. I'll have to watch the making-of next!

Tobias, that could work really well... I essentially need a long stretch of sand, and then a hill for the camera to climb up... Glue on cardboard could definitely provide a stable surface for a few of the shots.

Ladon's Website