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Bricks in Motion
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 isn't much, but just sent in a pledge. Wanted to be a part of this.
I'm curious how you guys did the 2:1 ratio? In premiere pro there's a render option for that, but for me I get black bars on the right and left sides (not top and bottom). Did you guys use anamorphic adapters to stretch the image so you could squeeze it down to a 2:1? Do you interpret the footage in premiere?
Last edited by Gentry Studios (January 13, 2015 (12:32pm))
Good to hear Rio, I was hoping I could make the technical stuff educational.
Redbrick1: Your contribution is much appreciated!
Gentry: I framed with a slightly wider ratio in mind but basically it just amounted to cropping a little off the top and bottom and shifting the image up or down as needed. I filmed in 4k resolution, so there's a lot of flexibility to zoom and move the image around for ideal framing.
As for premiere, it's just a sequence in 2048 x 1024 resolution. If you want it to render out in that resolution without adding bars you have to select a codec that supports it, such as h264 at level 5.0.
Nice update Sméagol, and yes I care. 
That GH4 is producing a nice picture I have to say. Especially with the Speedbooster and vintage lenses. Personally I love vintage lenses. I currently use an assortment of vintage glass for my BM Pocket Cinema Camera. I don't have any Helios lenses though, I'll have to check those out. They obviously aren't as sharp (usually) as new lenses, and they are all manual, but hey, that just makes them more fun! Plus, you can't beat the price markdown. 
I just wish I could justify getting a Speedbooster. Unfortunately I don't make any money with my camera setup as it its...
I also like your guys idea of applying tilt-shift effects to some of your footage. I have always like that look and think, like you mentioned, that it could uniquely fit a documentary about stop-motion.
How much extra do we have to pledge for a blooper reel?
That GH4 is producing a nice picture I have to say. Especially with the Speedbooster and vintage lenses. Personally I love vintage lenses. I currently use an assortment of vintage glass for my BM Pocket Cinema Camera. I don't have any Helios lenses though, I'll have to check those out. They obviously aren't as sharp (usually) as new lenses, and they are all manual, but hey, that just makes them more fun! Plus, you can't beat the price markdown.
The Helios 58mm is sharper than my Nikkor 50mm f/1.8, wide open. Very little in the way of aberration on edges, etc. as well. Granted, both are older lenses, but they're really pretty sharp. I find the distinction compared to newer, more precise lenses is mostly that the bokeh texture is distinctive and a little more interesting (desirable to me for this project, not desirable for every project).
The speed booster was essentially a required purchase for me because of the sensor size. I couldn't get adequately shallow depth of field in the interviews without it. Well, adequate as in it looking as pretty as I wanted it to look.
AnW wrote:They obviously aren't as sharp (usually) as new lenses,
The Helios 58mm is sharper than my Nikkor 50mm f/1.8, wide open. Very little in the way of aberration on edges, etc. as well. Granted, both are older lenses, but they're really pretty sharp. I find the distinction compared to newer, more precise lenses is mostly that the bokeh texture is distinctive and a little more interesting (desirable to me for this project, not desirable for every project).
I was going to say almost the same thing as Smeagol. I find that the Helios is far sharper than the new lenses (as least, the Nikkor that I own, which was made a couple of years ago).
Yup. The Helios 58mm is as sharp as you could ever want for 1080p video, honestly, and on par with the more affordable new prime lenses out there for sharpness. I'm shooting in 4k in this film and it still holds up very well.
I would however choose those newer lenses if I were doing corporate video or a film where the unique, swirly texture of the bokeh isn't desirable.
I care!
...
...sort of.
In all seriousness, though, this is a really nice update and I'm happy to see you guys are making progress so my $20 aren't going to waste so we can see this amazing documentary get made.
Really interesting write-up about lenses and stuff as well; I've been wanting to educate myself on this area of film-making as I'm currently finding it pretty confusing, so it's nice to see more info on it. I'm confused as to how the tilt-shift effect is accomplished, though. Wouldn't moving the camera just make the picture/shot blurry and unusable overall? Or does one just shift a part of the lens whilst keeping the camera body steady?
Also, 41 hours of footage for North America alone, that's impressive. I imagine it's going to be a pain in the editing room, though...
Best of luck for planning and getting the Europe segment filmed!
Hmm, I'm really interested in checking out a Helios lens now. I had no idea they might be that nice. And for my personal use, I definitely go for the more interesting bokeh texture, so that's a plus also.
Really interesting write-up about lenses and stuff as well; I've been wanting to educate myself on this area of film-making as I'm currently finding it pretty confusing, so it's nice to see more info on it. I'm confused as to how the tilt-shift effect is accomplished, though. Wouldn't moving the camera just make the picture/shot blurry and unusable overall? Or does one just shift a part of the lens whilst keeping the camera body steady?
Tilt-shift isn't just a technique, it's a kind of lens. True tilt-shift lenses are used to non-gimmick effect in architecture photography in order to warp the perspective in camera, effectively compensating for depth and allowing for more convergent vectors on buildings, etc.
However, it is possible to create some cool effects with tilt-shift lenses if you want to, such as getting part of the image out of focus. In a landscape shot this can be used to make it look like a city is miniature.
I don't own a tilt-shift lens. I'm shooting in deep focus (everything in focus) on a normal lens and then using lens blur effects in After Effects to simulate the look of tilt-shift. This is actually better for my purposes as I can mask out especially tall structures and even add realistic rack focusing in the shots, which would be impossible with a real tilt-shift lens.
Keeping in the tradition of shameless self-promotion, I'm posting to say that if you are a twitter person I've been posting the occasional behind-the-scenes picture on the BiM twitter account that might be of interest.
It would be great to see all of these photos also on the facebook page for us guys (probably just me) who don't have a twitter 
I'll put some pics into an album. I'm reluctant to innundate the FB page with lots of posts because I feel like the framework of Facebook doesn't work as well for that.
Philip has posted a quick update video on the Kickstarter page. Check it out here!
Both updates #16 and #17 were fantastic . I'm actually glad you bought German bears this time . Already geeking out for this film! What was it like being around the world - all of the different urban landscape and stuff?
Glad to hear, can't wait to see the finished product. I know it will be fantastic! Must have been great to meet so many accomplished animators. And I look forward to seeing each one of their interviews.
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