Topic: Animator of the Week: Lewis Chen (April 13, 2015)
This featured brickfilmer post is part of a series of articles highlighting animators who supported the Bricks in Motion Documentary project on Kickstarter.
Lewis Chen (Lechnology) is an animator whose work in the past few years has focused on computer animation. Since he saw The Phantom Menace as a child, Lewis has had an interest in computer animation and visual effects. In 2002, he got into brickfilming in high school when a friend showed him a class project that was created using stop motion and LEGO.
Lewis says his approach is to focus on the story he wants to tell, rather than letting the medium limit him:
"I want to make brickfilms, I just don't have the space or resources to make them. While CG animation opens the door to creativity, I really wanted to make LEGO-based animation so I committed and specialized in CG brickfilms. Plus it was better than being hunched over a table in my attic with hot lamps during the hot summers that I had time to do stop-motion."
He received his bachelor's degree in computer science and masters in Library and Information science. He works as a librarian and has begun to focus on teaching and creating stop-motion animation with teens and tweens.
He sometimes draws on experiences from his life for his films, such as Noir Jambon, which was inspired by a conversation with coworkers. As his career has picked up steam, he has shifted his focus:
"With a full time job now, I have little time to animate. I'm currently focused on writing stories and scripts in my spare time."