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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Double posts are only necessary in rare situations (say you were the last to post in a thread and a month later you decided there was a strong reason to continue the discussion). Otherwise please edit your previous post to include the new information; this avoids constantly pushing your own posts to the top of the forum and keeps things more readable.
I've just learned about this contest, and am trying to think of some good movie concept. My plan is for a shorter film than my previous summer contest entry, Ad Tenebras, without dialogue at all. I'm one of those brickfilmers wich don't focus much on soundFX, so this will take me extra effort on the sound aspect. The two movies I could think of, from wich I might draw inspiration are Revenant and Gravity, both visually wonderful and well played on the soundFX side. I'm actually evaluating whether I should record sounds myself.
Just started filming my entry. Scene 1 finished. Photos of my progress coming soon...
I finally got more animation done and I hate myself for making such cramped sets.
I've finished my opening shot and would love to have some feedback.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kdEPpJ8dHFc
looks good, 
You could think about adding some grain to reduce the banding effect.
I think making it a little oranger would be better but it's up to you. It looks great either way
Love the sunrise! 
I'm assuming it's a black and white film.
Anywho, here's an uneditted frame that doesn't give much away, but still shows one of the most difficult parts of my animation so far...ceilings.
Also, I'm loving my 10-18mm ultra-wide angle lens...although it makes set building much more difficult...
That looks great, Robot. The ultra-wide angle gives it a visceral sense of scale.
After a few short delays, I finally got around to filming today.
I'm be working on several shots over the next week. I wanted to start it all off with one of the hardest things for myself - camera movement. I've filmed this secret clippy clip (after about a take or two of getting used to animating again). However, I'm not 100% happy with the minor shake that goes on during this slow zoom.
Does anyone have any suggestions on what I could do to improve upon this? I really want a few more shots in the film to feature movement like this (at least 3 or 4 more) and, I'd like to try to overcome this problem - even if it is but a minor one.
I tried getting out a ruler, only moving the camera a millimeter between each frame, but, that resulted in what you'll see in the clip. It's much better than doing it "blindly," though, it still results in those bumps... 
From what I can see, it's not doing a smooth arc from point A to point B. It's shifting left and right a bit as it goes. Is it on the studs or something? Maybe your rig is wobbling back and forth? If you animating program has live playback, you should take advantage of it and watch it basically after every frame. Make sure you rotate the camera and move it at the same time so they don't alternate forward motion with rotating/sideways motion between frames.
I'm not sure if that'll really help. It might be a completely different issue, but that's just what I see. 
Is it on the studs or something? Maybe your rig is wobbling back and forth?
No, it didn't touch the studs for that shot. Sometimes I'll have the camera flat on the table by itself, and other times, it'll be on a custom LEGO rig I've constructed out of technic parts. And, aside from one or two shots in De Mortem, this set-up has never given me problems before...
If you animating program...
The camera that I have can't connect to the computer unless it's in playback mode. I know that there are hacks that I can use to get around this, but, I'd prefer not to use them. And, besides, heliumfrog probably won't work with a non-webcam. I actually like not using an animation program, though. I think I started to go soft by overusing onion-skin before.
Make sure you rotate the camera and move it at the same time so they don't alternate forward motion with rotating/sideways motion between frames.
That's what I've been trying to do, however, it still results in these jerks in the motion. I don't really feel like filming it over and over again until I get a better, more usable take, but, if that's what I gotta do...
...only during a contest, right? 
Edit:
I'd do something more like this: a true dolly shot (and most likely will for other parts of my brickfilm), however, I really want that twist in the angle for the door zoom shot. Perhaps I could try to mount the camera to a curved LEGO train track piece?
Last edited by Dyland (July 11, 2016 (08:40pm))
Honestly, being in black and white, I think the rougher feel to the zoom gives it a nice gritty feel.
Almost like the days before all those steady-cam rigs; it is slightly refined but with a hint of roughness, just like those men and circumstances it may be recording.
And Rio's right, it seems to be jiggling left and right more than anything else. Not sure how to help you.
Have you tried a post-production smoothing of the motion? I know that'll cut the frame down a bit, but that may be your easiest option.
Honestly, being in black and white, I think the rougher feel to the zoom gives it a nice gritty feel.
Almost like the days before all those steady-cam rigs; it is slightly refined but with a hint of roughness, just like those men and circumstances it may be recording.
When I re-shoot the shot, I'll be sure to keep the original footage seen in the clip. I may end up using it just for the reasons stated, Pritchard.
Have you tried a post-production smoothing of the motion? I know that'll cut the frame down a bit, but that may be your easiest option.
I would do this, but I shot the frames in the same size as I intend to export the video in. I'll probably shoot this shot (and the other zooms as well) in 4k, just so I have some extra leeway when editing. Perhaps I could, in the meantime, edit the existing footage in post just to see how much jiggle I can take out.
Thanks for the suggestions.
Because of numerous difficulty’s and because this house is NOT a good house to brickfilm in, I am quitting the contest. I will release the footage I have done and maybe the script. Sorry 
Oh, I'm sorry to hear that
I finally got a start to the animation of my film today - about 35ish seconds done (probably the entire opening scene unless I decide to add a couple more shots)! 
At this point, I think it's safe to say that SCOPE won't be completed in time for the contest. I tried hard, but, several things have come up recently that have sealed its fate. I'm not giving up, though. I will still continue to work on this brickfilm until it is completed. - Only, it won't receive my full creative attention moving forward.
How about you guys? Any updates on your Sight & Sound Brickfilms? There's just under a month left. Are you still writing or animating, or have you begun the editing process already?
I've really nearly finished. Only a couple scenes to film. I hope to finish it by the end of the week!
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