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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Vet Vendetta
Normally, cats and dogs are bitter enemies. But not today. When their owner decides to take them to the vet, they do everything they can to avoid that outcome. Will they succeed?
Cool! You have improved a lot lately. Keep up the good work!
Fun film. Some cool touches to the animation and camera work. Good choice of music aswell.
DISCLAIMER: My reviews are detailed and hypercritical. This was THAC. You only have 24 hours. It's not easy, and no THAC brickfilm is ever perfect. I know this when I write the detailed review. IF IT COULD BE PERFECT, what could have been added/changed/improved? When we think about all these details in retrospect, we are training ourselves to think about them the next time we make a film.
Your animation is fairly smooth, but I encourage you to try for even more natural movements. I didn't see any major glaring issues with animation except for the running shot when the wall moves, but the ground doesn't. You clearly have had experience with cartoony styled Lego animation. See if you can do something that is more serious to try and expand your abilities.
Your camera angles were decent, up-close and personal. It's nice to see when the camera is at eye level with your characters. Visually the story was clear, which is good because you were relying on the visuals instead of voice acting to explain the story. This gives you a good foundation for when you tell more complicated stories.
Your lighting served the purpose of illumination, but not much else. You added flames for the vet, but you could have experimented with lighting too to add more visual impact to the humor. Try using lighting not just to show what's on screen, but also to make the audience feel one way or another corresponding to your story. When you begin more serious films, you'll find lighting is the key to everything!
You had a handful of nice set pieces, but the furniture was sparse, which made the place feel more like a cinderblock compound than a home for the characters. More detail!
Sound effects were suitable for the story, but there were a few that were excessive and unnecessary. With comedy, weird sounds don't fill in for humor. You had funny moments, like the Vet as a scary monster and when the owner gets locked into the room and the pets shaking with fear. All of those were visual gags first and audio gags second. Try building your humor through visuals FIRST and then sound second.
Keep it up! I always look forward to seeing more from you!
I encourage you to try for even more natural movements.
I'd like to expand a little on that point, which is don't be afraid to use reference. Don't be afraid that it's cheating, it's not. Think of it as doing research or homework on your craft.
Two movements in particular that I would look at are the cat jumping out of the window, and the guy's yawn at the beginning. Look up some actual footage of a cat jumping up to a wall or something. Find a few different videos of cats jumping up, and see what they do similarly, and what the differences are. Get a feel for the timing, and for how the speed changes from the bottom to the top of the jump.
Yawning is a very complex and subtle motion, and the mouth movement helped sell the idea, and you did some nice head swaps in this piece. It would have been even stronger if we could feel the body stretch. So find footage of someone stretching, or act it out yourself, and see what kind of movement and tension is involved with stretching.
Great work, and keep 'em coming!
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