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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what do you think makes a good brickfilm?
I think it's the effect of there being another world inside the film. A lot of the old films had it perfect. (the letter, the job, ect.)
well a good story, good animation, exiting, or at least enjoyable. umm well thats my opinion on the subject.
The movie should be entertaining. I think this is a must for most every movie.
-Jimmybob
I think many brickfilms lack a great aspect of filmmaking, which is music. I think that many films have potential of being good but lack music. Also good animation, cinematography, dialogue, and entertainment are needed in films.
I think many brickfilms lack a great aspect of filmmaking, which is music. I think that many films have potential of being good but lack music. Also good animation, cinematography, dialogue, and entertainment are needed in films.
I completley agree, in my opinion its almost like when there isnt music in a movie, people notice, but when there is, people dont think twice about it.
Good quality and good voices, the film can be about a man taking a crap and I wouldn't care as long as the voices and animation was good.
That's odd, I made a film called Harriet which is about a man taking a crap. 
NXTManiac
Story, timing, voice acting, animation, camera quality.
Honestly, I think MMproductions summed it up: making the viewer forget they're watching a brickfilm and getting them immersed in an alternate, brick universe. Of course, it's tough to do that without having a good story, visual quality, music, voice acting, etc. So I guess everybody's right. 
making the viewer forget they're watching a brickfilm and getting them immersed in an alternate, brick universe.
Exactly. That's why we're always striving to get realistic and consistent lighting, a steady set (which is well designed) and realistic animation.
I'd say that such qualities would make an excellent brickfilm. A good brickfilm would be like the not-quite-perfect brickfilms of old, which didn't have great animation, elaborate sets or believable lighting but were very entertaining. A perfect example of this would be Totally Random!
It has to have a good/unique concept. Honestly, I've seen a lot of similar stuff in brickfilms. People tend to overuse comedy duos, white expanses, stuff like that. Hell, I've been guilty of it myself. Plus, some brickfilms of better quality have a certain something about them that says 'I wish I were making a summer blockbuster', which is sort of a weird use of the medium, I think. Don't try to cram a two-hour movie concept into fifteen minutes.
I think it's the effect of there being another world inside the film. A lot of the old films had it perfect. (the letter, the job, ect.)
The Letter is a great brickfilm. More so than many brickfilms, it feels like a true short film.
One of the reasons I enjoy Robota is because it watches like something Pixar would make.
It has to have a good/unique concept. Honestly, I've seen a lot of similar stuff in brickfilms. People tend to overuse comedy duos, white expanses, stuff like that. Hell, I've been guilty of it myself. Plus, some brickfilms of better quality have a certain something about them that says 'I wish I were making a summer blockbuster', which is sort of a weird use of the medium, I think. Don't try to cram a two-hour movie concept into fifteen minutes.
I completely agree with both things you said. It seems like there are a lot of good brickfilms out there, but most of them are just so forgettable because they don't break the mold in any way.
I think many brickfilms lack a great aspect of filmmaking, which is music. I think that many films have potential of being good but lack music. Also good animation, cinematography, dialogue, and entertainment are needed in films.
I wouldn't say that you need music in a brickfilm, only that the music should be well-integrated. I absolutely loathe films that bombard you with "my favorit song lol" playing full blast in the opening and closing credits.
The two things I look for in a brickfilm are good writing and good directing. Good writing can apply to any kind of story, as long as it fits the medium and the length of the film (see what Shale wrote above). Good directing is the way you tell the story to your audience, which usually means mise-en-scène in brickfilms, but it covers a lot more, such as getting a good performance out of actors, making choices on music, editing, etc. I've never been too strict on animation; I think the important thing is for the animation to not distract the audience, either by being bad or by looking smooth but unnatural.
The brickfilmer or any animator for that matter must create a world. There is a reason why people use lego or any object in stop motion and that is to create a world. You must care for your world and keep it consistent. Two brickfilms which I believe have the best and most unique worlds would be Robota and The Magic Portal. If animation was a genre then The Magic Portal would be the crown jewels.
Monkeys.
Amen.
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