Topic: Hi Folks

Just found this group! YAY....
I am a 74 year old who has played with Legos for 60+ years.
I have taught Lego Robotics and been a First Lego League mentor at 6 local schools.
Having gotten bored and being a musician I have started writing music and about 4 months ago I got an idea for a musical comedy.
Problem 1: My voice breaks glass
Problem 2: I can't act

So I have started the musical using vocal synthesizers and since I have around a 100K Legos around have been building sets.
I had Stop Motion Studio but the new version won't run on my old iMac so I picked up Dragonframe 5.

Long story short....
I have been looking for folks who are doing the same thing, Lego Stop Motion projects.
So here I am.
Patiently waiting for my birthday when my family is getting me a brand new Canon DSLR which I will mount in the DMX controlled mount which I have just built. I am also a former Engineer/DJ/VJ/Musician.
I am looking to both learn and contribute on this forum.

Best to all!!!

Joe B

ps I have a son who received an Aerospace Engineering degree after shoving one up his nose when he was 3 and has never to this day stopped playing with Legos.

jb

Re: Hi Folks

Hi Joe, and welcome to the forum! Send me a sample of the music and some lyrics, I'd love to be a part of this project! My uncle wrote a scifi musical comedy that never came to fruition called "Christopher Spaced" and it's always been a small dream of mine to lend my voice to a project like this!

Re: Hi Folks

Roody wrote:

Hi Joe, and welcome to the forum! Send me a sample of the music and some lyrics, I'd love to be a part of this project! My uncle wrote a scifi musical comedy that never came to fruition called "Christopher Spaced" and it's always been a small dream of mine to lend my voice to a project like this!

Hey Roody!

Thanks for the reply.
Here is a VERY early version of the overture which I cut down to just under 7 minutes. The full version will be in the 10 minute range:
https://soundcloud.com/joebataz/queen-c … al_sharing

This IS NOT the completed Senator Song track! I just posted it now for you to hear. The first 2 verses and choruses use synthesized voices for the lyrics. The third and fourth verse and the third chorus are still under musical construction and have piano tracks as placeholders for the vocals. I also have gotten the audio with facial Lego graphics working but not ready for prime time yet:
https://soundcloud.com/joebataz/senator … al_sharing

I have the screenplay roughly laid out. It is 2 acts of 5 scenes each. I have dialog for 5 of the scenes written (probably need to  edit) lyrics for 6 of the songs roughed out and the music for 4 of those either completed or needing vocals as with the Senators Song.

The premise is the love triangle of Cleopatra (Queen C), Julius Caesar and Marc Antony having a HAPPY ending.

By the way. I have a very harsh critic, my son who was a musician until he became a rocket scientist. I have to rewrite Clepatra's Palace song because he thinks it sounds too Caribbean. So any and all comments are welcome, good, bad.......

Best,
Joe B

Re: Hi Folks

Roody,

Here's the lyrics. Caesar arrives right at the end, so the music stops and his song starts.

[Cassius]
Oh, Caesar, mighty Caesar, so full of pomp and might
Our  Senate has a little song just to set you right
Your laurel wreath, your flowing robes, you strut with such conceit
[Cimber]
But, truth be told, you're just an old sneak

[ALL] [Cassius Cimber]   
    Hey there, Julius, you always make a fuss
    You think yourself so glorious, but you're just one of us
    We laugh behind your back, as you prance around the floor
    With your silly toga, you're really quite a bore!

[Trebonius]
You claim to be a god, a ruler without peers
But you stumble and slur after too much beer
Your speeches are so boring, your ego dwarfs your life
But honestly, dear Caesar, you’re not so wise

[ALL] [Trebonius, Basilius]    
    Listen up, Julius, your ego's out of hand
    You think yourself so divine, but you're a mortal man
    We chuckle at your antics, as you play the mighty role
    But when it comes to leading Rome, you're really just a mole 

[Albinus, Casca]
You wear that silly crown, you think yourself a king
But we can see right through you, it's a really funny thing
You may be Rome's dictator, but you're really just a joke
Your haughty airs and empty words, are but a puff of smoke

[ALL]   
    Fake king Julius, you're really not that great
    You think you're so invincible, but you're just tempting fate
    We'll poke fun at your vanity, your boring pretentious ways
    Oh, Caesar, mighty Caesar, there’s a limit to your days

[Albinus, Casca]
Here's our little tribute, a tune to poke some fun
At Caesar, mighty ruler, who thinks he's second to none
But in the end, he's just a man, like you and me and all
And we'll keep on laughing and singing, as Rome continues
[music stops, singing stop except for]
[Casca loudly and alone]
Standing tall

Re: Hi Folks

Joe, these lyrics are great! This is the exact kind of project I love working on! The audio links you sent don't allow me to listen to the tracks however, you may have uploaded them privately. This is what I see on my end!

https://i.postimg.cc/XZx1VN80/Screenshot-20230605-040535.png

Re: Hi Folks

Welcome to Bricks in Motion! You've definitely found the right spot for all things brickfilming.
This project looks real exciting. I always love a good musical, and I'm afraid there simply aren't enough in the brickfilm world. Roody is one of our very talented voice actors. I'd be happy to help out wherever I can, just let me know.

Yes, it's homemade, fresh from the toaster oven.

Re: Hi Folks

Blandeer, Roody,

Thanks again for your kind words. I have no idea why you can't get to the music but you should be able to get directly to my account using www.soundcloud.com/joebataz. I don't know why there is a problem, possibly with linking from this site.
The songs of the Queen C project are :
Senators Song v1 from Queen C
and
Queen C Overture

I know that they are being heard because I'm getting reposts on them  from the soundcloud site, also another follower or 2 since I posted the Senator song. Try that and let me know. Also have a bunch of other stuff. A serious drama play (Second Civil War), a big band piece and a bluegrass piece. If you're bored I'd sure like to get more input on my other compositions as well.

I must say that I am thrilled that I've gotten interest. I have put a lot of work into just the screenplay and still have a ton more to do but was kind of waiting to see if I was headed in the right direction. Also feel free to PM or Email me!

Gotta run....

Best,

Joe B

Re: Hi Folks

Hmmmmm.....
Went awfully quiet, awfully quick...

joeb

Re: Hi Folks

The community is on Discord these days. Not many people check the forums.

Listening to your music on Soundcloud. It is not the final versions I understand but it is quite good already I must say. This project seems really ambitious!

Last edited by Robukka (June 9, 2023 (09:13am))

Re: Hi Folks

Hey Robukka,

Thanks so much for the heads up. I'm going to try to get setup on Discord in a day or so. Right now I'm in the midst of building the "sound stage" in my office. I am building a camera dolly from an old CNC machine that I built with some students I was mentoring some years back. Dragonframe is what I am using for my Stop Motion Animation and it has a DMX interface that I can use to connect to the dolly using an Arduino micro computer.
I AM ambitious if nothing else but sometimes I will need help especially in the "acting" portion where I currently have about a dozen characters that will need dialogue.
So look for me to popup soon. Is there any particular subgroup where I can find you folks?  And thanks again for the heads up.
Best regards, have a great day and stay safe!

Joe B

Re: Hi Folks

Welcome joebataz! I really look forward to what you create! If you need any advice or ideas this is a great place. Enjoy mini/smile

If I am online here it means I am most likely avoiding brickfilming.
I HAVE DONE IT, I have a good idea for THAC 2024 :wink:

Re: Hi Folks

Thanks Hamrichonn! I have completed the construction of my camera dolly and am now starting to work on the software to interface with the Dragonframe application. Also my Canon M200 is due any day and I will start posting short clips as I put the test sequences together. Once again, thanks for the welcome!

Best,

Joe B