Length: 00:04:30 (4 minutes, 30 seconds) Release Date 08-15-11 (August 15, 2011)
After almost two years, I decided it was finally time to continue the Abduction series. Even if it is too little too late in some respects (two years is a ridiculous gap between 3-5 minute short films), I still had fun making it. It could be another year at least before I have time for another Abduction, though. At any rate, this was the longest entry in the series yet, but it took roughly the same amount of time to make as the last one.
After almost two years, I decided it was finally time to continue the Abduction series. Even if it is too little too late in some respects (two years is a ridiculous gap between 3-5 minute short films), I still had fun making it. It could be another year at least before I have time for another Abduction, though. At any rate, this was the longest entry in the series yet, but it took roughly the same amount of time to make as the last one.
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YouTube
Length: 00:02:55 (2 minutes, 55 seconds) Release Date: 08-06-11 (August 6th, 2011)
After spending the better part of 2011 on my still-unreleased steampunk film, I decided to do make something slightly more fun. I'd never seen parkour done well with stop-motion, and since I'm a traceur (parkour practitioner) myself, I thought it would be a cool way to do something new with Brickfilming. This took about a month to make and was quite difficult to animate. Post-production involved by far the most complicated and time-consuming masking I've ever done. I'm very happy with the end result, and glad to see it's somewhat popular on YouTube as well.
After spending the better part of 2011 on my still-unreleased steampunk film, I decided to do make something slightly more fun. I'd never seen parkour done well with stop-motion, and since I'm a traceur (parkour practitioner) myself, I thought it would be a cool way to do something new with Brickfilming. This took about a month to make and was quite difficult to animate. Post-production involved by far the most complicated and time-consuming masking I've ever done. I'm very happy with the end result, and glad to see it's somewhat popular on YouTube as well.
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YouTube
Length: 00:01:30 (1 minute, 30 seconds) Release Date: 12-18-10 (December 18th, 2010)
Elmore is my first non-Abduction THAC entry, created for THAC 8 on Bricks in Motion. The theme was "ambition," which led me to attempt an ambitiuos entry. In the end, I'd have to say that this idea seemed more ambitious in concept than in execution, at least the way I made it. My thought was to make a steampunk-style faux trailer. However, given the time restrictions I didn't even attempt any large-scale effects work or sets, which really dampens the scope of the whole endeavor. Nonetheless, what I made worked out alright, and I was pleased that I had time to compose some original music for it.
Elmore is my first non-Abduction THAC entry, created for THAC 8 on Bricks in Motion. The theme was "ambition," which led me to attempt an ambitiuos entry. In the end, I'd have to say that this idea seemed more ambitious in concept than in execution, at least the way I made it. My thought was to make a steampunk-style faux trailer. However, given the time restrictions I didn't even attempt any large-scale effects work or sets, which really dampens the scope of the whole endeavor. Nonetheless, what I made worked out alright, and I was pleased that I had time to compose some original music for it.
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YouTube
Length: 00:04:47 (4 minutes, 47 seconds) Release Date: 07-25-10 (July 25th, 2010)
Zombie: Genesis is perhaps one of my only fully-realized films. It was an entry for BiM 2010: Avant-Grade, and it ultimately won first place. However, it had a rather troubled production. I had the idea for the film just 3 weeks before the contest deadline, and at the time I had a full-time internship that was sucking up most of my time. As a result, I was in a horrible rush for 3 weeks. It is worth noting, though, that I finished the film more than 4 hours before the deadline, so things could have been worse.
I won't spoil the plot by attempting to describe it here, suffice it to say that the film is intentionally misbranded.
Zombie: Genesis is perhaps one of my only fully-realized films. It was an entry for BiM 2010: Avant-Grade, and it ultimately won first place. However, it had a rather troubled production. I had the idea for the film just 3 weeks before the contest deadline, and at the time I had a full-time internship that was sucking up most of my time. As a result, I was in a horrible rush for 3 weeks. It is worth noting, though, that I finished the film more than 4 hours before the deadline, so things could have been worse.
I won't spoil the plot by attempting to describe it here, suffice it to say that the film is intentionally misbranded.
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YouTube
Length: 00:23:07 (23 minutes, 7 seconds) Release Date: 12-31-09 (December 31st, 2009)
After more than two years of work, Picturesque is here! This is my biggest, longest, most epic production yet, running at just over 23 minutes and containing more than 300 visual effect shots. It's certainly not without flaws, but after so long I'm really just glad to have it done. Perhaps the most notable aspect to the film is the digital face animation, which I did in a manner similar to my previous film The Inventor. There are also several action scenes which were really fun to create, both in terms of animating and creating the visual effects. Picturesque is my third collaboration with Joseph Frank, who again provided an outstanding score.
Anyone who has seen Minority Report will no doubt notice the remarkable similarities Picturesque has with it. Some of this is intentional, such as the color grading, but much of it was rather accidental, like many of the similar plot elements. I began writing the script for this in Fall 2007, with the help of Matthew Buck. After I gave him some general ideas I had for a film, he helped me organize the story events and fine-tune the script. Looking back at the script now, I think some of it is a little cliche, though given the medium I don't think this is as much of an issue as it would be in live action filmmaking. In the two years that followed, I worked on this on and off between other projects. Hope you enjoy watching this as much as I did making it!
After more than two years of work, Picturesque is here! This is my biggest, longest, most epic production yet, running at just over 23 minutes and containing more than 300 visual effect shots. It's certainly not without flaws, but after so long I'm really just glad to have it done. Perhaps the most notable aspect to the film is the digital face animation, which I did in a manner similar to my previous film The Inventor. There are also several action scenes which were really fun to create, both in terms of animating and creating the visual effects. Picturesque is my third collaboration with Joseph Frank, who again provided an outstanding score.
Anyone who has seen Minority Report will no doubt notice the remarkable similarities Picturesque has with it. Some of this is intentional, such as the color grading, but much of it was rather accidental, like many of the similar plot elements. I began writing the script for this in Fall 2007, with the help of Matthew Buck. After I gave him some general ideas I had for a film, he helped me organize the story events and fine-tune the script. Looking back at the script now, I think some of it is a little cliche, though given the medium I don't think this is as much of an issue as it would be in live action filmmaking. In the two years that followed, I worked on this on and off between other projects. Hope you enjoy watching this as much as I did making it!
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YouTube Part 1
YouTube Part 2
YouTube Part 3
MP4 (169 MB)
Length: 00:03:11 (3 minutes, 11 seconds) Release Date: 08-30-09 (August 30th, 2009)
By far the longest Abduction film yet, Abduction 4 was my entry to the BRAWL (Brickfilm Rapidly All Week Long) 2009 Contest hosted by Munzapoppa on www.bricksinmotion.com. So, unlike with the first three films, I had a whole week to make it. This allowed me to experiment a little bit, which was nice. Most notably, I tried for the first time scoring the film myself. I believe that I could have used film music in this (as I did in the other films), but I decided an original score would be more fun, and definitely possible with more time available.
A week proved to be plenty of time to make a three minute film. I finished filming it in three days, and worked off and on the next four editing and scoring it. If I'd worked harder, I probably could have made a four minute film, but I'm really happy with what I did do. Needless to say, I was not at all stressed approaching the deadline. This is also my personal favorite in the series, since the plot begins to thicken while leaving ample room for a ton more sequels.
By far the longest Abduction film yet, Abduction 4 was my entry to the BRAWL (Brickfilm Rapidly All Week Long) 2009 Contest hosted by Munzapoppa on www.bricksinmotion.com. So, unlike with the first three films, I had a whole week to make it. This allowed me to experiment a little bit, which was nice. Most notably, I tried for the first time scoring the film myself. I believe that I could have used film music in this (as I did in the other films), but I decided an original score would be more fun, and definitely possible with more time available.
A week proved to be plenty of time to make a three minute film. I finished filming it in three days, and worked off and on the next four editing and scoring it. If I'd worked harder, I probably could have made a four minute film, but I'm really happy with what I did do. Needless to say, I was not at all stressed approaching the deadline. This is also my personal favorite in the series, since the plot begins to thicken while leaving ample room for a ton more sequels.
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YouTube
Quicktime (61 MB)
Length: 00:00:28 (28 seconds) Release Date: 06-26-09 (June 26th, 2009)
This is a clip from the climax of The Dark Knight, when Harvey Dent is talking to Batman and Gordon. I've wanted to recreate something from TDK for a while, and this scene seemed like a good one, given that there isn't much of a set and it has Two-Face. I started this several months ago as a break from my rather long current project, but never finished the editing because I didn't want to take too long of a break. Finally I decided to finish it, as I'm hoping it will be quite popular on Youtube, judging from past Brickfilms relating to TDK.
I've also created a making-of article discussing the production of this clip, as several people have asked me about that.
This is a clip from the climax of The Dark Knight, when Harvey Dent is talking to Batman and Gordon. I've wanted to recreate something from TDK for a while, and this scene seemed like a good one, given that there isn't much of a set and it has Two-Face. I started this several months ago as a break from my rather long current project, but never finished the editing because I didn't want to take too long of a break. Finally I decided to finish it, as I'm hoping it will be quite popular on Youtube, judging from past Brickfilms relating to TDK.
I've also created a making-of article discussing the production of this clip, as several people have asked me about that.
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YouTube
Quicktime (9 MB)
Length: 00:02:05 (2 minutes, 5 seconds) Release Date: 01-04-09 (January 4th, 2009)
The inevitable third Abduction film is here, this time created for the Twenty-Four Hour Animation Contest 6 on BricksInMotion.com. It continues the story of the previous films, though there is an extra scene that doesn't really relate to the main plot, showing another abduction (what is an Abduction film without an abduction?). The ending of course leaves open the possibility for more sequels, but I may stop these and make a real alien invasion film sometime.
This took the longest to make of all the Abduction films, at 22 hours. Interestingly, though, I started filming this at 6:30 AM my time, 1.5 hours after the contest started, whereas I started filming Abduction 2 at 9:00 AM, 4 hours after the start. It's also worth noting that this has fewer frames of animation, 711, as opposed to the 776 of the last film. Despite this, it's just one second shorter.
The inevitable third Abduction film is here, this time created for the Twenty-Four Hour Animation Contest 6 on BricksInMotion.com. It continues the story of the previous films, though there is an extra scene that doesn't really relate to the main plot, showing another abduction (what is an Abduction film without an abduction?). The ending of course leaves open the possibility for more sequels, but I may stop these and make a real alien invasion film sometime.
This took the longest to make of all the Abduction films, at 22 hours. Interestingly, though, I started filming this at 6:30 AM my time, 1.5 hours after the contest started, whereas I started filming Abduction 2 at 9:00 AM, 4 hours after the start. It's also worth noting that this has fewer frames of animation, 711, as opposed to the 776 of the last film. Despite this, it's just one second shorter.
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YouTube
Quicktime (40 MB)
RealMedia (5 MB)
Length: 00:08:40 (8 minutes, 40 seconds) Release Date: 08-02-08 (August 2nd, 2008)
This was arguably the closest I've come to not finishing a film for a contest deadline. Though I started filming this in February, after the Friendships and Rivalries contest was announced on Brickfilms.com, I progressed very slowly and really had to rush with editing near the end. As with The Man with the Top Hat, Joseph Frank has scored this film. Unfortunately, (and this really was my fault) he didn't have very much time to score it, but I think he still did a great job considering.
The plot of the film centers around two chefs in New York who hate each other. All goes rather well until the end, where in my haste I didn't really think it through and it came off very sudden and out of place. At any rate, this placed 3rd out of 9 entries, behind Sméagol's Unrenewable and cannedgravy's Pirate's, both great films. Oddly enough, my prize is a t-shirt, whereas they both get LEGO sets...
This was arguably the closest I've come to not finishing a film for a contest deadline. Though I started filming this in February, after the Friendships and Rivalries contest was announced on Brickfilms.com, I progressed very slowly and really had to rush with editing near the end. As with The Man with the Top Hat, Joseph Frank has scored this film. Unfortunately, (and this really was my fault) he didn't have very much time to score it, but I think he still did a great job considering.
The plot of the film centers around two chefs in New York who hate each other. All goes rather well until the end, where in my haste I didn't really think it through and it came off very sudden and out of place. At any rate, this placed 3rd out of 9 entries, behind Sméagol's Unrenewable and cannedgravy's Pirate's, both great films. Oddly enough, my prize is a t-shirt, whereas they both get LEGO sets...
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YouTube
Quicktime (30 MB)
Length: 00:02:06 (2 minutes, 6 seconds) Release Date: 12-30-07 (December 30th, 2007)
Like the first Abduction, this film is an entry to one of Brickfilms.com's Twenty-Four Hour Animation contests. Though it doesn't have much to do with the contest's theme ("giving"), I was bent on making an Abduction sequel, since I've always wanted to do an alien invasion film but have never come up with a good script and had the time. With this, I was able to broaden the concept in Abduction, allowing the potential for more sequels.
I was hoping with THAC 4 to make a film that would take me the entire 24 hours to finish, but I still finished several hours early, surprising considering that this is over 30 seconds longer than its predecessor. At any rate, I like how this turned out, even if it is incredibly bizarre and random. The inclusion of Santa Claus in an alien invasion film is evidence of this.
Like the first Abduction, this film is an entry to one of Brickfilms.com's Twenty-Four Hour Animation contests. Though it doesn't have much to do with the contest's theme ("giving"), I was bent on making an Abduction sequel, since I've always wanted to do an alien invasion film but have never come up with a good script and had the time. With this, I was able to broaden the concept in Abduction, allowing the potential for more sequels.
I was hoping with THAC 4 to make a film that would take me the entire 24 hours to finish, but I still finished several hours early, surprising considering that this is over 30 seconds longer than its predecessor. At any rate, I like how this turned out, even if it is incredibly bizarre and random. The inclusion of Santa Claus in an alien invasion film is evidence of this.
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YouTube
RealMedia (10 MB)
Length: 00:02:09 (2 minutes, 9 seconds) Release Date: 12-22-07 (December 22nd, 2007)
The Dark Apprentice trailer was the film I began working on for the LEGO Star Wars Moviemaking Challenge, but abandoned when the rules were announced and I realized it wouldn't work very well (I ended up making The Exiguous Eschewal instead). About a month ago I decided to finish it, after completely rethinking the story. Originally, this was based mainly on Timothy Zahn's Heir to the Empire novel, but I decided to shift the focus more to the parts of the trailer from Kevin J. Anderson's Dark Apprentice.
However, because of this, I had a number of shots from the old cut of the trailer that didn't work with the new one, but I put them in anyway. Most were just character shots (of Leia, or Han, for instance), but they kind of broke up the story that was being told. My use of a few long shots, as opposed to many short ones, in the action part of the trailer didn't help make it very intense either. In the end, I can't say I'm entirely pleased with this, though I am glad to be finally finished with it.
The Dark Apprentice trailer was the film I began working on for the LEGO Star Wars Moviemaking Challenge, but abandoned when the rules were announced and I realized it wouldn't work very well (I ended up making The Exiguous Eschewal instead). About a month ago I decided to finish it, after completely rethinking the story. Originally, this was based mainly on Timothy Zahn's Heir to the Empire novel, but I decided to shift the focus more to the parts of the trailer from Kevin J. Anderson's Dark Apprentice.
However, because of this, I had a number of shots from the old cut of the trailer that didn't work with the new one, but I put them in anyway. Most were just character shots (of Leia, or Han, for instance), but they kind of broke up the story that was being told. My use of a few long shots, as opposed to many short ones, in the action part of the trailer didn't help make it very intense either. In the end, I can't say I'm entirely pleased with this, though I am glad to be finally finished with it.
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YouTube
RealMedia (6 MB)
Length: 00:01:35 (1 minute, 35 seconds) Release Date: 09-16-07 (September 16th, 2007)
Another contest entry, this time for the 3rd Twenty-Four Hour Animation Contest on Brickfilms.com, Abduction is a short suspense/horror film involving aliens, hence the title. It was made in 16 hours, and that includes everything. The contest theme wasn't announced until its start, so I had to think up the film's story within that time span as well. The film ended up a lot shorter than I expected, but I still think it manages to be very creepy, especially with the music I chose.
Also, surprisingly, I didn't feel at all rushed while making it, despite the short amount of time I had. I expected, given what I'd heard others say who'd entered this in the past, that I would barely be able to finish it in time, however, as I said earlier, it only took 16 hours to make. I'm quite pleased with this, I suppose. And aside from some cheap effects (which I didn't spend all that long on), I like how the film turned out. Perhaps next year I'll make a sequel, even...
Another contest entry, this time for the 3rd Twenty-Four Hour Animation Contest on Brickfilms.com, Abduction is a short suspense/horror film involving aliens, hence the title. It was made in 16 hours, and that includes everything. The contest theme wasn't announced until its start, so I had to think up the film's story within that time span as well. The film ended up a lot shorter than I expected, but I still think it manages to be very creepy, especially with the music I chose.
Also, surprisingly, I didn't feel at all rushed while making it, despite the short amount of time I had. I expected, given what I'd heard others say who'd entered this in the past, that I would barely be able to finish it in time, however, as I said earlier, it only took 16 hours to make. I'm quite pleased with this, I suppose. And aside from some cheap effects (which I didn't spend all that long on), I like how the film turned out. Perhaps next year I'll make a sequel, even...
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YouTube
RealMedia (3 MB)
Length: 00:01:59 (1 minute, 59 seconds) Release Date: 08-05-07 (August 5th, 2007)
Star Wars: The Exiguous Eschewal is my entry in the LEGO Star Wars Moviemaking Challenge. It didn't make it to the semi-finalists (and neither did any of the other good entries) mainly because I don't believe that anyone even watched it before picking the semi-finalists. The LEGO Company doesn't seem to have planned the contest very well, and as a result, all the best entries were ignored, no doubt because they were submitted just before the deadline. I was very disappointed, since I went to quite a lot of work to make this.
It was made in ten days, which is a record for me. All my other films took well over a month to finish. The sound design may have suffered because of this, though. I think the joke at the end turned out pretty good, and I'm very pleased with the animation. I just with that TLC had planned their contest better...
Star Wars: The Exiguous Eschewal is my entry in the LEGO Star Wars Moviemaking Challenge. It didn't make it to the semi-finalists (and neither did any of the other good entries) mainly because I don't believe that anyone even watched it before picking the semi-finalists. The LEGO Company doesn't seem to have planned the contest very well, and as a result, all the best entries were ignored, no doubt because they were submitted just before the deadline. I was very disappointed, since I went to quite a lot of work to make this.
It was made in ten days, which is a record for me. All my other films took well over a month to finish. The sound design may have suffered because of this, though. I think the joke at the end turned out pretty good, and I'm very pleased with the animation. I just with that TLC had planned their contest better...
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YouTube
RealMedia (18 MB)
Length: 00:05:59 (5 minutes, 59 seconds) Release Date: 07-23-07 (July 23rd, 2007)
My entry into the Brickfilms.com IDEA Competition, The Inventor is about... well, an inventor. Though the film never says so, it is meant to take place in 18th century England, however there are a few time continuity errors that would suggest otherwise. Much like my other films, the story is not the strength of The Inventor. It is rather simple and, especially at the end, confusing. Still, though, I am mostly pleased with how it turned out. Alexander Suppe did a brilliant job on the music, which in my mind really adds to the enjoyment of the film. This is also my second film to feature my signature figure, who can be seen near the end on the street.
The Inventor was my first attempt at digital face animation, which I think worked very well. The main characters were filmed with blank heads in all but a few shots, and their faces were added in post. This allowed them to blink, move their mouths, etc., but it was a lot of work. Every dialog shot with a digital face took several days to finish. Another very time consuming effect was inserting the Inventor's completely computer generated apartment into more than a dozen shots. The effects are probably what made me work so slowly making this; I averaged about one shot a day, and most of the shots were no more than three or four seconds long. Still, though, I had fun making it, but I got pretty sick of animating those faces by the end...
The Inventor places 2nd in the IDEA Competition, out of 13 films. This is the first contest I've won, and I'm quite thrilled.
My entry into the Brickfilms.com IDEA Competition, The Inventor is about... well, an inventor. Though the film never says so, it is meant to take place in 18th century England, however there are a few time continuity errors that would suggest otherwise. Much like my other films, the story is not the strength of The Inventor. It is rather simple and, especially at the end, confusing. Still, though, I am mostly pleased with how it turned out. Alexander Suppe did a brilliant job on the music, which in my mind really adds to the enjoyment of the film. This is also my second film to feature my signature figure, who can be seen near the end on the street.
The Inventor was my first attempt at digital face animation, which I think worked very well. The main characters were filmed with blank heads in all but a few shots, and their faces were added in post. This allowed them to blink, move their mouths, etc., but it was a lot of work. Every dialog shot with a digital face took several days to finish. Another very time consuming effect was inserting the Inventor's completely computer generated apartment into more than a dozen shots. The effects are probably what made me work so slowly making this; I averaged about one shot a day, and most of the shots were no more than three or four seconds long. Still, though, I had fun making it, but I got pretty sick of animating those faces by the end...
The Inventor places 2nd in the IDEA Competition, out of 13 films. This is the first contest I've won, and I'm quite thrilled.
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YouTube
RealMedia (19 MB)
Trailer
Length: 00:14:00 (14 minutes) Release Date: 01-18-07 (January 18th, 2007)
By far my longest film to date, the Tompa City Menace is the sequel to my last film, the Man with the Top Hat. It is separated into two parts, the first of which tells the story of how the Man with the Top Hat got started as a criminal, and the second part continues the story started in the first film. I have made a great effort in this film to remove confusion in the story, since both my last two films had this problem. However, there are still a few things that are not fully explained; this is intentional, of course, and I hope it doesn't detract from the film. Another problem visible in the Man with the Top Hat is the poor voice acting. I have received countless complaints that all the voices sound the same. I have done what I can to fix that. The only voices I did were for the characters that are reappearing from the last film (the Man with the Top Hat, the Skeleton, and Mr. Marone, who only has one line) and the mad inventor.
Technically, the Tompa City Menace is far superior to the Man with the Top Hat. This is my first film to use Carrara Studio with, which has helped immensely in creating the large scale digital sets I wanted, as well as generating some other effects such as the fire, and most of the backgrounds in the bluescreen shots. The animation and sound design are also much better than in my other films. I've learned a lot about animating, especially making movements smoother, and transitioning from one position to another. The surround sound feature in my editing program has played a big part in giving the sound depth and realism. Although I used this in my last film, it was hardly noticeable. To conclude, I am very pleased with how this has turned out. It's not perfect, but much better than I ever expected.
By far my longest film to date, the Tompa City Menace is the sequel to my last film, the Man with the Top Hat. It is separated into two parts, the first of which tells the story of how the Man with the Top Hat got started as a criminal, and the second part continues the story started in the first film. I have made a great effort in this film to remove confusion in the story, since both my last two films had this problem. However, there are still a few things that are not fully explained; this is intentional, of course, and I hope it doesn't detract from the film. Another problem visible in the Man with the Top Hat is the poor voice acting. I have received countless complaints that all the voices sound the same. I have done what I can to fix that. The only voices I did were for the characters that are reappearing from the last film (the Man with the Top Hat, the Skeleton, and Mr. Marone, who only has one line) and the mad inventor.
Technically, the Tompa City Menace is far superior to the Man with the Top Hat. This is my first film to use Carrara Studio with, which has helped immensely in creating the large scale digital sets I wanted, as well as generating some other effects such as the fire, and most of the backgrounds in the bluescreen shots. The animation and sound design are also much better than in my other films. I've learned a lot about animating, especially making movements smoother, and transitioning from one position to another. The surround sound feature in my editing program has played a big part in giving the sound depth and realism. Although I used this in my last film, it was hardly noticeable. To conclude, I am very pleased with how this has turned out. It's not perfect, but much better than I ever expected.
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YouTube Part 1
YouTube Part 2
RealMedia (34 MB)
Length: 00:06:30 (6 minutes, 30 seconds) Release Date: 09-21-06 (September 21st, 2006)
The Man with the Top Hat is my entry into the Brickfilms.com Fame, Infamy and Glory contest. I started it at the beginning of May 2006 and finished principle photography around the end of May. Then I sent it off to Joseph Frank (the Duke) for the music. He produced a simply amazing score that my film would be nothing without. I submitted it just two days before the deadline. When the results came in, I found that my film had placed sixth overall, which isn't bad since this is technically my first film (I finished it before Capastroid, and my montage clips don't count).
The idea for this film is not a new idea I thought up just for this. About 6 months ago, back when I was still filming at 10 fps (I hadn't yet found Brickfilms.com), I created a minifigure that had the head of the new Man with the Top Hat, a LEGO® Racers' torso, and short Yoda legs. He had a crazy servant (the Skeleton) that served him coffee all the time, and had a voice that didn't fit his looks. I proceeded to make six 2-3 minute episodes with him that were mostly comprised of freeze-frames (I didn't even know that people moved minifigures when they talked). These old films were very bumpy, had little animation, and didn't make much sense. Everyone who watched them couldn't understand any of the voices, and really didn't know what they were about. Not long after I made these, the Brickfilms' Resources page talked me into filming at 15 fps, even though I thought 10 fps looked just fine. However, the only camera I had was a cheap point and shoot digital camera that was useless for stop motion (it had no manual options, meaning that the shutter speed, aperture, focus and white balance were all decided by the camera, producing terrible shots). Realizing this, I started researching more digital cameras, ending up getting a Canon Powershot A520. The Man with the Top Hat is the first film I shot with my new camera. It is, as the title suggests, about the Man with the Top Hat, an infamous villain who has been plaguing Tompa City for years. The opening scene is a bank robbery, and the rest of the film takes place the next day, chronicling how James Marone and Zach Parker discover that Zilph Pilble, a rich businessman, is really the Man with the Top Hat. There are a few small bumps, a pretty bad microphone hiss in the background (I removed most of it, and I have since gotten a new microphone), and a few other slight issues (I am a perfectionist, so a slight issue to me probably won't be an issue to anyone else), but I am still very happy with how this film turned out.
The Man with the Top Hat is my entry into the Brickfilms.com Fame, Infamy and Glory contest. I started it at the beginning of May 2006 and finished principle photography around the end of May. Then I sent it off to Joseph Frank (the Duke) for the music. He produced a simply amazing score that my film would be nothing without. I submitted it just two days before the deadline. When the results came in, I found that my film had placed sixth overall, which isn't bad since this is technically my first film (I finished it before Capastroid, and my montage clips don't count).
The idea for this film is not a new idea I thought up just for this. About 6 months ago, back when I was still filming at 10 fps (I hadn't yet found Brickfilms.com), I created a minifigure that had the head of the new Man with the Top Hat, a LEGO® Racers' torso, and short Yoda legs. He had a crazy servant (the Skeleton) that served him coffee all the time, and had a voice that didn't fit his looks. I proceeded to make six 2-3 minute episodes with him that were mostly comprised of freeze-frames (I didn't even know that people moved minifigures when they talked). These old films were very bumpy, had little animation, and didn't make much sense. Everyone who watched them couldn't understand any of the voices, and really didn't know what they were about. Not long after I made these, the Brickfilms' Resources page talked me into filming at 15 fps, even though I thought 10 fps looked just fine. However, the only camera I had was a cheap point and shoot digital camera that was useless for stop motion (it had no manual options, meaning that the shutter speed, aperture, focus and white balance were all decided by the camera, producing terrible shots). Realizing this, I started researching more digital cameras, ending up getting a Canon Powershot A520. The Man with the Top Hat is the first film I shot with my new camera. It is, as the title suggests, about the Man with the Top Hat, an infamous villain who has been plaguing Tompa City for years. The opening scene is a bank robbery, and the rest of the film takes place the next day, chronicling how James Marone and Zach Parker discover that Zilph Pilble, a rich businessman, is really the Man with the Top Hat. There are a few small bumps, a pretty bad microphone hiss in the background (I removed most of it, and I have since gotten a new microphone), and a few other slight issues (I am a perfectionist, so a slight issue to me probably won't be an issue to anyone else), but I am still very happy with how this film turned out.
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Youtube
RealMedia (16 MB)
Length: 00:04:29 (4 minutes, 29 seconds) Release Date: 07-15-06 (July 15th, 2006)
Capastroid is my first film not to be a montage clip. The only other films I've done (my montage clips), were very short, and required no sound editing on my part (since the sound was taken from the movie). This film, on the other hand, was done entirely by me. From the time I started it to the time I finished it was just under 45 days, but I was only working on it for about a month of that time.
It takes place on the Capastroid space station, which is in orbit around some fictional blue planet in some fictional galaxy which is in some fictional universe. However, all the main characters are humans, and there are no aliens, so for all you know, the station could be in orbit of Neptune. It starts out with three scientists walking along endless white corridors, presumable heading somewhere, but what they don't know is that two enemy agents are following them. When one of the enemy agents switches places with one of the scientists and steals a chip with the power to turn someone nearly invisible, what will happen? Download Capastroid and find out.
On April 8th, 2007, the 2nd Annual BAMPA Award Nominations were announced. Capastroid received a nod for Best Animation, which came as somewhat of a surprise to me. I am honored. On June 9th, when the actual awards were held, it lost to Grace... not a surprise.
Capastroid is my first film not to be a montage clip. The only other films I've done (my montage clips), were very short, and required no sound editing on my part (since the sound was taken from the movie). This film, on the other hand, was done entirely by me. From the time I started it to the time I finished it was just under 45 days, but I was only working on it for about a month of that time.
It takes place on the Capastroid space station, which is in orbit around some fictional blue planet in some fictional galaxy which is in some fictional universe. However, all the main characters are humans, and there are no aliens, so for all you know, the station could be in orbit of Neptune. It starts out with three scientists walking along endless white corridors, presumable heading somewhere, but what they don't know is that two enemy agents are following them. When one of the enemy agents switches places with one of the scientists and steals a chip with the power to turn someone nearly invisible, what will happen? Download Capastroid and find out.
On April 8th, 2007, the 2nd Annual BAMPA Award Nominations were announced. Capastroid received a nod for Best Animation, which came as somewhat of a surprise to me. I am honored. On June 9th, when the actual awards were held, it lost to Grace... not a surprise.
DOWNLOAD / WATCH
Youtube
Windows Media (16 MB)
Length: 00:00:18 (18 seconds) Release Date: 07-12-06 (July 12th, 2006)
This montage clip is my favorite 18 seconds in all six of the Star Wars movies turned into LEGO®. I would estimate that this clip is about 60 percent CG, so what you see in it is nothing like what I filmed. Every shot had about 10 layers of effects, such as smoke, sparks, dust, lightsabers, clashes, lights, lava, backgrounds and more.
This montage clip is my favorite 18 seconds in all six of the Star Wars movies turned into LEGO®. I would estimate that this clip is about 60 percent CG, so what you see in it is nothing like what I filmed. Every shot had about 10 layers of effects, such as smoke, sparks, dust, lightsabers, clashes, lights, lava, backgrounds and more.
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Quicktime
YouTube
Length: 00:00:13 (13 seconds) Release Date: 06-15-06 (June 15th, 2006)
A short clip I made for BrickFest 2006. This took me three days to make, and it was the first film I made in After Effects. Overall, I think it turned out great, and am especially happy with how well the animation fit the sound from The Phantom Menace, but there are a few small things that bug me, such as the clay holding Darth Maul's lightsaber to his hand in the first shot.
A short clip I made for BrickFest 2006. This took me three days to make, and it was the first film I made in After Effects. Overall, I think it turned out great, and am especially happy with how well the animation fit the sound from The Phantom Menace, but there are a few small things that bug me, such as the clay holding Darth Maul's lightsaber to his hand in the first shot.
DOWNLOAD / WATCH
Quicktime
YouTube