A brickfilm is any film made using LEGO bricks, Mega Bloks bricks, or other similar plastic construction toys. “Moving picture” redirects here. ... Lego Group logo. ... Mega Bloks building blocks (above) are compatible with LEGO interlocking building blocks. ...

Production techniques

In most cases, brickfilms are made using stop motion animation techniques, but other forms of film production are also used, such as computer-generated imagery, Macromedia Flash, or live action. Brickfilms also usually utilize the art of MOC (My Own Creation) development, giving each film a different feel depending on individual building styles. Stop motion is an animation technique which makes things that are static appear to be moving. ... Computer-generated imagery (commonly abbreviated as CGI) is the application of the field of computer graphics (or more specifically, 3D computer graphics) to special effects in films, television programs, commercials, simulators and simulation generally, and printed media. ... // == Macromedia Flash == ==]] Using Macromedia Flash 8 (bundled in Studio 8) in Windows XP. Maintainer: Adobe Systems (formerly Macromedia) Latest release: 8 / September 30th, 2005 OS: Windows (no native Windows XP Professional x64 Edition support), Mac OS X, Linux (i386 only, via wine [1]) Use: Multimedia Content Creator License: Proprietary Website... In film and video, live action refers to works that are acted out by flesh-and-blood actors, as opposed to animation. ... A MOC (or My Own Creation), is a specialized term given to custom designs built by individuals utilizing the popular Lego bricks. ...

For brickfilmers, the most common approach is to use the minifigure as an actor against a set or a backdrop made from bricks. While limited in their range of movement and expression, many brickfilmers still manage to get a wide variety of emotions from their minifig actors. Some films, such as Marc Beurteaux's "Robota" and David Pagano's "Little Guys!" are unique in that the characters featured are not minifigures but are in fact larger-scale models made out of bricks. Space, Castle, and Town minifigures Minifigures are small, plastic figural toys produced by Danish toy manufacturer Lego, which are usually sold with Lego sets, as characters intended to populate modular Lego environments. ...

Content

Many brickfilms are spoofs of scenes from famous movies or books, while others feature completely original stories. The majority of brickfilms tend to be comedies, perhaps due to the innate happiness of the smiley-faced LEGO minifigure. However, some brickfilms have managed to break out of the mold and successfully present dramatic tales. In contemporary usage, a parody (or lampoon) is a work that imitates another work in order to ridicule, ironically comment on, or poke some affectionate fun at the work itself, the subject of the work, the author or fictional voice of the parody, or another subject. ...

Example of an amateur brickfilm.

Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ...

History

The Magic Portal

To date, the oldest known example of a fan-made stop-motion is "The Magic Portal." It was made by Lindsay Fleay between 1985 and 1989 on a budget of $11,745. Shot on 16mm film, it is 16 minutes long and features a combination of 12 and 24 frames per second. [1] (Redirected from 16mm film) 16mm film was initially created in the 1920s as an inexpensive amateur alternative to the conventional 35 mm film format. ...

Sport LEGO

LEGO Group's earliest known foray into stop-motion was "Sport LEGO", an official LEGO compilation. Produced by Vianco Studio in Budapest, this collection of 7 shorts has since been released under many different titles:

• LEGO Sport Films (1987)^{[verification needed]}
• LEGO Stories (1989)^[1]
• LEGO Sport Champions" (1994^{[citation needed]}, 2005^[2])
• "Sport News: The Olympic LEGO Games" (1996)^[3]
• "LEGO Action Fun" (1998)^[4]

Edward and Friends

1987 also saw the premiere of "Edward and Friends," a series of 5-minute stop-motion shorts based on the LEGO Fabuland line of toys. The episodes may not have been true brickfilms -- the characters were stop-motion puppets made to resemble their LEGO counterparts -- but the series was another milestone in the LEGO Company's involvement in motion pictures. Edward and Friends also known as Fabuland was a childrens TV series in puppet animation from FilmFair that aired on British and Canadian television in 1986. ... FABULAND was a line of LEGO toys with fable animal figures, and whose packages were printed with comic strips that told the stories of those animal characters. ...

Brickfilming Contests

In 1999, LEGO held the "LEGO Maniac's Coolest Home Video Contest," which encouraged LEGO fans to send in their own homemade brickfilms. The 3 winners and all of the finalists were announced in Spring of 2000, and were subsequently featured on a tape that was screened in LEGOLAND, CA for a time.

In the Fall of 2000, the brickfilming took off when the LEGO company released "LEGO Studios," a set containing bricks, backdrops, a book and a computer application for making stop-motion LEGO movies. Also included was a small USB web cam that had the traditional LEGO studs and tubes on it, making for easy integration into a LEGO movie setup. To coincide with this release, the LEGO company held a second brickfilming contest, and in the Spring of 2001, the LEGO Movie Making Awards took place at Planet Hollywood in New York City. Lego Group logo. ... LEGO Studios was a popular brand of LEGO toys released in the early-2000s and mainly focused on movie-making and the steps thereof. ... A web camera (or webcam) is a real time camera whose images can be accessed using the World Wide Web, instant messaging, or a PC video calling application. ...

A third official LEGO contest, this time with a Star Wars theme, was announced in the May-June 2007 issue of LEGO Magazine. Very few details about the contest and how to enter were given. However, a recent press release confirms that the "LEGO Star Wars Movie Making Contest" will be held in the Summer of 2007. Recently, the details of the contest were revealed. There are three age categories: 12 and under, 13-17, and 18 and up. Entries will be limited to 3 minutes long and are being accepted until July 28, 2007. The rules state that entries can only contain sets from the 2007 Lego Star Wars line.^[5][6]

Popular Brickfilms

Some of the most well-known brickfilms include

• The Han Solo Affair, made by Spite Your Face Productions, officially commissioned by the LEGO Group, and licensed by LucasFilm.
• Monty Python and the Holy Grail, included with the collectors' edition DVD of the live-action film of the same name, also by Spite Your Face.
• The Peril of Doc Ock, another Spite Your Face production commissioned by the LEGO Group to coincide with the release of Spider-Man 2.

The following films were made by unknown animators and released to promote the LEGO Studios product: Spite Your Face Productions, or SYF, is an animation production company based in London, England. ... Lego Group is a family-owned company, based in Billund, Denmark and best known for the manufacture of Lego-brand toys. ... Lucasfilm Ltd. ... Size comparison: A 12 cm Sony DVD+RW and a 19 cm Dixon Ticonderoga pencil. ... Monty Python and the Holy Grail is a 1975 film written and performed by the comedy group Monty Python (Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle, Terry Jones and Michael Palin), and directed by Gilliam and Jones. ... Spider-Man 2 is a 2004 superhero film directed by Sam Raimi, written by Alvin Sargent and developed by Alfred Gough, Miles Millar, David Koepp and Michael Chabon. ... LEGO Studios was a popular brand of LEGO toys released in the early-2000s and mainly focused on movie-making and the steps thereof. ...

• Jewel Quest
• Jurassic Bark
• Untitled Jaws Spoof
• Dino Cop

Fell In Love With A Girl

A somewhat different approach to brickfilming was used by Michel Gondry in his video for The White Stripes' "Fell in Love with a Girl". This had no tridimensionality or figurines, instead using only flat surfaces of the LEGO bricks themselves, creating an illusion of motion in much the same way that the pixels of a TV screen or computer monitor function. To achieve this effect, live action video was processed by a computer program, which converted each video frame into LEGO building instructions. The animators then had to build and shoot each frame of the nearly 2 minute long video. LEGO.com article about the video Michel Gondry, 2005 Michel Gondry, born May 8, 1963 (1964 according to some sources), is a French Academy Award winning screenwriter, film, commercial, and music video director noted for his inventive visual style and manipulation of mise en scène. ... Fell in Love with a Girl is the second single released from The White Stripes third album White Blood Cells. ...

Brickfilms.com

Brickfilms LLC hosts the web site http://www.brickfilms.com, devoted entirely to brickfilms. It has its own forum, chat room, and a directory where users can post links to their own brickfilms. Brickfilms LLC is mostly known for its website Brickfilms. ...

Contests

From time to time, Brickfilms holds a contest with the help of brickfest. Some past contests have included: ... BrickFest is a convention for Adult Fans of LEGO® (AFOL). ...

• 10 Brick Contest
• A Peculiar Event Contest
• The Classical Movie Contest
• Fame, Infamy, and Glory
• Heroes and Villians Contest
• Ten Lines Contest
• 24-Hour Animation Contest
• Words of Wisdom Contest

Notes and references

1. ^ LEGO Stories Video Brickshelf.com. URL accessed on 25 May 2007.
2. ^ FilmWest.com. Currently available on DVDor VHS. The DVD version is not just a straight digitization of the VHS, it was taken from a 3/4 inch U-Matic, which was taken from the original film master.
3. ^ LEGO Stories video Brickfilms.com. URL accessed on 25 May 2007.
4. ^ Amazon.co.uk Product listing Amazon.co.uk. URL accessed on 25 May 2007.
5. ^ LEGO Systems Unveils Programs to Celebrate 30 Years of Star Wars™ at Fan Celebration IV actionfigureinsider.com. URL accessed on 25 May 2007.
6. ^ LSW Movie Making Contest Official Site . URL accessed on 15 July 2007.

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Related Links

• Lego.com Official LEGO directory of brickfilms
• Brickfilms.com
• A Brickfilms-themed WIKI
• Chamberlin Productions' short PDF entitled, "What's Brickfilming and How Do I Do It?"
• Brickfest
• A brickfilm about a very popular "danscotheek" in Gavere, Flanders, Belgium.
• It's a popular jumpsong animated with Lego. The song is 'Jeckyll & Hide - Frozen Flame'.