Brick films are animations using toys, especially bricks and characters in
the LEGO ® range.
(LEGO ® is a trademark of the LEGO Group)
The Magic Portal is generally recognized as the first "brick
film". Double click on the movie to see it at larger size. It was created
on 16mm film by Lindsay Fleay from Perth, Australia between 1985 and 1989.
Though at a film school, Lindsay says "It was made entirely outside the
curriculum with external funding. Truth be told, I was mainly studying just
to get my grubby hands on some free equipment. I had extensive support from
both the Film and Media Design schools, mainly with facilities and
equipment." You can find out all about the movie and its maker at
www.rakrent.com
Brick filming has become especially popular with the arrival of high-quality
webcams, whose images can be captured as a series of still.
The Knob is Everything is a remarkable Brick Film which had
success at Germany's FISH Festival of Fantastic Films.
Quick and Easy
In Brick Films the actors are much less trouble than live ones - no coordinating
diaries, arranging transport, supplying refreshments ... or arguments. And
if their performances leave something to be desired, who has not seen plenty
of "wooden" live actors who are just as limited? Lighting is less of a problem
than usual because actors and scenery are pretty small. There is little lip-synch
to manage. You don't need cranes, dollies, sound booms. You don't even need
a camcorder.
And it need not take forever. With cheap digital technology award-winners
can be made overnight ! Whether you want to start creating movies yourself
or entertain the kids for an afternoon, Brick Films could be the way to go.
Most people put their movies onto the web to get the widest possible audience
... check out the websites listed later on this page.
Take a look at these examples:
The Gauntletby Jay Silver from
Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada .
Its 3'18" include powerful
dramatic moods and action.
Jane's Brain by Chris Salt from
Stoke-on-Trent, England, won a
British TV contest with this
39 second song clip.
America: Outlawed by Doug
Vandegrift (Jr.) from Salt Lake City.
The first 10 minute segment of a
36 minute movie.
Tools and Techniques
Choose your stars: LEGO ® bricks and Minifigures are very
popular for this, but Mega Bloks, Best-Lock, Stikfas figures and others are
all frequently used. Sets and backgrounds can be made from items in those
toy ranges or with cardboard, wood etc. Foil-covered styrofoam of the type
used in insulating buildings is good for metallic surfaces.
Get your equipment: Most brick-filmers use webcams to capture the
images. The Logitech Quickcam Pro 9000 is popular and can be found for around
$70. Choose one which gives a full screen resolution - some older ones only
produce small pictures. (While it is possible to use digital stills cameras
the processing they do to optimise each image can create strange results
when viewing the pictures rapidly as a movie ... besides you also have the
fuss of removing the memory card and reading it into the computer. A regular
camcorder can be used when connected directly to the computer so that you
can watch it live but only take a screen-capture when each shot is ready.)
A simple microphone is helpful for recording voices and any special sound
effects you produce yourself. For most films this can be a cheap one like
the Jasco Computer Headset at around $14.
If you are reading this, then you already have the necessary computer !
For lighting a couple of 60-watt bulbs works fine in most cases.
Software: Any edit system could be used - including Apple's iMovie
and Microsoft's MovieMaker. [MovieMaker is no longer available on the MicroSoft
website but can be found
here.
] There are commercial programs for the other work too, but staying with
the no/low budget theme some suggestions for free stuff:
Monkey Jam - is a good stop-motion program which allows
you to capture, "onion-skin" (think of it as tracing), and preview short
sections of animation.
Videomach - the
free version includes 2-second banner-ads. Among other things this helps
compress files for download. (To compress files for use on YouTube see our
tutorial starting here.)
"Shooting" speed: Normal NTSC video runs at nearly 30 fps
(frames-per-second), but few animators create 30 pictures for each second
of screen time. Around 12 fps is a good starting point but 15 fps looks better.
It is acceptable for almost all motion and, of course, takes half the time
and effort that working at 30fps would do.
