The LEGO Movie Title Sequence

A rather brilliant interview was shared on The Brothers Brick this morning about the process behind the closing credits of The LEGO Movie.

I didn't realize that the credits were done with actual LEGO using stop motion animation (rather that CGI, which is how the rest of the movie was made). I definitely suggest checking out the interview with Creative Director Brian Mah, VFX Supervisor James Anderson, and Executive Producer Kathy Kelehan of Alma Mater. 

Here's a link to the article, which was posted by Art of the Title:
 http://www.artofthetitle.com/title/the-lego-movie/#

One part of the interview that made me very happy was the fact that they actually used Lego Digital Designer-- the same program I'm using-- to create the micro scale settings for the title sequence!

Brian Mah's description of LDD:

A screenshot of some recent progress on the school design,
which is, of course being done on Lego Digital Designer

" It’s a free program that anyone can download online and it played a huge part in our design process. It’s like a user-friendly CAD program for building with Legos. It was originally created so that people could virtually build an object, then export a shopping list of which parts they needed to order to build it in real life. Once you get the hang of it, it’s a really fun program to use! It’s very realistic — everything you build literally has to be created the way you would build it in real life, brick by brick. It won’t allow you to put pieces together that won’t connect in reality. This made it a double-edged sword, in a way. "

Many interesting topics are discussed in the interview, from details in the design process to the animation and even the music! 

I highly recommend giving it a read. 

The LEGO Movie- my review!

by Milo Krimstein

As a kid, making strop-motion movies with LEGO bricks was my second favorite thing to do, behind only building LEGO. The movies were often short, nonsensical, and poorly animated, but the process of making the film with my friend was where the real fun always was. You can view our YouTube page here. When I heard that the LEGO movie was being made, I knew I would see it as soon as I could.

So, the other day I saw The LEGO Movie, and I'm pleased to say that it exceeded my initial expectations and lived up to the high praise I had heard from everybody who had seen it before me.

Lincoln, Superman and
Lady Liberty

Watching the trailers before the movie started, I really realized that kids movies have become incredibly The LEGO Movie really breaks the mold, using wit, outstanding animation, strong voice actors and an overall theme of, well... being creative.
generic, as animation style and plots are almost identical nowadays.

Although it wasn't made using stop-motion animation (it would be too difficult to pull off, seeing as LEGOs are so small) the movements were very true to plastic mini figs, and just about the entire film is made entirely out of lego. (I mean EVERYTHING... the water, the backgrounds, the sky, everything is realistically depicted as being made from individual bricks.)

Making a movie based on a toy has been done before, and it is understandably a shaky subject matter for feature films to revolve around. LEGO is unique because unlike GI Joe or Transformers, LEGO products aren't entirely focused on story lines, but rather construction, creativity, and craft as much as (or more than) characters. Of course, LEGO has licensed products all over the place, so there are plentiful characters from the history of the LEGO universe, which is a lot of fun.* The way the movie was made to respect the uniqueness of LEGO, and it does so in many creative and efficient ways.

It's clearly very hard to produce a movie that appeals to both kids and adults, but if I had to choose one thing that kids and adults both adore, it would clearly be LEGO. Right from the beginning, the movie is packed full of busy LEGO environments and quick dialogue. It was a bit difficult to digest exactly what was happening at the beginning, but I quickly got adjusted to the fast, almost sugar-rush pace of the film. Just like the LEGO characters (and Emmet's head in one particular scene), my head was spinning. Not a single second is wasted by Phil Lord and Christopher Miller, as visual gags and energetically animated LEGO characters clutter the screen. While a part of me was a little bit uncomfortable with the rapid pace of The LEGO Movie, towards the end (I won't spoil anything) it becomes clear that the movie just wouldn't work without the constant stream of action, silliness and colorful characters and settings. After all, it is a kid's movie.

As a LEGO fan, I loved this movie because of how much homage it pays to LEGO's history and culture. I loved how the LEGO construction workers used builder's slang as they constructed skyscrapers brick-by-brick in an opening scene. "I need a one by four brick! Four by six grey plate needed over here!" These are things you could hear actual LEGO builders saying, so I thought it was pretty awesome.

I wonder if we will ever see a Minecraft movie? I figure that is a "toy" that has a similar potential as the LEGO movie.

This movie is not only a must-see for anybody (regardless of age) who considers them a LEGO fan, but for anybody who would like to see how the inventive minds of Chris Miller and Phil Lord have essentially pushed the genre of kids movies forwards.

Overall, I would give the LEGO Movie two "lego-claws" up... because lego men don't have thumbs.

*I noticed in the LEGO Movie that there are DC characters but not Marvel characters. This is obviously due to a licensing things, but seeing as they've already reached a deal on the sequel, I would hope to see Spidey and Wolverine in the next LEGO flick.

LEGO SUPER BOWL XLVIII

If you haven't figured it out from my LEGO Stadiums, I'm a big fan of sports. Baseball and football are my two favorites to follow (and play), so my jaw dropped when I came across this video depicting the Seahawks thrashing the Broncos LEGO-style:

I used to love to do LEGO stop motion animation, but my videos weren't really too great. However, making LEGO movies is a fond part of my childhood, which is why I loved this video and also why I'm totally looking forward to seeing The LEGO Movie on friday!

I was rooting for neither the Seahawks nor Broncos (I'm a Jets fan, so if anything I was rooting for the stadium), but I was hoping for an entertaining and competitive game.



So I guess you could say my "team" lost.

My Love for Lego (A short essay)

I remember being maybe four of five years old and spending my days either napping or building puzzles. When I finished a puzzle, I had a signature celebration: the puzzle dance. I would jump up and down and wiggle my little arms and celebrate my success. There was something I loved about figuring out where everything had to go, putting it all together, and being able to enjoy (and dance around) the finished product.

Constructing things has always felt very natural to me. When I was introduced to Lego blocks, they quickly became my passion. Legos have dominated my life ever since. All of my friends loved Lego too, but they spent their time playing with completed kits when all I wanted to do was build. Sometimes I would even take the assembled kits apart and build them again.

Lego building became my main form of expression, and it has always been my favorite activity. When all of my friends stopped playing with their Legos, I kept on creating. The beauty of Lego is its infinite capabilities. Often times throughout my childhood I would see an everyday object and my brain would naturally race to figure out how exactly I would recreate whatever I was looking at in Lego. I strongly believe that no matter what the object, anything can be built out of Lego.

Legos have also stuck with me through tough times. When my family moved from New York City to Evanston, Illinois, gaining access to a Lego collection which had been in storage for years was the silver lining to an overall lousy experience. I didn’t know anybody or anything in the midwest, so I turned to my Lego collection and nine months later, I had a completed Lego Wrigley Field in my bedroom that measured almost three feet square.

Every jigsaw puzzle has a set finished product. After putting all the pieces where they need to go, you see exactly what was on the box when you bought the puzzle. There are only so many kinds of Lego bricks, so in many ways building lego is like solving a puzzle without a set finished product. There are no limits, no restrictions, and endless possibilities for creativity. And in case you were wondering, no; I don’t dance around my Lego creations.

The Cult of LEGO- (Review)

So the other day I picked up a book I've been looking forward to reading for a while, which is The Cult of LEGO by John Baichtal and Joe Meno.

The large, hardcover book is visually striking, with the simple title displayed in bold black letters and the iconic, smiling LEGO spaceman adorning the front cover.

The purpose of the book is similar to the purpose of my project, which is why I was initially so interested in buying and reading it. The authors explore the phenomenon that is LEGO, and prove its cultural significance throughout the chapters.

Even for somebody with a lot of knowledge about LEGO, like myself, there was still a lot in this book that I learned and was interested in reading. The chapters are neatly organized and I would say just about every angle of LEGO is covered, from the history to it's wide usage among adults, to the different kinds of models people make and even LEGO's therapeutic affect on children who suffer from autism.

Fortunately and unfortunately, LEGO is an enormous field and I couldn't help feeling that despite the amount of information that was in the book, there was still a lot left out. However, I understand that they can only pack so much in, especially considering that graphics and pictures are given a lot more emphasis in the layout than the information. The design of the chapters are bold, colorful and visually pleasing. In sections such as "architectural renditions," there were only a few pages that had maybe 7 or 8 architectural LEGO models. In my opinion, there are so many amazing models out there, the book could have benefited from a bunch more. But on the other hand, if this book had everything in it the way that I want, it would be no different from clicking through LEGO galleries on Flickr, Brickshelf or Mocpages.

Overall, The Cult of LEGO is more of a tribute to LEGO than a thorough investigation. The interviews are interesting, and I think the books does basically what I would like to do through my project, which is to shed light on the many possibilities of LEGO. Anybody who is unfamiliar with LEGO or who doubts its potential beyond being a toy should definitely take a look at this book.