Topic: BiM 2010: Avant-Garde Results!
Thank you to our judges Noodle and Night Owl. I judged too.
I know not everybody will agree with these results, but we really felt that being true to the theme of the contest was the critical component of this contest, and judged accordingly.
We have judges' comments for every entry, so if you're not in the top 20 we can PM you your comments/scores on request. Some of the scores will probably seem pretty low to you guys, but it's sort of necessary in order to differentiate between entries (it doesn't mean, for instance, that a film with a 5/10 is F-quality work!)
One more reminder:
Many thanks to our sponsors for making the contest prizes this time around some of our best ever.
Here is a list of all the entries:
Sdrawkcab (Allekto1323) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aqs250FejzE
Ye Giants of Olde (ancientbricks) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FWBSqIpTZME
Crime Stories (bodville) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=16USvlqgmNE
New Friendly (brenden17) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eWm8VH5ulKE
The Lego Movie Montage (BrickAction101) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rIwCzDq20Xc
Brick Battle (Builder Brothers) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kxLkNuasOXk
Colour (CheeseyBricks) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zUudhGJvW0s
Just me and myself (ct45211) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9GMkf90LRho
Amnesia (Darkman) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zsyicKgWol0
The Recycle Machine! (EddieHasscle) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rrwR1qTRhzQ
Metamorphosis (fallentomato) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RcmzTC_tltA
The After Life Experience (filmyguy) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VjFTbiJgNac
Phil and Nick mafia time (Fredrikomovies) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UZWDEXhBhJE
no title 17 (HausmacherFilme) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aVzxg4akAH0
T.I.N. (Jed277.tv) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4EN2Jhm5COQ
After Twenty Years (jogopocomedia) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qSKM_bY4AwQ
The Missing Piece (juggernuatpictureshw) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ocQfuOuV-GI
The Hero (Just Kidden) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qksjk3_19Kk
Home For Supper (KinzCove) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e8JRMsV-1C4
The Dark One (kitbricksto) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cR_5MuZ5BHo
Radio Death (legostudiosplus) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yHYK-yHckiE
The Lego Minifig. Head Corp. (legosword89) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GbzqOZSVpjI
Mr. Bad Frame (lgfb1film) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fk0NNSYCET0
The Magician (MindGame) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hNKkY4vwDvE
It's a Pleasure to meet you (NiceGuy1130) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iZtd57CX6Fs
The Quest of the Bricks (nate13545) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LORrqG8_JA4
Zombie: Genesis (Nick Durron) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tQW0sGkgqCI
Brick World (PeanutMaster87) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aV14IUy79BM
LEGOlogy (tbonesocrul) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gs7QEF-Tfuo
Close Call (TheOstudio) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wToz-Z9pKGs
Studless Freedom (Timothy R) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cGegmDZzJ-Q
Music (VIMStudios) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R5rantTr7v8
Odd Jobs (namchild) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f_ncqqtfhHY
The Importance of Life and Death (sabertoothedlime) http://img412.imageshack.us/i/movie0002d.mp4/
A few entries were disqualified on the basis of having been removed by the author (such that we could not watch them) or for copyright reasons:
The Dark One (kitbricksto) (copyrighted characters)
The Lego Movie Montage (BrickAction101) (copyrighted characters)
LEGOlogy (tbonesocrul) (copyrighted music)
The Recycle Machine! (EddieHasscle) (copyrighted music)
unknown (DBSstudios) (film removed)
unknown (jcharsch) (film removed)
And here are the judges' comments for the top 22 films:
Zombie: Genesis -- We felt that this entry, more than any of the others, combined technical excellence and a solid, innovative concept. The technical work here is nearly flawless, and while the concept isn't perhaps the boldest and most original idea possible, it was genuinely unexpected and the result is entertaining and unpredictable. Excellent work all around.
Mr. Bad Frame -- A very intriguing concept; the judges felt this was the best film in the competition, conceptually. Unfortunately, the execution is at times quite rough, probably due to the short time spent making the film. Still, the film is ambitious and impressive in a number of ways.
no title 17 -- While this is not a huge departure from the director's previous films, it is effectively cute and a nice homage to the style of early German experimental animations. The combination of an interesting concept and nearly flawless execution of a relatively simple style made this one of the stronger entries in the contest.
Odd Jobs -- This film was particularly innovative in the technical sense. The various kinds of environmental lighting, use of live action, and painted car designs, and other technical details were all pretty unusual and added a lot to this film's presentation and certainly qualify as an innovative way of approaching the technical side of the film. That said, the animation is quite a bit rougher than some of the other entries that rated highly in presentation. The subject matter, being a fairly literal music video, isn't especially innovative, but the visual style still earns this entry a strong placement in the contest.
Ye Giants of Olde -- Though the 3D was for the most part done well, this was not our favorite aspect of this entry. The style is simplistic in a refreshing way, with one large set and minimal post-production editing. The sets and characters are unlike anything we've seen in some time, and though this film's ending feels somewhat truncated it is still a solid entry.
The Magician -- The animation here is exceptional, but it's clear that the entry was put together in a relatively short amount of time. Editing is somewhat uneven, and the scale of the visuals doesn't quite do justice to that of the music. Nonetheless, it's a clever concept and excellent animation that made this film one of the stronger entries in the contest.
Crime Stories -- This entry was probably the most technically impressive film submitted to the contest. The camera dollies and sheer amount of action taking place in every shot is impressive; attention to detail is also high. However, we felt that while this is one of the better films to emerge from the contest, the connection to the theme was not as strong as some of the higher-ranking entries; both the concept of cops & robbers, and that of a music video, are fairly well-tread ground in brickfilming even if this does combine the two in an exciting way. An entertaining short film in its own right.
Metamorphosis -- A cool animation, though it plays off like a commercial rather than a film. Still, the level of complexity and originality entailed in this video earned it high technical marks.
Amnesia -- An interesting film that really seems to try to be different. Unfortunately, the plot is not as coherent as perhaps it could have been. Still, there are some interesting pieces of cinematography in the film, and its ambition is clear.
Colour -- This film had an intriguing concept, though it was perhaps not taken as far as it could have been. The characters' appearance seems to be the main irregularity of the film; this just wasn't enough for us to see the film as especially innovative. A solid entry nonetheless!
Studless Freedom -- A fun, cartoony concept that is refreshingly "meta" in its approach to the medium. However, technical work was fairly average and lets down the film in that respect. Still, one of the more fun concepts seen in the contest!
The After Life Experience -- Though this entry was eerily reminiscent of a number of white expanse and afterlife films that have come before, the animation and cinematography are well executed; the editing and style of the film were also notable. Congratulations on an intriguing short.
Brick Battle -- There are some nice ideas and pieces of animation in here, though in the end it does play off as one of the more common kinds of brick films, a fight scene, with a few innovations. It would have been nice if some of the moves in the video had a little more impact and speed to them, perhaps; some of the animation lacked "oomph." Good luck with your future projects!
New Friendly -- Kind of a cool concept, but it just wasn't taken very far. The somewhat underwhelming music choice didn't help it much, either. Perhaps with a little more time and a better music selection this could have been a stronger film, though it was a neat idea nonetheless. Good luck with your future projects!
Sdrawkcab -- An ambitious, Memento-esque concept that work fairly well though the technical work and storytelling leave some room for improvement. Kudos for trying to do something new. Good luck with your future projects!
Just me and myself -- Some of the effects work and visuals in this are really interesting, though it all goes by a little too quickly to enjoy in some ways. Would love to see what could have been done with a little more time spent on the entry. Good luck with your future projects!
It's a Pleasure to meet you -- The pencil animation is cool, but in the end there wasn't really a lot to this entry. Still, nice job of doing something a little different. Good luck with your future projects!
The Hero -- Kudos for making a fairly long, ambitious western. This was entertaining but in most ways did feel like sort of a parody of westerns, with little in the way of "Avant-Garde" innovations. A good effort, however; good luck with your future projects!
The Quest for the Bricks -- A pretty cool concept, though the execution leaves room for improvement. The idea of a continuous shot was nice, and the effect of objects moving past the minifigure was creative. Good luck with your future projects!
Home for Supper -- It definitely shows that this was put together very quickly. The concept is interesting and some of the visual ideas are cool but it's just not polished enough to be effective. Also the subject matter isn't really ideal for this contest. Good luck with your future projects!
Brick World -- There were some nice ideas in here, but it did feel like kind of a series of random events. Remember, Avant-Garde doesn't just mean weird and incomprehensible. Good luck with your future projects!
After Twenty Years -- Though there are some interesting visuals and ideas in this entry, it ended up being somewhat tough to follow, and the film didn't really fit the theme all that well in our minds. Still, kudos for trying new things. Good luck with your future projects!
Thank you to everyone who helped make this contest a success!
-Sméagol