Topic: The Brickfilm Archival Project

Fellow brickfilmers, I am happy to present my latest endeavour, the Brickfilms Archival Project.

https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5596/14557079597_629fc06dc5_o.png


For years and years, brickfilming has spread all over the internet and around the world. The brickfilming community has grown and produced hours of fun, artistic, entertaining and enjoyable brickfilms. However, as the years have gone by, past generations of brickfilmers have faded, or moved on, or completely disappeared. Luckily, most of their films have survived, but they are scattered across the internet. Before YouTube, brickfilms were hosted privately, on individual servers, tucked into personal websites. But personal websites disappear, servers go down, data gets deleted. Even YouTube videos get removed.

It is important that these brickfilms are not lost. Brickfilming may be a niche within a niche within a niche, but we are significant. We’ve been featured in newspapers, magazines, television shows, prominent news sites, even been hired by the LEGO company to promote the little plastic blocks we all love. Brickfilms get hundreds of thousands, even in some cases millions, of views on YouTube. And even the look and feel of The LEGO Movie was influenced by brickfilms. We can’t afford to lose these even one of these brickfilms.

This is why, a few months ago, I started the Brickfilms Archival Project. The Brickfilms Archival Project’s mission is to seek out the greatest, most interesting, most important brickfilms of all time, catalog them, preserve them, restore them if necessary, and share them with the world. Now I need your help.

You can check out the current catalog here. As you can see, I’ve made some progress, but I still have a long way to go. This is where you can help!

You can suggest films that should be archived here. This post will have all of the info you need to learn more about the project, and how you can contribute. Feedback and input are welcome.

See also:
FAQ
How to Look at the Catalog

Let’s go archive some brickfilms!



Current Archivists:
Nathan Wells
Zach Macias (MindGame)
END Films

Honorary Archivists:
Bert Loos (BertL)

Contributors:
END Films
Aiwha
sillypenta
SlothPaladin
WhiteDragon


The entire known work of the following creators have been archived
Jeremy Richard (studioamoi)
Zach Macias (MindGame)
Nathan Wells (Lord of the LEGO / One Brick Studios)
Tony Mines and Tim Drage (Spite Your Face)
Jonathan Hellerman and Nathanael Hellerman (Leftfield Studios)
Chris Salt (Buxton / 0ld_Scratch / Oblong Pictures)
Doug Vandergrift (cannedgravy / Vandy)
James Maduzia (JamesFM)
Stefan van Zwam (wander2 / Yellowhead Studios)

Re: The Brickfilm Archival Project

FAQ

What is the criteria for archiving a brickfilm?
The Brickfilm Archival Project is not meant to exclusionary or elitist. Brickfilming is a wide diverse pool of creativity and all types of brickfilms are welcome. The following criteria are guidelines, not rules.

Considerations for Archival:

  • Historically significant (made by an influential early brickfilmer, or important to the history of brickfilming)

  • In danger of being lost (creator hasn’t been heard from, other films by the creator have disappeared)

  • Nominated or won online brickfilm awards (Bricks in Motion Awards, its predecessors)

  • Nominated in or won a film festival (Brickcon, Bricks by the Bay, etc)

  • Ranked highly or won a brickfilm major contest (officially sponsored BiM contests, THAC, BRAWL, etc)

  • Officially sponsored/produced by the LEGO Group

  • Exemplifies artistic and technical skill in any of the following: animation, storytelling, visual design, sound design, acting.

  • Made by a significant, influential brickfilmer

Not meeting any of these guidelines does not mean a brickfilm will not be archived. Archivists use their judgement, and always lean on the side of inclusion, not exclusion. After older, more time-sensitive brickfilms are preserved, admission into the Brickfilm Archive will probably be even easier.

Hey! I don’t see [a particular brickfilm] on your list!
You can submit films to be considered for the Brickfilm Archival Project here.

Can I submit my own film?
It would be preferable if you did not.

Will the films that have been archived but are not viewable online be made available online sometime?
This is a tricky situation. Obviously it is not the intent of the Archivists to publish brickfilms without the permission of the original creators. However, in some cases, original creators simply can't be reached any more, and it would be a shame if certain brickfilms were unavailable to be viewed publicly when a copy of the brickfilm does exist, locked away on a hard drive. Therefore, this will be treated on a case by case basis. When all means of contacting the original creator have been exhausted, the brickfilm in question will be uploaded to a neutral YouTube channel maintained by the Brickfilm Archival Project. None of these brickfilms will be monetized, and the original creator will be credited fully. No watermarks or extra intros or outros will be added to the original videos: they will be presented in their original form, complete and unedited.

Why are so many films from one creator already archived, compared to only one or two films from another creator?
As the Archivists continue to archive brickfilms, sometimes it is easiest to focus on archiving the whole body of work from one particular creator at once. As more brickfilms are archived, more creators will be evenly represented.

Re: The Brickfilm Archival Project

How to look at the catalog:

Title
The title of the brickfilm as displayed in the actual film, or, if not present, the title associated with the film through the Bricks in Motion film directory, Brickfilms.com film directory, Archive.org, YouTube title, or any other method of identifying the title.

For the sake of organization, titles starting with “A”, “An”, “And” or “The” will be formatted thusly:
Magic Portal, The
Post-Halloween Extravaganza, A

If available, the English translation of the title will be used first, followed by the original language title.
Example:
Journey to the Moon (En rejse til månen)
Dance of Death (TOTENTANZ)

Creator Name
This is the full (first and last) name of the primarily creator of the film. Generally, this is only one person.
Example:
Stefan van Zwam

If multiple people are listed with distinct, separate roles, the person listed as Director or Animator goes here. If two people are listed as sharing the creator role, list both.
Example:
Tony Mines and Tim Drage

If more than two people are listed sharing the creator role, list the first person, followed by “et al”.
Example:
Hendrik Denkhaus, et al.

If the film was a community project with lots of animators, list the community project organizer and the group associated with the community.
Example:
Tom Dean and the Brickfilms.com Community
Nathan Wells and We the Brickfilmers

If the creator was known by an alias (NOT a username) but their actual name is also known, list their real name first, followed by their alias.
Example:
Jonathan Vaughan AKA Nick Durron

If the creator’s name is not known at all, use UNKNOWN.

Screen Name
This is the creator’s screen name as seen online. Screen names often change between sites. Please use the screen name from the site the creator is/was most associated with (Bricks in Motion, Brickfilms.com, YouTube, etc).

Online Link
This is the direct link to the film, if it is available online. Most links will be to YouTube. If no link is available, it will be marked UNAVAILABLE.

Status:
There are four statuses, all color coded:

  • Archived - The brickfilm has been completely archived and is currently stored on two separate hard drives.

  • Acquired - The brickfilm has been downloaded to an Archivist’s hard drive, but may need conversion or restoration.

  • Located - The brickfilm has been located, either online or on someone’s hard drive, but it has not yet been acquired by an Archivist.

  • Presumed Lost - This brickfilm did exist at some point, but no copy of it has been found yet. Always keep an eye out, though!

Length:
The runtime of the brickfilm listed in HOURS : MINUTES : SECONDS.

Quality:
There are five statuses, all color coded:

  • Highest Possible - The brickfilm is at its original resolution and image quality.

  • Low - The brickfilm is complete, but its resolution or image quality is not as high as the original. This is usually based on anecdotal evidence and the memories of the Archivists.

  • Requires Converting - The brickfilm has not yet been converted to MP4.

  • Requires Editing - The brickfilm has been altered from its original state and must be restored. The most frequent alteration is the Brickfilms.com Podcast intro.

  • Damaged - The brickfilm is partially corrupted, and currently can’t be repaired.

Year:
The year the brickfilm was made publically online, or in a festival. These years are usually listed within the video itself, but also are indicated by forum archives, film directories, and YouTube listings. Any brickfilm where no date can be found is generally assumed to predate YouTube, and therefore is given a date of “Pre-2006”.

Language:
The primary language present in the film. If the film contains no dialog, put “N/A”

Re: The Brickfilm Archival Project

I like this, but perhaps including a box for why the film deserves archiving would be a good addition to the google form.

Re: The Brickfilm Archival Project

Nathan, Thank you.  I love this.  I think that all the Joe Brickmond films should be archived, as well as Michael Hickox films.

https://vimeo.com/channels/holdingourown      http://holding-our-own.tumblr.com

"None practice tolerance less frequently than those who most loudly preach it."

Re: The Brickfilm Archival Project

Willco66 wrote:

I like this, but perhaps including a box for why the film deserves archiving would be a good addition to the google form.

Great idea! I've updated the form.

Re: The Brickfilm Archival Project

Amazing!!!!!!!! This is a great guide to some of the best brickfilm ever! mini/bigsmile

Re: The Brickfilm Archival Project

When brickfilms.com came back a few years ago they put a lot of films on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/BrickfilmsPodcast/videos

Re: The Brickfilm Archival Project

This is great stuff. Thanks for all your hard work compiling this information.

I suppose it probably falls under 'Historically Significant' but I think an interesting, specific sub-category would be to somehow spotlight 'technological-advances' or 'first-known-example-of'. Admittedly, it would be very difficult to verify the 'first' example of anything. Perhaps, instead of proclaiming to be 'first example', a more forgiving term of 'notable example' could be used. If this project progresses to a hosted website, perhaps that could be a periodic feature; much like a museum has periodic shows highlighting a specific artist, or technique.

I'm getting waaaay ahead of things here and I don't want to overshadow the great work you've done here. Thanks for making this project public.

(on a side note, is 'Brickfilms' a registered trademark? Will the name of the project bring any 'unwanted attention'?)

TCOTY Entry: The Perks of Being TCOTY
ToY Entry: Secrets of the Lost Tomb
Please visit me on the YouTubes!
Care to follow me on the Twitter?

Re: The Brickfilm Archival Project

AlNickelsFilms wrote:

(on a side note, is 'Brickfilms' a registered trademark? Will the name of the project bring any 'unwanted attention'?)

It was specifically trademarked for website names but the person who trademarked it said people are still free to use the terms brickfilm and brickfilming for videos and things about them, it just can't be used in a website name.

Re: The Brickfilm Archival Project

Update:

The entire Leftfield Studios library of films have been successfully archived! Brickfilms like The Great Disturbance, Special Deliverance, Unmasked and Abducted are now preserved.

Also, a big thank you to everyone who has been contributing and using the form to suggest brickfilms for archival. I've gotten over a dozen suggestions, and I will work hard over the next few days to follow-up on those suggestions and hopefully continue to archive. Keep the suggestions coming!

Re: The Brickfilm Archival Project

Awesome! It would be awesome to have the archival project it's own website, where people could publicly view the films. Although, I'm not sure about copyright issues......

Twitter | Instagram | YouTube Channel | Tumblr | My Weekly Film Podcast!
"For I am NOT ashamed of the Gospel of Christ" - Romans 1:16

Re: The Brickfilm Archival Project

Yeah, it would be nice for it to have a place to watch all classic brickfilms, especially those which are currently unavailable.

Perhaps there could be an archive here on BiM, maybe something that could be an add-on to the upcoming  website update...

Retribution (3rd place in BRAWL 2015)

&Smeagol      make the most of being surrounded by single, educated women your own age on a regular basis in college
AquaMorph    I dunno women are expensive

Re: The Brickfilm Archival Project

Love the idea, i have submitted a video that was very influential to the Lego Star Wars genre of brickfilming mini/smile

Re: The Brickfilm Archival Project

Nathan, I emailed you a file of Night Owl's "a Gift From the Future" (which the sheet calls "lost") to the email you gave Penta in the chat.
Also, you don't have all of Robinson Wood (Nosniborus) films. http://web.archive.org/web/200710110656 … Nosniborus

Last edited by END films (August 18, 2014 (10:14am))

Re: The Brickfilm Archival Project

Lovely idea, nominated a film from last year for this, hopefully I'll remember more brickfilms I've highly enjoyed later today to submit.

http://i.imgur.com/WAr6hHC.png
BRAWL 2013 ENTRY Quack In Time
"Why in the world did you do a weird language if you know English?" - tenny1028

Re: The Brickfilm Archival Project

I have a working copy of Fallen Part 1 here, you say your version is corrupted, I also think I have a copy of Bill Carney's Body on another computer, I'll check later.

I don't know what your 'Highest Possible Quality' is on my film 'A Night at the Pier', but I have a 856x480 version of the film (I'm not sure why it's that resolution but that was the resolution I mastered it in, who knows what went through my mind during that THAC)

Edit:
Here is Bill Carney's Body by Night Owl

Re: The Brickfilm Archival Project

I can send you Holding Our Own DVDs.

https://vimeo.com/channels/holdingourown      http://holding-our-own.tumblr.com

"None practice tolerance less frequently than those who most loudly preach it."

Re: The Brickfilm Archival Project

SlothPaladin wrote:

Edit:
Here is Bill Carney's Body by Night Owl

Bless you, SlothPaladin. I've been wanting to re-watch this for years.

Re: The Brickfilm Archival Project

You're welcome, I don't know why I don't have more of Night Owl's films I know I downloaded at least two of the missing films but I can't find them, maybe they are on my Linux box I haven't turned on in years