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Topic: Brickfilm of the Week: Frankenstein (October 9, 2015)

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Our Brickfilm of the Week Horror Special continues! This week’s Brickfilm of the Week is Frankenstein by Robinson Wood.

Frankenstein is a 2005 horror brickfilm by Robinson Wood. It is an adaptation of the Mary Shelley novel of the same name and was an entry to the Heroes and Villains Contest hosted by Brickfilms.com, in which it placed first. It also was nominated for six 2005 Brickfilming Achievement in Motion Picture Arts awards, winning two.

Robinson Wood was a well-known member of the Brickfilms.com community, and is also known for Grace, System Reboot, and Melodramedy. He was active from 2003 to 2006.

Watch Frankenstein on YouTube

What are your thoughts on Frankenstein? What did you like about it? Did you have a favorite moment?

PS - Huge thanks to sillypenta for taking over for Brickfilm of the Week for September when I was busy with the Bricks in Motion documentary!

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Re: Brickfilm of the Week: Frankenstein (October 9, 2015)

This is one of my favorite brickfilms, and has been for a long while. I find it both intriguing and inspiring that he could get the creepy and slightly off-putting feel into a video of Lego pieces. Robinson's work propels my love for story and the will to keep writing.

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Re: Brickfilm of the Week: Frankenstein (October 9, 2015)

This is quite an unsettling brickfilm in places, something that's generally hard to accomplish with LEGO, so I would consider this brickfilm a triumph. I remember when I watched it for the first time; while I wouldn't say it 'scared' me, I could easily see why, as Wood put in the description, it freaked the living daylights out of some of the younger members of its audience. Very glad to see this featured!
(just saying though, I would consider Grace to be a better brickfilm, but this is still excellent)]

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Re: Brickfilm of the Week: Frankenstein (October 9, 2015)

Surprised that there isn't much discussion...

This one is such a jam. I remember watching it years ago and being actually frightened. it's one of the few Brickfilms with a really great sound design. Of course the setting and lighting added to that.

It was a great inspiration for me and I think for other Brickfilmers over the years. Glad this one DUG up...

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Re: Brickfilm of the Week: Frankenstein (October 9, 2015)

It is really well made, and I believe that it manages to remain perhaps the scariest, and darkest brickfilm ever made, in fact, most actual horror movies aren't as well made, or timeless as this. However, I feel as though the monster, although scary, doesn't look like the Frankenstein's monster you expect to see. If his left arm, for example, was flesh coloured, it would look as though he was made up of lots of different people. Other than that, it is a masterpiece and a real classic!

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Re: Brickfilm of the Week: Frankenstein (October 9, 2015)

This is a good movie kind've creepy for a brickfilm, but I don't think the Frankenstien guy at the end was scary.

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Re: Brickfilm of the Week: Frankenstein (October 9, 2015)

I hadn't seen Robinson Wood's Frankenstein until it was picked for brickfilm of the week. I had always been a big fan of Grace, even if I do prefer Nathan Well's second-place winning Beast.

However, I might just have to say that I like this film even more than Grace!

Much darker and grittier than his other uber-popular brickfilm, Frankenstein has an overall more consistent artistic style. From the dull grey sets, to the crispy-smooth animation - every frame is like a painting. While the lighting can be a little "flat" in some of the interior scenes - Wood turns around and creates a canvas like that in the shot at 2:46.

Two things are a little sub-par, however... The voice acting, specifically from the character of Victor, and the editing... At least in my opinion.

While I can perfectly understand the voice acting issue and mic quality issues - this was released in 2005, after all. However, the editing issues just seem a bit lazy to me. While I've gotten used to watching brickfilms in a box (youtube/cameras of the time is/are probably the cause of that) it appears that the widescreen letterboxing effect probably was just placed over the centered frames. While this is theoretically a safe move from an editing standpoint, it does lead to shots like at 6:49, which, at least in my opinion, should have looked more like 4:33, only pulled in closer.

However, having eyes at the bottom of the frame easily could have been a stylistic choice, given that it does make it look like Dr. Frankenstein's eyes are only barely looking over a "dark abyss" at the bottom of the screen... Either way, the shot does work in the situation even if I would prefer it a bit differently.

Overall, I think that Frankenstein is a great brickfilm. It certainly deserved first place in the Heroes and Villains contest. It's especially great to watch it around this time of year, and, I look forward to making it a yearly tradition of watching this just before Halloween. mini/smile

- Another genius stylistic statement from Robinson Wood.

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