Bricks in Motion
We are a friendly filmmaking community devoted to the art of stop-motion animation using LEGO® and similar construction toys. Here, you can share your work, join our community of other brickfilmers, and participate in periodic animation contests!
A place to discuss, share, and create stop motion films.
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Run away as fast as you can.
Lol Imma keep that in mind. Didn't you start school for animation too, or should I take that comment as an indication of a drastic change in plans?
About to start up my second week of college. I'm studying film production at Wright State University, and I'm pretty excited, though still super freaking nervous just cause this is like a big step in life and all that crap. I'm hoping I can keep working on personal films outside of classes and working and such. I have several ideas for animations bouncing in my head, and I live in a dorm with other people in film/theater so hopefully I can get inspiration and help from those goofy gaffsters. Though being in a dorm does mean that I'm away from my setup at home, I'm only like 45 minutes away so it wouldn't be too hard to come up on some weekends.
I'm just hype for the future of me and the world of film, anyone got additional thoughts/advice?
I've just started my second year of university, and while I'm not really sure how much your situation compares to mine I can still offer a few suggestions. In my experience, my first year of university was really exciting and a fantastic learning experience, but also extremely stressful and nerve-wracking at times. Ultimately, the reason you're at college is to get your degree, learn really important stuff about your chosen subject and life in general, and to make the most of your time there. I presume you spent a fair bit of money to go to uni, so make sure you get the most out of it. Don't be afraid to sacrifice time you'd spend working on brickfilms if necessary; your priority should be to get good grades (and make friends, and not die of sleep deprivation, and other fun and exciting things).
With that said, it's still important to find time to do the things you enjoy doing. One of the mistakes I made was letting myself get swamped with work fairly early on and never really finding time to unwind or be creative. I think it's important to keep sharp creatively. When I got home for the holidays and finally had the opportunity to brickfilm, I assumed I'd be able to just pick up where I let off eight months ago, but it turned out to be a lot more difficult than that. I found it hard to develop good ideas and keep myself motivated, which is partly why I was never really able to make anything beyond a few half-written scripts this summer (well, that and a whole bunch of other stuff was going on in my life at the time). I think it'd be best to mainly focus writing and pre-production--that way, if you come up with a good idea you'll be able to keep working on it and animate it with relative ease once you have the time to do so.
I don't even see why brickfilming and your studying should necessarily be mutually exclusive. I did some live action stuff a while back, and it really improved my brickfilming skills. There's a lot of overlap between live action and animation, more than you might initially think, and it can be really helpful to apply what you've learned in one area to the other. You're going to be learning about film, after all, and animation is still a type of film. A really important thing to remember is that it's not just about what you learn, but how you apply what you've learned.
To sum it up, in my personal experience, as long as you're willing to work hard, challenge yourself and make the most of your time at university, you'll do great things. MAKE YOUR DREAMS COME TRUE.
Last edited by Mr Vertigo (September 6, 2016 (01:01am))
rioforce wrote:Run away as fast as you can.
Lol Imma keep that in mind. Didn't you start school for animation too, or should I take that comment as an indication of a drastic change in plans?
Ha, you could say that. I'm basically just trudging through first semester of community college until I figure out a new plan (terrible idea, I know).
In an actual serious answer to your original question, I'd say that the best advice for you (besides that epic advice Vertigo gave) is to not get overly stressed and discouraged. Stress and discouragement is horrible and can actually cause you physical illness, so keep that in check (speaking from experience here 
). And (yes, I'm copying Vertigo here), always have a creative outlet and a good support group of people who actually care about you (and be that support for someone else too) to help you with those stressful times. Also, keep your mind sharp and don't believe all the junk they try to brainwash you with. Use critical thinking and logic instead of blindly accepting what the college or your friends say as absolute truth. If you're unsure about stuff, do your research and compare it to other sources to form your own opinion about the issue at hand.
I'm going to have to wake up to this from now on.
Don't get lost in the tunnels.
Also, keep your mind sharp and don't believe all the junk they try to brainwash you with. Use critical thinking and logic instead of blindly accepting what the college or your friends say as absolute truth. If you're unsure about stuff, do your research and compare it to other sources to form your own opinion about the issue at hand.
If you don't mind my asking, what do you mean by "brainwashing"? In my experience, one of the most valuable parts of university is not what you learn, but how you learn. In fact, learning how to use "critical thinking and logic" is kind of the whole point of going through higher education in the first place. My profs have always encouraged me to be open-minded and think my way through a problem instead of blindly memorising and regurgitating information in the hopes that that will suffice to answer the question (it won't). And nobody has ever tried to force me to accept something as the absolute truth. In fact, one of the biggest take-aways I've had from my first year of uni is that you can't grow and develop as a person if you don't consistently push yourself and get out of your comfort zone. If your prof or teacher assigns you something that challenges you or makes you feel uncomfortable, it's most likely for a specific reason.
Mr Vertigo wrote:I'm going to have to wake up to this from now on.
Please do.
Last edited by Mr Vertigo (September 8, 2016 (12:00am))
I agree with Rioforce. Because there is an epidemic at colleges and universities at telling you WHAT to think and not HOW. A good professor will challenge your worldview; a bad one will tell you theirs is the only right one and grade you based on how your opinion matches his/hers. The greatest challenge (and goal) is to emerge from college with your ability to think independently intact.
rioforce wrote:Also, keep your mind sharp and don't believe all the junk they try to brainwash you with. Use critical thinking and logic instead of blindly accepting what the college or your friends say as absolute truth. If you're unsure about stuff, do your research and compare it to other sources to form your own opinion about the issue at hand.
If you don't mind my asking, what do you mean by "brainwashing"? In my experience, one of the most valuable parts of university is not what you learn, but how you learn. In fact, learning how to use "critical thinking and logic" is kind of the whole point of going through higher education in the first place. My profs have always encouraged me to be open-minded and think my way through a problem instead of blindly memorising and regurgitating information in the hopes that that will suffice to answer the question (it won't). And nobody has ever tried to force me to accept something as the absolute truth. In fact, one of the biggest take-aways I've had from my first year of uni is that you can't grow and develop as a person if you don't consistently push yourself and get out of your comfort zone. If your prof or teacher assigns you something that challenges you or makes you feel uncomfortable, it's most likely for a specific reason.
Well, a lot of colleges (from what I've heard and my siblings' experiences), do have the tendency to force opinions as facts, depending on the professor. The point I was trying to make is exactly what you were saying, that learning critical thinking is imperative because if you accept things blindly (and I suppose "brainwashing" wasn't really the right term to use there), you're not using your brain or college properly.
Yes, sometimes you do have to just go along with things to finish the class and make a grade, but you don't have to believe in that thing forever after that. Just know where you stand and use critical thinking to become an adult.
It really depends on the professor I guess. So far, I've got some pretty good professors so far, but I think it's just a general life thing of sifting through what's good stuff and what's not so good.
But anyways, thanks for the advice guys! I definitely need to just take a chill pill and take stuff in. Trust me, I am the friggin GOD of overstressing myself on all aspects of my life, so hopefully I can curb that a little bit. I'm gonna try to do some photography and script stuff in the mean time, I guess, get them creativities flowin'.
Don't get lost in the tunnels.
The only place Imma get lost in be the TOM HANKS CENTER FOR MOTION PICTURES EEEEEEEEEYYYYYYYYY
i keep forgetting how ohio we both are
Never Forget 9/11/2001 and 9/11/2012.
After fourteen days of no merrymaking, jolly-jiving, or even general jamboozling in celebration of Septemberfest, I'm left wondering... were we premature in declaring last year the final Septemberfest ever? We can't go back on our word- there's no reviving the holiday, as sad as we may be. However, to fill the void in my heart, I'm announcing a new community-wide celebration:
Septemberfestfest!
Septemberfestfest is an all-new original holiday held in honor of Septemberfest, and the many years it honored Watson's classic masterpiece: The Citizen of the Year. The holiday will henceforth be held every September from now to the end of time. To get in the Septemberfestfest spirit, feel free to post your favorite Septemberfest memory in this thread.
I can hear the music already...
Excuse me 
I'm a little confused about the BiM documentary.
I saw that in Kickstarter and I remember you talked about that here, but I don't know where can I get it!
Is it free or should I pay money? I can't find anything...
I've been wondering that as well. I know it was supposed to come out this year, but I can't find it on Amazon or anything.
As of yet, the documentary has only been made available to those who donated money to support it. Some time, possibly around the end of the year, it will be available to purchase on DVD for around $10. It will also be available to buy online for around the same price. An exact release date is yet to be announced!
We're aiming for a public release of the documentary, for purchase via a digital platform (to be decided) in the first quarter of 2017.
it will be available to purchase on DVD for around $10.
False. Unfortunately, physical media isn't financially practical for small movie releases. Fortunately, digital release platforms have gotten to be a great alternative. Price point is yet to be decided, although it'll be comparable to other digital releases.
It's probably best. Most people, me included will prefer an online digital release. For anyone who isn't from the US, there can be some complications with postage fees, so an online release is more accessible for everyone.
No, I'd rather have a physical DVD.
I'd take whatever is easiest to produce.
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