Topic: BrickFilm Cinematic Universe: Story thread
Well, I think the Character Collection has been going for long enough now. Time to move onto the stories!
If you haven't read the original thread or the Character Collection thread, I'd recommend doing so before continuing.
I've made a list of how I personally would approach the first wave of BFCU animations. I've filled it with examples to give y'all an idea of kind of what I mean. The list is as follows:
At least one space video. Since there are so many very different space themes, we could have a couple to start with. It could be really zany, like Space Police or Ice Planet, or something Earth-level, like a Moon mission or Alien Conquest. Perhaps see Nick Durron's Abduction series for inspiration.
A castle video. Either just warring kingdoms, or including the crazy skeleton or troll warriors from recent years. I know some people have been saying that they don't have one or the other - this doesn't by any means have to be limited to one of the actual Castle or Kingdoms theme - just built your factions and make a story for them. I'm going to include vikings and the old ninja/fuedal Japan sets in this category as well.
Taken by Sonjira: An adventurers video. Johnny Thunder, Pharoah's Quest, or something new. Doesn't need to have a supernatural twist, but it can if you like. Don't just do an Indiana Jones riff, though. Mobdeli's Egyptian Holiday is a great example of an explorers film that has a lot of heart to it.
A spy video. Most likely Alpha Team or Agents - something that is definitely ground-level and modern day. Lots of people have expressed interest in superheroes as well, so I'm going to include them in this category, since all the old Agents and Alpha Team villains belong in Silver Age comic books anyway. I think a few people have ideas for a film in this category already. Fast Hot Plastic is an amazing Agents example, and it's such a shame L.G. Orlando deleted his account.
Taken by FlyingMinifig and Squid: A high-fantasy video. This could be something classical, like Greek or Roman myth (the Collectible Minifigure series has a bit of a fixation on ancient Greek gods and monsters), it could be a Tolkien-esque Nordic romp, with elves and dragons and ogres, or it could be something based in Chima or Ninjago (yes, I would class them as high fantasy). JonnDthunDer's Perpetual Twilight and Squid's The Lost Invention are really good examples of high fantasy brickfilms.
One additional theme, which could be anything from Racers to Pirates to Dino. This is the category for everything else that doesn't fit into another category, so every other LEGO theme or every new theme that we make.
Now, this is just a guideline, but for Phase One of the BFCU, I'd imagine that we should try to only have one of each (with the exception of the Space category, and possibly the final 'anything goes' category). That way, we're not biting off more than we can chew, but we're still getting a wide variety of brickfilms out there.
Once we have our 7 or 8 films planned, it'll be business as usual for the animators, and once we've sorted out the stories we can start allocating brickfilmers to them. By business as usual, I mean that you'll go away and make the film as you would any other. The only difference is that we might have established someone else's characters in it, or you might have someone working with you on a script.
So, the idea now is that people can start posting their ideas for stories into comments on this thread. Please state:
Which category it falls into.
If you have any of the characters in the collection thread in mind to appear (either as main characters or as cameos).
If you think any brickfilmers would be good for this film.
I would also appreciate it if people could comment on other peoples' story ideas, and say if they're willing to script/co-script or animate it.
If anyone has any new ideas or objections, please voice them in a comment below. I really want us to get cracking with this project, as the sooner we get started, the sooner we can get something uploaded!
On another note, the BFCU needs a logo. I was going to whip something up in Photoshop, but could anyone make a CG one? Maybe brick-built? If nobody can/wants to/has the time (which I totally understand) then I'll go back to Photoshop.
Thanks all,
-Jam Pot
Last edited by jampot (September 15, 2013 (12:37am))