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Bricks in Motion
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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Okay, it took me two watches, but I get it now. Your films are always pretty, but this one is also a really clever film, I see what you meant about it being driven by sound design. Those billboards look amazing (although I suppose that's to be expected from a graphic designer 
).
Also, did I catch a Latin joke on the last billboard, in the lower left corner?
The level of subtle storytelling is far beyond that of almost any brickfilm I can think of, really nice job. 
I enjoyed the amount of interpretation you left up to the viewer, the billboards both look nice and foretell what I presumed the ending to be.
I love the design of the billboards and sets, especially the micro-scale city. The sound design was really effective too. The message is subtle and well-executed.
I love how the seemingly innocuous billboards begin to become more and more threatening as they convey their message.
I echo everyone else's sentiments on this film. So intriguing! The execution is just fantastic!
This was impressive. It seems really clever and artistic. I'm having trouble telling how this fits with the theme, though.
Unfortunately, though, I mistakenly went into this assuming that it was probably a comedy film. As it went on showing the signs I thought that they were supposed to be little jokes which would all then amount to some extra funny punchline or that the sings were just an introduction and then we'd move on to a little skit betwixt the worker and a second character. And then suddenly things get messed up and I realize oops I've had everything wrong.
The signs did go by a little fast, though. I had trouble reading them properly. When I re-watched I had to pause to make sure I could read everything.
Simply put, amazing job!
Great sound, great sets, wonderfully subtle way to present that subject matter. I love the opening shot and the animation of the roadside as the car goes by.
Well done.
I don't get it - but that's okay. I don't get most things. 
SPOILERS IN THIS WHOLE POST
Thank you everyone for your comments!
Okay, it took me two watches, but I get it now. Your films are always pretty, but this one is also a really clever film, I see what you meant about it being driven by sound design. Those billboards look amazing (although I suppose that's to be expected from a graphic designer
Spoiler (click to read)
Also, did I catch a Latin joke on the last billboard, in the lower left corner?
The level of subtle storytelling is far beyond that of almost any brickfilm I can think of, really nice job.
With each new film I make, I want to try something new. This was my first attempt at storytelling without any dialog at all. Also, because my time was limited, I had to really streamline and simplify the animation in this film. In fact, most of the film is technically made up of still frames, but my goal was to have the sound design keep the frames feeling alive.
Good catch with the Malus joke! It actually works perfectly as a double-meaning, too. In fact, every billboard except for the Feel Great billboard at the start includes a death-related foreshadowing joke beyond the obvious main text.
I enjoyed the amount of interpretation you left up to the viewer, the billboards both look nice and foretell what I presumed the ending to be.
I've enjoyed seeing people's theories here and on YouTube on what exactly happened in the film. That was one of my goals when making this film and I feared it wouldn't come across. I'm happy it did.
I love the design of the billboards and sets, especially the micro-scale city. The sound design was really effective too. The message is subtle and well-executed.
Spoiler (click to read)
I love how the seemingly innocuous billboards begin to become more and more threatening as they convey their message.
It was quite challenging to craft the messages on the billboards so they would convey the message but not be too blatant about it. A early draft of the McCormick real estate board featured the tagline "We DESTROY the competition." Also, the Cypress Airlines ad used to be a online tech security ad with the tagline "Who's watching you?"
I echo everyone else's sentiments on this film. So intriguing! The execution is just fantastic!
The first night I was editing the film, I thought I had made a mistake. I wasn't sure if anything was coming together or if the story made sense at all. But after sleeping on it and spending a whole editing session on sound design and tweaking the timing of shots by sometimes only a single frame at a time, it clicked. I know that if I hadn't spent the extra day pre-planning this film with scripting, storyboarding and careful design of the billboards, plus two days at the end to edit, this film would have fallen apart.
This was impressive. It seems really clever and artistic. I'm having trouble telling how this fits with the theme, though.
I always play a bit fast and loose with the theme when it comes to contests, but I'd argue "Development" is used two ways in this film:
Firstly, almost all of the imagery features tools, structures or services related to development, from the construction equipment in the opening shots, to the ads about real estate and transportation, to billboards and skyscrapers, symbols of an advanced and developed modern urban society. Everywhere at the start of the film are things that build up or develop. At the end, those same things are getting destroyed.
Secondly, in Blinders, the story develops in an unexpected way. It starts off as a meandering, aimless observation of a man going about his job, before taking an surprising turn about halfway through the film, and then ending suddenly and ambiguously.
Unfortunately, though, I mistakenly went into this assuming that it was probably a comedy film. As it went on showing the signs I thought that they were supposed to be little jokes which would all then amount to some extra funny punchline or that the sings were just an introduction and then we'd move on to a little skit betwixt the worker and a second character. And then suddenly things get messed up and I realize oops I've had everything wrong.
This brings me to an interesting consideration (and not meant to be directly at you, Squid): is this mistaken the assumption the fault of the viewer, who had false preconceived expectations, or the fault of the filmmaker, who perhaps should have warned about the content of the film?
I feel it is no one's fault. I intentionally kept the nature of this film in the dark, because I wanted the grab the viewers by as much surprise as possible the moment the billboard man dips down and the smoking skyscrapers are seen. Sometimes I feel content warnings are annoying spoilers in themselves. It's unfortunate that you were so thrown off when first watching the film. But your reaction of "oops I've had everything wrong" is actually exactly the reaction I was seeking.
The signs did go by a little fast, though. I had trouble reading them properly. When I re-watched I had to pause to make sure I could read everything.
It was a tough balance, and perhaps some of the signs could have been shown for longer. But I didn't really feel the viewer needed to read every part of every sign. Instead, I was hoping viewers would first see the obvious message during the first viewing, and then uncover the underlining messages on encore viewings. This film was definitely designed to be viewed multiple times.
Simply put, amazing job!
Great sound, great sets, wonderfully subtle way to present that subject matter. I love the opening shot and the animation of the roadside as the car goes by.
Well done.
That scattering trash was the first thing I animated - and the hardest. It took several tries to get the feeling of weight but still weightless that most trash scattering in the wind has. Also, the first time I animated the trash kinda just glided along the road instead of stopping, and the second time I tried the trash came to too much of an abrupt stop.
I don't get it - but that's okay. I don't get most things.
Don't feel pressure to "get it." There isn't some deep hidden message buried in this film. It's just a little more layered than most of my other films.
It's visually impressive, but I still don't know the answer to the deep and underlying meaning of your entry. Here are some clues:
The airline logo looks sort of like 9-11, and how it could be a dark joke that something like that would be on an airline ad. Then there are blurry silhouettes of VFX planes in the background. My guess is that it's an offscreen terrorist attack, and I think the "RUN" billboard with the Latin word in the corner is a big hint, but I return to being totally lost once the smoke flows into the scene.
It's chillingly haunting, and it's a real puzzler. But, we need more brickfilms like this, Nathan. More brickfilms that make the viewers think. Awesome job, dude. And, I congratulate you on your first-place win.
Last edited by Mickey (August 2, 2014 (05:39pm))
The more I watch this brickfilm the more I like it. its extremely subtle.
One thing that I think would have made this a bit better is if
over time, things start to fall apart. For example: when you see the first billboard, everything is all shiny and new. Then, every time you cut to a new billboard being made, things could start to look more and more aged and faded. By the time you put the "RUN" billboard up, there could be trash all over the place, graffiti on the walls, smog in the background, police sirens going off, the lights on the billboard could be broken/missing/flickering/etc.
of course, that might kill the subtlety you might have been going for, or lead people to think they are supposed to be paying attention to something else.
Congratulations on first place!
Congrats on first place. I really like this film, even if I don't entirely get the meaning of it in its entirety I'll keep watching until I do, because I love brickfilms that go for this kind of thing.
As people have said, I'd love to see more brickfilms like that, ones with actual subtlety and nuance to make people think. Somewhat short but very sweet.
Congratulations on winning! This film was great, and I loved the concept.
This is a great entry. The interpretation of the theme is interesting, the sets and billboards are awesome, the animation has a nice look to it, and the atmosphere you made with the sound and visuals is perfect.
Thank you! The atmosphere of the film was what I really wanted to focus on, and I'm glad it came across. Almost all of that is thanks to spending two of my seven days on sound design. This is actually why the animation is some of the simplest I've done: I knew I wanted to focus more on sound design.
It's visually impressive, but I still don't know the answer to the deep and underlying meaning of your entry. Here are some clues:
Spoiler (click to read)
The airline logo looks sort of like 9-11, and how it could be a dark joke that something like that would be on an airline ad. Then there are blurry silhouettes of VFX planes in the background. My guess is that it's an offscreen terrorist attack, and I think the "RUN" billboard with the Latin word in the corner is a big hint, but I return to being totally lost once the smoke flows into the scene.
It's chillingly haunting, and it's a real puzzler. But, we need more brickfilms like this, Nathan. More brickfilms that make the viewers think. Awesome job, dude. And, I congratulate you on your first-place win.
I intentionally left what exactly happened vague, though I did put in several visual clues to guide the audience. You've picked up on most of them, though while I did put a lot of work into including hints and double-meanings in the billboards, the airplane logo and similarities to the numbers 9-11 was unintentional. Other imagery was absolutely intentional, though.
The more I watch this brickfilm the more I like it. its extremely subtle.
One thing that I think would have made this a bit better is if
Spoiler (click to read)
over time, things start to fall apart. For example: when you see the first billboard, everything is all shiny and new. Then, every time you cut to a new billboard being made, things could start to look more and more aged and faded. By the time you put the "RUN" billboard up, there could be trash all over the place, graffiti on the walls, smog in the background, police sirens going off, the lights on the billboard could be broken/missing/flickering/etc.
of course, that might kill the subtlety you might have been going for, or lead people to think they are supposed to be paying attention to something else.
Congratulations on first place!
When I was originally conceiving Blinders, I wanted to set the film in the early evening, as the sun was setting. The sky would be a nice, warm, comforting orange, with fluffy clouds, and would eventually morph into a blood-red sky with nasty-looking stormclouds. I actually spent several hours trying to accomplish this, but I realized attempting to achieve such complex lighting under a very limited timeframe was a bad idea. I think this sunset lighting progression is similar to your idea about showing decay. I'm not sure if increasing the decay would have worked for what I wanted. I'd be worried people would interpret it too literally and assume a lot of time has somehow passed. But it's an interesting idea and a cool way of potentially trying things differently. Also, I did hint at decay at the beginning of the film, with the trash in the road, and the blinking caution sign with the missing pixels.
Congrats on first place. I really like this film, even if I don't entirely get the meaning of it in its entirety I'll keep watching until I do, because I love brickfilms that go for this kind of thing.
As people have said, I'd love to see more brickfilms like that, ones with actual subtlety and nuance to make people think. Somewhat short but very sweet.
I'd urge you not to feel pressured to understand the "correct" interpretation this film. Whatever conclusion you come to is a valid interpretation. In my mind, I know what "happens" in Blinders, but I really like reading how other people interpret it. Some people have come up with similar interpretations, and some are wildly different. I feel if most people have come away with a similar feeling that I was seeking when I made the film, I have succeeded as a storyteller, even if the exact details of the interpretation vary.
Congratulations on winning! This film was great, and I loved the concept.
Thanks! My next film after Blinders will hopefully be Appetite Lost, a film that's been in pre-production for months. With Blinders I experimented with sound design and non-dialogue-driven storytelling, and with Appetite Lost I hope to experiment with atmospheric lighting and setting the entire film at night (All of my films except for a sequence in Beast has been set during the day).
So uhh...
I'm guessing it's about a plane crash? Great idea bringing this out with MH17 getting shot down 
Even without that, i wouldn't have any idea what's it about. It's like abstract art. People keep on saying that painters try to put "meaning" in them, but all i usually see is a random mess. People that describe two blue dots on a big white canvas as "greatly expressing the lonelyness of mankind" et cetera. This makes me feel as if that "hidden meaning" is just some thing you came up with afterwards to make the film better, but i don't get it.
I mean, at first i thought the guy was being eaten by a monster. I had no idea what the advertisements had to do with anything, especially the airline advertisement. That specific one would fit better in the beginning of the various advertisements as it's rather un-striking compared to the others. It doesn't build up well. The film just doesn't make sense towards what i'm guessing is a lot of people.
The sounds may be good but i don't get why the guy is even listening to spanish radio or whatever, it's really a letdown as that radio noise is constantly hearable through the entire film. And if there's any sort of scary vibe that you get from watching the movie, the credits immediately throw it off by breaking the scary noise up and cutting towards "HAI THERE THIS FILM WAS MADED BY NATHAN WELLS!!111". I feel as if the credits just kill the suspense. and would've been much better if they were placed after the suspensing sound effects, and maybe shortened too.
I'm not sure what to think of this. It's too artistic to have any meaning or "super cool deep storyline" for me.
EDIT: i do have to say that the sets are nice and the film looks pretty, also, nice use of the mods.
So uhh...
Spoiler (click to read)
I'm guessing it's about a plane crash? Great idea bringing this out with MH17 getting shot down
Even without that, i wouldn't have any idea what's it about. It's like abstract art. People keep on saying that painters try to put "meaning" in them, but all i usually see is a random mess. People that describe two blue dots on a big white canvas as "greatly expressing the lonelyness of mankind" et cetera. This makes me feel as if that "hidden meaning" is just some thing you came up with afterwards to make the film better, but i don't get it.
I mean, at first i thought the guy was being eaten by a monster. I had no idea what the advertisements had to do with anything, especially the airline advertisement. That specific one would fit better in the beginning of the various advertisements as it's rather un-striking compared to the others. It doesn't build up well. The film just doesn't make sense towards what i'm guessing is a lot of people.
The sounds may be good but i don't get why the guy is even listening to spanish radio or whatever, it's really a letdown as that radio noise is constantly hearable through the entire film. And if there's any sort of scary vibe that you get from watching the movie, the credits immediately throw it off by breaking the scary noise up and cutting towards "HAI THERE THIS FILM WAS MADED BY NATHAN WELLS!!111". I feel as if the credits just kill the suspense. and would've been much better if they were placed after the suspensing sound effects, and maybe shortened too.
I'm not sure what to think of this. It's too artistic to have any meaning or "super cool deep storyline" for me.
Dude, chill.
I actually interpreted it a little different than the others.
On my first viewing I didn't interpret the smoke as a plane crash, but rather a car crash. It makes more sense to me, as you're going to view billboards from a car, not an airplane. While airplanes seem to be hinted at, I feel like cars are more prominent.
Also your description of "Keep your eyes on the road" really seemed to hint at something interesting.
I believe it's the fact that you're staring at all these billboards. They're distracting you from what's really going on. We aren't seeing the real action, whatever that may be. Maybe it is an airplane explosion, or a car crash, or maybe it's something far worse! What seems important (at least to me) is that we're focusing on these billboards.
EDIT: And oh, duh! Congrats on winning first place!
I never want to have this Brickfilm explained to me. I never want to discuss this with anyone.
The only discourse that should be attached to this is a stunned silence followed by applause.
I feel like this brickfilm could easily be compared to Inception, as both it's unclear what is actually going on.
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