I'm speaking here as a former THAC participant, not as the current THAC runner. Nothing said here is an official rule for THAC XII!

Personally, I always found it against the "spirit" of THAC to do any sort of preparation beyond making sure your LEGO is sorted, your studio is clean and your software is up to date. I know I'm in the minority, but I always found building the sets during the contest as part of the fun of the challenge. Also, trying to come up with story ideas without knowing the theme seems like a fruitless endeavor. You're either stuck with ideas that don't work and distract you, or you are trying to force an idea to a theme that might not mesh.

The challenge is to make the best film that you can in 24 hours, not 24 hours plus however many hours you spent building sets or whatever. Honestly, if there was a way I could enforce a "no pre-building rule" I'd consider it but there's absolutely no way that would happen, so it won't ever happen.

YouTube | Twitter | Brickfilm Archival Project
Brickfilms Wiki | BiM: The Documentary

I am probably not going to build any sets before hand. This is my first THAC, and I am going in totally un-prepared. Sounds like a plan doesn't it?

I am still in the process of cleaning my room (It got really messy from my last video and from Christmas). I am not building sets, but I am building props. Today, I built two couches in case I do a living-room scene or something like that, and I plan on making a reclining chair if I have time. Building props that I can use in many different films is good. I have a bed, some couches, I'm working on a desk, maybe make a coffee table... I don't know exactly what I will build, but as I organize my bricks and clean my room, I get creative and build things.

Aside from making sets and props, I am preparing for THAC in other ways. For example, I am planning my meals for Saturday (I know, it's only Monday, but I've got to prepare!). I'm going to have Hamburgers, Coke, Peanuts, so far. (Now, before you say it's a lot of junk food, I'm going to say that I'm offsetting it by eating healthy things and drinking water too... I just haven't figured out what healthy things I want to eat yet. ). I'm also going to try to animate a test sequence so I can make sure that the new version of DigiCamControl works and also make sure that my lamps are still shining brightly.

I don't think that coming up with story ideas early is a good idea. Last month, I was thinking about making another film revolving around Captain D. Rom from my BRAWL film, but now I'm not sure. The only reason that I used Captain D. Rom in my BRAWL film was because of the theme Development. He may not fit in the THAC theme. I may make an alien movie, or a western, or a museum, or a film that uses only trees, bushes, and flowers for characters!

I'll be watching this topic to see if anyone posts any tips here, because I can use all the help I can get, with this being my first THAC.

YouTube • Website

"Whatever you do, do all to the glory of God." - 1 Corinthians 10:31b

And here I thought THAC was just about crapping out another sequel to Cashman, when in reality most of it was pre-planned.

You disappoint me, Philip.

And here I thought that the THAC results were rigged every time a Cashman brickfilm was entered into the contest because of the fact that Smeags would unleash his administrative rage on the judges if otherwise.

Curse you, Philip.

I used pre-made sets and props in all of my three THAC entries, and truth be told the pre-made pier is probably one of the biggest reasons I was able to win with A Night at the Pier. Ever since True Love Waits (the original THAC cut of that film is long lost) I have had a loose idea of what I plan to film in my head before the theme is announced and I have never had a hard time working in the theme to the script I write.

I take an INSANE amount of time to build sets and light them so having the majority of the sets constructed before had allows me to focus on animation. Plus if live action film makers aren't required to build sets from scratch on a sound stage for there 48 hour film festivals why should we have to build sets for our 24 hour stop motion contest when stop motion is already SO MUCH SLOWER.

This year is no different, I am working on two sets, nether of witch are finished but both are close:

You guys have winter break, I have a physically demanding full time job, I do enter contests to win, and I can't be competitive if I spend the whole day figuring out lighting. I still want to make a movie I can be proud of and I enjoy all me old THAC films, my goal is to push myself every time I make a film, even if it is a THAC film, and I NEVER what to release something that looks like a sitcom.

If I entered THAC I would have to make at least some of my sets beforehand. While it may not be much in the spirit of THAC, I'd find it difficult to cope otherwise. While I've been tempted THAC for years, I'm a very slow animator, and don't deal with stress well, so I'd have to do even a small amount of prep work to keep that at bay.

"Nothing goes down 'less I'm involved. No nuggets. No onion rings. No nothin'. A cheeseburger gets sold in the park, I want in! You got fat while we starved on the streets...now it's my turn!" -Harley Morenstein

I'm currently unable to edit films, so I'm preparing by looking for an editing software.  If I find one I might enter.

If I do I want it to be about robots, since robots have synthesized voices which are less troublesome than recording lines, and those robot voices also sound really funny. I've wasted too much time on voice in the past,  So maybe, maybe.

Also, if I get some editing to work, I'll have to move Darkmoor from my animation spot.  I really don't want to do it DURING THAC because it's such a big set that it will probably take me ten minutes to move the entire thing, and that's not something I'd like to rush because I'll likely break part of it.

Of course, right now I can't even locate that editing software I was going to use.

Last year I built like four or five sets in advance.  Just to be prepared for anything.  Since they didn't all fallow the same theme, it was obvious I wasn't going to use all of them, or perhaps anyone.  But building that many sets that fast was good practice.

In BRAWL this year I built most of the sets in the time, but I used several elements from the Darkmoor set which happened to be around, like the road and the Town Hall.

I was actually really leaning toward having a film about Ouskavar and the Crimson Gumdrop last year, but I the first story to pop into my head was the space idea once the time started, and I usually stick with the first idea.

I've cleaned my desk and maybe i will make a set or a bunch of them. Remember that horror film idea i had about minifig heads? Yeah, i'm going to do something with it and hopefully make it fit with the chosen theme.