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!
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Hollow Earth 2
Cory Ryder follows Sam Murphy's instructions to go to section one, and discovers a resistance to take down Bolt and stop him from taking over the world. but, nothing is as it seems.
This is my longest film to date. A major problem I had was volume consistancy, but I'm still pretty proud of this.
Wout, offering critique on a film is fine, as is kindly pointing things that could be improved.
Tearing it apart and aggressively downgrading his film is not the best way to offer advice.
People are at different skill levels, and with different experiences, but that's never a reason to bash someones film.
Funmi, I don't think I've seen Hollow Earth 1 yet, but thankfully you did a good job recapping the villain's motivation and making easy to catch up on the story.The concept of alien's stealing the core of the planet is interesting, and full of potential.
Even though some of the technical aspects aren't as polished as they could be, the story itself was interesting enough to hold my attention. You mention sound levels, and I don't recall any major issues, so good job getting that worked out. Now that you've got that down, you're freed up to concentrate on some other aspect. May I suggest set construction? While the music and plot helped with marking each setting, the sets themselves can easily do the same when special details are added. I know a lack of bricks may limit you, but it'd be a good thing to invest in some when you get some money.
Finally, I encourage you to finish the series. It'd be a lot of work, but it's great on longer films to look back at the start and see just how far it's come, and how far you've come as a filmmaker. And remember, the one thing that will help you improve the most is always pushing yourself. Always looking to see how things may be done better.
Whoa, man, please try to be a little more considerate and less harsh. We all have much to learn.
I do remember seeing a bit of your work before, Funmi, and I do think to a degree you have truly improved, and that's great, but there are still some areas which still need something.
Since effects don't really seem to be your strong-point, perhaps in future films it might be a a wise decision to simply avoid such effects. If your film does call for it, you might try something in camera, or perhaps try to write your way around any such need for computer effects. This would also save you some time since you wouldn't have to go through the process of adding such effects, and such time might be misused anyway since people seem to not be particularly fond of them.
As for set design, I really think you should put more effort in that, it can be very rewarding. Using green plates for an interior scene is probably an ill-advised choice, as green floor is usually used for outdoors rather than inside. It makes people think of grass, but there usually shouldn't be any grass on the floor inside. Try instead covering the floor with several grey plates, or some other colour to make the floor more interesting. Perhaps for certain situations even put designs into it. Once you're done a brick separator can be used to easily remove those things. And for the walls, I'd recommend never have all the studs face outward, instead try building a wall, preferably with colours which aren't too harsh as to place more emphasis upon the characters. Try to put detail on them and texture. Also, Flickr is a great place to look for inspiration. I often go there and just find a good LEGO fanatic's favourites list and I get a load of amazing models. And once you have built something, try posting it on BiM first to ask people for ideas for rectifications to improve it (I do that a lot, it really helps sometimes).
Unfortunately, you don't have a particularly good camera, but that's beyond most people's control due to the common brickfilmer's limited funds. However, it seems to do significantly better in brighter lighting conditions. Thus I'd strongly suggest trying to have your brickfilms be much brighter. Try shinning more lights on the set and/or turn up the exposure. The focus also is often not right on the figures, so try to make sure before every shot that they're as nice and clear as possible.
As for animation, try adding some more power to the punches, and a little bit more delicate smooth fluidity to the ends of movements.
On another note, though, I do really like the voice for the alien leader, and again, I do think you are improving. I hope you can keep that momentum.
I hope I've been helpful, but sorry for not being particularly positive.
What a cliffhanger! The story was really good. I watched the first episode before this one, so I kind of understood what was happening. I think that the recap was good, but maybe you should still include a link or annotation to the original video so they can watch it before this one.
Like the others said, there are a few technical aspects which could use some work, but overall, it was good. I'm looking forward to episode 3.
@Pritchard Studios & Squid
Thank you for your constructive critique. I agree, set design is definitely my weakness. It take a look at flickr to get ideas, and invest in smaller props to give the sets some life. I agree,I should work on projects that don't require such special effects until I master it or get someone else to do it. I have never really thought of in camera effect, so I'll look at it.
@rioforce Thank You. I have now posted an annotation to the original video and likewise. I may just re upload the first one to my new channel just to save the hassle. Part 3 is being worked on.
I bookmarked this and will be watching soon! Let U know what I think! Happy to see more longer Lego films these days.
This turned out better than I expected, Funmi. The editing was great, and I liked the few edits you did to my score - it certainly gave the film a bit of a better pace. That really is one of this film's strongest points, it's pacing. Keep up the good work. 
Funmi Productions:
Technically, there were a few issues. In scene 1, it was difficult to hear the voices over the music, and the video quality could have been better. That out of the way, the green screening work was pretty cool and I loved the rotating globe "hologram". The music was well-done (I saw It's Dyland's score.) But the story was compelling, had nice surprises, and left me wanting more. I always consider story the most important thing of a film, and when there is a good story, it's easy to overlook any technical issues. I love the stories of "Hollow Earth." They're a bit juvenile, but that's not an insult. Some of my favorite stories from one of Science Fiction's greats- Robert Heinlein: "Space Cadet" and "Starship Troopers", are in the category of juvenile sci-fi, with appeal to the teenage reader. Yet they are well-written, engaging stories. Keep writing great material like this, and as your animating skills improve, we'll see your stories going from great to excellent!
As requested by Funmi.
Story
The story is pretty decent. It made me want to know what happened next. The best part, in my opinion, was the ending.
Animation
The animation is the weakest thing about this brickfilm. However you have improved. Though that's not to say I could do any better.
Audio
Both the acting and the music were well done. They were the strongest part of the film.
Overall
Overall this is a decent brickfilm. Continue improving you animation while telling good stories. Then you might make something fantastic.
Story 7/10
Animation 4/10
Audio 8/10
Overall 6/10
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