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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One day left to submit entries!!!
Tomorrow, the 12th, is the deadline. If anyone wants to submit something, I suggest they do it today, or before 12 noon EST tomorrow!
I tried to come up with something for this current challenge, the Paul J. Smith style, and it wasn't really my best work.
It was my first time using mixcraft 7 on my PC with a small AKAI Professional MPK mini USB keyboard, rather than garageband on my laptop with a full (lame and cheap) keyboard.
So this was more difficult than I had anticipated, as well as figuring out it's pretty tough to try and compose something without having the video to put it to.
So I'm really not even sure what to say about this, other than it's interesting and was a learning experience, and that I will continue to try and get better at it.
So I actually made this within the first hour of this theme's announcement, because it was the only time I had.
Basically, one does not simply write a piece in this style in less than an hour. So I had to focus on one aspect of the style: the melody. I took the melodic line and changed something about it at every phrase, be it octave or instrument. Unlike modern composers (Zimmer, or Gregson-Williams) who keep a melody in way for any given play through, composers like Smith change up the melody at the end of every phrase mostly.
So without further ado . . . half hour's worth of drivel.
https://soundcloud.com/guy-commanderson … mith-style
Times up!!!
If you want to submit something last minute, I suggest you do that today. Otherwise, this week's contest is officially over. Well done and thank you to everyone who entered, without you there would be no competition.
I will review all of the entries tonight and post the winner tomorrow, the 13th. The winner will then become the host and post the new theme on Wednesday.
Here are the slightly updated rules:
The Rules:
-The host/judge/previous contest winner will select a film, theme, style or composer that they wish the contest entrants to compose to.
-The the score has to be at least 30 seconds long and no longer that 5 minutes.
-The host will judge the entries and select a winner who will host the next challenge; and so on.
-The challenge will be held around every week and monthly contests will be held on certain ocassions.
-Each Wednesday, the winner from the previous challenge becomes the host and will post a new theme... The deadline for submitting your entry is the Monday following the challenge. This gives you 5 days to make an entry.
I’d like to thank all of the composers that entered!
rafael9522 – While your composition didn’t necessarily reflect the style of Paul J Smith, it did have a certain “magical” quality that is consistent with music that accompanies films from the Walt Disney company. The certain flow and unity that your piece has really stands out from most composers on Bricks in Motion. I see great things in your future as a composer – especially if you can make music even half as good as the loops used here!
JonnDthunDer – Your track perfectly matches the style of Paul J Smith! It, just like rafael9522’s composition, has a magical quality to it, and, I know from personal experience – that’s hard to do. While there do seem to be some minor timing/playing issues in places, and the horns are a bit too loud in the intro, I really think you have a solid overall piece! I especially love your little homage to the Kirk Douglass-sung song in the middle. 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea is one of my favorite movies – and this little gem in the middle of the song was certainly an unexpected pleasure! I’d love to hear more of your compositions in the future.
If I Were A Minifig – Your track is probably the most solid overall. It sticks to one overall motif, and really runs with it! The sound, just like the rest, has a very magical quality to it. Your track is very reminiscent of Disney films such as Snow White and Bambi – one of which features a Paul J Smith score. J However, I think that some of the instruments blend together a bit. Perhaps some extra mixing/mastering could have helped this – but, as I understand, you were constrained in time… And, if this is what you can do within just half an hour – I’d love to see you knock a full score out of the park!
So, without further ado…
The winner is JonnDthunDer
While his piece may have had a few shortcomings, I think it was the closest to Paul J Smith’s style. The homages to 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea were stellar, and his composition has been etched in my head since I first heard it! I’m going to have to listen to it again if I ever want to get it out of my head! 
He will be the next host, so I will now leave to him to decide the next theme. Please announce your new theme sometime tomorrow, Wednesday. The deadline for the next contest should be the 19th, unless any major technical problems prevent this from being so.
Well done and thank you to all the people who entered this challenge!
Thank you Dyland!
I'm glad you enjoyed it, and I definitely focused most on trying to make it sound like Paul J. Smith. It's still difficult for me trying to get timing done well and actually in sync, as well as the audio levels between different instruments when there's so many tracks at once, and I'm definitely still working on that.
That little theme from 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea was something I had forgotten about entirely. When I heard it again, it was one of those things that I remembered really liking when I was younger. I just had to use it.
I'll come up with a theme and post it tomorrow. Great work to everyone who worked on a piece last time, and I hope to see even more people entering next week!
The challenge for this week will begin now and end at 12:00PM, Alaska Standard Time on Wednesday the 21st. That will likely give the rest of you a little bit more time to enter if you're last minute. At the time of this post, it is 11:18 AM Alaska Time.
This week the challenge is to redo the track "Arrival to Earth", by Steve Jablonsky. The theme starts at about 0:47. So I want you to take the main theme that you hear there, and change it. Remix it, redo it, change the tempo, change the structure, change the key, just make it yours. Take that theme and do whatever you want to it, whether it's with different instruments or speeds, make it fit an entirely different idea. Take that theme and go with it.
Here's an example, this is the score I did for my previous film, Only Human. Listen to the track at the timer, just before 3:30. That main theme was more or less Arrival to Earth but redone. I took those chords and changed it up quite a bit, you'd probably have never noticed if I hadn't pointed it out. But when you listen to them both, you can probably see what I'm talking about.
That's what I want you to do. Take the idea and make it your own, and include a brief description of what you did with it and the sort of scene you'd use it with. The one that I think best captures the original theme, while having a new or different twist on it, will be the winner.
The Rules:
-The host/judge/previous contest winner will select a film, theme, style or composer that they wish the contest entrants to compose to.
-The score has to be at least 30 seconds long and no longer that 5 minutes.
-The host will judge the entries and select a winner who will host the next challenge; and so on.
-The challenge will be held around every week and monthly contests will be held on certain occasions.
-Each Wednesday, the winner from the previous challenge becomes the host and will post a new theme.
Last edited by JonnDthunDer (October 14, 2015 (01:09pm))
As I stated in the rules, I suggest the amount of time we give the composers to write their music should be no less than one week. I think this would give them a sufficient amount of time to produce quality work. So I suggest the competition end on the Wednesday the 21st.
Any queries, feel free to contact me.
On second thought, you have a good point megagill.
We'll go ahead and give a week, that actually works better for me anyway after I checked my calendar.
The challenge begins today and ends on Wednesday the 21st, at 12:00 PM Alaska Standard Time. I will be leaving town the following morning at 5:00, so I will have results up Wednesday evening.
At only 1 minute and 54 Seconds, this song is pretty short. However, in the realm of brickfilm scoring, I suppose that's actually about a standard scene, especially for a 8-12 minute film...
While I'm not a big fan of the transformers films, I do really like the musical piece that was chosen as the theme for this week. However, I noticed that it seems to be composed in minor (or, at least, it has a lot of jazzy chords that justify backing it in minor) So, I ran with that. With Halloween on the mind, I took cues from Chopin, Danny Elfman, and even The Beatles! Overall, I think my mishy-mashy piece perfectly fits a sort of dark, yet strong event, while still sticking to the notes and chords of Arrival to Earth.
I picture this fitting with a sort of "exploring Dracula's castle" type scene. You know, one man (or woman) wanders through the dark castle, with but a candle in their hand to light the way. Paintings look at you, and no bat can be trusted. Just the regular spooky film fanfare. 
was going to enter... but, nope. me likey Dyland!
Alright guys, there's just about another day left now until the deadline. Don't wait too long if you want to submit, right now there's only one entry (though a great one at that)!
Alright, just about one hour left until the deadline.
If anyone else wants to enter, please do! There's only one entry right now.
I wish, but life blew up last Wednesday. I haven't been able to do any recording this week. Congrats to Dyland, nice job.
Alright, well I guess I'll go ahead and announce the obvious winner for this week.
The only entry received was from Dyland, so it's your turn to run the challenge. Hopefully you get either better timing or a more interest theme than I did.
I'll try and write more about what I thought about your actual piece in a bit, but for now I've got to run.
So nice work, and I enjoyed your interpretation of the piece, I'm just sorry no one else entered this time.
So nice work, and I enjoyed your interpretation of the piece, I'm just sorry no one else entered this time.
A sentiment we both share, JonnDthunDer.
I think I'll start the next contest on Monday, the 26th, since I'm very busy tomorrow and this weekend. I may have the theme be Halloween related, since, it is that week. However, I'm not sure yet.
I'll be sure to post the new theme on Monday, and give you guys a full week to enter! 
I'd love to see JonnDthunDer host another contest as well! I really enjoyed the theme he put out, since, it was actually very challenging for me. I'd love to see what he'd come up with next time!
Alright, it's time for another Film Score Challenge!
For this week, I would like you to write/preform a piece of music to accompany this short clip: Possessions
This is the film score challenge, after all, and, the best way to get better at scoring for brickfilms is to practice. This 57 second clip has sounds, voices, and a base edit. However, it's missing a score! Please enter your musical interpretation and accompaniment of the brickfilm clip for your entry before November 2nd, exactly one week from today.
Unlike last time, a short description will not be necessary to explain the story, as, your piece should follow the mood and tone of the brickfilm clip. However, as always, the winner of this contest will then continue with:
The Rules:
-The host/judge/previous contest winner will select a film, theme, style or composer that they wish the contest entrants to compose to.
-The the score has to be at least 30 seconds long and no longer that 5 minutes.
-The host will judge the entries and select a winner who will host the next challenge; and so on.
-The challenge will be held weekly and monthly contests will be held on certain occasions.
Best of luck, and have fun! 
Remember everybody, just 2 more days (after today) to submit your entry into this week's contest. Be sure to use this weekend to finish up your piece if you haven't already. And have a happy Halloween.
The deadline is November 2nd.
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