If some animators really wanted to create a film at the con and if that could be done in whatever booth space we had they are welcome to stay on a couch bed at my place in Seattle during the convention. However, as an animator I would not be able to get anything done in that kind of environment, I once was trying to do some simple replacement animation that was just a loop while chatting with friends and that turned out really poorly.

The DVD has to be finished before the convention starts so a DVD release of an animation made during the convention WILL NOT HAPPEN. I would love to have a screening at Brickcon of a selection of the best films but I haven't spoken with them yet because I would at least like a few films I could link them to so they could get an idea of the quality of the work.

I have not been active in the community for the last couple years and I'm sure I've missed a lot of great new films which is why I need you to recommend films that I could show. I would like to contact them by next week so I want as much feedback as I can get this week. I know 116 days seems like a long time to younger members but I need to get a lot of work done in that time, including contacting (and possibly collaborating) with animators, running the Kickstarter, and getting the DVDs and packaging done.

I would at least like to set something like this up as an example of what film making looks like and a computer with a film loop running some films which would be the bare minimum display:

But having an interactive animation workshop, or an animation display going on along with those things would be great.

This is a really exciting idea! I second all of Pushover's suggestions (especially Major Malfunction). Here are some from the top of my mind:

Viva La Vida - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qIuxiwhUGz4
Works from BrotherhoodWorkeshop - https://www.youtube.com/user/BrotherhoodWorkshop/videos
Jurassic Floor - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fgO1UzS0BfY
The Lego Shootout (Western Train Chase) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yROT2m6DQFw
The Force Unleashed - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ijpH6an-JIQ

These are just some more recent and popular ones, although I'm not totally sure if you're looking more for films from the community here.

EDIT: It would also be really awesome to look into some of Rymdreglage's work- https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCXlPjU … liZv37vQSw
but I'm not sure how that difficult that could be.

Last edited by Tobias (June 9, 2014 (06:52pm))

YouTube | Twitter 


Currently going for the "Most Inactive" BiM award.

Great idea - I suggest you scale the display/activities to suit the manpower available.  Thinking big is fantastic but don't set yourself up by over promising.

Get a stand, get some pamphlets, get a projector (or laptop), get some vids on a loop (with sound).  Speak to commercial stop mo developers (DragonFrame/Stop Motion Pro) and see if they'll toss in $100 bucks each to pay for the stand.  They can have their poster on the wall behind you.  Tell them if they don't sponsor and their competitor does then they'll be shooting themselves in the foot.

You can try the same for entry level web cams but I find that harder to negotiate (ie hardware ppl never return calls/emails).

In other words - if I'm a random Joe and I see your stand.  I want to be awed by the vids on a loop.  I then want to talk to a pro about how to start this hobby.  My questions would be:

- what camera to start with (lets not promote a $2000 DSLR  for beginners eh)
- what software to use (can push any user friendly free software - lets not make it MonkeyJam)
- what website do I visit for help (BiM of course - you got pamphlets right?)
- what basic equipment do I need?  (lighting 101 & lego bricks)

The answers to the first two questions depends on what sponsorship you get.

I voted no.
Unfortunately, I haven't a penny to my name, and thus cannot buy anything, so I really can't.

While I'm happy that one of my films would be suggested, I and most people tend to believe How to Not Rob a Bank is a better film, along with Sharks and Clowns and Odoriferous.
Also, the problem of having a longer length isn't as prominent, as all three of those films are only around about a third of Pirates Rule's length each.

I'd be happy to aid with those films and allow any number of them to be added to the DVD if everyone thinks that they are okay for it.  They are also clean and free of copyrighted stuff I don't own.

For the rest of the recommendations, I think that it's important to note that we could only use a video of original content, and not something that has stuff owned by others.

I don't have any specific recommendations, but on YouTube, I've comprised a neat little list of some of my favourite brickfilms.  My list only has about 50 brickfilms on there.  Not all of them are applicable, as a few have copyright stuff, but just about all of them are quite enjoyable and pretty clean, and are likely to be worth consideration.  I've tried to keep my list of favourites very small.

Well, here's some of my favorites:

Zombie:Genesis
Unrenewable
Once Upon a Saturday Afternoon
The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County
LEGO: Batman- Out of Character

And I would go for "How to Not Rob a Bank" as the film of choice from Squid.

Thanks for all the suggestions guys, I'm just going to make a list of films that have been suggested, I've added them to the first post and will sort through copyright and objectional content later.

I understand this, and I may not be able to contact some of the film makers, others might not want to be part of it, and I'll respect their wishes.

This is not the first major project I have done for Bricks in Motion, I realize I will spend  a lot of time on this, but I still doubt it will be as much work as some of the initial programming I did on the directory submission system when the site started. I have created DVDs, I have submitted films to festivals (I know this is different) and I understand that this is going to take a lot of foot work, I am prepared for that.

It's something I am open to, but I understand that other Brickfilmers might not be able to make it to Seattle, if I have to have some friends man the booth I can do that, although they are not experts on LEGO or film making.

ha, Ha, HA HA! Traditionally Bricks in Motion members are not that generous with money, many of them are under 18 and can't use credit cards online, or are broke students. If I meet the minimum goals or get a bit extra I will probably be spending a lot of my own money. If I get more money the project can get nicer.

Thank you for taking the time to considered the full implications of this project Divine, I am trying to prepare for less then favorable outcomes.

I will be lucky if I can get one other Brickfilmer to help me out, if I need additional assistance I will have to get friends to help as needed.

I have most of this equipment, I plan to have business cards with a QR code with more information attached to the link embedded in the code then I could have on a pamphlet.

I'm not really worried about sponsorship, if everything falls through I can pay for the booth out of pocket, it will suck, but that's life sometimes you have to take chances. Maybe if this year is a huge success I will get sponsors next year.

I plan to have this on the QR code link and DVD if possible.

@Squid
I understand that not everyone can help financially, I do think 'How to Not Rob a Bank' would be a great inclusion along with your camera movement tutorial.

I would love to have an interactive display (or a workshop) I have my DSLR and a Quickcam 9000 which would be best for the show, I don't have enough computer hardware to run a workshop so I think that that is out. But letting people sit down and mess around with animation with a few quick pointers would be great for the booth and very doable.

All good and well, but if everything is on the DVD - what will people actually see at your stand?  At static set under lights?  A laptop on a continuous loop?

What props will you have?  What will you show people?  What can they take home (okay - you've got that covered)?  What conversation starters will you have on display?  What packaged products will you have on the counter to point and talk about (this is a stretch goal)?  How will you interact with your audience?

And sponsorship - seriously - a two paragraph email saying "Hello - holding a brickfilm stop mo stand at the Brickcon.  The stand costs $xxx.  It would be great if your company can contribute $100 to offset the stand and I can put empty boxes of your product on display to help me sell the idea of combining lego with stop motion.  Here is my mobile number if you think you can help.  K.  Thx.  Bai."

Oh - a fun idea - make your own iron-on logo for a T-Shirt for your self and your friends.    T-Shirt costs $10 and the iron on a few bucks.  Print out from computer and iron on.  Not like you're wasting a T-Shirt.  You can wear it for years to come while you animate. 

@jampot
I would like around an hour and a half to two hours if possible.

I will have a set from my movie on display as well as a loop  of films on display, the sets for my current project are looking really good, and after all people are here to see LEGO models in real life.

In addition to the film loop and whatever set I use I would also like to have a little station someone could sit down and make their own animation with my Quickcam, if people want to talk about my set, I will be able to talk their ears off, if they want to talk about the films being played I shouldn't have a problem, and I will be able to answer almost any questions they have about stop motion.

I was talking to a friend tonight about sponsorship and he proposed a good idea of how I could get some. I don't think most companies are going to be interested in handing out cash, but I am going to ask Dragonframe if they would be interested in donating a few copies of their software as Kickstarter incentives. If they do, I would rep them at the con and put an ad and/or some videos of there software on the DVD. So if we had a $150 tier or something Dragonframe could be one of the incentives, that means the money people spend on that tier would go to me for funding, but it wouldn't cost Dragonframe anything to hand out a few software keys, and as an added bonus whoever payed for that tier would get Dragonframe at half off. It might not fly but I think they are way more likely to pass out a few product keys rather then give me cash.

@Rsteenoven
Thanks! I'll take a look at them

Feel free to suggest some less known/less skilled film makers, as I said I haven't really been active for a while and haven't seen a lot of the latest animation, so long as the films will keep the audience entertained we could work multiple skill levels into the program. The animation loop for the program itself can be much greater then the content of the DVD as well, if I have 5 hours of animation for that I won't get board with the content that is playing.