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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[THAC XIII] Unconforming
My first THAC film, also my first animation in over a year. I have many regrets, but entering THAC was not one of them.
Wow. I wasn't really sure how this was going to turn out, but I was pleasantly surprised! The montage at the start was very well done, it worked well to pull you into the film. The raid went by pretty quickly, but, honestly, it was not really that bad, and it was rather good for THAC. Nice job! 
The voice acting in this short is certain it's strongest point! Oh...Wait. 
Seriously though, the other voice actors did a great job.
I'll have to divide this up into three major parts.
First, the montage.
Something just feels...plain and uninteresting. Please don't take this wrong, but something about the shots, and the cinematography just doesn't capture my interest as it should. Probably just me though. It's well animated though!
Second, once the message pops up and the raid begins, things really pick up. The raid scenes have some fantastic lighting, and it's this sequence that contains most of the animation. It's got some great shots, and while it goes by quickly, that's not a big deal, since it was never meant to be the major sequence, only as a lead to the final scene.
Third, the final scene has a great set, nice lighting, and is shot well. I think the light patriotic music should have continued longer, to underscore the entire speech, but that's not the major issue. That's the voice acting lack of animation.
I know, THAC doesn't grant much time, but I think the speech's content and delivery could have been even more effective if it had animation to emphasize the emotion. Then, the general mysteriously shifts places between shots.
Sorry for the essay. I think it's a good film. Don't get me wrong. While each piece may have a flaw or two, this short is certainly more than the sum or it's parts. As a THAC film, you did a good job, and made a solid entry.
@Mighty Wanderer
Thanks, I'm glad you enjoyed it. It was my first THAC film, and my first completed film in a long time so I'm glad for that. Thanks for your feedback throughout the process!
@Pritchard Studios
Oh no, don't be apologetic; the more feedback I get the more it helps, thank you for the essay!
In all seriousness, I really appreciate what you were able to do on such short notice voice acting what became a fairly crucial character and as a whole, I'm happy with the voices.
So with your first point, that's both good and bad. I agree, it was a fairly dull sequence, which is exactly what I wanted. I had wanted it to help show the repetitiveness and dullness of the guy's life, and a part of that was not having particularly interesting composition. So on the one hand, I'm glad you found it dull because that's exactly what I was going for (especially compared to the second part), but on the other hand it's good to know that it came across as dull without a reason, which wasn't what I was going for.
Thank you, I definitely focused on the second part for the animation, cinematography, and lighting. It didn't turn out exactly how I envisioned it, but I like the look I was able to give it.
I agree, the patriotic music should have continued to be more patriotic for longer. That was simply me running out of time; I actually didn't even have time to listen to that entire track in the context of the film when I had to export in order to meet the deadline (with only 2 minutes to spare). I definitely agree that the animation is what was really needed. And like you said, I did just run out of time. That scene was actually not even written until after I had shot all the rest of it. I had up until the action scene, and couldn't figure out a conclusion to what happens when he pressed the button. So that scene at the end was very last minute and I had no possibility of animating it, thought I would have liked to have. I tried to focus more on having decent enough framing that at least too much wouldn't be taken away by the lack of animation. With the general shifting, I had meant to animate him stepping forward and putting his hand on his shoulder, but totally just spaced on that I was so tired.
As a THAC film, my first THAC film also, I'm glad with the result but of course it has a lot of flaws.
I really appreciate all the feedback, it's invaluable in my getting better, so thank you very much for your honest opinions.
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