Flick: Code Monkey Music Video

[Darkdragon]

Winner Eurobricks Summer of Friends Staff contest.

Well, it's finished. My first Brick Flick. I've done a lot of animation in my life (mostly vehicles), but this is the first time I've actually done more than a screen test with LEGO. It's a little choppy, I admit. Regardless, I hope you enjoy!

I think Flickr has a bit better quality but it's offsite.

Edited October 2, 2012 by DarkDragon
winner!

[CorneliusMurdock]

That's awesome, DarkDragon. You say this is your first attempt? Looked pretty smooth to me. Great choice of song. You really illustrated it well.

[XimenaPaulina]

Very impressive job for your first Brick Flick DD! The movements are quite spontaneous and gotta love that "imagination" effect - very cleverly done. Just curious what program did you use (iMovie?) and how long did you take to finish this? (I'd like to get an idea how much time to invest when I attempt my first brick flick too )

[Darkdragon]

That's awesome, DarkDragon. You say this is your first attempt? Looked pretty smooth to me. Great choice of song. You really illustrated it well.

Thank you.

Very impressive job for your first Brick Flick DD! The movements are quite spontaneous and gotta love that "imagination" effect - very cleverly done. Just curious what program did you use (iMovie?) and how long did you take to finish this? (I'd like to get an idea how much time to invest when I attempt my first brick flick too )

Thanks!

I used Apple's Final Cut Pro to do the edit, all of it is done there. The photos were all done by hand with just my camera. Hmm, I guess I'd say it took me around 40 manhours to complete. That's not counting building the sets, just for the photos and editing.

Like I mentioned before, I am fairly experienced with film and animation, but this is my first time with LEGO. As a general rule, for stop-motion, I find that it takes 1 hour per 3 seconds of finished video. Of course that can vary depending on how advanced the animation is, how many elements you are moving, how much you have to go back and reshoot, and how much time you spend in the edit (doing effects/etc).

[Kristel]

This is fantastic. Great choice of song - very catchy.

[Cecilie]

I love it! The figs fit nicely with the song, and cool use of a minifig to represent the fat girl

You should do more brickflicks

[Etzel]

Great work DD!

As Cecilie said, the use of a minifig as a fat version is a great idea. Good choice of torso as well.

Keep up the good work!

[Peppermint_M]

DD, it was all worth it in the end, that was awesome. I'll get the family reaction later (They also are a fan of the brickflicks dontcha know).

[Darkdragon]

This is fantastic. Great choice of song - very catchy.

I love it! The figs fit nicely with the song, and cool use of a minifig to represent the fat girl

You should do more brickflicks

Great work DD!

As Cecilie said, the use of a minifig as a fat version is a great idea. Good choice of torso as well.

Keep up the good work!

DD, it was all worth it in the end, that was awesome. I'll get the family reaction later (They also are a fan of the brickflicks dontcha know).

Thank you everyone! Pep, I can't wait to hear what your family thinks about the video.

[Walter]

Nice work DD. I really liked the video, although I can't help but feel sorry for Code Monkey in the end...

[steelwoolghandi]

Killer Video DD I will vote for it in a heartbeat! The song and the video just works so well I like the whole layout so much! Simply Awesome! :thumbup:

[Darkdragon]

Thanks guys!

Yeah, poor Code Monkey, unrequited love.

[Tazmaniac]

Well paint me very impressed. Very funky little music video, keep up the good work.

[Palathadric]

Fantastic work, DD! Somehow I couldn't stop thinking of Marcellus the Monk while watching it though. I wonder why?

[grace]

Very well done, DarkDragon! I've never heard that song before - very cute!

[fallentomato]

Very nice work! A great accomplishment for your first flick!

[Masked Builder]

Darkdragon, this is a great first foray you've made into filming. The music was a perfect choice and you've told the story well.

[The Blue Brick]

Awesome job. I loved the choice of song, matched perfectly.

[Waterbrick Down]

One of my favorite songs and now you've captured it beautifully in LEGO. Excellent entrance to the world of Brick Flick's DD.

[ZCerberus]

haha. Oh Code Monkey. Love it.

[ThaukaFilms]

really catchy song, and the video really makes you feel compassion for the monkey. It is not as easy as it may seem to generate such emotions (beside entertainment/fun and jokes) through Lego movies. Good job.

[Darkdragon]

Oh my, been a while since I replied.

Thank you all for the support. I'm glad you like the video! I'm hoping to make more videos as time permits and my next one will be even better, hopefully. It will also probably be another JoCo song because has so many amazing songs and the awesome license.

[Walter]

If you get serious about brickfilming, I'd make a small suggestion of filming at a higher frame rate. 15 is a great frame rate and it is used by most professional brickfilmers. It takes more time and work, but the end result is better.

However if you don't want to worry about that sort of thing, don't bother with higher frame rates. Just have fun and continue doing what you're doing.

[Darkdragon]

Thanks Walter. Yeah, I know the framrate is a bit low on this one. I usually like going 24/25 and once even did 30, but for this project I went lower. One thing was that I had to get it finished quickly and another was it was my first time animating figures.

My next project will be much smoother, hopefully. I'm pretty quick learner.

[Walter]

That's cool. 24/25 frames is harder to do, but it can be really impressive if done right.