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Where did you find all your information?
Interviews
Interview with Jason from BrickFilms.com, and another interview with Tjeerd Kamps , the maker of Amazone, and another interview with Ben B, the maker of Girl.
 Interview with Jason the creator of the BrickFilms.com website:
1. How and when did you get started making videos from legos, using stop-animation?
- I have wanted to do this for a while. Last Christmas season LEGO released a set called LEGO Studios, and I bought it and played around. I got hooked on stop-motion animation and bought better equipment and software to do it.
2. Approximately how many people are making lego films now?
- Funny, the NY Times just asked me that. Probably around 40 or so.
3. What kind of inpact was your website with the directors who make lego videos? (good, bad... way more then expected..)
- I would say a HUGE impact. Brickfilms is the gathering place for many directors to talk about their work, special effects, collaborate, compete, and generally muck about. Before Brickfilms there really was no LEGO film-making community so I'm proud and glad that I could bring people together for this hobby.
4. How much bigger do you think this hobby could grow, in terms of population?
- Interesting question. Right now it's a very big independent hobby, with a few things that have been done commercially. For it to get bigger, it will have to go commercial (I'm working on that now). Unfortunately, we may butt heads with the LEGO company when this happens. So the answer is, I think it definitely has room to grow, but we may have some legal issues.
5. Is there any one best tip that you would give to others? if so, what is it?
- Patience, patience. Also, do not sacrifice story for special effects. As with any movie, dialog and acting (voice acting) are two extremely important things with animation. And finally, learn to use the editing software effectively and learn whether it will save you time to do something while filming or in post-production. And lastly, watch lots of animation, and especially stop motion animation. You can learn a lot from those people you admire.
- Good luck with your project and let me know when it's finished. I'll list it on Brickfilms!
Jason
Thank you very much for taking the time to answer these questions!
-Nathan Sutherland
Interview with Tjeerd Kamps the maker of Amazone:
1. Approximately how many hours did it take you to do the whole Amazone project? you know, a few here, a few there... :)
- Well, First of all, it wasn't just me who made Amazone. I made it with 2 other boys from my class, but if you'd look at the amount of time I put into the project, and how much they helped, it was just my project.
- But making amazone took pretty long. We needed 3 days of Pre-production, that's coming up with the story, building sets, drawing the storyboards and that kind of things. Then we recorded the sounds. Most of the recording is voice and special effects. Stuff like jungle sounds and the engine of the plane. After that we needed just over 4 weeks to film everything. We shot about 90 to 100 seconds in a week, which is good considering that the 2 others lived 40 minutes from the studio...
- And after that, we needed 3 extra days of Post-production. Just mixing the sound, putting all the shots together, and trying to make it look good. We had to record some extra sounds (running, screaming, bangs, etc) and then the movie was finished.
2. How and when did you get started making videos from legos, using stop-animation?
- Well, uhm, I started working on a project called Baatle of Stegocs in 1998, and sofar I haven't shot anything of it, but that was my first attempt of making a Lego Movie.
- As for real animations, that wasn't until early 2000. Thomas Foote suggested that I should start animating, so I borrowed a digital camera from an uncle, and made a few small, simple animations. But the really good animations (with sound) weren't done until September 2001. I bought a camera from the money I was saving, and that's when the real animations were made. Amazone is the first real movie.
3. Is there any one best tip that you would give to others? if so, what is it?
- Record the sound befor you animate!!!
- If you record the sound first, and write down the frame number on which your supposed to animate, that will save you alot of headaches. You won't have to think about mixing sounds, or trying to say the right things in time. This could save you a day! It's something I (Tjeerd) and Thomas Foote came up with, and it's called STAlisting. for more details, you can go to www.kampsstudios.com
4. Do you think this is a good hobby for children to get into, rather then spending their time playing violent video games? (just for comparison)
- Oh, it's much better. It's a very good way of expressing yourself, and it's fun to do. Aspecialy for kids who are impatient it's a very usefull thing. Animting cools you down, and relaxes your body. And it's fun to do. And it keeps you parents from getting mad, for "having to turn down that noise"
Interview with Ben B. maker of Girl:
1. How and when did you get started making videos from legos, using stop-animation?
- I started in May 2001 with Lego Studios but switched in September to a Kodak web camara and Flash 4.
2. Approximately how many hours did it take you to do the whole project? U know, a few here, a few there. :)
- Girl took a little over a week working a few hours each day and longer on weekends. It did not take long because I shot it at 10 fps.
3. Is there any one best tip that you would give to others? if so, what is it?
- Make films about things you are passionate about. For me, that would be spiritually. A Lego movie has two parts that are equally important, Sound and Animation. Girl has great sound from a great song, so all I had
- to do was make good animation.
4. Do you think this is a good hobby for children to get into, rather then spending thier time playing violent video games? (just for comparison)
- I don't think kids have the patience to make stop motion animation. It is slow and boring. Any form of art is better than video games.
5. How did you do that 'ghost' trick behind the couch?
- I use a program called Flash 4 to make my movies. It is an animation program. Basically I shoot a frame with just the girl and then a picture with the girl and Jesus. The Jesus frame is layered on top of the girl frame and the Jesus frame is made half transparent, thus the ghost effect.
-Ben B.
Internet
Encyclopedia
In "The World Book" 50th Anniversary Edition, book M., page 702.
MOTION PICTURES
It contains valuable history about motion pictures, some of the best ones at the time the book was written and some other misc. info about movies in general.
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