The Brothers Brick

Photograph by Adam Hally

BrickCon is a scant thirty-five days away–but who’s counting? Not me, I assure you. As time for BrickCon (and the close of registration!) draws near, I wanted to point out one of the latest additions to the BrickCon line-up:

We are pleased to announce the return of the BrickCon Film Festival.

Awards and prizes will be given for the best films submitted, and the claim to fame till next year.

Films will be shown to attendees and voted on to determine the best.

They will also be shown during public hours exhibition if possible.

Submission guidelines:

1. BrickCon Film Festival reserves the right accept or not accept film submissions at its sole descretion.
2. Films must be your own original work.
3. You must be registered as an attendee to submit an entry.
4. 1-4 minutes is a good length, longer films may be rejected unless they are incredibly awesome.
5. Recommended file types are *.mov or *.mp4
6. The last day we can receive your submission is September 23, 2008 2010.
7. Contact Dave Ingraham (pull down) on our Contact Us page for information on how to submit your film.
8. You must be present to win prize (else prize will go to film with the next most votes).

Filmmakers agree that their film and/or clips from it and all other material related to their project may be used and/or published in the event program, the BrickCon Film Festival screening, the BrickCon website, rescreened at BrickCon and for any promotional purposes which the BrickCon Film Festival deems appropriate.

Submission of your film confirms that you have read, understand, and agree to the BrickCon Film Festival Submission Guidelines as stated above.

Good luck and happy filming!

I know there are some great filmmakers out there, and I’m pretty sure at least some of you are attending BrickCon. So show us your stuff!

Humans have long yearned to reach for the sky, and most certainly have achieved their goal many times over. Anna (nabeule1) has illustrated one such method, inspired by Jules Verne. Her balloon is simply eye-catching. The accompanying diorama adds to the effect.

Brian, AKA Hound Knight, takes over no man’s land in this little vintage scene. I love the use of ice cream in this. Great Scene, Hound!

Mark Neumann’s (SnowLeopard) Wheevil quadruped mecha is a beast. Those menacing eyes and hydraulic cylinders on the legs are quite striking. Oh yea, and there’s that gatling gun too.

Peter Shutter shows us the pharaoh’s dilemma.

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Check out more great scenes such as this Star Wars spoof on Peter’s Flickr set.

I’ve seen quite a few humorous uses of the ostrich head, but this robo-bird by Stuart Delahay is taking things to the next level. The backstory on MOCpages is quite hilarious as well, you should check it out.

Bartosz Kacprzyk (the oneman) creates his version of the fire truck from Fahrenheit 451. I love the fitting retro-futuristic style of this vehicle and the plow, which I think makes the creation stand out. The warm lighting also adds to the presentation; we don’t need to see a pile of burning books to know that things are about to heat up.

Immediately after the start of the Normandy invasion on D-Day, Allied forces began a battle for the strategic port city of Cherbourg that lasted more than three weeks. My diorama highlights the aftermath of the battle, when townspeople begin emerging from the rubble, while Free French partisans hoist the Tricolour above their safe house.

The diorama features an updated version of my M4 Sherman tank:

For more photos, check out the photoset on Flickr, and you’ll be able to see this in person in just over a month as part of the Operation Bricklord collaborative display at BrickCon 2010.

Better late than never. Nate Brill (Shuppiluliumas) and PennLUG debuted this wonderful container ship and port at BrickFair2010. RAILBRICKS have already written at great length about it so I’ll spare the details here but I will add that I’m a huge fan of the old rundown port next to the much more modern one. Lovely!

Phil Memmer built an UCS-style model of the probe droid, making good use of the quarter saucer pieces. The detailed mechanical arms are simply fascinating to look at.

I don’t pretend to be able to read or pronounce the name of this new mecha by Dane Erland (Lord Dane). That doesn’t stop me from knowing that I like the CEC Podróżujący – czworonóg, though.

There are a lot of excellent details on this creation, starting with the well sculpted small turret on top. I also think that the gears and other bits at the joints of the legs really help give them a functional look. The use of minifig vests to vary the thickness of the legs is also a nice touch, especially using an old castle logo to add insignia to the creation.

Flickr user Fat Tony 1138 enlightens us.

In case you’re wondering, the stubby alien in the last frame is not a Lego minifig.

It’s always a treat see a new creation by the Arvo brothers. They’re known to build great cars, and this one is no different. The slanted hood and roof give the model its realistic shape. Check out the gallery on Brickshelf for pictures of the chassis that features working suspension.

Peter Blackert (lego911) builds fantastic vehicles out of brick. This is simply a fact. His latest creation brings us back to the Roarin’ 20s with a brilliantly executed Ford Model A (1927) Deluxe Coupe ‘Grandfather’ design. More photos, including his mini-land scale Grandma and Grandpa, are found in his USA Holiday 2010 set.

While we wait patiently for How to Train your Dragon to come out on DVD/Blu Ray, Taylor Baggs (Unitronus) helps us out by teaching us to identify the various species of dragons in and around.

The Gronckle, seen below, is a fairly small, portly dragon that prefers masticated rocks as projectiles.