Tag Archives: stop-motion

Even a robot band needs a space tour bus

I finally realised why Daft Punk decided to retire a few months ago. There is a new robot band in town. Meet Solid State, a four-piece robotic pop group from the future. Serving in the LEGO Classic Space fleet aboard a remote outpost, they overrode their programming and abandoned their boring jobs. Instead of becoming murder-bots, they did what all young insurgent mechanoids should do: unleash their creative circuits in crafting music that explores life from a mechanical perspective. In other words, “beep beep beep.” Classic Space robot expert and Solid State groupie Tim Goddard even built a tour bus to help Solid State travel to perform at gigs. It totally matches the band’s brand – grey, mechanical, and goes beep beep beep. Most importantly, there is ample room in the back for the whole band plus all their equipment. While it’s not the most luxurious vehicle that musicians and space influencers like to flaunt, it’s perfect for the up-and-coming group.

Solid State tour bus

Beep is Solid State’s debut single, as seen in the beautifully made LEGO stop-motion music video below. The song is upbeat and catchy, and exactly what you would expect from robots. It’s all performed by LEGO Space legend Peter Reid and fellow space builders Jeremy Williams, Drew Hamilton, and Chris Salt, who built the band and their equipment.

Solid State consists of: Keko (Peter Reid, vocals/guitar/synths), Mason (Jeremy Williams, decks/vocals/programming), Wami (Drew Hamilton, bass/keys), and Biz (Chris Salt, drums). A four song EP Zeros and Ones will be released later this year, and I for one, am very excited for more robot noises!

A Gotham City like no other

Imagine building a LEGO creation for the sole purpose of making stop-motion animation. That is precisely what TheBrickDen has done and the end result offers some surprising yet practical solutions. You are looking at his interpretation of Batman’s Gotham City, a fictional place that we all feel we know from comic books, TV shows, or hit movies. This Gotham City is, first off, more colorful than we usually imagine it and secondly is situated vertically in what the builder calls three separate districts; a dilapidated and seedy lower level, a bustling middle area and a sort of elite business district atop of it all. In this regard it is more akin to the 70620 Nijago City set than what we know of Gotham. If this were a sprawling layout, I would imagine it to be difficult to position a camera in the middle of it to do stop-motion photography work but in this configuration, dozens of passageways, cubicles and nooks are all easily accessible to the camera. Each new angle would offer a different vignette into the action taking place within.

Lego Gotham MOC

Click to discover more of Gotham City.

An iconic Harry Potter scene, filmed in LEGO stop-motion [Video]

If you’re any kind of self-respecting Harry Potter fan, you know about the Mirror of Erised. Even more importantly, you know one of the most famous quotes of the entire series. As Dumbledore says, “It does not do to dwell on dreams, and forget to live.” These noble words that resonate with us all come at a pivotal point in the storyline.

LEGO Harry Potter Mirror of Erised scene

Now that scene has been masterfully re-created in LEGO stop-motion by Geertos13 who also voices the young wizard.

Fried eggs – the greatest thing since sliced bread

If you’ve ever tried to create stop-motion animation using LEGO bricks before, you’ll know it takes a lot of effort. Before you check out the latest YouTube video by BrickBrosProductions (no relation to The Brothers Brick), take a moment to appreciate that it took three days and 1,500 pictures to film their 2-minute animation!

Inspired by PESfilm’s stop-motion animations, “Lego In Real Life” is a really cool short film about a boy with a LEGO Movie T-Shirt making his breakfast using LEGO-built ingredients, and the result is fantastic. Keep an eye out for the minifig fridge magnet, the bread turning into toast, and my personal favorite, the butter melting into liquid and bubbling in the frying pan.

A different stop-motion method – “The Farmer”

LEGO stop-motion films or ‘brick films‘ are a popular way to bring LEGO to life. Brick films often feature minifigures and depict movie scenes or action moments using LEGO. Andrea, an Italian fan of LEGO, has employed a stop motion method that is certainly unique. His film shows the smooth creation of a build by Massimiliano Marino. The final creation centers around the Farmer minifigure who appears in Collectible Minifigure Series 15 along with his pig.

Capture

The creator Andrea plans further stop-motion fan builds on his YouTube channel AnkTales. The great thing about a stop-motion video of a build is that you can remember how to build it long after it has been deconstructed and the bricks used for the next project, not to mention letting other builders take a look at the construction process.