Avant-Garde results!

I returned home from Denmark today to find that Philip Heinrich and the Bricks in Motion team had announced the winners of their 2010 competition, Avant-Garde!

Below is the results table from the Results forum thread.

Links to the films:

Sdrawkcab (Allekto1323) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aqs250FejzE

Ye Giants of Olde (ancientbricks) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FWBSqIpTZME
Crime Stories (bodville) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=16USvlqgmNE
New Friendly (brenden17) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eWm8VH5ulKE
The Lego Movie Montage (BrickAction101) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rIwCzDq20Xc
Brick Battle (Builder Brothers) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kxLkNuasOXk
Colour (CheeseyBricks) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zUudhGJvW0s
Just me and myself (ct45211) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9GMkf90LRho
Amnesia (Darkman) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zsyicKgWol0
The Recycle Machine! (EddieHasscle) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rrwR1qTRhzQ
Metamorphosis (fallentomato) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RcmzTC_tltA
The After Life Experience (filmyguy) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VjFTbiJgNac
Phil and Nick mafia time (Fredrikomovies) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UZWDEXhBhJE
no title 17 (HausmacherFilme) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aVzxg4akAH0
T.I.N. (Jed277.tv) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4EN2Jhm5COQ
After Twenty Years (jogopocomedia) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qSKM_bY4AwQ
The Missing Piece (juggernuatpictureshw) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ocQfuOuV-GI
The Hero (Just Kidden) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qksjk3_19Kk
Home For Supper (KinzCove) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e8JRMsV-1C4
The Dark One (kitbricksto) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cR_5MuZ5BHo
Radio Death (legostudiosplus) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yHYK-yHckiE
The Lego Minifig. Head Corp. (legosword89) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GbzqOZSVpjI
Mr. Bad Frame (lgfb1film) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fk0NNSYCET0
The Magician (MindGame) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hNKkY4vwDvE
It's a Pleasure to meet you (NiceGuy1130) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iZtd57CX6Fs
The Quest of the Bricks (nate13545) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LORrqG8_JA4
Zombie: Genesis (Nick Durron) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tQW0sGkgqCI
Brick World (PeanutMaster87) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aV14IUy79BM
LEGOlogy (tbonesocrul) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gs7QEF-Tfuo
Close Call (TheOstudio) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wToz-Z9pKGs
Studless Freedom (Timothy R) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cGegmDZzJ-Q
Music (VIMStudios) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R5rantTr7v8
Odd Jobs (namchild) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f_ncqqtfhHY
The Importance of Life and Death (sabertoothedlime) http://img412.imageshack.us/i/movie0002d.mp4/

So congrats to the winners, especially Nick Durron for getting the top prize for his film Zombie: Genesis, which I reviewed a few weeks ago. I hadn't seen the other two winners, but now I have and stay tuned for reviews of both. Zach Macias' The Magician is up at 6, and David Boddy's Crime Stories at 7. Though I didn't love either of their films, I'm happy that they got that high up. They're both great Brickfilmers and I expect a lot from them in the future.

~John

The Iron Lockjaw.

I tried to think of a clever title for this post, but nothing could beat the name given to this tough smuggling ship created by Titolian.  It's beat-up appearance is perfect for the backstory created by the builder, and the crew looks fantastic as well.  I must warn my own Mr Jek Tranter (PI) that there is a new force to be reckoned with in space...

There's even a cool video showing all the little features, I love it.



Dr. S.

Review: The Nightly News at Nine Chapter 1 DVD

A couple of weeks ago I received an email from David M. Pickett, the creator of the Nightly News at Nine, an award-winning Brickfilm series that I hope you've all heard of. David offered me a copy of the NNN Chapter 1 DVD, and there was no way I was saying no!

There's always going to be a problem with selling DVDs of films that have premiered on the internet. In our modern-day world of full access to videos via YouTube, there's little space for DVDs of anything other than feature films. However, there is still a market for this sort of DVDs (albeit a small one), and NNN: Chapter 1 is certainly something to look into buying.

NNN Chapter One cover

Firstly, the design of the DVD. I first expected the NNN DVD to be a rather simple DVD cover, but when it arrived it was much more professional that I imagined. It was even wrapped in a plastic cover like the proper DVDs you can buy at media shops, so +1 professional points for Pickett there.

NNN Chapter One back cover (with a quote from me, yay - thanks David!)

The actual cover design is nothing special, but it works well and reminds you of all the great characters and stylings that make you love NNN. The back cover is full of all the details and descriptions of what's on the disc, and even the paragraph of thin+tall text that gives you all the info on who made the films.

NNN Chapter One disc printing

There's no doubt that the design of the DVD is accurate and impressive, but what's inside? Well, firstly, it's got a printed disc, and they're hard to do. So good for you, David!

The actual DVD contents are quite simple: whilst it's not packed with extras and bits 'n' bobs, there's still a fair amount of other films.

The Nightly News at Nine films themselves have all been squished into one big movie so that you can watch them all from start to finish, seamlessly. The entire first chapter is 25 minutes long, but it's light viewing and fun to watch. You almost forget that you originally saw the Chapter in several parts - instead, it takes the format of Phil and Sherry's News programme, with ad breaks in between segments.

So, undoubtedly, the main NNN Chapter is the best bit of the DVD. It's great just to have that in a place so you can put the DVD into your TV and enjoy it on the big (-ish) screen. It's certainly something that both adults and children will enjoy: children for the fun and silly aspects of it, and adults for the subtle parody of TV and advert formats, plus the social stereotypes in On the street with Steve Deepsea.

Persephone from the SVELT interview segment

But of course, this DVD would be pointless without extra features. As I said, it's all available free online, so what's going to make you pay the $8 for this DVD? Well, David's chucked in two of his other short animations on the DVD as well - most notably Choose Your Own Storyline: The Fight for Paradise Hills, which is a hilarious mock-movie trailer. There's also a non-Brickfilm, Stuck in the Mud, which is short but sweet and quite well-made. I'd love to see more from David in that style.

There's also the NNN trailers, which I don't care much for, but they're on there in case you want them. There's a short deleted scene which shows the NNN studio whilst the SVELT trailer is happening. It's nothing important, but it's funny and a welcome addition to the extra features.

Now onto the most important extra feature: the Director's Commentary! It's obvious that David Pickett is new to the commentary format - he even explains that himself - so it takes a while for him to get warmed up. Don't get put off by the start, it ends up as thoroughly interesting and David gives a lot of hints as to what to expect in NNN: Chapter 2. Pickett shows a lot of humility and sincerity in the commentary, which you don't get in professional commentaries. He seems like a really nice guy; makes me hope he does well with Chapter 2.

So, whilst buying DVDs of Brickfilms is not something that you do very often, perhaps just consider NNN: Chapter 1? It's great simply for Chapter 1 in its entirety, plus some of Pickett's other short films and that interesting commentary. I hope to see a lot more other films from you on the Chapter 2 DVD, David (Metamorphosis, please?)!

~John

Avant-Garde: Crime Stories

It was only a matter of time before I saw David Boddy's (pe668) entry into the Bricks in Motion Avant-Garde competition, and it is with sadness that I must report that it is nothing compared to last year's entry.



Boddy has one clear flaw, that shows up in all his Brickfilms. It's nothing he can prevent; it's simply his personal style that gets in the way. His films are always crazy, fast and assisted by a constant soundtrack of guitar riffs and rock music. That's his way of doing things; I accept that.

But is the way of doing things that will create a good film? It didn't get in the way of CYCLIC, which was a great film (Boddy's entry to last year's STAR competition). Unfortunately, it's jamming up the works in this film, Crime Stories. I really could not stand the relentless guitar blasting away in the background, though I'll admit it was more appropriate here than in CYCLIC.

Oh, how I wish that Boddy's style was the only thing preventing this film from being as good as CYCLIC. But, of course, wishes don't come true. I can only conclude that Boddy made this film in a rush, or didn't think about it for very long before he made it. It is totally unrelated to the avant-garde genre, and could simply be swept away with the hundreds of other action Brickfilms on YouTube. There's no plot to speak of outside of "prisoner breaks out of jail, steals gold, gets caught", and you know how much I've been wanting to find an film that is avant-garde in terms of plot as well as visually.

But Crime Stories makes up for it, kinda. It's got some great animation - the best I've seen from Boddy yet, some awesome sets, and camerawork that should really be analysed more when you watch the film. Notice in several parts where the camera actually passes through walls, which is a very clever (and very hard to achieve) technique that Boddy pulls off well.

So, whilst Crime Stories totally misses the point of avant-garde, it's a lot of fun to watch and it should be enjoyed at least for its action sequence (which is the entirety of the film).

~John

Avant-Garde: The Afterlife Experience

Sean Willets (FilmyGuy1) has got his Avant-Garde competition entry up on YouTube, so I figured I'd get it reviewed.



I must admit that when I first started watching it, and when I saw that he had made more than half of it hurriedly in under 48 hours, I was not impressed. Brickfilmers have had almost a year to get their films done, and the start of the film did not help. It's well shot and well animated, but it falls into two big pitfalls: firstly, the actual image quality is poor; and secondly, Willets had the common symptom of making the film very high-contrast and very dark. Loads of Brickfilmers do it, and it really does not look good.

However, after the unimpressive opening, the rest of the film was enjoyable. Quite what it was trying to say (if anything) was lost on me, but it was fun to watch and some bits were well animated. I did, however, have a sharp intake of breath when I saw the infinite-white-expanse background used. Luckily, it didn't last long.

The Afterlife Experience is a silent film, which is nice and calming but really does not help with the emotions our main character is going through. Another thing that was confusing was this: at the start of the film, it seems that the man has a very cold relationship with his wife. She does not seem to show affection to him. Yet, at the end of the film, they love each other. I understand that I misinterpreted the start of the film, but that is not my fault. Some dialogue would have helped oh so much!

So, is this film a contender for the Avant-Garde prize? Perhaps. More so than The Magician - it's interesting, surrealist and original. But is it the best Brickfilm I've ever seen? Not so much.


~John