Like LEGO? Spend part of every day drooling over cool creations on Flickr? Love to share your enthusiasm? Do you like words and using them to describe things? Can you name every cast member of Star Wars? Then you sound like BrickNerd material! If you'd like to join the "Nerd Herd" drop me a line at tommy@bricknerd.com with the subject "sign me up!" and let's see if you have what it takes to join the ranks!
At this very moment I’m sitting in a hotel room in San Diego with my family, waiting for our boarding time for the Disney Wonder cruise ship. We love cruising Disney, and do so fairly often. One of the things we do to bring even more magic to the journey is participate in “fish extenders”, a sort of secret gift exchange. Outside every stateroom is a fish emblem that is used to deliver messages, participants bring little multi-pocket hangers to hang on the fish (thereby extending it, get it?). You sign up to a group before you depart and bring gifts to drop off for others, and in turn find little surprises in yours every time you come back to your room. One of the gifts we’ve given away is this little model kit of the boat I designed. Perhaps some day we'll be cruising together and you'll find one of these in your Fish Extender.
I've gotten a lot of questions about my custom motion control system I built for stop motion animation, from the LEGO community and beyond. So I decided to put together a video to share what it is and how it came about.
As soon as I finish typing this I'm hopping in the shower and packing up the swag. It's time to head to BricksLA! I'm very excited that Mrs. BrickNerd is joining me this year (her first time). We'll see you there!
2017 was certainly a bumpy year, but overall a good one for BrickNerd. The blog audience has grown, we did several animation projects including three for TLG, we visited Portugal and attended Parades do Coura, went to BrickCon, met so many fellow LEGO enthusiasts and built the Millennium Falcon with Adam Savage and the team at Tested.com. Of course this was while the political environment in the US was in total chaos, the world has gone sorta bonkers and The Last Jedi made us go "huh". I think LegoKlyph has the right idea, and reminds us that 2018 is a chance for a fresh start. Here's to a fabulous new year!
I know it's a bit cliche, but it really is my favorite time of year. Santa came last night, my stocking is full of all kinds of goodies and there's loads of presents under my tree. I hope he brought you all joy as well. Now it's time for some tea, Christmas carols and some presents. I'd like to wish each and every one of you a merry Christmas and hope this holiday finds you happy and healthy.
We're thankful for many things here at BrickNerd, but by far mostly for you dear readers. Break out the bricks, pop a turkey in the oven and turn on some football (or at our house A Christmas Story and maybe some MST3K marathon)
Have a happy Thanksgiving if you're celebrating it, if not feel free to eat too much anyway!
The cat's out of the bag. The "super secret" project we've been working on at BrickNerd Studios is finally in the wild and we can share. You may have seen some behind the scenes teases through the months, but we've kept what we were working on under wraps. Credit for the structure goes to the LEGO enfield model shop. The animation was done by James Morr and turned out spectacular. I did the cinematography, editing and compositing, as well as built all the equipment. Check out the finished spot.
This project required multiple custom built motion control rigs, which kept me busy for weeks. I scratch built an Arduino based motion control unit, a follow focus, giant turntable and dolly track system. The camera rig is a Ditogear slider mounted vertically, with a custom built counterweight system and a Stage-R pan/tilt head. Here's a behind the scenes peek at just a fraction of the work that went into this project.
A builder with an awesome outlook on life and a pretty awesome name, Tommy Williams (it's so hard not not add the "on" on the end of that) has done something I've been dying to do. The Tower Bridge is an icon of London, and the LEGO set is a fitting tribute to it. So why not build it in the shadow of the real thing? Tommy has done just that, and produced this exceptional video documenting the event. It's all part of his Year of Projects and the philosophy to never lose your inner child. As a self professed man-child, I totally support this notion.
Wow, BrickNerd officially turns four years old today, I can't believe it. When I started I didn't know what I was doing, and nothing has changed, so it's been quite the adventure. If you had told me that I would blog somewhere around 1445 days and upload 135 videos, I would have have been skeptical. If you would have told me that Nerdly would become an internationally known mascot, I would have snickered. If you would have said that I would be recognized at events even on the other side of the world, I would have scoffed. I could not have predicted the many adventures me and Nerdly would go on, from simple trips to Disneyland to traveling to Portugal, I continue to be amazed and humbled by the doors that have been opened, and all the wonderful things I would not have believed were going to happen. But it's all true, and much, much more. BrickNerd is a labor of love, thank you all so very much for reading, watching, commenting and connecting, you make it all worth it.
Me and Mrs BrickNerd are super excited to be in the absolutely charming Paredes de Coura for Fan Weekend 2017. Things are just getting started but the warm reception, lovely people, amazing creative spaces and hospitality so far has been overwhelming. We're already huge fans of this event and the people that run it. Looking forward to the next three days.
I can't believe Star Wars turns 40 this year, man I'm old. I can think of no greater single influence in my life, one that turned me into what I am. Star Wars ignited a creative flame in me that has burned fiercely ever since. Model fabricating, filmmaking, visual effects, camera gear and all my other skill sets and nerdy passions can be traced back to this pivotal cinematic moment. Happy birthday Star Wars!
I'm a maker at heart. I don't just build with bricks, I'm just as comfortable with an X-Acto in my hand as I am with a brick separator and I've been building something out of nothing as long as I can remember. So naturally I'm a fan of Tested.com, where the overlap of that venn diagram is squarely in my wheelhouse. They love LEGO too, and this week they're kicking off another "LEGO with friends" with creative powerhouse and all around swell guy Angus MacLane. He shows off his work in progress Blade Runner gun with Adam and Simone. I should point out this is premium content, you have to be a subscriber to see it, but in my opinion it's money well spent to virtually hang with like-minded individuals and see some amazing stuff get made and reviewed.
Those fine humans at Tee Fury have another brick themed shirt for you to adorn the upper half of your body with. Well, who am I to determine how you use a T-shirt? You go right ahead and wear it any way you like. But act quick, it'll be gone in less than 24 hours.
My absolute love for Star Wars is no secret, I wear it (quite literally) loud and proud. I was nine years old when the film came out, the perfect age to be warped for life. It's what sparked my love of film, filmmaking, sci-fi, model building and so many other creative aspects of my life. It also sparked one of the first crushes of my young life, a certain strong-willed, no-nonsense princess who defied an empire and saved the galaxy. I'm deeply saddened by the loss of Carrie Fisher, my heart is broken.
Those mad geniuses at Tested have conjured a thing of nightmares. Makeup and monster maker Frank Ippolito designed and built this LEGO inspired costume in record time for San Diego Comic-Con, and it turned out fantastic (and absolutely unsettling). Not only did he make the head, but he fabricated a pair of hands that are just as disturbing. Pair those with his simple red shirt and blue pants and you have something that is simultaneously endearing and frightening. I wish I was able to see this in person on my one day there.
Yesterday as many of you know I took a break from my family vacation at Disneyland to make a one day pilgrimage to the holy land, San Diego Comic Con (leaving Disneyland to go to SDCC, #FirstNerdProblems). It was a whirlwind tour of just the exhibits, no time to see any panels or stand in line to buy stuff.
The first significant stop was happening upon the legendary Bill Plympton, who was kind enough to sketch me an addition to the BrickNerd Art Project. He was ultra cool and it was a pleasure to meet him. You can bet this is going to get framed and hung on the studio wall as soon as I get home.
I continued my long trek, weaving up and down the aisles of the show floor after that, which is no small endeavor, especially with already tired legs from two days of theme park walking. If you've never been to SDCC, there's really no way to describe or explain it. It's absolutely enormous, and there's so many enthusiastic nerds from all over the world collected in one space that it's almost overwhelming, almost. There's SO much love there, so much joy for so many things. From comics to movies and from toys to fine collectibles, there's something for literally everyone there.
The next significant event needs a little setup. Back in 2005 I worked on Guillermo del Toro's masterpiece film Pan's Labyrinth. After principal photography was done, I was cleaning and organizing the camera gear we used at CafeFX and I ran across the insert slate, the little board you mark with what scene/shot you're filming. Normally I would have just wiped it clean and got it ready for the next gig, but by then we were far enough into the film I knew that we were working on something important and special, so I set it aside. It sat on a shelf in my office for several years after that, and when the company folded in 2009 I kept it as a memento. Fast forward to a few months ago and I was digging around on my workbench in the garage and I happened upon it. Just days earlier I was watching a video tour of Adam Savage's man cave on Tested.com and saw that he has a special GDT shelf among his amazing collection. He has props and mementos from many of his films. So my first thought was "this needs to be on that shelf, on display where it can be appreciated, not collecting dust in my garage".
I tweeted a picture out, but got no response from Adam. While packing for this trip I happened upon it again, and thought "what the heck, there's an incredibly remote chance I'll see him there and can just give it to him" and tucked it into my backpack. Fast forward again to yesterday, as I continued my way across the hall. I made to the Prop Store booth, one of my favorite stops every year to look at all the props and fun stuff from movies I love. While admiring an insert slate from The Empire Strikes Back I remembered the slate in my backpack and recalled that Adam usually makes his way to this very booth during one of his famous Adam Incognito videos. Not 45 seconds later, while admiring a full body prop from Terminator 3 I see Kylo Ren in my peripheral vision. Just last week Adam posted a video about making the neck piece for that costume and I thought "no way". Then I heard him talking and it sounded like him so I said "Adam?" It was him. I washed back and forth between giddiness to have found him, and utter shock to have found him. I told him I had something for him and dug it out of my backpack. It took a moment for him to realize what he was holding, and to register that it was for him. But his reaction after was great, I couldn't see him smiling under his mask, but I could tell by his body language (and huge hug) that he was pretty stoked. He needed to get get going so we snapped a quick pic and he was on his way. I wandered off too, content that I had just won comic con, mission accomplished.
While I did make several stops at the LEGO booth, it was always wrapped with people hungry to collect their convention exclusives (I was not among them, no special sets for me) and an absolute mob scene. I would have taken some pictures, but you all know what a bunch of people look like, just imagine that with a large LEGO sign hanging above them. I did duck in to say hi to LEGO master builder Erik Varszegi while he was building a giant Batgirl, always nice to see him.
After that it was just a lot of wandering, napping Nerdly selfies (he's so narcissistic), short chats with old friends I ran into and sweating (SDCC is always hot, always). Content I had seen and perspired enough I made my way back to the Amtrak station to catch my train back to Anaheim, SDCC 2016 was over for me. Time to start planning for next year, maybe this time I'll mark the calendar and not plan a Disney Vacation to coincide with the same weekend, duh.
This would looks pretty amazing in the Nerd Lounge here at BrickNerd Studios, I mean it's not every day you see Minifig gear scaled up to human size. Well, it might be if you're LEGO enthusiast and craftsman Steve Guinness, the builder of this fine piece of furniture. It's 35 times bigger than the real thing, and if you look carefully you can see an actual one in there for scale reference. Steve will soon be offering up hand made LEGO inspired home decor items on his website Bricks at Home.
Three years ago today BrickNerd officially launched, and what an adventure it's been. I could not have imagined where this little bespectacled brick would take me, the friends that I'd make, the doors he would open. I set out to start a small blog and YouTube channel in my garage, with an open-ended concept for company growth and a lot of ideas. Now three years later I have an amazing studio, an animation division and I've been invited to speak at an event. The outpouring of love and enthusiasm has been beyond my wildest expectations, and it makes doing this job seven days a week more than worth it. I'd like to say a huge thanks to all my readers, viewers, contributors, commenters (well, some of them), guests, clients, sorters, builders and all the others that have helped me bring all my stupid ideas to life the last three years. I'd also like to thank my family for supporting me through this wacky endeavor, you're the best.
Take a tour of BrickNerd studios in Lompoc California! I had the honor of presenting the keynote at Brickslopes 2016 last night and this was part of it. My talk was about being a nerd, about listening to that inner voice and being creative, about being fearless with your passion. But I also tried to have some fun with it and stuck this stupid thing in the middle. I really can't help myself sometimes you know?
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