LEGO + Tools = Win

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While I'm a purist when it comes to building, for animation I break all the "rules" all the time. We glue parts, drill them, cut them and modify them to make them work for the project, it's just practical to get the job done. I know it would make a lot of you cry to witness all that activity with tools and bricks in the same space, but here's a fascinating animation by BricksBrosProductions that has both, and as far as I can see, no bricks were harmed in the making, enjoy!

Lego In Real Life 3, our newest stop motion animation, where a boy attempts to make a wooden creation... using Lego. Take a look at the behind the scenes for this video! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sGELschP8Tc A HUGE thank you to JK Brickworks for allowing us to use the design of his Classic Lego Duck Pull Toy.

The NerdFlex Motion Control System

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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. 

Breaking down my custom Arduino-based motion control system for Dragonframe. Visit us at www.bricknerd.com See the full LEGO Life spot here https://youtu.be/2TQc6sWUNvY experiment yourself with Arduino and motion control https://amzn.to/2G8SrFe My mini slider legs https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:2460401

Birdemic: Shock And Terror - The LEGO Edition

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Something that you might not know about me is my love of bad movies. Not just films that are poorly made, but those movies that are so bad, but made with such earnestness and passion, that somehow they've gone past awful and ended up good again. I'm a huge fan of Mystery Science Theater 3000 and RiffTrax, and they're unique take on the bad movie shared experience. When I heard that RiffTrax was having a contest inviting people to recreate some moments from James Nguyen films, I knew just what had to be done. 

Please note, this is awful, just like the film that inspired it, you've been warned.

One of Birdemic's iconic scenes painfully recreated in LEGO. Produced at BrickNerd Studios Directed by Tommy Williamson visit us at www.bricknerd.com Created for the RiffTrax James Nguyen "Direct it Yourself" Contest With apologies to Mr Nguyen, and anyone else who watches

American Ninja Warrior

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We don't watch much sports at our house (is American Ninja Warrior a sport?) but we do watch this from time to time. And when you combine it with stop motion animation and LEGO, well, that's a winner in our book. Find out what happens when the Ninjago team faces the course. The animation in this is pretty amazing, and the build is fantastic. I don't know who to credit for it, but it's excellent work.

What kind of training does it take to be an American Ninja Warrior? Kristine Leahy takes us behind-the-scenes into a homemade gym where Jay, Lloyd and Kai are training. Alongside other American Ninja Warrior veterans (how many can you spot in this video?)

Rogue One Trailer In LEGO

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I'm very proud to have played a small role in bringing this to life. This is the result of small group of talented artists called The Animators Collective working very hard for just a few short weeks. Two of the shots were completed here at BrickNerd Studios, and we contributed several elements for use in other shots. Check out the breakdown below to see just what went into the 28 frames of the bacta tank shot alone. 

Side-by-Side and BTS content coming early tomorrow morning! Watch more from the animators who brought this trailer to life at http://www.animatorscollective.com/ Check out the VFX Breakdown for the video on Chris' channel: https://youtu.be/w0PiFXoE6zM Each of the animators below played a key role in bringing this incredible trailer to life.
A VFX breakdown of the ominous bacta tank shot from Rogue One: A Star Wars Story in LEGO by the Animators Collective. Watch MORE cool videos: http://www.animatorscollective.com/ I've very proud to have contributed a small part of this epic LEGO animation project.

My Love Story

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Collaborator and friend Kevin Ulrich of Brotherhood Workshop is getting hitched this weekend. To celebrate he put together this absolutely adorkable short telling his love story. Give it a view, it will fill you with warm fuzzies. Congrats Kevin and Celina!

I'm getting married this week! To the most fantastic, adorable, and nerdy girl on the planet. This is our love story in 73 seconds. Like us on facebook to keep up to date on our current projects! https://www.facebook.com/BrotherhoodWorkshop Support us on Patreon! https://www.patreon.com/BrotherhoodWorkshop Special thanks to Brickstuff for their miniature light kit!

Doritos: Dark Alley

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When I watched the video promoting the Doritos Crash the Superbowl contest, this commercial immediately popped into my mind. After reading the rules, it was clearly breaking many of them (wait a minute, they showed Batman in the brief, but I can't have Batman in my video?). But I made it anyway, because that's how I roll. So when I submitted last night I wasn't at all confident, and of course it was immediately rejected. But I'm still proud of it and want to share.

Big thanks to EclipseGFX for the custom printed Doritos tile, and a huge shout out to everyone that helped make it happen, full credits in the YouTube description.

As expected, rejected :-( This was done for the Doritos Crash The Superbowl contest, but knowing full well it was breaking the rules. After seeing the brief, I just wanted to make this. But just because it isn't in the running doesn't mean it can't be shared and liked!

Batman Vs Superman 2 Is Finally Here!

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Yes, it's finally here! You all saw the epic battle, now see what happens next. I know it took forever to get this thing done, but I hope it was worth the wait. Huge thanks to everyone that helped make it a reality. 

The epic battle is over, so what happened next? visit us at http://www.bricknerd.com/studios Produced and Directed by Tommy Williamson Animation by Tommy Williamson and James Morr Lead builder Dane Erland Cinematography, editing and compositing by Tommy Williamson Featuring the voice talent of: Kara Eberly, Tommy Williamson, Joe Taylor, Kathleen Zuelch, Tony Ameral III, Karem Moahmed, Kevin McShane and Chris Lovingood Music by Kevin McLeod Sound Design by Brandon Griffith Scale lighting by Brickstuff Copyright 2015 BrickNerd Studios Batman TM & © DC Comics.

"We Spared No Expense"

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Friend and fellow filmmaker Paul Hollingsworth and his daughter followed in John Hammond's footsteps and spared no expense making this EPIC tribute to Jurassic Park. If you're a fan of animation, LEGO, dinosaurs or humor, you're going to love this film. There's also a great behind the scenes video, where you can see that making these films is as much fun as watching them. I chatted with Paul this morning and he said "Teaching Hailee how to animate has been a great way to spend time together doing what we love." I couldn't agree more.

This is a behind the scenes look at how a Dad, his daughter and all their friends helped create a LEGO brick flick of Jurassic Park. It's a journey into a stop motion wonderland, complete with motion control camera rigs, after effects compositing and an original score composed by Voodoo Highway.