The LEGO Animation Book: Make Your Own LEGO Movies!
To Steph a fiercely loyal friend You’d be delighted to know I’m still at it David To Bert for his love patience and support Dave
Contents INTRODUCTION VII About the Companion Film ix A Word About LEGO Animation x 1 THE BASICS 1 What You’ll Need 2 Step 1 Grab a Camera 3 Step 2 Set Up Your Studio 4 Build a Camera Cradle 5 Build a Scene 6 Step 3 Animate 8 Tips for Your First Animation 8 Basic Cinematography 9 Step 4 Watch Your Animation 10 Step 5 Adjust the Frame Rate 11 Next Steps 12 2 ANIMATING THE MINIFIGURE 13 Know Your Minifigure 14 Full-Body Poses 14 Minuscule Movements 17 Body Language 19 Basic Gestures 19 Complex Gestures 22 Exercise Show Your Feelings 23 Walking 24 A Solid Foundation 24 The Basic Walk Cycle 25 Tips on Animating a Minifigure Walk Cycle 26 Unusual Walks 27 Facial Animation 28 Purist Replacement Techniques 28 Custom Replacement Techniques 30 Digital Facial Animation 30 iv CONTENTS Jumping Flying and Floating 31 In-Camera Techniques 31 Advanced Levitation 32 Thinking Outside the Joints 33 Brick-Built Limbs 34 Animating Characters with Limited Articulation 35 Practice People-Watch and Experiment 36 3 ANIMATION PRINCIPLES 37 Exaggeration 39 Squash and Stretch 42 Exercise Ball Bounce 43 Timing and Spacing 44 Easing 46 Exercise Pendulum Animation 48 Anticipation Follow-Through and Recovery 48 Arcs 50 Exercise Minifigure Jump 51 Overlapping Action 52 Secondary Action 55 Staging and Blocking 58 Trial and Error 62 4 BUILDING FOR BRICKFILMS 63 Building Stable Sets 64 Securing Your Baseplates 65 Making Strong Connections 66 Securing Unstable Elements 66 Testing Your Set 67 Building for Movement 68 Articulation 68 Disconnection 72
Building for Versatility with Modular Sets 74 Exercise Build a One-Room Set 76 Brick-Built Special Effects 78 Exercise Up in Smoke 79 Build What the Camera Sees 80 5 WORKING IN DIFFERENT SCALES 83 Microscale 84 Minifigure Scale 86 Miniland Scale 87 PaganoPuppets 89 Puppet Building Instructions 91 Little Guys Scale 107 Other Scales 109 6 TOOLS OF THE TRADE 111 Cameras 112 What to Look For 112 Smartphones and Tablets 115 Webcams 116 Digital Point-and-Shoot Cameras 117 DSLR Cameras 118 Other Cameras 119 Tripods and Camera Mounts 120 Using a Tripod 120 Using a Camera Mount 121 Build a Camera Mount 122 Lighting 124 Big Lights Desk Lamps 124 Big Lights Professional Light Kits 125 Tiny Lights LEGO Products 126 Tiny Lights Third-Party Products 127 Odds and Ends 128 Microphones 130 Computers 130 Software and Hardware Compatibility 131 Stop-Motion Software 132 Mobile Apps 133 Desktop Software 134 Desktop Software Dragonframe 135 Your Animation Toolkit 136 7 THE CREATIVE PROCESS 137 Brainstorming 138 Ask Yourself What If 141 The Play Approach 142 The Plan Approach 144 Writing a Script 144 Script Formatting 144 Shot List 146 Storyboarding 147 Exercise Storyboard a Scene from Your Favorite Movie 149 Animatics 150 Organizing Your Work with Spreadsheets 151 8 CINEMATOGRAPHY AND PRODUCTION 153 Aspect Ratio 154 Frame Rate 156 Take Your Shot 158 Shot Types 158 Shot Movement 160 Shot Composition 164 CONTENTS v
