[Interview] Philip Heinrich - Bricks In Motion: The Documenary

[Darkdragon]

Concept art for the film's stop motion animated scenes

Recently I had the pleasure of a nice chat with Eurobricks member Sméagol, or Philip Heinrich, the creator of many wonderful brick films through the years. Philip and his cohorts are endeavouring to create a new film, a full length documentary, about animating LEGO. Right now they are in the fundraising phase of this exciting project. Let's learn a bit more straight from the horse's mouth, as it were.

Welcome to Eurobricks. Please tell us a little about yourself and your previous projects.

Thanks! I've followed Eurobricks on and off for years, having joined the forums in 2009. I'm an independent filmmaker. I recently completed a masters degree in film from Baylor University as well as my first feature film, the independent drama

which is currently in the festival circuit. I've also made a lot of LEGO animated short films, including

and

! I've been a fan of LEGO since I was a kid, and I've been involved in the LEGO animation community since 2002. I have owned and operated BricksInMotion, a community devoted to LEGO animation, since 2009.

What is your role within the Bricks in Motion: The Documentary production?

I am serving as the documentary's director and cinematographer. I'll be conducting the interviews and editing most of the film myself, with the help of a talented crew. I'm being joined by my fellow producers on the film,

Nathan Wells

,

Zach Macias

, and

Doug Vandegrift

.

Who are the other primary talents that are making this film?

The producers are helping with fundraising and logistics, as well as creative elements of the film. I intend to shoot about 40-50 hours of interviews for this film, but the finished movie will only be 80-100 minutes. So, I'll have them help me in deciding what to include. Nathan and Zach will also work with me on a series of animated segments to be included in the documentary as intercalary chapters of sorts: visual storytelling that parallels the themes of the documentary. Likewise, Doug Vandegrift will produce an animated credits sequence. In addition to producers

Nathan Wells

,

Zach Macias

, and

Doug Vandegrift

, we have our filming crew, Michael Macasa and Zachry Karisch. They are video professionals I've worked with before and will make sure the video and audio on this film is top notch. I'm collaborating with

Joseph Frank

to co-compose the film's soundtrack. Joseph is a talented composer who has worked on numerous LEGO animated films as well as other films in the past.

What is this film about at its core?

This film is about what drives people to be interested in telling stories with LEGO. While we have a mix of professionals and hobbyists in the film, all of these people have come to this unusual hobby, from their various backgrounds, with a common interest. I want to explore the personalities and motivations behind these people. It's a character study piece, not an informational piece. These are some of the most fascinating people I know, and I want to celebrate that in this film. Nobody I know, including LEGO animators, would especially enjoy a documentary specifically about the act of animating LEGO minifigures tediously for hours.

Do you feel that this film is for brick animation enthusiasts or do you see it as aimed to a wider audience?

I want it to be a film both audiences can enjoy. We are aiming for something universal in its appeal and themes, not something that will only appeal to LEGO enthusiasts.

Why Kickstarter?

Kickstarter just about has more traffic than all the other crowdfunding sites put together. We didn't want flexible funding on this project, since we

need

$10,000 or more to make the film at all, so Kickstarter made the most sense.

One of the main rewards on Kickstarter is a DVD of many short animations. Why would I want this DVD even though the films are available online already? Are there any exclusives?

If you are interested in a look at the filmmaking process, all or nearly all of the films on the DVD will have new audio commentary tracks by the films' directors. These commentaries aren't available elsewhere. This includes the 1980s short

The Magic Portal

as well as classics from the early 2000s and many more recent films. We are obtaining high quality versions of the films from their creators, so the Blu-ray and even the DVD will have superior image quality to YouTube in many cases.

Magic Portal

director Lindsay Fleay hopes to scan the original 16mm negative of his film to provide a new version that is of higher quality than ever before. I will be remastering

Unrenewable

for improved image quality as well.

There will be exclusive content on the disc besides the commentaries.

NXTManiac

and I are working on short films that will appear on the collection as an exclusive. Furthermore, Chris Boyer's new sci-fi adventure

will be available on the collection before anywhere else, as it makes its way through the film festival circuit.

This sounds like a really exciting project! How can the readers help get this film produced?

The most direct way is to

back the Kickstarter

project! If you don't have money to give but would like to help in other ways, we appreciate your efforts getting the word out about the project on Twitter, Facebook, and other social media. If there are any blogs or other publications we should know about, feel free to drop me a line at philipwh@gmail.com.

We also have created two promotional videos

, either of which you are free to upload to your own channel on YouTube or other video sites to let people know about the project.

Is there anything else you'd like to share with the readers about this project?

I hope that this project will bring exposure and credibility to the artistic community of LEGO animators and enthusiasts that exists online. While our working title for the documentary is

Bricks in Motion

, my intentions aren't limited to that particular website. I know the LEGO community has many websites and demographics, and I want to explore as much of that as possible. If we are able to hit relatively low stretch goals outlined on the Kickstarter page, I intend to travel to Europe and interview animators there as well. I know Eurobricks has a vibrant community and a forum devoted to animation. I look forward to seeing what the BricksInMotion and Eurobricks communities can accomplish together!

[kevkipo]

That picture is beautifull!

[SteampunkDoc]

Thanks again for posting this!

The project has passed the goal, and is now nearing the very first stretch goal, so thanks a ton everybody!

It's great just to know that it will actually be completed and that soon there will be an official brickfilming documentary.

If you haven't yet, don't forget to donate, as it will end here in just a few days. As it would be amazing to at least pass the first stretch goal.

[Sméagol]

If we hit our next stretch goal, we'll be able to include some animators from Europe in the documentary! 4 days left.

[Brickelodeon]

We can do this guys, I want to see Lucas Mass get interviewed!

[Stormbringer Empire791]

That picture at the top is fantastic, I can't wait to start watching!