Ellohan Landskappet Posted June 30 Posted June 30 Ba-dum. He opened his eyes to a bare wasteland. Bare craggy rock bounded by cold, deep snow surrounded him. He coughed once and let out a long, grimy breath. His lungs felt heavy and dull. He hadn't known they could feel like that. His whole body ached. Ba-dum. His leg felt like it was on fire, he realized. The cold dulled it, but the pain still flared in his mind. With a turn of his head he saw the puddle of blood that lay around him. Sharp panic rose in him. Ba-dum. Three heartbeats to realize all that. Three heartbeats to take in the situation. Ba-dum. One heartbeat to realize he didn't know who he was. The panic rose, and threatened to engulf him. He gritted his teeth, shifted slowly. His leg screamed in agony and he closed his eyes. Maybe he should sleep. Maybe...he would...remember... Snow began to fall. Hello everyone! First MOC in GoH! And first MOC ever, actually. C&C very welcome. Quote
T-86(swebrickLUG) Posted June 30 Posted June 30 (edited) Wow, a great first contribution @Ellohan Landskappet! A nice story and some sweet closeup-pics. My favourite detail is the blood, while I would have preferred a contiuation of the snowy rocks to fill the entire back of the build. That said, I like the terrain. Glad you’ve started your GoH-journey! Edited June 30 by T-86(swebrickLUG) Quote
Ellohan Landskappet Posted June 30 Author Posted June 30 46 minutes ago, T-86(swebrickLUG) said: Wow, a great first contribution @Ellohan Landskappet! A nice story and some sweet closeup-pics. My favourite detail is the blood, while I would have preferred a contiuation of the snowy rocks to fill the entire back of the build. That said, I like the terrain. Glad you’ve started your GoH-journey! Thank you for your feedback! Yeah, I should have continued the terrain, but I'm woefully short on bricks because I keep all of my sets together. I guess I'll have to break that tradition coming up here lol. Quote
Grover Posted July 3 Posted July 3 Welcome, and well done! I love the storyline that you have here. It is compelling and leaves a lot of open room for you to go wherever you want with it. I'm looking forward to reading more! As for the build, I really love the first shot. It's almost entirely Lego, which really draws the viewer in and makes the picture more alive. It's nice to see the overall shots, especially when there's some crazy technique or something that you have, but getting some good eye-level all Lego shots (or close to it) is very nice. For a first MOC, you really did some fantastic things here, whether consciously or not. For instance, you have three points of varying height across the build at different points. The first is the tallest snow peak in the back left, then the next tallest is the plant in the front right, and finally just below that we have Ellohan in the middle, which draws the viewer's eye across your entire scene in one sweeping motion. You even made these three points contrasting colors, adding even more professionalism. I like that you have the rock/dirt path lower in elevation than the snow around it. Many times for a first build I will see someone put a brown plate on top of a green baseplate to signify a path. While it is OK, the subconscious tends to look at it strangely because in reality, the path is the lowest point and the grass grows taller around it. You hit the realistic path on the first try! One of the biggest challenges we all face at first is photography. I always tell people to use more light than they think is necessary. Once you get too much, you can back off, but you generally need more since using a flash makes Lego look too shiny and has tons of reflections. You have a nice neutral background, but with some more light you can bring this to life. Good photography is what will set apart a winning MOC from a good one every time, even if the latter is a better build. The last top down shot shows one aspect of the build that is a little to regular: the path is quite straight. It isn't as noticeable from the side, but if you have some small wedge plates in brown or white, you can angle them over the path to make it appear to be meandering, or you can add in a small quarter round tile to break up the straight line a bit. All in all, this is great first build and I love the detailed story! With respect to parts, you don't have to destroy all your sets to get pieces (although you certainly can). I keep some of my sets bagged after building so I or other family members can rebuild it. You can borrow a piece or mini from a set if you keep track of it, but this can be a pain for more than an occasional piece. I will sometimes find a set on sale and buy it just to part it out for MOCs, or I will simply order loose parts off of Lego.com to have on hand to build. As you make more MOCs, you'll start to notice certain pieces that are helpful to have a handful of and won't break the bank (quarter round tiles in browns, greens and greys come to mind). Keep your eye peeled for the various small parts that add a lot of detail. If you're lucky, you can find some in bulk at your local Lego store (such as plant parts, etc.). You can sometimes find random bulk parts at a resale Lego shop too, where you can pick what you want off a large table and buy by weight. However you want to do it, keep up the good work, and I can't wait to see what Ellohan does next! Quote
Bridgette Posted July 3 Posted July 3 I like where you put the sword.. it looks great. Keep building! Quote
Ellohan Landskappet Posted July 3 Author Posted July 3 15 hours ago, Grover said: Welcome, and well done! I love the storyline that you have here. It is compelling and leaves a lot of open room for you to go wherever you want with it. I'm looking forward to reading more! As for the build, I really love the first shot. It's almost entirely Lego, which really draws the viewer in and makes the picture more alive. It's nice to see the overall shots, especially when there's some crazy technique or something that you have, but getting some good eye-level all Lego shots (or close to it) is very nice. For a first MOC, you really did some fantastic things here, whether consciously or not. For instance, you have three points of varying height across the build at different points. The first is the tallest snow peak in the back left, then the next tallest is the plant in the front right, and finally just below that we have Ellohan in the middle, which draws the viewer's eye across your entire scene in one sweeping motion. You even made these three points contrasting colors, adding even more professionalism. I like that you have the rock/dirt path lower in elevation than the snow around it. Many times for a first build I will see someone put a brown plate on top of a green baseplate to signify a path. While it is OK, the subconscious tends to look at it strangely because in reality, the path is the lowest point and the grass grows taller around it. You hit the realistic path on the first try! One of the biggest challenges we all face at first is photography. I always tell people to use more light than they think is necessary. Once you get too much, you can back off, but you generally need more since using a flash makes Lego look too shiny and has tons of reflections. You have a nice neutral background, but with some more light you can bring this to life. Good photography is what will set apart a winning MOC from a good one every time, even if the latter is a better build. The last top down shot shows one aspect of the build that is a little to regular: the path is quite straight. It isn't as noticeable from the side, but if you have some small wedge plates in brown or white, you can angle them over the path to make it appear to be meandering, or you can add in a small quarter round tile to break up the straight line a bit. All in all, this is great first build and I love the detailed story! With respect to parts, you don't have to destroy all your sets to get pieces (although you certainly can). I keep some of my sets bagged after building so I or other family members can rebuild it. You can borrow a piece or mini from a set if you keep track of it, but this can be a pain for more than an occasional piece. I will sometimes find a set on sale and buy it just to part it out for MOCs, or I will simply order loose parts off of Lego.com to have on hand to build. As you make more MOCs, you'll start to notice certain pieces that are helpful to have a handful of and won't break the bank (quarter round tiles in browns, greens and greys come to mind). Keep your eye peeled for the various small parts that add a lot of detail. If you're lucky, you can find some in bulk at your local Lego store (such as plant parts, etc.). You can sometimes find random bulk parts at a resale Lego shop too, where you can pick what you want off a large table and buy by weight. However you want to do it, keep up the good work, and I can't wait to see what Ellohan does next! Wow! Thank you for detailed feedback! The three differing points across the build was more subconscious than not, I think, but that being said I'll definitely keep that in mind for future builds. The photography tips are very helpful and much needed. I'll see what I can do about lighting--currently about to start university and not in a position to buy anything, even though I've discovered my house has a distressing lack of lamps! That being said, I'll definitely see what I can do to improve. I'll remember to keep natural things more irregular. It makes sense, and I was trying to do that with the terrain, but I guess I missed the memo on the path ha. And very helpful tips in regards to parts! Thank you very much Grover! 4 hours ago, Bridgette said: I like where you put the sword.. it looks great. Keep building! Thank you! Quote
Grover Posted July 4 Posted July 4 7 hours ago, Ellohan Landskappet said: I'll see what I can do about lighting--currently about to start university and not in a position to buy anything, Sometimes these situations: low on money, little space, only a few bricks... can inspire ingenuity. The good news is that light is cheap. The best light is natural light, as long as it's not direct. In the shade near a window or an indirect sunlight outdoors can be awesome. I sometimes still use flashlights to spotlight dark corners. I think @Kai NRG uses a lot of natural light settings, so you don't need to spend a lot, just play with what you have to see what works best! Quote
Kai NRG Posted July 4 Posted July 4 Great introductory build! I love how you threw us immediately into the middle of the story, I'm super curious to know how your character got here! While minimal, the vignette you've built does a great job introducing the story. Looking forward to seeing what you build next! As Grover mentioned, I used natural light almost exclusively for a long time, and it can certainly be made to work. That said, it's a bit fiddly and inconsistent. You definitely don't want direct sunlight (unless you're going for some specific effect), but the shadow cast by say a house can be too blue. Light cloud cover is best, but cloudy days don't always come by exactly when desired. If you do go for an indoor set up though, a bit of diffusion can work wonders--a thin sheet held between your light source and the MOC, a white backdrop that will reflect light--these simple things can help a lot. White bulbs (as opposed to warm white) also help keep the colors true. And a bit of post process editing with free software like GIMP can also works wonders, there are some good tutorials available online for that sort of thing. Quote
Ellohan Landskappet Posted July 4 Author Posted July 4 15 hours ago, Grover said: Sometimes these situations: low on money, little space, only a few bricks... can inspire ingenuity. The good news is that light is cheap. The best light is natural light, as long as it's not direct. In the shade near a window or an indirect sunlight outdoors can be awesome. I sometimes still use flashlights to spotlight dark corners. I think @Kai NRG uses a lot of natural light settings, so you don't need to spend a lot, just play with what you have to see what works best! Ok, thanks! 14 hours ago, Kai NRG said: Great introductory build! I love how you threw us immediately into the middle of the story, I'm super curious to know how your character got here! While minimal, the vignette you've built does a great job introducing the story. Looking forward to seeing what you build next! As Grover mentioned, I used natural light almost exclusively for a long time, and it can certainly be made to work. That said, it's a bit fiddly and inconsistent. You definitely don't want direct sunlight (unless you're going for some specific effect), but the shadow cast by say a house can be too blue. Light cloud cover is best, but cloudy days don't always come by exactly when desired. If you do go for an indoor set up though, a bit of diffusion can work wonders--a thin sheet held between your light source and the MOC, a white backdrop that will reflect light--these simple things can help a lot. White bulbs (as opposed to warm white) also help keep the colors true. And a bit of post process editing with free software like GIMP can also works wonders, there are some good tutorials available online for that sort of thing. Ok--I'll keep all that in mind! Thanks! Quote
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