Playwell Bricks

Hi everyone A few weeks ago, Tomáš Kašpařík contacted me to work on a project together for his amusement park that he tours with. We settled on a design this week and here are my initial concepts for some of the design elements. Next stage is to start bringing it all together. I hope you like it, any feedback is welcome.

Thanks for your input! That is a great idea!

Next phase started! Finally got more of the structure in place. Added a dormer, an overhang and the entrance area.

Thank you! :)

Next stage complete got the foundation in place and tidied up the design for the roof.

Thank you so much! I hope it lives up to your expectation :)

@neonic Thanks so much for the words of encouragement :D

Thanks! That is the greatest compliment! Here is a picture of the design thus far

Thanks! This is a very exciting project to be working on!

Thanks :) Yes, there was a lot of potential there. Hopefully they will revisit it in the future.

Hi everyone, I have been working on a commission for this iconic scene from LOTR for the past three months. It is finally done :D It came in at just over 6000pcs and stands 36 cm high, 41 cm wide, 43 cm long. I am very pleased the client had the confidence in me to do this build. I can't wait to order the bricks in and build it IRL. More pictures can be found on my Flickr feed https://www.flickr.com/photos/playwell_bricks/ I hope you enjoy it :D

@sander1992 Thank you! The use of the wedge plates was a eureka moment when I was looking at Emil Lide's wedge plate terraces. I figured I could do the same but have them placed vertically instead and use slopes to create a realistic looking mountainside. @MAB Thanks for the feedback :) I did try a few different methods for the heads. This was the best I could find that was structurally sound, while keeping the design I wanted for the faces.

Thank you, I am in talks with the client about do just that. I think the first stop will be submitting it to Lego Ideas and see how it does there.

Thank you very much :D

Hi everyone I started a new series on my Youtube channel where I look at inspiring designs I see here and there. The latest one was on "The Last Supper" by Joe Lam rendered in Lego. He did an amazing job bringing that fresco to life in Lego. Check it out! *Admins If this is in the wrong forum please

Hello everyone I really didn't not know where to put this, but just over a month ago I started a Youtube channel dedicated to teaching a variety of Lego techniques. I have been running not-for-profit Lego workshops for kids for the past two years so it seemed like a natural progression. Check it out :) https://www.youtube.com/c/PlaywellBricks

Hi Guys For a while i have been thinking about making a different type of "build/review" video. Maybe it isn't a new concept but I personally haven't seen it done like this. I take a set, speed build it in one video and deconstruct it while explaining the design in the next. Feedback would be very welcome, I am still quite new to the Youtube world so any help is very much appreciated. Enjoy and thanks for watching! Jason (LegoDad)

Thanks :) She is working on getting another one out soon. I plan on playing with the editing a bit more to smooth it out.

Hi guys I wasn't quite sure where to put this so I hope this is the right spot, if not please feel free to move it :) My daughter finished up her first build and play video yesterday and I was hoping to share it around and get some critiques on it. I know it is a bit rough around the edges, but it was her first attempt at a full length video all by herself. She started with the Scooby Doo Lighthouse because she just got it the other day to complete her Scooby collection. LegoDad

Thanks for fixing that, I forgot I could embed the video. Yup, she had quite the fun with the minifigs making the video :)

Hi! Lovely place you have here! I am looking for some feedback on my first YouTube video. It is aimed at helping kids learn to build with Lego bricks. It is a bit wacky and I hope fun for kids to watch. I just began venturing into stop motion and making YouTube videos so am open to any critiques you can offer. Thanks in advance!

As you may know, if you read me topic in the Academy sub-forum, I started a Youtube channel about a month ago aimed at teaching kids how to build with Lego, Playwell Bricks. My first idea was to have a stop motion sequence for comic effect then a wacky real time video with the minifig telling "Mr. Big Hands" how to build the set. The real time video section needed a face lift so I changed it up for a full stop motion build. This is my first whack at it. I am just a novice at Stop Motion (if you follow the general film topic I posted you will understand that), but I must say I impressed myself with this little segment. Constructive criticism always welcome!

In my blind ignorance in the genre of Brickfilms, or any type of filming in general, I rushed into Lego stop motion with great abandon and a glorious vision of how I would achieve great things in this media. I had planned on starting a Youtube channel to help teach Lego techniques in a quirky way that kids would enjoy (and by kids I mean adults who still act like kids, so basically all my closest friends) Without reading a tutorial or watching any how to videos I set about upon my quest to do something entirely different in stop motion. I want to record my journey though learning stop motion for people to read and maybe for those just getting into the craft, like myself, to learn from my successes but more importantly to avoid my mistakes. Of course, the prerequisite of that is for people to avoid the very first pitfall, blindly rushing in as I did :P My first attempt was to simply do a small snippet of myself in minifig form (a very similar likeness when I put on a generous application of spray on tan) saying "Hello" in my near to perfect Rowan Akinson voice. Here it is for your viewing pleasure. "WOW! That was awesome!" I said to myself. I am so going to be the next George Lucas of the Stop Motion world... oh yeah... the never-to-be-seen-again Prequels... Never mind that, I made a MY minifig move and talk! Oh... What is that annoying light flickering and why does the plate keep moving around? There should be no light flicker. I have full Studio lighting, a pretty good DSLR camera and no external light source. So I guess for my next movie I will need to edit each frame for white balance. Hours after searching for a good free, non-pirated, editing software I came across GIMP. It was perfect for my needs! As for the plate, I shall use my secret weapon, the super stickified sticky tack! Oh and the sound was far too low, easy fix for that, crack the volume on my headset mic. Done and done, ready for my next adventure in the world of Brick film! A good friend asked me to do a video with my minifig, who I named LegoDad, doing my My Bean impression. "Why not? I am genius at this now!" Don't you agree? Okay, maybe not genius... but see the sound of footprints is ALMOST lined up with his actual foot prints. And there is only one bad flicker of a shift in white balance. I spent a long time editing each frame, step by step changing the brightness and contrast of each and applying colour balance! A true masterpiece I tell you, all that work will be worth it when I wiln my... wait, do they give Oscars out for Brick films? The head bobs and quickly twisted head motions may need a bit of refinement, just a touch. Oh, that missed step... guess I missed that frame in my editing. The plate was a particularly brilliant idea to get the minifig to move on a flat surface if I do say so myself. The voice though, near to perfect! I spent over an hour watching Mr. Bean say that line, and I nailed it! Almost... A truly amazing improvement over that first "novice" film! I am ready for the big time now! Stay tuned (probably the next time I get bored in the middle of editing) for my continuing adventure into unknown nether regions of Stop Motion where I put my very first Public video on Youtube!

I am still thinking about how I want my light set up. Right now, I have a light in the foreground and in the back but positioned at the top of my filming space. I do have a third light available but I think I need a smaller bulb in it. All of my lights are 150w presently. My backdrop is just a flannel sheet pinned up over my studio space. I will eventually replace it with something more permanent.

Thanks for the input Darkdragon. I think I have to look at getting a better desktop tripod. Right now I have a cheap plastic thing that is hard to re-position which is most likely the culprit with the shakiness. I can edit it out of the really shaky frames, but it would be much easier if I had a better tripod.