pe668

Your right about buddy films it's a popular idea. However I tried to script it so there was a smart character and a dumb one. The Radar technican's, the robots and the spacemen. The main character John was a man of action a psychopath that got things done (not bumbling at all). It was Frank that was a coward and idiotic. Even the robots were a contrast, Iain was the brain and Robert the brawn. Most of my gags involve visual comedy but this film was the first I have made with any real dialogue. I guess everyone finds different things funny, I thought the robot scene was a bit flat. Anyway by the sound of it you liked it which is the main thing.

I have 3 of that track piece. My brother bought me an extra one as a design challenge. I had only ever been able to use my 2 in a previous layout as a neat way around a L shaped table layout It's been a long time but I did manage to use all three in my current layout The biggest problem is I generally have long trains and this piece leads to collisions. The first time I used it I had some Lego Mindstorm monitor one of the tracks and halt the other train prior to collision. The latest layout using all 3 was built for an exhibition. The idea being is the goods train was just short enough to make it around the right side loop without colliding with itself. Then at various points during the exhibition I would split the train in half and add an extra loco. This would ensure a major accident on the layout within a few minutes. Kids love a good train crash but it only takes a few minutes and everything is put back together and going around again. This piece is difficult to add without causing collisions? Smaller layout can still make use of it in goods yards and sidings? I like this piece but find it can cause de-railments if curves are connected directly to it. If you have the space use straights.

I took a few photos while animating which should answer some questions. Set Photos are HERE. The head banging involved some masking. I took a background shot Then all the animated frames of the head was composed onto the background in photoshop. In fact there was a lot of work in photoshop to put all this together. The shark has a transparent layer of water over it's body but it's dorsal fin and tail are opaque. The best example of masking is the skate boarders accident. I actually shot every frame twice. Once with just the background and again with the fig on bricks. I then used the background frame to mask out the green bricks.

It's funny you would say work, as all the voices are just some of the people I work with. There was quite a few rolls with not many lines so I asked for volunteers at work and the response was overwhelming. My good friend Rob Stanley voiced the 1st Mate and also recorded 4 songs just for this film. He's a demon on the guitar and the film would not have been the same without him. In fact you can download/listen to the sound track for cyclic from his website: http://www.reverbnation.com/robstanley Everything else was just me, Script, Sets, Animation, Editing. I spent over 3 months making this. The spaceship sound is actually a 1951 Mercury V8 engine. Perfect for space travel.

Wow thanks ppl, you edited my post and made it way better, plus talk of frontpage inclusion, giddy-up. I might have to make a bigger movie (more sword fighting) of just pirates next time.

I have recently released a new brickfilm called CYCLIC. If your bandwidth handles it make sure to watch it in YouTube HD.

Vig. 85b I have recently released a new brickfilm (Lego stop-motion animation) called CYCLIC and it contains a Pirate scene which I thought you might enjoy. If your bandwidth handles it make sure to watch it in

Captain Zuloo: 3

Majek 1 oo7 2 I Scream Clone 4

Have the main lines with long loops and you run mulitple trains on the same line. Use switch points to bring trains on and off the main lines. I have my switches powered with 9volt technics motor driven by a mindstorm rcx. The rcx is controled from an I/R remote control. This gives me remote control of as many trains as I have sidings. Then there's always DCC which 9volt is the champion for Lego. 9volt rules if you want micro processor controlled trains.

I wonder what the market would be like for just the loco 2nd hand. If the coaches were not released separately then I could buy a few sets and hopefully sell the loco just to get more coaches. All those nice dark green pieces and the new wheels may just end up in my sort pile. So many great sets this year I better start planning a bank robbery.

Isn't all Lego train rails the same radius (4.5, 9, 12 and RC)?They would be crazy to release a train that didn't fit the track. Well there was the non-powered Hogwarts but it didn't have train wheels. But you're right Zuloo even the 8 wheeled tender has boggies so it should run fine.

The rubber bands will also allow for the piston action to work better if the train is pushed, less wheel spin. Mmm yummy green train, must be all the cheese making me hungry. There was a nice zoomable version on S@H where you can really get in and see the pieces. This set is going to sit very wide on the rail, with a full width technics beam and then a thin beam out past that for the piston action. The boiler would have been better with more pieces but that can always be fixed. Great job TLC can't wait to see what they have next for Train.

I'd be quite happy to be proven wrong, it would make a nice addition to Lego trains. It has more merrit after reading this: Based on the outcome of this workshop and all the other fantastic input we got from the AFOL community over the last six months, our designers worked on the first train set using the new Power Functions system. This set will be truly aimed at the AFOL community to acknowledge the importance of the adult LEGO hobbyists in the LEGO train world. This communication will be the last one regarding the transition from the 9V train system into the new Power Functions train system, Due to all the very valuable AFOL feedback we are far down the road with the development of the new elements and also the new train set. We appreciate all your efforts through this transition which we expect to be fully executed in 2009. Stay tuned for the new LEGO train system coming in 2009. Tormod Askildsen, Head of LEGO Community Development

FAKE There's a history of April fools day train releases on 1000steine.de. Anyone remember the infamous Ben Beneke catalogue (March 2000)? It created a big fuss on Lugnet. http://mitglied.lycos.de/legoit/herbst2000.html Very nice looking MOC, I would like to see more photo's of it.

Thanks so much Classic-pirates it's been a great competition. Congratulations to the other winners and well done to all the entrants. So many great MOCs with piratey goodness. The 2nd place set has a shark, my first Lego shark, awesome.

1. SlyOwl 2. Phred 3. Captain Greenhair 4. Hinckley Well done all, really nice work

34. Pe668 - Finders Keepers, Loosers Bleeders. Clearly the best entry, bwahahaha! 2. DNL. Plenty of great details. At 1st glance I thought the black fig was someone burnt to death. 32. SirNadroj - The Pillaging of Neptune's Noggin Lagoon. Excellent MOC, but I felt the photography let it down. This division was hardest to pick a winer. The competition almost needed a mega division. Special Mentions: 15. Erdbeereis1 - Gorilla Bay. Hand made sail and the blood going into the sea, nice. 20. AL FREDDO - The Atrocity Island. Didn't need 3,000 bricks to have a fine MOC 27. Capt. Kirk - Le Quartier Brique. Very nice buildings, but just not enough evil for my liking. "Your entry has to contain something evil, depicting the spirit of the contest. No peaceful scenes." - The Rules. Plenty of brilliant entries, well done to all and to Classic-Pirates for such a great competition. But maybe next time, pick some judges (MOC experts), the public forum voting was rank (IMO)

12. Dreamweb - Killed in his sleep - Mmmmurder 09. Majek - There will be "Bang" - The overall layout was tip-top 17. LegoJoe - The Fall of the Survivors... - I liked the pieces in the water and the monkey I was going to vote for "Walk the plank, you scabby dog", it's a great moc, but the title really irked me My entry was also very awesome but no-one's voting for it. So it doesn't need any votes, because it's not going to win anything!......<sniff>

Good show! Fantastic effort, your best work yet Doug. I actually liked all the voice acting (despite some comments here), except the first time ruby makes a squeak, I though it was a young boy. For me the music carries this film very well. The water and keying was tip-top as was the script. I'll admit I'm a big fan of lego fig dialogue, too much of arms just going up and down. But it kept me entertained to watch this all the way through. Very well played! PS. I had trouble with the QT version, it got to about 23 mins and just stutters. Anyone else have this problem?

Sorry Davy but I'm going to agree with Zuloo here, aim your sights high, do some research, learn some technics, make a great film. I've seen the Captains Brickfilm and it's great, but I couldn't find any Davy_Block films. A brickfilm, isn't a Brickfilm Without a film! As for ideas, I like to see action and for pirates it's fighting, punching, sword fights, wrestling, cannon fire. You are aiming at a long length so dedicate some time to quieter moments. The contrast will make the action more powerful. Good luck

I should have read this suggestion earlier, oh well, but I probably wouldn't shave the beard from "Blood Beard the pirate". This is the only common thread between my entries, they all tell a tale about the legend of BB. But you are right I lifted the head slightly so you can see the face better. Until I read your comment I thought it was an improvement. Don't forget, voting has begun for the small division, hint, hint.

Nice one Slyowl they were great, thanks for sharing.

17. pe668 - Colonic Cannonball 41. Captain Zuloo - Dinner Time! 40. Lord King of Everything - When daddy is not at home 1st. The choice of heads was excellent (I bought them for this competition) as was the photography (Including the drafts I took over 160 photo's to get the shot I wanted. I'm crap at photography). Yes it's my entry but I really like it. 2nd. The chair and the main character fig are tip-top 3rd. Cruel and brutal isn't that what this competition is about?

No worries matey, we have thick skin around here. Your suggestion was fine, it had merrit and was not insulting.I would have put more coins and gold around the base but I had trouble getting it to stay there. You try to sprinkle it on and most falls off the edge.