How to make a Lego Movie

Lego is a big deal in our house, so much so I'm convinced we have enough to build ourselves an extension... to house it all!  Ok, I may be exaggerating a wee bit there, but we have a lot, so when I was asked if I'd like to review the new Lego Animation book from No Starch Press, I jumped at the chance.

This is such a great book!  Released at the end of 2016 this is a rather comprehensive guide to creating stop-motion animation with Lego.  If you, like us, watched the Lego movie and fancied having a go yourself, this is the book for you!

You will learn how to:
 * Use animation principles like an exaggeration, timings, spacing and overlapping actions.
 * Convey action and emotion with plastic characters (my favourite)
 * Add detail and scope to films by building in different scales (I found this to be a little advanced for me, but I'm still very much learning the whole process).
 * Create special effects like explosions and flying mini-figures (currently trying this technique with a ghost we made).
 * Build camera dollies and rigs out of Lego Bricks (this was the first step for me)
 * Light, frame, and capture consistent photos (yet to master).

As as you can see the book covers a lot and it's such fun!  I also find it slightly addictive, whenever we have a quiet afternoon ..... (I know it's rare but it happens), we get the Lego out and set up scenes, what happens next is my son (who's 5) plays with his Lego whilst his mum and dad sit and play with scenes, mini figures and stop-motion apps on our phones!!

Great fun!

This was my very first attempt, a mini-figure turning into a werewolf, granted the film is rather basic and not smooth but I'm rather proud of this, it's our very first attempt.  For that, I give credit to the book and its creators David Pagano and David Pickett for their insight from over twenty years behind the camera. Who knows what I may have produced otherwise.

Shall we do Batman vs Ironman..... No, mummy let's do a werewolf!!! No more Scooby doo for that boy 😂😂 learning to make Lego movies!

A video posted by Rachael Jess (@rachaeljessblog) on Dec 27, 2016 at 7:53am PST

I have a Lego Pinterest board that I try and update with Lego instructions for various buildings and characters when I find them.  I've embedded it below in case anyone would like to follow that board.



My final thoughts?  I love this book, and I'm not a huge Lego fan, but I've found it much more enjoyable since I've got this book, and all 3 of us get involved now.

Do let me know what you think of our mini movie, a bit choppy but not bad is it?

I received The Lego Animation Book to review.

The above wording is all my own and not influenced by products received