The third known brickfilm was made between 1985 and 1989 in perth, western australia by lindsay fleay, and called the magic portal, a film shot on a bolex 19mm camera. Here is an example of a lego film, possibly the first ever made, by lindsay fleay in 1989. If you want to know what i meant by what seems, use the contraption i have created. For example, i didnt realize the history of brickfilms. In an interesting coincidence, animal logic eventually went on to create the animation for the. Of course, we emphasize lego who am i kidding lego is the best, but other similar building toys are accepted. While using clay characters and such is accepted, and may still allow the film to be defined as a brickfilm lindsay fleays gonna hate me for saying this, but the magic portal is considered a brickfilm and it has a clay character in. The lego movie was not just an amazing animation feat, but it was also built on the legacy of homemade fan movies. One inspiration for the lego movie was the magic portal, a sciencefiction short directed by an australian animator, lindsay fleay, in 1989. It was made 19801989 in perth, western australia by lindsay fleay a brickfilm can be made by taking a lego character, and placing it on a board. The first known brickfilm was called the magic portal. Jun 23, 2017 last week vox media released a very interesting documentary about how fancreated stopmotion films shaped the lego movie and other official lego animations.
Before entering festivals and competitions, fleay sent the film to lego. Produced by australian student lindsay fleay between 1985 and. Feb 22, 2019 how lego has created its own movie multiverse. I immediately watched lindsay fleay s the magic portal, which i didnt even know existed until.
The magic portal was one of the first brickfilms to ever be made by lindsay fleay. It will be interesting to see if the studio can really define its brand and make it stand out in the face of. Before entering festivals and competitions, fleay sent the film to lego to see if they were interested in doing something with it. Last week vox media released a very interesting documentary about how fancreated stopmotion films shaped the lego movie and other official lego animations. This magic portal lends its name to the 16minute film, which involves such absurdities as two lego men and a clay creature driving around a human shoe. Legothe magic portallindsay fleay video dailymotion. You can watch lindsay fleay s 1989 lego short film, the magic portal, below. How to build a multibilliondollar film franchise 1843. It is the most well known of early brickfilms and took 4 and a half years to complete from 1985 1989, using a lot of borrowed equipment and a borrowed camera as well as with funding from the australian creative development fund. A great deal of that has to do with the look of the animation, which is beautiful in its crudeness. Lindsay fleay the magic portal was a brick film, created by lindsay fleay, and finished in 1989. The portal takes him to a strange and surreal lego world where he has a close. After fleay sent the video to lego, the company expressed concerns about legal issues and demanded that.
The first widely viewed brickfilm was the magic portal, created on 16 mm film and released in 1989 by lindsay fleay while he was a film student. If you want to know what i meant by what seems, use the contraption, i created. It was created in perth, western australia, between the years of 1985 and 1989. A brickfilm is a stopmotion movie using legos, mega blocks, or other legolike products. An example of this was the movie the magic portal made by lindsay fleay, then a teenager at the time from 1985 to 1989.
An especially notable and wellknown early brickfilm was made between 1985 and 1989 in perth, western australia by lindsay fleay, named the magic portal. It was made 19801989 in perth, western australia by lindsay fleay. The magic portal movie analysis stop motion film tutorials. Lego movie launches a new brand, the warner animation group, on an extremely high note. Ever since then, due to the lack of camera cost, brickfilming has become popular on sites, such as youtube. Brickfilms are often used to help the lego group advertise more sets and themes. The magic portal is a 1989 scifi adventure comedy brickfilm by lindsay fleay about the adventures of a spaceman who escapes through a portal into the real world. What is the influence that fans independent film produced. Jan 18, 2015 okay, id better start by saying that i thought they lego movie was pretty awesome. Lets learn about filming shots with some help from. It was captured on a bolex 16mm camera with 16 mm film and features animated lego, plasticine, and cardboard. At the end of the movie, the main characters escape into the real world and get to see fleay. This is the first lego animation or brickfilm as some people would call it, ever made, by a genius named lindsay fleay.
He used borrowed equipment to shoot it in his parents basement. The writing was witty, the jokes were funny, the graphics were obviously incredible, it was poignant, heartwarming, and even had a reference to lindsay fleays magic portal. It will be shown for about five seconds real footage in which the animator lindsay fleay is bent over the set to see. I immediately watched lindsay fleays the magic portal, which i didnt even know existed until. Throughout the lego movie, there are many subtle and notsosubtle references to the sometimesinspiring, sometimes. Widely considered to be the first brickfilm ever made, it was created by lindsay fleay in perth, western australia, around 1985. Mistakenly believed to be the ultimate hero, average yellow bloke emmet gets drafted into a team of master builders, all fighting to stop the evil president business from destroying their brick universe. However, lego later reversed this judgment and approached i will dispose of all the films within 7 days. This magic portal lends its name to the 16minute film, which involves such absurdities as two lego. One inspiration for the lego movie was the magic portal. A brickfilm is a stopmotion movie using legos, mega blocks, or other legolike. I was already familiar with a lot of the information presented, but i still learned some pretty interesting things.
Theyve already announced the lego movie 2 as their fourth movie, scheduling it to open memorial day weekend 2017 after two original films called storks and smallfoot arrive over the next two years. Between 1985 and 1989, a teenage animator named lindsay fleay worked on a 16minute short called the magic portal. Brickfilm simple english wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. An ordinary lego minifigure embarks on an extraordinary quest to save his world in the dazzling, first bigscreen lego film. He is known in brickfilming for the 1989 film the magic portal, a wellknown and highly regarded early brickfilm fleay went on to work as a 3d animator at animal logic, working on films such as the matrix and the lord of the rings. Killer croc amazing stop motion lego animation brickfilm movie show. The first brickfilm was made in the late 1980s by a woman named lindsay fleay, called the magic portal. Kudos to student tim wheatley, who came up with this incredibly nifty diy animation using a bicycle wheel, cardboard cutouts, and wire to create a magical reinvention of the classic zoetrope, earths earliest form of animation it first surfaced in china around 180 ad. Lindsay fleay is known for his work on the matrix 1999, the lord of the rings. Another variation would be to just animate any articulated toys, it doesnt have to be restricted to lego.
Lindsay originally recieved a seize and desist letter from the lego company after. Make a lego movie pasadena public library june 8, 2019 2. The magic portal lindsay fleay 1985 1989 features animated lego, plasticine, and cardboard characters and objects, mixing both stop motion animation and live action footage, with fleay making an live action appearance. Shortly afterwards, david etheridge made a lego music video for ether reals rave single, zap, in which the bandmembers turn into. You may think that the lego movie from 2014 is to be considered a brick film, unfortunately, the lego movie uses cgi. The magic portal is a short stop motion film that uses lego, plasticene. The magic portal in the lego movie in the lego movie 2014, the magic. The magic portal by lindsay fleay the second oldest known lego fan film took four years to complete and was shot on 16mm back in the 1980s. Keep watch for a shoutout to this film in the lego movie. Lego films, about how fanmade lego films, aka brickfilms, have helped shape and influence the modern, ultrarealistic lego movies. However, legomation has been around since the late 80s, the first known brickfilm being lindsay fleays the magic portal the lego animation process is painstakingly long.
You can watch lindsay fleays 1989 lego short film, the magic portal, below. We shaped the lego movie until now, i would have thought the magic portal was the earliest brickfilm in existence. Aboard a humongous space ship, an astronaut discovers a magic, glowing portal that brings him to a land of wonder and amazement. The magic portal is a 1989 scifi adventure comedy brickfilm by lindsay fleay.
Jun 21, 2017 an example of this was the movie the magic portal made by lindsay fleay, then a teenager at the time from 1985 to 1989. However, legomation has been around since the late 80s, the first known brickfilm being lindsay fleay s the magic portal the lego animation process is painstakingly long. Established in 1991, animal logic has produced visual effects and animation for feature films such as the academy awardwinning happy feet, legend of the guardians. The lego movie message of thinking for yourself and trying new things may sound a lot like theme of the croods last year, but it presents this notion in a much more lively and clever manner. Fleay contacted lego before sending it to the film festival and competition and received ok. This was created in 1989 by australian animator lindsay fleay, it was sadly rejected and the film went on to be referenced in the lego movie in 2014. Even its creator, lindsay fleay, an experienced game developer and animator, is a little surprised that he appears to be the first to have made a brickfilm, but in truth its a pretty engaging. With the introduction of lego stephen spielberg moviemaking set, lego has encouraged fans to make brickfilms.
Shortly afterwards, david etheridge made a lego music video for ether reals rave single, zap, in which the bandmembers turn into minifigures and go on a surreal river journey. In the 1980s, animator lindsay fleary created a 16minute short, the magic portal, using lego bricks. It is a wellknown and highlyregarded early brickfilm, and due to its stature it has also been known to be misattributed as the first ever brickfilm. The magic portal is a short stop motion film that uses lego, plasticene, cardboard and pixellated live action, made between the years of 1985 and 1989 on good ol fashioned 16mm film. It depicted the shenanigans of a few characters on a spaceship who go through a portal that takes them to various places where they encounter aliens, robots and other characters. After fleay sent the video to lego, the company expressed concerns about legal issues and demanded that fleay surrender every copy he had of the tape. It was captured on a bolex 16mm camera with 16 mm film and features animated lego, plasticine, and cardboard characters and objects, mixing both stop motion animation and live action footage. Il a ete realise entre 1985 et 1989 par laustralien lindsay fleay. Notable brickfilms how brickfilm works howstuffworks. With ingle knight, bernie davis, ross bryant, tina williams. Simple animations, such as walking, can be animated quickly and realistically.
Christophe haubursin from vox speaks with grant freckelton from animal logic, the animation studio behind the warner bros. It was captured on 16 mm film and features animated lego, plasticine, and cardboard characters and objects, mixing both stop motion animation and live action. The lego movie was a toxic combination of everything that makes that engine. Shaking her head side to side, she glanced back at the letter and finished reading the letter. The lego movie features a prominent visual reference to the magic portal, and according to someone who was a student of fleays, friends of fleay who still. Glanced back up at the lego collections in confusion. To celebrate the lego movie, the five best short brickfilms. Before entering festivals and competitions, fleay sent the film to lego to see if they were interested in. Okay, id better start by saying that i thought they lego movie was pretty awesome. I cant believe that people were animating lego as far back as the 1970s. Michel gondry brought legomation into the spotlight with his fell in love with a girl music video white stripes. The story concerns the strange fate of a lego astronaut called l, who discovers the magic portal on board his giant spaceship.