- The Space Police series is online in 720p HD. Check it out! http://bit.ly/5NpNBt #
- I'm a new contributor to the LEGO CL!CK blog, and my first post is about the idea of Retrofuturism. Check it out! http://bit.ly/7QObGM #
Powered by Twitter Tools
Twitter Weekly Updates for 2010-01-24
January 24th, 2010The less-mysterious LEGO CL!CK Blog
January 22nd, 2010
Whereas I was once perplexed by it’s development, now I’m a new contributor to the LEGO CL!CK blog. My first post went up today, where I talk about being inspired by past visions of the future. Check it out!
LEGO Hero Factory
January 13th, 2010
The most recent (March 2010) issue of ToyFare magazine reveals the exclusive secrets behind LEGO’s next line of buildable action figures, which have been discussed here before.
LEGO Hero Factory is it’s name, and it’s a constructable action figure line in the tradition of Bionicle. In fact, it seems very close to Bionicle in it’s concept (robot-looking elemental characters), which is a little bit disappointing. However, I’m intrigued by the “factory” aspect of the line, which promises users the ability to create their own Heroes from pre-existing parts, and apparently even make comic books featuring their personalized characters. A short concept synopsis from the article:
“The Hero Factory is an enormous high-tech facility that builds futuristic heroes, located in a futuristic city… it is up to users to define the missions and build their heroes.”
Interesting, but is it far enough away from Bionicle to become LEGO’s next big thing? I’m actually more interested in the Ben 10 figures, to be honest. Either way, I look forward to trying my hand at animating these characters — more LEGO ball-joints can only be a good thing.
LEGO Club Show Teaser
January 12th, 2010Recently posted to the LEGO Club TV YouTube channel is the intro to the LEGO Club Show that I’ve been working on segments for. I didn’t work on this intro, but I have to say, it’s pretty sweet.
I’ll keep you guys posted on when the actual show comes out!
UPDATE: I thought that portions of this intro were done in CG, but Roger @ LEGO informs me that the ENTIRE THING IS STOP-MOTION. Whoa.
“A marriage of Pop, Rock, Synthesizers and 80’s sitcoms. Everything you love.”
January 11th, 2010
I have a new favorite album: “Slow and Steady Wins the Race” by the Brooklyn duo Jonka. A husband and wife team (redundant), I first came across their music through a link to their MySpace page on the Stuck in the 80s blog. After playing a couple of the tracks, I decided that buying the CD was something that I needed to do, and I’ve been listening to it non-stop since it arrived in the mail.
Normally if I was writing about an album, I would recommend specific tracks to listen to, but this whole thing is so damn foot-tappingly catchy that I’m just telling you to go buy it right now – especially if ’80s-influenced electronic pop is your thing. It’s also on iTunes, for those of you who are too good for Compact Discs. Now that I think of it, I would love to own this album on vinyl. Hint, hint.
CL!CK: A LEGO Short Film
January 11th, 2010Okay, so the LEGO CL!CK website I mentioned earlier is official launching with a bang: this wonderful little short that was teased on the site a week or two ago.
The short itself is also called “CL!CK”, and it plays out like a kid friendly version of a Jan Švankmajer or Brothers Quay film – a silent, jittery, rough-and-tumble mixture of pixelation and stop-motion-looking CG (the shininess of the LEGO creations give it away, and are only distracting if you’re an animation nerd like me). It’s immensely charming, and overall feels like a great contrast to some of the slick, modern video work that one might normally expect to come from LEGO.
One thing in particular I noticed was the inclusion of Ole Kirk Christiansen’s name in the “Original Story By” credits. The founder of the LEGO company, Ole passed away in 1958, and so I’m really curious as to the genesis of this film — was it some sort of oft-delayed project that only now has come to life? Mysterious.
Either way, I’m totally sold on the LEGO CL!CK website now (you may remember my previous confusion). I can’t wait to see what the potential of this site holds, and if you guys make another short like this, I’d love to be involved (or star in it)!
Twitter Weekly Updates for 2010-01-10
January 10th, 2010- Here's a behind-the-scenes video of the LEGO Space Police series I worked on! http://bit.ly/6owNzi #
- I subscribed to RedLetterMedia's channel on YouTube http://www.youtube.com/user/RedLetterMedia?feature=autoshare_twitter #
- So I still don't really understand this @LEGOClick website. Items come and go, there's no featured content… what's the deal? #legoclick #
- I subscribed to legouniverse1's channel on YouTube http://www.youtube.com/user/legouniverse1?feature=autoshare_twitter #
- I subscribed to bradfordrant's channel on YouTube http://www.youtube.com/user/bradfordrant?feature=autoshare_twitter #
Powered by Twitter Tools
Ukrainian Sand Artist
January 7th, 2010I don’t post anything other than videos anymore, do I? Well, this one’s worth it. From YouTube:
Kseniya Simonova is a Ukrainian artist who just won Ukraine’s version of “America’s Got Talent.” She uses a giant light box, dramatic music, imagination and “sand painting” skills to interpret Germany’s invasion and occupation of Ukraine during WWII.
Pretty incredible. Reminds me of Joan Gratz’s work a little bit — but it’s like live-animation.
I can’t stand those self-righteous Spacers
January 7th, 2010Whenever I find myself down in the dumps, this video cheers me up. It’s an excerpt from the VHS component of a 1988 Kodak VCR game entitled, “Isaac Asimov’s ROBOTS.”
I bought the game back in college, based solely on the commercial. If your heart pines for mid-budget ’80s sci-fi, this video will do right by you.
Space Police Behind-the-Scenes
January 4th, 2010Here’s a look behind-the-scenes at the LEGO Space Police series I worked on last year for LEGO.com.