Over the past few years, we haven’t been able to update or post things as much as we would have liked, and our discussions on the world of LEGO animation and brickfilms have moved almost entirely to our individual web and social media channels (e.g. Paganomation and BRICK 101).

But before we take down the blog on DESTRUCTION DAY (May 16, 2018), we wanted to give you a chance to save any of your favorite links or articles from the site.

Thanks again for reading and contributing to The Set Bump!

– David Pagano and Dave Pickett

To celebrate this momentous occasion, David Pagano and David Pickett sat down and had a conversation about their past, present, and future. Below is a lightly edited transcript. Enjoy!

PICKETT: This month marks the five-year anniversary of The Set Bump! A lot has changed in those five years: in the world, in the LEGO community, in the brickfilming community, and in our lives. So I thought we could take some time to reflect on some of those things and talk about what it’s been like to be us (and not us) over the last five years.

PAGANO: I have no idea what it’s like to be not us. [deadpan pause]

A blog post like this might be the most bare-minimum celebration that we could possibly do—not because of our excitement level, but because we both have other work on our plates. We are busy people. But yes, we started this blog five years ago… and that is very insane to me.

Logo sketches by Nelson Diaz.

PICKETT: You know, we’ve talked about this a few times in all the interviews and stuff we’ve done for “The LEGO Animation Book”, but I think it’s worth reiterating a little bit of our history together and how it led to us starting The Set Bump: we met at Brickworld Chicago in 2008, and then really became friends the following year. That’s when we started collaborating on stuff like the LEGO animation workshop we ran at Brickworld, as well as Brickjournal issue 14, which I think only came out in 2011.

PAGANO: Well, we were writing it for like six months prior to that, which would have been 2010. (The digital version of that issue is still available.)

PICKETT: After that issue was published, that’s when we really started having a serious conversation: “what if we expanded this content into something bigger?” And that became the earliest plan for The LEGO Animation Book.

As we worked on that first book outline, we realized, “well, if we’re gonna make a book, we should probably start collaboratively writing together more.” So we started this blog as a way to do that, and to stay engaged with the LEGO animation fan community leading up to the release of the book. That was kind of the original idea behind The Set Bump.

PAGANO: All of that sounds correct to me. I was actually I was thinking about Brickworld earlier today, because I was looking for some photos for a thing that I can’t talk about yet, haha. But I found a few old pictures from classes and screenings.

David Pagano teaches an animation workshop at Brickworld Chicago 2010.

The winners of the 2013 Brickworld Film Festival pose with Pickett and Pagano.

PICKETT:  I am always in favor of digging up old, weird photos. You know, I feel like, to this day, there still isn’t a great blog about LEGO animation as a topic. The thing that keeps ours from greatness is the infrequency with which we post to it. I mean, I think our blog is the best blog about LEGO animation, but I’m also 200% biased.

PAGANO: Sure. Another reason that the blog was a great idea was that it allowed us to not only start a fanbase in anticipation of the book, but to have that conversation on our terms as well. We’re always trying to stay involved with the the brickfilm community, but online forums are neither of our styles. I don’t know if that’s due to our ages, or just… I think we both have an affinity for things that are more like prose; things that are a little more academic as opposed to an endless thread of comments.

PICKETT: I mean, we’re both very verbose (as evidenced by how we’re speaking in multiple paragraphs here), but also, we both have an aversion to internet drama. In my experience, forums always attract more drama than blogs because they are more about personalities and interactions. We don’t need to get into the “Great Schism of Brickfilms.com” again in this post, but when that divide in the community happened, both of us only realized it like six months after the fact—because that was about how frequently we visited the forums. Suddenly, everyone was over at Bricks In Motion.

Which reminds me: one thing to point out, of course, is that when we launched our blog, it wasn’t called The Set Bump. It was called BrickAnimation.com, and those URLs still work to this day.

PAGANO: But the reason behind that was that our book was originally going to be called “The Brick Animation Handbook”, right?

PICKETT: Yeah, that was the working title. We spent a lot of time thinking through titles both for the blog and the book, and just thinking about brick animation in general.

PAGANO: I tell this story often: I specifically remember the moment when we came up with the name for this blog. You were sitting at the table at my old studio, and I was laying on the carpet next to the television, and we were both just like… saying words back and forth to each other, trying to come up with ideas.

PICKETT: I know once we said “set bump”, both of us were like “oh!” Because we were literally brainstorming for 24 hours non-stop.

PAGANO: And this was after we already held a contest to name our blog, which didn’t give us a name we liked, but did give us a kind of jumping-off point. I’m scrolling through our naming document now… “Bricks, Flicks and Motion Pics” was one of the winners, which we ended up using as a tagline of sorts. Also, shout-out to “The Commanders of Blokammander”, which is just a wonderful phrase.

PICKETT: I really still want fanart of the two of us, in some sort of ‘80s sci-fi movie poster called “The Commanders of Blokammander”.

PAGANO: Love it. Get Kevin Hinkle on the phone.

I’m reading through the other ideas… It’s a long document, but you can see that it ends when “set bump” came up like three times with different modifiers. “The Unfortunate Set Bump”, “The Unwanted Set Bump”, “The Inevitable Set Bump”.

That’s when we were like, “what if it was just ‘The Set Bump’?”

The winners were voted on by an audience of ~100 Brickworld registered attendees. Without further ado, here are the winning entries:

Best Film (by a Brickworld Chicago attendee): “Sale of a Lifetime” by Casey McCoy

Best Film (International): “The Adventures of Kentucky Jackson” by Kris Theorin

“Full Time Job” by Tyler Eyerly placed 2nd and “A Horse’s Tale” by Gregory & Garry Moore came in 3rd in the international voting.

All the eligible festival entries were screened in a continuous loop for the 8000+ attendees of the Brickworld Chicago exposition on Saturday June 17 and Sunday June 18. We also presented a special screening of “Bricks in Motion” (the North American premiere!) to registered attendees.

Congratulations to our winners, and a big thank you to everyone who submitted a film! You can check out all of the submitted films via the following playlist. Enjoy!

We want this to be the best brickfilm festival ever, so we have very few eligibility requirements (see the official rules below). Your film doesn’t have to be recently made or contain any specific theme. We want your best work of all time. All eligible films will screen continuously in the Brickfilm Theater for the duration of Brickworld Chicago. The attendees of Brickworld Chicago will vote on the films to decide the winners. We’ve also pulled together a pretty awesome prize pack for the winner.

And while attending Brickworld Chicago isn’t required to enter the contest, we highly recommend it. In addition to the film festival, we will be running a LEGO animation workshop, screening a special film, showcasing models from our latest animations and just generally hanging out and talking about LEGO. You can register for Brickworld Chicago on their website.

Official Rules

• Anyone can enter a film in the festival, but you must be a Full Registrant of Brickworld Chicago to be eligible for the “Best Film” Trophy.
• Your film must be longer than 30 seconds and shorter than 5 minutes in length.
• Your film must be uploaded to YouTube.
• Your film should use LEGO elements to tell a story. It can be animated or live action, or a combination of the two.
• Your film must not have been submitted to any previous Brickworld Film Festival.
• By entering your film for consideration, you attest that you hold all rights to exhibit the given work. This includes (but is not limited to) visuals, music, and characters. Unlicensed use of copyrighted material is not allowed.
• Limit one (1) entry per director.
• Films should be enjoyable by all ages. Film content such as (but not limited to) curse words/swearing, excessive violence, sexual content, and drug use will be grounds for disqualification.
• To submit, e-mail [email protected] by June 5, 2017 with the following information:
  • A link to your film on YouTube
  • A completed entry form
• There will be two winners of the festival
  • Best of Brickworld Chicago – a Brickworld “Best Film” trophy will be awarded to the film submitted by a Brickworld Chicago Full Registrant that receives the most votes from the audience at Brickworld Chicago.
  • Best of Brickworld International – a Prize Pack (approximate retail value $250 USD) will be awarded to the film that receives the most votes from the audience at Brickworld Chicago.
• By submitting your film, the Brickworld Film Festival is granted the right to use and/or publish clips or the full videos, screenshots, director and crew names, and any other material related to an entry in the event program, the Brickworld Film Festival screening, the Brickworld website, re-screenings at future Brickworld events, and for any and all promotional purposes.

Prize Pack Details

• 8077: Atlantis Exploration HQ
• 60134: Fun in the Park – City People Pack
• 21103: The DeLorean Time Machine
• 71238: Cyberman
• Misc. Collectable Minifigures (x6)
• 40021: Spiders
• 852948: Female Minifigure Magnets
• 6868: Hulk’s Hellicarrier Breakout
• 852690: Designer’s Toolset
• Medieval and WWII BrickStix packs
• Signed copy of Brickjournal Issue #14
• Signed copy of The LEGO Animation Book

If you have any questions, please e-mail [email protected]. We look forward to seeing your films!

To say this book has been a long time in the making would be an understatement. Way back in 2008, David Pagano taught an “Introduction to LEGO Animation” workshop at Brickworld Chicago. After it was over, David Pickett walked up and nervously introduced himself as “that guy that made that weird brickfilm that one time.” Ever since, we’ve been building a friendship and creative partnership using films and LEGO bricks (and awkwardly referencing ourselves in the third-person).

One of the first things we bonded over was how frequently we were asked intensely specific questions about animating, such as:

• “What is the exact model of camera that you use?”
• “How many frames per second do you shoot?”
• “How did you make your character do that cool thing at 2:17 in your last movie?”

We love seeing so many people eager to learn more about the subject we’re most passionate about, but there’s only so much you can explain in a short conversation or a YouTube comment. So in 2011, we started talking seriously about writing a book that could answer these questions in detail. Over the last five years, this book has grown from a dream in our heads to a real physical thing you will be able to hold in your hands. (It will also be available as an e-book—slightly less tangible, but still easier to access than the insides of our minds.)

In addition to answering the questions listed above, the book will also contain:

• A step-by-step guide for making your first animation
• Techniques for creating special effects like explosions and flying minifigures
• Acting methods for your minifigs—learn how to convey action and emotion
• The SECRET FORMULA for bringing inanimate objects to life
• Tips and tricks for designing sets—make three buildings look like an entire city!
• Advice for dealing with practical problems like lighting, framing, and capturing consistent photos
• Building ideas for LEGO-­based camera dollies and rigs
• Instructions and inspiration on the filming process, from storyboarding to post-production
• Recommendations for cameras, software, and other essential animation tools

We’re excited to be working with No Starch Press as our publisher; they have a long history of publishing great books about the LEGO hobby. You can pre-order The LEGO Animation Book through their website. Our hope is that this book will inspire and educate a whole new generation of LEGO filmmakers. We can’t wait to feature their films here on The Set Bump.

P.S. – If you noticed that our blogging decreased sharply in mid-2014, you now know why. We’ll be busy wrapping up the book over the next few months, but we’ll be back to blogging with gusto afterwards.

When buying a camera, here are a few features to look for:

• Manual controls, especially for focus and white balance
• USB, Firewire and/or HDMI connection to computer
• Tripod connection (screw threads on bottom)
• Plug-in power source – avoid running on battery power if at all possible.

Some stop-motion software:

Windows:

• Helium Frog (free) http://www.heliumfrog.com/heliumfrogindex.html
• AnimatorDV (Simple+ version is free!) http://www.animatordv.com
• MonkeyJam (free) – Not HD, very basic. http://monkeyjam.org/
• Stop Motion Pro ($49 for Action! edition) http://www.stopmotionpro.com
• Dragonframe 3.0 (free trial, $295 for full) http://www.dragonframe.com/

Mac:

• Stopmojo (free) http://www.mondobeyondo.com/projects/stopmojo/
• Boinx iStopMotion Home ($49) http://www.boinx.com/istopmotion/
• Dragonframe 3.0 (free trial, $295 for full) http://www.dragonframe.com/

Mobile (iOS, available via iTunes):

• LEGO Movie Maker (free and AWESOME) https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/lego-movie-maker/id516001587?mt=8
• iMotion HD (free) https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/imotion-hd/id421365625?mt=8
• Stop Motion Studio (free) https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/stop-motion-studio/id441651297?mt=8
• Aardman Animate It! ($2.99) https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/animate-it/id544691268?mt=8
• Boinx iStopMotion for iPad ($9.99) https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/istopmotion-for-ipad/id484019696?mt=8

Recommended books:

• Frank Thomas and Ollie Johnston. “The Illusion of Life: Disney Animation.” Disney Editions, 1995.
• Richard Williams. “The Animator’s Survival Kit.” Faber & Faber, 2002.
• Allan Bedford. “The Unofficial LEGO Builder’s Guide.” No Starch Press, 2005.

Web resources:

• Bricks In Motion – http://www.bricksinmotion.com
• Brickfilmer’s Guild – http://www.brickfilmersguild.com
• The Stop-Motion Animation How-To Page – http://www.animateclay.com
• Stop Motion Works – http://www.stopmotionworks.com/
• Creative Cow – http://www.creativecow.net

What are some of your favorite resources for brickfilming? Tell us in the comments!

We’re very excited to announce the third annual Brickworld Film Festival!

The Brickworld Film Festival is part of Brickworld Chicago, one of the largest conventions of LEGO fans in the world. Last year, we invited attendees to submit their brick animations (or live-action brick flicks) and screened the 8 entries (spanning a variety of genres and styles, from a live-action comedy sketch to a pulp-style space adventure) to an enthusiastic audience of over 160 people.

The event theme for Brickworld Chicago 2014 is “Candy, Sweet Escapes,” so we’re asking this year’s entrants to keep this concept in mind when creating/selecting their submissions. We expect to see some films featuring the Ice Cream Machine and Downtown Bakery. However, we’re also hoping to see other creative approaches to the theme; for instance, last year’s winning film, “From Baking to Bad Guys,” could easily fit in this year’s theme.

Like last year, David and David will carefully review all the entrants, and select the best one to declare the winner.  Additionally, an ‘Audience Favorite’ will be voted on during the festival screening.

For those of you on the fence about attending Brickworld Chicago, keep in mind there’s more to the event than just the film festival. On Thursday, we’ll be teaching a three-hour workshop on brick animation, which covers basic techniques and includes some hands-on animation time. There are also displays, workshops, presentations, contests, games, and a ton of LEGO bric-a-brac to keep your attention.

Official Rules

• You must be a Full Registrant of Brickworld Chicago to enter.
• Your film must be longer than 30 seconds and shorter than 5 minutes in length.
• Your film must be uploaded to YouTube.
• Your film should use LEGO elements to tell a story. It can be animated or live action, or a combination of the two.
• Your film must not contain any copyrighted audio. Bricks in Motion has a great list of places you can find royalty free music and sound effects.
• Your film should incorporate the theme “Candy, Sweet Escapes” in some way.
• Your film must not have been submitted to any previous Brickworld Film Festival.
• Limit one film submission per person.
• Films should be enjoyable by all ages. Curse words, excessive violence, sexual content, and drug use will be grounds for disqualification.
• To submit, e-mail [email protected] by June 1, 2014 with the following information:
  • Your Full Name
  • Your Age
  • A link to your film on YouTube
• A prize will be awarded to the film that best exemplifies the LEGO values of creativity, fun, and technical excellence; as decided by the judges.
• An additional prize will be awarded to the film that receives the most votes from the audience at the festival screening.

If you have any questions, please ask them in the comments. Also, leave a comment if you’re planning to attend Brickworld Chicago.  We look forward to seeing your films!

The Set Bump turns one year old today!

It was not so long ago (last August, in fact) that we said “Hello World” with our first post; kicking off a great year of news, reviews, editorials, and other animation-y brick-a-brack. In the coming year, we plan to continue upping the ante with all kinds of new content. You might have already seen the first result of our foray into the world of guest contributors — A Repelling Spider’s post about how, when it comes to animating with LEGO bricks, there is no time like the present.

Anyway, we’d like to extend a big thank-you to all our readers, commenters, and supporters for your continued interest in and feedback on our little corner of the internet. If all goes according to plan, year two should be even more interesting.

They’re making a LEGO Movie, after all!

Big thanks to Nelson Diaz for the excellent logo. You can check out more of his work at http://www.nelsart.com.

An equally big thanks to everyone who submitted name ideas to our site naming contest last year. “The Set Bump” was not actually one of the entries, but rather a name that we came up with — one that we felt best evoked stop-motion, LEGO, and shared animation experiences. (How many times have you bumped YOUR animation set in the middle of a shot?)

We’ll be slowly-but-surely updating the site in the coming weeks to reflect this change. In the meantime, you can follow The Set Bump on Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube.

We’re very excited to announce the second annual Brickworld Film Festival!

The Brickworld Film Festival is part of Brickworld Chicago, one of the largest conventions of LEGO fans in the world. Last year, we invited attendees to submit their brick animations (or live-action brick flicks) and screened the 14 entries to an enthusiastic audience of over 100 people. This year, we’re bringing the contest back… with a vengeance.

The event theme for Brickworld Chicago 2013 is “Heroes and Villains,” so we’re asking this year’s entrants to keep this concept in mind when creating/selecting their submissions. We expect to see many films featuring LEGO Super Heroes sets, Hero Factory characters, and the many action themes that LEGO has produced over the past 35+ years. However, we’re also hoping to see other creative approaches to the theme; for instance, this film from last year’s festival could easily be re-titled “My Mom: The Hero” to fit into this year’s theme.

Like last year, David and David will carefully review all the entrants, and select the best one to declare the winner. Last year’s winning film was “Battery Troubles” by L&H, and you should definitely check it out; both because it’s a great example of what we’re looking for in this festival, and because it’s hilarious. This year’s screening will also feature a new, additional category — the ‘Audience Favorite’ — which will be voted on during the festival screening.

For those of you on the fence about attending Brickworld Chicago, keep in mind there’s more to the event than just the film festival. On Thursday, we’ll be teaching a three-hour workshop on brick animation, which covers basic techniques and includes some hands-on animation time. There are also displays, workshops, presentations, contests, games, and a ton of LEGO bric-a-brac to keep your attention.

Plus, it’s also a rare opportunity to connect with other brick animators in person… previous attendees have included Shatterpoint Entertainment, Whistleworks Pictures, CarrollFilms, SteveFrog8,  TLFScarheart, and DarkDragon.

Anyway, we’ve changed the film festival entry rules a little bit since last year, so be sure to read them carefully:

Official Rules

• You must be a Full Registrant of Brickworld Chicago to enter.
• Your film must be longer than 30 seconds and shorter than 5 minutes in length.
• Your film must be uploaded to YouTube.
• Your film should use LEGO elements to tell a story. It can be animated or live action, or a combination of the two.
• Your film must not contain any copyrighted audio. Bricks in Motion has a great list of places you can find royalty free music and sound effects.
• Your film should incorporate the theme “Heroes and Villains” in some way.
• Your film must not have been submitted to any previous Brickworld Film Festival.
• Limit one film submission per person.
• If you would like your film considered for inclusion on the Brickworld 2013 DVD, you will need to complete an additional release form. (We’re working on this; more info to come.)
• Entries that feature actual LEGO themes or licensed characters will not be eligible for inclusion on the Brickworld 2013 DVD.
• Films should be enjoyable by all ages. Curse words, excessive violence, sexual content, and drug use will be grounds for disqualification.
• To submit, e-mail [email protected] by June 1, 2013 with the following information:
  • Your Full Name
  • Your Age
  • A link to your film on YouTube
• A prize will be awarded to the film that best exemplifies the LEGO values of creativity, fun, and technical excellence; as decided by the judges.
• An additional prize will be awarded to the film that receives the most votes from the audience at the festival screening.

If you have any questions, please ask them in the comments. Also, leave a comment if you’re planning to attend Brickworld Chicago.  We look forward to seeing your films!

It’s been just about a month since BrickAnimation.com launched, and now that we have some substantial content, we thought it would be a good time to address a glaring issue with our site: it has a boring name.

BrickAnimation.com was a logical domain for us, but it lacks the poetry of titles like The Brothers Brick, Boing Boing, or Gizmodo. We’re hoping you can help us come up with something better.

Here are some ideas we came up with, to give you a sense of what we’re looking for (of course, your name will be much more clever):

• The Brick Animation Handbook
• Moving Bricktures
• 8 Stud Theatre
• Blocks Office
• Studs and Sprockets

The Contest
Post a comment below with your idea(s) for a new name for this site. The ideal name is related to brick animation, easy to say and to remember, and no more than three syllables long. The name cannot contain the word LEGO, “brickfilms”, or any other registered trademark. For consideration, please submit your comment no later than October 24th. And keep in mind, by submitting a name, you are giving us permission to trademark it (and signifying that you agree to our Official Naming Contest Rules). You can enter as many times as you like, but you can only win one prize.

Prizes

• Grand Prize: David and David will create a minifig in your likeness (we promise not to use it in any voodoo rituals) and feature it as the star of a short (< 30 seconds) brick animation.  After we’re done animating, we’ll send you the minifig!
• 2nd – 4th place: An honest-to-goodness Little Guys! figure from Paganomation
• 5th – 10th place: A tiny-but-evil Pinchbot from NNN

That’s all there is to it; so get a-brainstormin’!

Hi there! Welcome to The Set Bump [formerly BrickAnimation.com] — a LEGO fan blog that focuses on stop-motion animation and filmmaking, featuring our favorite plastic building toy.

The Set Bump is run by two guys named David:

• David Pagano is an award-winning animator and the “brains” behind Paganomation, the creative entity responsible for short films like Little Guys! and Playback; as well as things like Space Police, Adventures of Max, and the Red Brick Saga for The LEGO Group.
• Dave Pickett is a lifelong LEGO fan and pop culture enthusiast. He runs the YouTube channel BRICK 101 where he shares his LEGO animations, custom LEGO creations, LEGO set reviews and other fun videos.
• David and David have collaborated on several projects showcasing the history and craft of brick animation, including: The LEGO Animation Book, BrickJournal Issue 14, the annual Brickworld Film Festival, and an annual “Intro to LEGO Animation” workshop at Brickworld Chicago.

This blog feature posts about all aspects of the brick animation hobby:

• Highlighting the best animations made using LEGO bricks (“brick animations” for short)
• Hardware and software packages, and other useful items for the brick animators’ toolkit
• News, previews, and reviews of LEGO sets, fan-made accessories, and (of course) films
• Interviews with the foremost filmmakers in the LEGO fan community
• Tutorials covering animation techniques, tips, and tricks
• Contests
• “And much more!”

If there’s something specific you’d like us to talk about, please let us know in the comments below! Thanks, and… ACTION