It seems like every other movie to hit the silver screen these days is about Super Heroes and you’ve no doubt walked out of a few and though: “I could make a better Super Hero movie than that!”. Well now’s your chance.
There’s only one problem, you have no budget for things like special effects, actors or even a movie camera. The Solution? Enter the Super Hero Stop Motion Cinema Contest. All you need is the LEGO Super Heroes Movie Maker app (free download) and an iOS device to run it. Use the app to make a Super Hero (or Super Villain) movie at least 30 seconds long and submit it to the contest thread. This contest is sponsoered by LEGO and they’ve provided a nice set of prizes. Get top honors and you’ll win your choice of either the Iron Man or ‘Bucky Barnes’ Captain America minifig pictured in the banner. Though not pictured, Cap will come with his shield. Other props not included. Second place will receive the figure not chosen by first place.
Be forewarned that there are limitiations to the app. The biggest one being that there is no way to add sound of any kind. So you’re limited to using the music that’s built in and there’s no way to do voiceovers. Still, it’s always been my philosophy that limitations can spark creativity. So channel your creative energy and come up with at least a 30 second movie created with the LEGO Movie app. You’ll be able to save your movie from within the app to your photo library. Sync your device to your computer to offload your cinematic masterpiece. Then upload the movie to your Youtube account and then submit the video in the contest thread.
Requirements to this contest:
– You MUST use the free LEGO Super Heroes Movie Maker app. That being said, you must own an iOS device with a built-in camera that can run the app.
– Your movie must be at least 30 seconds long.
– Your movie can be about anything starring a supero hero or super villain.
– You must use only official LEGO elements in your movie. And in case it isn’t obvious by that statement: you MUST use an officially licensed minifigure or minifigures made by LEGO from their LEGO Batman, LEGO Superheroes: DC, LEGO Superheroes: Marvel, or Spiderman lines. No custom figures or elements allowed.
– You MUST have a Youtube account in order to upload your video. There are special instructions located here on how to embed a youtube video into a forum post.
– Contest runs from the time of this announcement through 11:59pm PST Sunday August 5, 2012.
– Judging will occur immediately following with one round of voting. In the even of a tie, a tie breaker poll filled out by the staff will determine the winner.
Some tips:
– Play with the app. Get to know the app by shooting a couple of pictures and trying out all the options so you know what you’re dealing with.
– Storyboard your concept. The more preplanning you do for your movie, the less time you spend correcting shots.
– Build a stand. If you’re using an ipad to shoot your film… good luck. If you’re using an iPhone or an iPod Touch, it would behoove you to make a little stand of some kind so that your shots are consistent from frame to frame.
– Plan out your FPS (frames per second). The app has a slider so you can determine how fast your frame rate should be. It starts at 1 frame per second and maxes out to 10. So a thirty second movie would require as little as 30 frames at 1 fps, or 300 frames at 10 fps. The higher your framerate, the smoother your animation will be.
– Think of the silent movie era of Hollywood. Before sound was integrated into a movie, filmmakers used title cards to convey dialog. The app may not have a wide selection of titles, but that’s not stopping you from creating and photographing your own.
Prizes: Once again, LEGO is providing the prizes. As outlined above, the winner with the most votes will be able to choose between the Iron Man or Captain America (w/shield) minifigures used in the contest banner. The runner up will receive the figure left over.
