For a long time I'd wanted to make an animation, but never had access to a camera to do it, though I kept all my old Lego stored away just in case I might in the future. The movie is an animation I made with a friend one weekend in 1992, using the Lego I'd kept since I was a kid. It's 2′12″ in duration.
The plot was hatched up over about fifteen minutes (see spoiler), just before we started to actually film it. It was filmed over one weekend; four hours one Saturday, filming indoors under two 500 Watt lamps on a stiflingly hot day; and four hours the next day, filming outdoors in freezingly cold weather.
It was shot on Super 8 film, using a camera I'd borrowed from the school that I did support work for, and on the end of a roll of their film they'd been using for pixelation (animation using people). Then later transferred to VHS tape (simply by projecting onto a small screen in front of a video camera). This captured video is from the VHS tape, as the Super 8 film is hiding somewhere.
The film is silent, no sound track was ever recorded. The picture quality isn't all too good. None of the cameras available for me to borrow ever produced shots of good focus, and the grade of Super 8 film used wasn't anything special.
The film is available in DVD-ROM, CD-ROM, VHS, and S-VHS formats. You may purchase it from me, for minimal cost (blank media, copying, and postage), I'm not seeking to make money from it, but I'm not going to make copies that cost me money to do. Or, alternatively, if you know someone with a copy already, you are free to make your own copy.
There is also a highly compressed version available from my web site. You should be able to download and/or view “The Invasion” Lego animation in the Real Media format (365,734 bytes filesize). And a much less compressed file of “The Invasion” Lego animation as an MPEG 1 format (21,828,320 bytes). You will probably need to download the larger file before trying to play it, as the download speed probably won't be fast enough to play it while downloading it. Please note that the Real Media version of the file will be of much poorer quality than any other versions available. At some stage I'll try to make a more optimal conversion with a much smaller file size, but still reasonable picture quality.
The copyright for this film is owned by myself (Tim Seifert), and Justin Clear, all rights are reserved. However, permission is granted for you to make copies, for your own entertainment, or to “give” copies to your friends. You may not sell it, or use it to make money in any way, though you can charge for the cost of media and duplication. No profiteering is allowed.
The video can be shown in public without needing to ask for permission (including, but not limited to; film clubs, film festivals, art house TV, etc.), and if anybody thinks of a way to use it for charity (or other “worthy” causes), then they are free to do so. It'd be nice to hear if anything like this happens, so send me a postcard and let me know if it does.
You may not modify the contents of the film, but you may do other file type transcodes into different movie file formats, or run file compression routines on the file, so long as the film will be replayed like its original appearance. Nor may you alter or remove my messages, nor claim any sort of ownership of the material.
If you are unable to play back a the type of media you acquire it on, you may may make a copy onto any other applicable medium.
Copies of the files are subjected to the exact same conditions, and removing copyright notices does NOT change the conditions.