I make movies in my spare time. My favourite method is stop-motion animation (with Lego minifigs in particular) but I'm starting to branch out into other areas and although I don't animate at home as much since I started doing it professionally but I hope to change that and add more entries below.

Some videos are available in two formats: RealMedia for cross-platform accessibility & small file sizes and the larger Quicktime format because I like it. You can also click on some of the thumbnails for a larger version of the picture or poster.

If you like the Lego-based stuff, check out Brickfilms for hundreds of other brick-based animations.

Download:

QT (H.264)* (7.4Mb)

 

 

The Bright Side

2006

My live-action directing debut! This one was an entry for yet another online contest (DV Challenge #6 via DVinfo.net): to make a three-minute movie inspired by the sun. The finished product came from one of the earliest ideas I had although the flavour of it changed many times over the course of production. The biggest hurdle was getting it down to time and as a result I had to throw out a lot of material.

Another thing I learned quickly was that I much prefer being behind the camera. I didn't have the time to get an actor so I did it myself and found not being able to see what I was getting until later to be a real pain. But, learning was part of the reason for doing it.

However, success is still nice. I won!

The version here is not the one submitted for the contest. That one was a rush job and I'm not fond of it. This one has most shots "tidied up", better sound, music, and an extra shot. In my opinion, a better movie than the original.

Download:

Quicktime* (9.2Mb)

QT (H.264)** (13.1Mb)

 

 

King Kong vs. Aquadrillicus

2005

I made this short in five days - sets, puppets, animation... everything. Well, except for the awesome sound and music - that was the contribution of my pal Loic Desjardins (whom I collaborated with on Rapunzel).

It was for a contest held by Ain't It Cool News in which the intent was to create a creature that King Kong might encounter on his native Skull Island and animate it using the stop-motion technique (just like in the original movie). Bonus coolness points if you actually make it fight Kong.

Long story short: we won!

• The prize was a V-Rex vs. Kong statue from the 2005 incarnation of the movie and free hosting for the movie on the Weta Collectibles site.

Here's a pic of me and the prize!


I've had some requests for behind-the-scenes info so here's all I've got:

The making of King Kong vs. Aquadrillicus

Download:

Quicktime* (24.2Mb)

 

 

Strange Adventurers: Where Walks the Waitress!

2005

This one's a live-action production. My pal Dave wanted to enter a video contest that Wizard magazine was hosting. The guidelines were "make it funny". So Dave adapted a minicomic that Mike Holmes and Alex Kennedy had done. It worked out pretty well, especially for such a rushed production.

Download:

Quicktime* (1.5Mb)

 

 

Rapunzel

2004

This littlun's only 30 sec.long. I originally did it as a test - the minifig was shot with a blank head and the face was added later in an extremely time-consuming but (in my opinion) ultimately successful process.

• It's only available in Quicktime and at 720x360 because the whole point is to showcase the digital face. I'm not going to bother with a RealMedia version.

• This is my first collaborative work; Loic Desjardins did the sound effects and the music that really make the movie work.

Download:

Quicktime* (6.4Mb)

 

 

Poko Reel

2003

My first professional gig! Poko is a stop-motion children's show produced for the CBC. I was lucky enough to get hired with only my two Lego shorts to show for myself and worked as one of nine animators on season one.

I also worked on season two but as a 1st assistant director and so have nothing to show for it save the satisfaction of having finished on schedule.

• The puppets are (largely) silicone over a steel ball-and-socket armature. Very nice to work with.

Download:

Quicktime* (11.1Mb)

RealMedia (6Mb)

 

 

Star Wars Episode III: Rise of the Empire (trailer)

2002

This one was also created for a competition; the aim was to create a trailer for a Star Wars movie, either existing or made up. I've received a ton of email since putting it up - my first personal exposure to just how immense and far-reaching both the Star Wars fan base and the Internet are.

• Winner of the Audience Choice Award at the Brickfest 2002 Animation Competition.

• Worthy of a paragraph and a picture in the updated paperback edition of Using the Force: Creativity, Community and Star Wars Fans, a book on the Star Wars fan phenomenon by Will Brooker. Check it out on Amazon here.

• The british sci-fi mag SFX picks ROTE as one of the top ten Star Wars spoofs in their October 2003 issue.


When I first put the movie up I had a lot of questions about how I did this or that so I wrote a "making of" page. Be warned, though, it's a lot of pics on one page and not for the faint of connection.

The making of Rise of the Empire

Download:

Quicktime* (12.8Mb)

RealMedia (4.2Mb)

 

 

The Gauntlet

2001

The Gauntlet was my first published movie, originally intended as an entry in the Classical Movie Contest at Brickfilms.com. I decided not to enter it at the last minute because it needed a bit more polishing to make me happy. It's good now.

• Runner-up for the Conference Organizer's choice in the Stop-Motion Division of the BricksWest 2002 Animation Festival.

• Part of the ViewFinders International Film Festival for Youth animation program.

 

 

 

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*Video compressed with the Sorenson 3 codec; audio compressed with MP4 codec

**Video compressed with the H.264 codec

 

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Site © Jay Silver 2005