Being Creative Using Lego
This week we took a break from our usual writing lessons and looked at the excellent Lego site – <http://www.mylego.com/> – which all of us within school have been having fun with! We especially enjoy the ‘Creative’ section of this website where you can become a creative master by taking pictures, adding music and then creating a stop motion film just like the professionals.
If you have never done this before, it’s very simple! The first thing you need to do is choose from one of three given backgrounds for your film – City, Forrest or Desert. Next all you need to do is carefully arrange each character and object on the set so that when you click the ‘Take Picture’ button, everything is how you would like it to be. Then all you need to do is press play and see your masterpiece come to life! The team at My Lego were really impressed with how we got on and tweeted out our films for everyone else to enjoy. Our favourite was the one below which we made in the style of a classic horror movie!
How to make a lego transformers film
We also had a go at making our own lego transformers film. We decided that if we could make a stop motion animation of this, it would be great for the new Transformers movie coming out later in the year! As with all things, this did take a bit of practice and each team member taking turns meant that everyone got a chance to master the technique and each film improved as a result.
What is Lego and where did it come from?
There are many questions about Lego, but I can answer them all. LEGO was first made in 1932 by Ole Kirk Christiansen. He made wooden toy items until 1934 when he changed to making his toys out of plastic. He used cellulose acetate to do this. His factory burnt down so he had to rebuild it, and after that his company started to get better and bigger. His eldest son Godtfred Kirk Christiansen came up with the name LEGO when he combined two Danish words, “LEg GOdt” and “HAvt”. When did it become like we know it today? In 1958 a worker of Ole Kirk made some hollow tubes, and after that the company started making different parts. Lego started making their first building brick pieces in the year of 1959, and they are mostly what is being made today.
The different types of Lego
There are many different types of Lego. These are the three main types:
LEGO System – This is normal sets that have normal bricks. It has all different sizes, shapes and colours.
Fisher Price – This type used to be called “Kiddiz”. They have big pieces for small hands. The biggest sizes are 8×8 and 10×10.
Minifigures – These are the people that come with the buildings sets. They have different clothes, hair-do’s and facial expressions to make it as realistic as possible.
Other types of Lego: There is LEGO Technic which has pieces for building machines e.g cranes, excavators etc. There is also LEGO Juniors which has big chunky pieces for smaller hands, and also the Duplo range.
How do you make a lego film?
To make a lego animation is very easy. All you need to do is search “how to make a stop motion video” on Google. Then look at some of the videos to get an idea of what you need before you start. You need a camera, tripod and software. I use Windows Moviemaker as it is free, but iMovie for Apple is also good. Then just press record on your camera then play on your lego set, then when something changes in the animation press stop and repeat as many times as you need until you have a finished product!
My favourite lego film is the spoof of Star Wars. It’s really funny and I love all the different characters that Lego made, especially Princess Leia. They used pink bricks for her hair which was so clever of them.
Conclusion
So there you have it – a detailed insight into how to use Legos and what you can do with them. There are so many great videos on YouTube that we recommend having a look at if you want some inspiration for your own Lego films! And just because we love writing about creative activities here at Ratemyclass, here’s one more video for you to take a look at!
