Brickfilm/LEGO feature length film 'The Wars of Darkness Part 1'

I made this movie entirely for fun in 2004 and finished it in 2005 with re-editing in 2006. It was inspired by Lord of the Rings, Diablo, and Warcraft 3 as well as other films and games. I used Lego Studios lego.wikia.com/wiki/1349_LEGO_... which is why the image quality is crappy. Loved it for editing though. It's entirely stop motion animation, and uses no digital effects at all. It was meant to be a drama, but thats naturally difficult to do with Legos considering everyone dies with a smile on their face haha :) One thing to note, is that during battle scenes the good guys wear grey helmets and the bad guys wear black. Part 2 is also uploaded, there is a link at the end of the film. Thanks for watching, and I hope you enjoy!

[@MultiCoolmovies]

This is perhaps the longest animated film ever made.

[@Sonjira]

I just got finished doing a group watch of this entire 4-hour film with several other brickfilmers, holy hell this film is a bonafide masterpiece. It carries its length so well with absolutely EXILLERATING battle scenes that are just awe-inspiring in their scale. Even with such limited animation, the hits just hit so hard! And by the end of part two, your animation gets just so great and punchy! This is one of my new favorite brickfilms, it moves at an even brisker pace than some modern films that are less than a tenth of its length. This is such a monumental achievement that really proves that some kid from anywhere can pick up a camera and make an incredible film. Bravo, sir, BRAVO!!!!

[@appleface754]

not saying this is a bad film, probably the best lego film ever made, but it funny how the people are still smiling when they die, especially 6.00-7.00. But still good.

[@vivorproductions]

That was by far the most awesome fight scene in a medieval brickfilm I have ever seen! A true masterpiece!

[@AltonJB1984]

Which fight scene in particular did you like?

[@vivorproductions]

Aj B the one that started at about 1:16:20

[@burger84.]

10 Years later and this holds up, good job!

[@starwarsstudio100]

Well done, one of the longest brickfilms to date and very impressive. There aren't many brickfilms out there who reahced the one hour mark. let alone four hours if you count the second part.

[@AltonJB1984]

Thanks! Yeah aiming for four hours in retrospect was a tad excessive lol, but it was still fun to do

[@starwarsstudio100]

I can see that, but what made you decide to undertake this insane task. I made a 57 minute brickfilm, but this is really insane.

[@AltonJB1984]

I always liked epic length movies, and I guess given the time that I had I wanted to replicate one in my own way. So if you have the patience and time to give it a try, it's a great hobby! :)

[@starwarsstudio100]

As a fellow brickfilmer I do agree that time and patience is a major factor in making long stop-motions. My upcomming brickfilm will be around 30 minutes. But it is rather difficult to create a brickfilm this long and keep the viewer intrested.

[@AltonJB1984]

It's different depending on what your vision is, but I always liked the simplistic good vs evil motto and then throw some blood and carnage in it for good measure lol

[@Frogstomp27]

This is the most impressive stop animation film I have ever seen. The amount of dedication, passion, and ingenuity you had during production and editing is displayed in every frame of this masterpiece. That fact that more than a decade ago, over the span of 2 years, with minimal equipment, you were able to produce a film of such magnitude and quality is nothing short of amazing. I would like this a million times if I could. I'm sure the work ethic and perseverence you had making this has served you very well in your life as an adult. Thank you for sharing this masterpiece with us.

[@AltonJB1984]

Thank you very much for the kind statements! I'm just happy people are still watching it. It feels like forever ago when I started working on this film. I'm still writing/rewriting (you know how it goes) the screenplay for it's prequel in my spare time. Also if you enjoyed Part 1, check out Part 2. It was personally my favorite part to work on, and I feel it's the darker but more hopeful of the two parts. As always thank you for watching :)

[@gamerzach6697]

@@AltonJB1984 will you be interested in selling these

[@TheGFilms1]

Thank you very much for his amazing film! It is the most fun I had watching a brickfilm in the past five years. The action scenes are engaging, the portrayal of violence is creative beyond any comparison. You created something truly great.

[@themanwhowouldbebrick]

I’m amazed you were able to finish this in just over a year, it took me 5 months to make a 15 minute brickfilm at a much lower fps than this. Good job, this is probably the longest brickfilm ever made, but the quality is good as well, a good story and effects.

[@BananaJamas]

after all these years, this is still amazing as always. I'd still come back time to time to rewatch this incredible masterpiece. its astounding.

[@griefingitalia]

Longest Brickfilm ever , you made history!

[@MadeYaLookStudios]

Really great! Obviously a huge technical feat, but I was surprised by how well the battle scenes are put together. They don't feel tacked onto the main story. Each battle has character moments and story beats that add to the story, which is something I find hard to come by in modern films. Amazing job with the commitment too! I'm currently working on maybe a 20 minute brickfilm, and I find it hard to animate consistently! Thanks for the encouragement that I can keep working on it and get it done!

[@MagmaCr3am]

This movie is soo awesome! and you must have spent a lot of time to this. Beautiful movie!

[@legodoctorwho5227]

Wow this is so old and impressive clean quality for its time I have to say this is a Awesome Brickfilm

[@AltonJB1984]

Thank you so much! This made my day lol :)

[@10legoking]

this is the longest and best video ever

[@Ian_R_Anderson]

Amazing brickfilm! Thumbs up if you watched the full vid.

[@cdu96]

WOW! and i felt exhausted after making a 20 second one! nice job.

[@AltonJB1984]

Thank you!

[@rachelwallach7423]

Really liked it feels like a movie

[@RipFlippy]

And There's A PART 2!!! Good Job!

[@AltonJB1984]

Thanks!

[@AltonJB1984]

This is the version I ripped from the DVD I made back in 2005. The image quality of the film is the same as when it was first made, that's due to Lego Studio's camera. The entire film is about 4 hours, but that's split into two parts (there is a link in the film to the 2nd half, otherwise it's called The Wars of Darkness Part 2). And unfortunately no, I was never able to make the prequel, and I just have paper copies of the script I was originally planning on using. Thanks for your interest! :)

[@AltonJB1984]

Thanks! I'm glad you appreciated it! It was a lot of fun to make

[@ForlornCreature]

01:19:20 was amazing

[@ForlornCreature]

TWO horse throws

[@themanwhowouldbebrick]

I’ve been blessed by my recommended

[@AltonJB1984]

Yeah, I usually made his armies twice the size of Dagnith's to emphasize the extent of his threat and power. And it's cool you caught the battle aftermath sadness, because I pushed that topic pretty hard

[@gruen_balsam]

This is so amazing! Really well done! Good luck You in everything!

[@happyanimations]

Battle scenes are awesome!

[@EternalEqu1n0x]

6:00 wow, that’s wild!

[@connerdale4221]

Cool! I can't wait to see more!

[@Blandeer]

I just finished watching this. (Yet to see part 2, as of writing this.) I really enjoyed the film. The battle sequences are incredibly well put together. When considering the technical limitations, and simply animation at the time, this is in its own right a crafted work of art. When I first heard of it I was very hesitant to watch due to the length, age, and what I believed would be poor quality, but I've really enjoyed it and do not regret my choice. Pacing and the script, the fights and the sets, are put together with an amount of care that is noticeable to any viewer. Fantastic job! Is there any chance you still have DVD copies of the film? Do you have a typed copy of the prequel I could read? And/Or a copy of this, Wars of Darkness, script?

[@AltonJB1984]

The prequel was going to be much darker but less gorey. It was going to have genocide of the dwarves among other things. Ty for the interest :)

[@SplushPufStudios]

Wow this is truly amazing!!

[@AltonJB1984]

Thank you!

[@11338325]

Very good story. I'd love it if you could remake it so we could see how it looks with some of the new LEGO Castle minifigures. For sets you could ask MontigoStudios for help since he did that amazing brickfilm "Bound - The Epic Lego Movie"

[@AltonJB1984]

Thanks for the nice comments! Yeah I'd love to animate more, but unfortunately time isn't something I have much of anymore, at least not for anything of this scale again

[@gdtevolo5862]

Beautiful. Just Beautiful! =D

[@Woofelz]

holy crap 2 hours fantastic job

[@VChen-vk1lh]

I like how you use paper for the backdrops :)

[@zachmetry6124]

Aj B, if you sell this on dvd, I will buy this, definitely buy this

[@indyfilmmaker2079]

Truly one of my favorite classic brick films! Really enjoy watching it, it honestly doesn't get old for me. I do have a few questions I'd really like it if you could answer them! 1.) Whats the frame rate of the film? 2.) Was there masking used for the effects, such as blood dropping, items thrown etc? If not how were they done? 3.) Did you most of the year animating? You inspire me to do a longer film when I have the space! :) 4.) Finally was WoW an inspiration and possibly runescape? I have to ask as it does remind me of both of them! 5.) Also why is the resolution so small? 640:480 I'd presume? Was there no chance to make it bigger? 6.) Webcam or camera? And what one! I'd love to know! Awesome film 5/5!

[@indyfilmmaker2079]

And btw, is there any chance of a third? Or a new brick film this length?? That would be amazing....

[@AltonJB1984]

Divine Brick Productions Thanks for the nice comments! To answer your questions, it's been almost 10 years since I finished this, so I don't honestly remember the technical aspects of it. The camera and software used were Lego Studios, and this is the information I dug up on it: Name: The LEGO Studios camera/ Mindstorms Camera Link: www.lego.com/studios/ [Dead Link] Resolution/max. framerate: 640×480 (really!), 30 fps or thereabouts Chip: CMOS Other features: This is actually the Logitech Quickcam Web.Comes with Lego Studios, which, because of the forced, small, resolution and aggressive compression, makes picture quality worse than what the cam is actually capable of, needs to be very well lit to perform at any satisfactory level

[@AltonJB1984]

Divine Brick Productions As far as there being another film, I originally had a prequel in mind shortly after I finished this film, but the plug has been pulled on that for some time unfortunately.

[@indyfilmmaker2079]

Hey Aj thanks for you're response, oh shame I am excited to see a new one tho it will be really interesting to see how it turns out compared to these being over 7 years from your last film! If you get a chance I'd really like to know about the other questions as well! Oh and if you need voice actors I'd be more than happy to help msg me anytime if it ever happens!

[@thatonelegoanimator4252]

Hey I love this brickflim also I want to know how long did it take to film part 1 and 2 these are amazing

[@AjB1984]

It took one year in total roughly. I worked on it every day for several hours a day, but enjoyed doing it the entire time. Thank you very much for the view and kind comments. :)

[@TheTntVids]

OMFG THIS LOOKS SOOO GOOD! Tell me.: how did u get the permit for long videos?

[@Ladondorf]

This is two hours long and it's part one?!

[@RobertChambers1522]

dude, how long did this take? a feature film? that takes a lot of work, and this is only part one. i gotta say, you are f*cking amazing.

[@AltonJB1984]

Glad to hear of your enthusiasm for brickfilming! My only advice is be tenacious and see it through to the end. The only real challenge I had was organizing my actors. Those fussy sons of bit....anyways ;)

[@AltonJB1984]

thanks for the input!

[@AltonJB1984]

@TheTntVids Thanks! And you have to apply for it with youtube. As long as your account is in good standing, they give you the option for extended videos

[@AltonJB1984]

Yes indeed! Good ear, great game! :)

[@ThePeopleShow12]

like a real movie

[@darklordmalthric9814]

Hi are you ever going to make a remake of this masterpiece

[@AltonJB1984]

Ok yeah that'd be cool, I wouldn't mind putting that out there. Maybe we can upload the original screenplay for Wars of Darkness also since I still have both screenplays

[@AltonJB1984]

Thank you!

[@jdcp3375]

this is amazing!! would you please tell me the soundtrack used? it's so epic!

[@JAStudiosDankestManLiv]

when can we see the script i love this flim!

[@AltonJB1984]

@10legoking thank you :) It took over a year to actually finish

[@AltonJB1984]

Thanks!

[@AltonJB1984]

thanks!

[@LeeEvansIsAwesome]

We weren't fussy! Where's my makeup? WHERE'S MY MAKEUP?

[@SaltyCalhoun]

Okay, I have a weird question. Approximately how many pictures do you think you took? I just want to know so I can be even more impressed. I'm really inspired by your work. I'm actually planning on making a long stop-motion myself, probably not as long or as good as yours.

[@AltonJB1984]

zace00 Jeez, good question. It's been 10 years and I was very tenacious back then, so thousands easily. It was a labor of love though so I enjoyed doing it. But yeah it was a hell of a lot pictures taken haha. My advice to trying a long project is be patient :)

[@SaltyCalhoun]

Aj B Thanks for the tip. I'm planning on making it based on Star Wars if the force abandoned the galaxy, meaning there's only a few force users left. So yeah. Again thanks for the tip!

[@AltonJB1984]

@TheTntVids I don't remember having to do that actually, but I did it a while ago so I don't remember exactly what I had to do. Maybe they text you a confirmation code or something along those lines

[@1978chevy]

wow, i got to 24.00 and i already hit the like button, but 1 problem... u need more diologe and for teh future, try to make the graphics better. other than that it was AWESOME!

[@AltonJB1984]

Oh hush Dagnith, the makeup girl was sick that day ;p

[@BrickFilmerPowerlolifk]

This is amazing! Why don't you animate more???

[@AltonJB1984]

Lol thank you! I just don't have the same amount of time as I did when I made this

[@sillypenta]

Is it true that this film was saved by recording the LEGO Studios preview screen with a DV-R?

[@AltonJB1984]

Yup. It was really kind of a pain in the butt getting this thing off my computer and onto DVDs

[@zachmetry6124]

@@AltonJB1984 would you sell this on dvd though?????

[@AltonJB1984]

I'd like to, but time isn't permitting at the moment but thanks for asking!

[@LeeEvansIsAwesome]

It's super-easy. I'll show you sometime.

[@AltonJB1984]

Im hoping soon still, I'm running around with no time at the moment. When I get it loaded into file form, I'll let you know and I can send anyone that's interested a link

[@AltonJB1984]

most of them yeah

[@AltonJB1984]

@weaponjarhead Thanks! :)

[@dalek4463]

4 hours. 4 hours.

[@AltonJB1984]

meh, it's only work if you don't enjoy what you're doing. It took about a year, but it was one of the best years of my life :)

[@dontcheckmychanel]

OMGOMGOMG

[@AltonJB1984]

given your Avatar, you're already good by my book ;)

[@Tynorg]

Did I just hear Sauron at around 5 minutes into the film?

[@infinitystudios1663]

This movie seems like The Lord of the Rings or The Hobbit but a remake

[@AltonJB1984]

Thank you for your opinion

[@JAStudiosDankestManLiv]

when can we see a prequel script i mean just read it?

[@TTAPfrom97]

Did you use music and sound FX from that old PC game Stronghold?? (:

[@AltonJB1984]

Yessir :)

[@TheTntVids]

@AltonJB1984 COOL. One question: WHY DO I HAVE TO GIVE MY CELL PHONE NUMBEER!?

[@AltonJB1984]

To those interested about the basics of the prequel's plot, this is a basic sum up brickfilms.com/forums/topic/wars-of-darkness-prequel/

[@Jackson-mi4tr]

Thank you This was An awesome film

[@zachmetry6124]

Aj B you planning to do another

[@AltonJB1984]

@@zachmetry6124 I'd still like to, because I want to do the prequel. Thank you for watching

[@zachmetry6124]

@@AltonJB1984 you really should, also, have you considered a time travel one?

[@zachmetry6124]

@@AltonJB1984 oh, and go to the channel called the jinn

[@spookyspookenshow6658]

what editing programme did you use?

[@AltonJB1984]

I used Lego Studios

[@spookyspookenshow6658]

thanks! awesome movie!

[@AltonJB1984]

spooky spooken Thank you very much!

[@chigivaru]

not bad

[@AltonJB1984]

when I can figure out how to upload it, and when I have time lol

[@tehscrubshow]

heh warcraft 3 sounds :P

[@adbcs805]

You should animate more!

[@VChen-vk1lh]

How'd you make the 'Aethelmark' (I think that's how you spell it).

[@AltonJB1984]

I actually altered a lot of stock pieces I had for special effects. I never did anything to any of my rarer parts except one (a suit of body armor), but pieces like the king's sword from the Royal Knights series I had plenty of, so basically all I did was take a scissors and scrape off the chrome coating on the sword and then I cut the tip into a sharp point

[@JAStudiosDankestManLiv]

Unrated version please!!!!!!

[@VChen-vk1lh]

I'm planning to make a stop-motion based off a novel (kind of) I wrote.

[@AltonJB1984]

Go for it! It takes a lot of time and patience to make a longer brickfilm (or even a brickfilm in general), but when it's complete it's a pretty cool feeling :)

[@VChen-vk1lh]

Aj B I've already made a few short brick films; I'm planning to start this project some time next year. I'm still trying to get a good FPS and more Legos.

[@AltonJB1984]

Heh yeah my movie suffered from pretty lousy visuals, but oddly enough that gives it some heart. Work with what you have and have fun doing it, that's kind of the whole goal of being creative

[@AltonJB1984]

Awesome I look forward to watching it! I subscribed to your channel :)

[@TheTntVids]

@AltonJB1984 OMG I DUNNO WHY, BUT I UPLOADED A VID AND WHAM! I CAN UPLOAD VIDOS LONGER THAN 15 MINUTES WITHOUT DOING ANYTHING! Is it beacause I have 1000 views in my channel?

[@tacocraftfilms]

this is a cool video but this is someone else's video

[@LeeEvansIsAwesome]

Hey, I'm the voice actor for Dagnith, Abberdale and more, and you're wrong! I was there for the entire year-long process. I watched the blood, sweat and tears that AJ poured into this project and even helped with some of the effects. Fun fact: I'm the reason that the dragons don't eat all the horses!

[@tacocraftfilms]

If so can you tell him that his film was featured in a very good book about stop motion that was kind of a big hit so he should be proud. Sorry I just assumed that because he was featured in this book that the video was from a more professional creator.

[@LeeEvansIsAwesome]

@@tacocraftfilms Whaaaaaat

[@LeeEvansIsAwesome]

What's the name of the book?

[@tacocraftfilms]

@@LeeEvansIsAwesome brick flicks by Sarah Herman. Idk what page it’s on but it’s a good book.