6/07/07 The Circle is Complete.
I've released the third part of my Death Star Trilogy, and it's available on the films page. Check it out. Now.
6/5/07 Films back online
I did not realize until yesterday that three of my films were hosted on a site that is no longer around. I have fixed this problem, so "Cretaceous Camp," "Duel at Kamino," and "Attack of the Drones" are available once more. Oh, and I have another film coming soon.
5/29/07 Warp Core Breach! (And two new films)
I've had some computer problems, and lost all the data on one of my hard drives. Fortunately, I had a backup of the rough cut of my IDEA entry, so I think I'll just go with that for my entry. The secret film I've mentioned on nearly every news update for a little over a year now, entitled "Magic Edge IV" is complete, and available on the Films page. Further down the page I've added a page for a very short film I made some time ago, a recreation of a scene from the TV show LOST. I'm working on another film as well now, but it is still very early in production. I hope to finish it in time for the December 30th deadline of the MoB competition.
2/21/07 Back, with a sequel!
I have completed a sequel of sorts to "Station Tribulations," entitled "Star Wars: A New Deficit." It is available on the films page now.
11/30/06 I'm back, with nothing to show for it
Well, no new films anyway. I've done some more work on the project I've been working on for so long now. It is quite close to completion, but alas, I lack the motivation. I'll finish it eventually though. It's about 5 minutes long. I've also started preparations for a massive production, but I'm hoping to upgrade my equipment (camera and microphone) before I begin filming it. In other news, I've revamped parts of the site a bit. (The film pages.)
6/2/06 I'm back, with two new films!
There are two new films available on the Films page. The first is a Star Wars themed short titled "Station Tribulations," and is set shortly after Episode III. I hope you enjoy it. The second is a recreation of an iconic scene from The Two Towers, in bricks. (Neither of these are the film I've been referring to in the last several news updates, though that film is nearing completion as well.)
3/26/06 News Site Design / Filming has wrapped
I've redesigned the website to give it a cleaner, faster, simpler design. I've also created a new logo that does not rely on someone else's art work.
In other news, I'm done filming and actually have all the video edited for my latest film, but I haven't yet gotten around to sound editing. I also need to look around a little for some appropriate music for the movie. (It shall be a challenge because it's my first non-parody; I can't just use whatever movie I happen to be ripping-off's soundtrack!) I don't really see any purpose in announcing what it's about, but I will say it is a comedy and will be about 5-6 minutes long.
2/12/06 Everything is going as planned...
Well, I'd say the movie I'm working on is about 70% completed, but it won't be finished for a while due to lack of time to work on it. In other news, I won the LDraw Scene of the Month Contest for January. I've added the image, as well as a couple of others I made to the images page.
1/01/06 Happy New Year!
Sorry that the site has been down, the bandwidth expired for the month, something which doesn't usually happen. If it happens again, I will look for another hosting solution. Toward the end of the month, bandwidth consumption practically tripled. I don't know why. Don't forget to check out the new FAQ, added just days before the sight went down.
12/19/05 New FAQ
I've made a page of Frequently Asked Questions, ranging from special effects to the history of brick films, in the How section.
12/09/05 No, I'm not dead
Progress on the movie has slowed a bit; (that pesky thing called having a life keeps getting in the way!) but I'm still working on the short movie. Right now about 100 seconds are completed, but of course it gets progressively more complex as the movie progresses. I don't think I'll give away anything about the movie until it's finished. (Not that anyone cares.) If anyone has any questions pertaining to the tutorials, feel free to ask questions in the poll comments. (On the 'how' page.) I have revised, expanded, and updated my Guide to Brickfilming.
9/17/05 Coming along nicely
I've begun work on my next short film; I've completed about 40 seconds worth thus far. It is mostly animation, though there are a couple of challenging effects in it. It should run about 5 minutes when completed. Before AotD I would have thought that to be a pretty long film, but I think I have learned enough from the mistakes I made in the production of AotD to streamline the process significantly.
9/5/05 Life After AotD
After having worked on AotD for 3 years, it's been kinda weird having it finished. That's not to say that I don't plan on making more brick movies; to the contrary, I have plans for my next two films. I won't give anything away at this point, but the first one should be relatively short and simple; I'd like to focus on honing my animation skills. After that, I have tentative plans for a movie about half as long as AotD. The script for that one is written, though I'll probably make a few changes still. I've done dozens of effects tests for it, as it would be the my most technically demanding movie yet. I probably won't release any spoilers for the big one until the first, shorter film is finished.
8/16/05 Attack of the Drones is completed!
Yes, that's right. After years of on and off production, the film is finally completed! See it in the Films section. I have also written a making of on the movie, available in the "How" section.
7/7/05 Movies Back Up
AotD is coming right along, and most of what remains is sound editing. I have found a place to host the movie, and I'll probably make a few changes to the site when the movie is completed. Hopefully I won't need to update the site again until the movie is completed.
6/12/05 Principle Photography Completed
Yes, that's right. Filming for "Attack of the Drones" is completed. But post production is far from over; there is still a great deal of special effects and editing to be done. (Though much of the post-production was done simultaneous to filming.)
6/06/05 Going Ahead...Full Impulse
Still making steady progress on AotD. After some computer troubles, Root Beer Studios has resumed work on the sound editing. As for the thing about a two-parter...well...nevermind. It will actually be one long film. No, this isn't a compromise or something, but we decided that the pacing simply worked better and that the movie would be overall more enjoyable as one long film. So far, about 17 minutes are 100% finished, other than music and sound effects, and a great deal more is merely waiting to be edited together into scenes. To give you your AotD fix, I've added yet another teaser image to the images page. It's a finished frame from the movie, under the "Lego CAD" section. I've also added a new poll on the films page, so don't forget to vote and leave some comments if you'd like. I'm sorry to report that this film will not be completed in time for the initially estimated release of Fall 2003. But it is making excellent progress right now.
5/31/05 Films online
Unfortunately, it would seem George Lucas got his movie done before me, even though he started it later. I started Attack of the Drones shortly before Attack of the Clones was released, and I still haven't finished. There has been some large progress recently; for example, the climactic duel sequence is completed. In other news, Cretaceous Camp and Duel at Kamino are now available again.
5/3/05 Or not...
I won't give an estimated release date, but it will be finished...some time. I haven't figured out a suitable host for the films right now, as Brickshelf is quite inconsistent with their video hosting. Currently, only the AotD trailer is available. Even if they begin to host films again, I may stick with other hosts because Brickshelf simply isn't reliable enough. I have also changed the hosting for this website, due to bandwidth problems. Additionally, I've added a new tutorial on CGI in the how-to section, so check it out. Hopefully someone will find it helpful.
6/5/04 Attack of the Drones: Part I near completion
That's right! After almost two years of (on and off) production, Part 1 of Attack of the Drones is no more than a few weeks away from completion! The film will be released in two parts, with Part II being released sometime in the following months. Filming and editing of Part I are complete, all that remains of the work is about 80% of the foley. Part II of Attack of the Drones is coming along as well, with most of the scenes filmed, and some post-production complete. Simultaneous with the release of Part II will be a version containing both parts edited together. Part I will be just over 13 minutes long.
2/27/04 News
There was a delay for a while, but the movie production has started up again. I've also been working on plans for future project(s). I've completed pre-production for two short films to be made after completetion of AotD, and am planning a larger project after that. These projects are subject to change. There will be more updates once the film is completed.
1/19/04 New site
Smeagol Studios has a new look, as of last update, which I forgot to mention. I hope you like it. I redid the logo, it looked kind of crummy before. (I made the old version a long time ago.) I'm still working on AotD, but there's been a delay, so right now I'm working on pre-production for future projects. Hopefully Attack of the Drones will be finished in late March or early April.
10/31/03 Big Update
Update again! There is now a 1-10 rating feature on the movie pages. Simply watch the movie, then rate it overall on a scale of 1-10. You can also leave comments on the poll. I cleaned up the movie pages a bit. And, to minimize resouce consumption for my host, as well as for your convienience, the gallery page has been changed to links. The gallery has received several updates as well. The progress on the movie is moving right along, and I have several new scenes filmed and completed.
10/19/03 Hosted!
Well, I guess I got it settled a bit sooner than I expected. The site is on a new host, and some of the movies are available 24/7 now. I have decided to keep Cretaceous Camp on Brickshelf for the time being, as it is the movie that gets the least downloads. The smeagol.co.nr address is still valid, so continue to use it. Oh, and there are two new tutorials today!
10/18/03 New Address!
Ok! The site is now officially at a new address! Set your bookmarks for
www.smeagol.co.nr
The movie is a bit behind schedule, and I'm now expecting a Christmas-ish release date. Much more content will be added to the site in the following days, and the site MAY change hosts a few more times in the coming weeks, because of the brickshelf crisis. (Videos are only available at certain times of day. I am looking for a suitable host because of this.) For now, I will keep this version of the site up until I'm ready to release the new site at a different location. However, continue to use the above mentioned address, because it will always redirect you to the correct site.
6/22/03 CC Special Edition
I added Cretaceous Camp - Special Edition today. Also, a few minor updates throughout the site.
I've announced my latest project: Star Wars meets Star Trek: Attack of the Drones! Though I've been working on it for almost a year, I felt now was the time to announce it.
Update: The first trailer for Attack of the Drones has been finished! Visit the movies page to see it now!