VOTD: Lego Matrix (440 Hours in the Making)

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No matter the extent of one’s Neo-burnout, the following video recreating the bullet-time dodge scene inĀ The Matrix using stop-motion and Lego deserves a shout on /Film. Its makers estimate the clip—less than a minute and a half long with credits—took 440 hours and $500 to make using a Canon 850IS camera and painstaking attention to detail. (They calculate that the entire film (relax, not in the works) would take 25 years to finish—or nine hours in a Martyrs-like scenario against free will). Included after the jump is the final result as well a shot-by-shot comparison.

Any quibbles from the cubicle? Compare…

If you’re a filmmaker or curious about how this was made, there is a surprising amount of documentation on the official site LegoMatrix.com. Some readers will recall that this isn’t the first time we’ve featured Lego recreations; something about Wachowski Bros. productions lends itself to the medium. Last summer, Peter posted one of the entire Ninja Assassin trailer refashioned with animated yellow dudes and ninja star action. Apparently this wasn’t made by the same team. While The Matrix clip is much smoother and impressive, in my opinion, I’m surprised that this one is longer…

Let us know what you 0101101 in the comments.

via The Awl

  • Soooo nerdy. I love this.

    This could be Wes Anderson's next herky-jerky project.
  • DorienG
    Haha! Seeing 'Dodge This' in lego was great
  • Mecline
    Agreed, one of my favorite lines from the original.
  • iec
    440 hours? That's almost 5 hours per second. Did they really take 24 frames per second of movement or something? It didn't seem that smooth...this is flabbergasting. I guess most of the time went into making the set and preparing for the project.

    [edit] Oh, they say 10 hours per second of film. That is ridiculous. They must have been very inefficient--they admit in their FAQ that they didn't know what they were doing, but...man.
  • Lux
    Stop whining.. god.
  • Padraic
    For 440 hours, it was still very sloppy. Not taking away from some cool effects but it wasn't very smooth.

    I loved this one. It doesn't claim to be 5 hours per second and it's fun:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0dj1V_qHC8c
  • Well, that is sloppy id say. The original was an amazing stopmotion animation, while that was just someone fooling around.
    But 5 hours per second seems kinda extensive, to say the least.
  • super_aj
    the one you just linked isn't entirely stop motion, out of focus and like a five year old made it.
  • odvan
    What a movie Matrix is - nowadays classic. Simply stunning. Need to watch it again.
  • awesome
    that was brilliance...
  • impressive
  • starscream9289
    They need to do the freeway chase from Reloaded, now!
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