Happy Thanksgiving!

From all of us here at TheBrickUpdate we wish you all a happy and safe Thanksgiving.

Film Feature: Lego Black Ops Zombies

Hey guys, its LSWStoriesAnimations here again with this week's Film Feature! Today I will be reviewing Lego Black Ops Zombies by YouTube user supercoolclark. The plot follows a typical game of Call of Duty Black Ops zombies. It features two players, one of which is constantly trash talking and using unnecessary violence to kill zombies. Supercoolclark does a fantastic job with all of his Lego Call of Duty films and this is no exception.  As always, weapons are the primary focus. The players are seen using guns ranging from the M14 to the much sought after ray gun. All of the effects are seemingly flawless as well! That includes both sounds and visuals. Overall the film had a true Call of Duty zombies feel to it. Everything that could have been incorporated was there including the perk and pack-a-punch machines. In my opinion, supercoolclark is an very talented and creative animator, and is definitely worth subscribing to.



Animation: 9/10
Visual Effects: 10/10
Sound Effects: 10/10
Story: 10/10

Pros:                                                        Cons:

- Great Story                                            - Simple set design
- Outstanding Effects
- Smooth Animation
- Good Lighting
- Creative

Im Back! Anybody Remember Me?

Hello Everybody!

Long time no x-ray vision my fellow brickers!

Now you may be asking, 'DMotion I thought you quit LEGO? You said you gave up!' Now to be completely honest with you, I really thought I had given up on LEGO..I felt I was growing out of it....And now, just about to turn fourteen, I realised how much I miss it. A few weeks ago I was packing away my LEGO's, ready to put them in my garage. But as I picked them up......well I started to build. I had forgotten how much fun they were, and how they made me feel.

And now here I am, signing up for my former blog.

Thank you guys, thank you so much.

- DMotion

I've Joined The Brick Update

Hey! Its NeptuneStudios here. I just wanted to write to tell you guys that I have now joined the staff of The Brick Update. I am happy to be here to bring you all the great news that LEGO has to offer along with others things. I would like to thank the founder who made TBU and the authors for their work to make TBU the best it can be and for allowing me to do what I love best. Like we say it here at TBU " Giving you every Bit of Brick".

Film Feature: Battle of The Brick, Built for Combat

Hey guys, it's LSWStoriesAnimations here with this week's article for our Film Feature section! (From now on I will be tasked with writing the articles for this news segment.) Yesterday, Kooberz (Alex Kobbs) released his film, Battle of The Brick, Built for Combat! Alex has been working on this epic Lego Halo film for six long years and now it is finally here! The film takes place on Zanzibar, one of the most popular multiplayer maps from Halo 2, and I must say, Alex has done a fantastic job at replicating it! The look and feel of his amazing creation definitely brings back memories. The story revolves around a classic battle between the red team and the blue team, with the reds trying to capture the blue flag. Both sides use a wide range of Halo weapons and vehicles. Watching them fight left me awestruck! Another thing to point out is Alex's unconventional use of non-computer generated special effects. For the most part, I'd rather see computer generated muzzle flashes, explosions, etc. but something about the way he animated this film makes them fit almost perfectly! In addition to visuals, this film also shows off Alex's mastery of sound effects. Each weapon sounded exactly like it does in the real game and the choice of music went along nicely as the tone of the story changed. Overall this film was very well made and a ton of fun to watch! I can't wait to see more from Kooberz Studios!





Animation: 10/10
Visual Effects: 9/10
Sound Effects: 10/10
Story: 10/10

Pros:                                                                Cons:

- Great set design (Very Accurate!)                - Unconventional visual effects
- Smooth Animation
- Interesting Plot
- Good special effects
- Consistent Lighting
- Good attention to detail

Happy Halloween!

From all the Staff here at TBU, I'd like to wish all of you an awesome Halloween! Its been a long year for us here, but hopefully I'll be able to say better next year! Happy Halloween!

Film Feature

Its my pleasure to present a new weekly segment, The Film Feature! Each week, a designated staff member will be scouring the community looking for an impressive or promising brickfilm. Just a start, this is the first step back to success.
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This week's feature is that of the spectacular piece of work being Bricks Of War by director Kooberz which is simply awe-inspiring.
The animation itself is simply amazing in what has to be a high and hard to achieve frame-rate with the movement of each and every element being very smooth and expertly done. In addition, what was done with the paper effects was very nice though I personally am not a fan of such an addition. Instead of that turning away viewers as myself, it actually added a very interested dynamic that when combined with other effects like that of the "blood splatter" created a realistic, mood-creating scene. Not to mention the incredible Hammer of Dawn sequence seen as well as the "smoke" after an explosion which left me with my jaw on the floor.
In preparation for this film, the trouble Alex [Kooberz Studios] went through to remake intricate details on both the Sets and the individual characters seen is very admirable. When an effort like that is presented regularly, you can obviously see the amount of care that goes into each and every production. But enough with talk... I now leave you with: Bricks of War.

The New TBU

First off, I'd like to thank all the staff and audience here at TheBrickUpdate for a very interesting year seeing as it is the one year anniversary of this LEGO News Blog. We've had our ups and downs here, but it has been both a learning and fun experience. Recently though, things have gotten tenuous and stressful as the site's staff and reliability has decayed. In turn, changes need to be made around here, to bring this site back up to its former height of reliability, good reputation, and audience.
The changes to come will include various upgrades, expansions and new features all of which will be decided upon with the help of our viewers, you.

New Site Host
One of the aspects that the viewers will take part in, a new site host will be chosen through a survey/ vote. Several TBU variations will be built in accordance with one another with full features, ect. Each will then be left viewable for 1 week with a survey vote posted in the sidebar of the default TBU. After viewing and participating on each separate webpage, our audience is urged to vote so that we will then be able to decide whether to continue here on BlogSpot, or to transfer this site to a new supporter. Once a definite site location has been established, the new domain url will be purchased.

Authors and Staff
The major drop-off in this site's views came with lackluster articles and little news being published. As a response, a staff of 20-30 reliable authors will be hired who will write numerous articles and will continue to bring every bit of the brick to you.

Organization
A major flaw in every project or business, and TBU being one of them, is organization. to try to prevent a future breakdown of hierarchy and order, a weekly Skype conference will be held to handle any inquiries issues, and plans for further development. It will be greatly stressed that all authors, moderators, or any other staff be present each week. If you cannot make it regularly, or you can not possess a Skype account due to other reasons, a different form of communication between you and the administration will be established.

New Segments-Expansions

With a new site, comes new places to go and things to see. After the renovation of TBU, you can expect a brand spanking new forum, an upgraded chat, a more in-depth weekly MocSpotlight, Interviews, BrickFilm Reviews, and much more. As to expansions, plans for a possible LEGO News E-magazine are in place along with a possible resale store for small retail model kit builders. In addition, the possibility of an Ad Carousel is also a probability for the future of TBU.

With more improvements to come, I just can't wait for TheBrickUpdate to get back on its feet and to start putting out reliable, regular LEGO news.

Clone Army Customs Review

A few days ago the CloneArmyCustoms order I placed back in May finally got here! Below is my review of Tyler's figures.

What I got in this order was exactly what I wanted. I bought Tyler's Clone Wars Commander Gree. Plus, because of the long wait he appears to have sent me a bonus, which happened to be the Clone Wars Green Leader/41st Elite trooper, in addition to several weapons. The customs themselves look great. Tyler did a great job as always, not missing a single detail. I'm also pleased to see that the torsos and legs were printed instead of decaled. I personally prefer this over decals. However, there is a noticeable difference between the color of the helmet and torso. Some of the printing is also a bit fuzzy in various places. Another thing that I have to point out is the ridiculous amount of time it took for the order to get here. I ended up waiting 6 months! The moral of that story though, is to place your order in advance. Overall, these customs are still very well made and I think they are going to look great in my new film! 

Here are the figures I got in my order. As you can see, there is a slight color difference between the decaled helmet and printed torso. Nevertheless, they are still very nice.

Once Again, Little Immature Idiots...

Guys, it is my unfortunate displeasure to notify you that once again an immature community member has created more fraudulant information in trying to ruin another's building career. So now, it is my time to apologize to both David persoanlly, as well as the rest of the community for both my jumping to conclusions and posting untrue news. As an edit to my prior post and to my chat reference post, I formally apologize and also promise that an instance like this will not occur again.

On a better note, keep tuned for more information on the reconstruction and recreation effort here on TBU. Thank you for your time, and hopefulyl this resolves any issues.