Brick by brick a new batch of moviemakers were built at the Clarington Public Library when they hosted the Make Your Own Lego Movie program.
Armed with iPads, Lego kits, and their imagination, the kids learned how to make their own minute long movie trailer.
“Using Lego kits the children come in and they’re put in sets of pairs and they build the different Lego kits from the movie,” says Stephanie Webster, library technician.
About 14 kids, from ages eight and up, spent the last four Tuesday nights using the iMovie app to make their ideas a reality. The app uses templates to show what type of camera shots to use and lets them create their own credits.
“My favourite part was how it made it look like a real trailer. It made it look a bit more professional,” says Aiden Beatty.
Aiden worked with his partner Ruben Firing to make a comedy style trailer called Planet Cow. They came up with the idea together to have a team of heroes go down to a planet of cows to fight their enemy.
“He (Aiden) thought of a planet or something from space but then I thought of Planet Cow, with cows, because I like cows,” says Ruben Firing.
After building their characters and all their props, Webster tracked down some books with the kind of pictures which could serve as the perfect back drop for all the different movie trailers in the works. As the kids were putting the final touches on the trailers their attention to detail showed just how much fun they were having. For some, the details were the best part.
“The stuff with the book for backgrounds, where you set up all the people and I liked that we get to build and use what we built,” says Firing.
There may have been some young faces working away and having fun but they sure got the job done.
“Once they start, they catch on so quick,” says Webster. “They’re just natural with anything to do with computers and technology.”
Plenty of the children would love to keep making their movies at home as long as they can get a hold of the app.
“I want to make some really funny trailers and who doesn’t want to do that?” says Beatty.
The trailers were played on the projection screen like a small film festival because this February 3 was the last session. With their parents looking on, the children crowded up close and watched excitedly as their trailers played on the big screen.
This is the third time the program has run. The program runs for four weeks with the children meeting once a week for an hour.
The program has seen success with each session filling to its 14-child capacity. The library plans on running it again over the March break and in April and May.
