Briquefan: The interview

On the way to an interview that should interest all those who have recently discovered Briquefan video show presented by Antoine.

In a few videos, the Briquefan YouTube channel has become a must for fans of the LEGO Star Wars range, at least for those like me who never refuse a slice of "thematic fun".

It is original, very well done and promising. That's why I wanted to know a little more about the one who refreshes our memory with humor in his videos and you will find his answers to my questions below. Good reading.

The latest episode is at the end of the interview.

Hoth Bricks: Hello Antoine, can you introduce yourself, and tell us about your relationship with LEGOs? are you a collector, an MOCeur, or something else for that matter?

Antoine: Hello Will! So ... My name is Antoine ... I am 20 years old and I have lived in Limoges for quite a few years ... I am a student in audiovisual BTS Editing (last year) in Bordeaux where I spend 70% of my time.

LEGOs and I are a family affair, my brothers and sisters already had a bunch of them and I played with them when I was little. There were already a lot of Star Wars sets, my family being a fan of the saga, but my brother has some very nice pieces in medieval LEGO, space and Egypt ...

I'm more of a "collector", but I only choose the sets that I really like ... The trouble is that every year, I watch for new things and each time I tell myself "Mwaaaah! I want to buy everything!"and it is never possible ^^. I am not too MOCeur, I made some creations a few years ago but it does not come close to the works that we can find in our community .. . In addition, I have very bad aesthetic tastes ^^. I'm not a Brickfilmeur either, I do little animations from time to time for Briquefan, but again it's really low compared to what some people manage to do !

HB: How did the idea to launch the Briquefan channel come about? 

AT : Well, I have been making videos, small sketches, short films for a very long time ... I hope to one day be able to make films (A long road still awaits me). So I wanted to show my work to as many people as possible in order to get feedback and make myself known. At the same time, I discovered the videographers of the French web (the Frenchnerd clan, Joueur du Grenier, What the Cut ...) and I told myself that it was by this way that I could try something ... I thought then to some sort of podcast that I could present. I chose LEGO Star Wars because it is a subject that I know well ^^ and that I knew that there was a large LEGO community on the French net and that nothing of this type had been done. .. So I shot two or three episodes last summer and launched the channel in October! Here !

HB: What technical means are used to produce the episodes? How long, including editing, to produce an episode?

AT : I spread the production of the episodes over several weeks, but I think that condensing it all should take six good days: I usually write the text in an afternoon, I have to do some research to verify that I do not say no nonsense (which often happens). The installation of the board takes a little time (I put my bed upright, I move lots of furniture, I play Tetris with the LEGO boxes ...), then I turn all the parts on the table in one day. decor, I learn the text by heart paragraph by paragraph ...

I shoot with a canon 600D in 720p50, when I have the opportunity I record the sound with a Zoom H2n that is lent to me and I light the scenery using a mandarin projector. Then I have to film all the LEGO shots, the rotating minifigures, the stop-motion animations ... After that, all the sketches, which require having friends on hand to make the actors ... and finally , it's editing ... I edited the first episodes with Adobe Premiere and now I use MediaComposer ... We also have to do some small effects on AfterEffects, prepare the images in Photoshop, find the sound effects, the extracts ... And also allow some time for uploading to Youtube and Dailymotion and sharing on social networks ...

HB: Humor is omnipresent in the episodes, but it coats a significant amount of information about the products presented. How much time spent on research and documentation?

AT : It takes a little time, it's true! I was intensely documenting Star Wars even before doing Briquefan so I generally master the subject, apart from the Extended Universe where I have serious shortcomings ^^ I mostly spend time learning about LEGOs that I don't have not ... I sometimes consult online manuals to look for jokes to make on models that I have never had in my hands ... I also have the illustrated encyclopedia which casually seems to me is used a lot, especially with its timeline ... It sometimes happens that I find the information that I miss when I have finished shooting, for example Leia's eskimo of which I found the photo during the shooting of the episode ^^.

HB: Reviews of the episodes already produced are very positive and the number of subscribers to the YouTube channel is constantly increasing. What are your plans for this first French channel of programs entirely devoted to LEGO?

A: Well I don't really know where I will be next year or what I will do so the future is still a bit hazy. My priority is to find a way to make Brickfans on themes other than Star Wars that I often ask for ... on Harry Potter, the Lord of the Rings, Marvel and DC ... And there what is blocking I miss the LEGOs ... Notice to those who live near me ^^

I would like to do a BriquefanTV column that would publish reports on LEGO or Star Wars conventions and events ... (Fanabriques, Japan Expo ...), small episodes on the new sets of each season, and also a program on older sets lying around in my cellar (old medieval LEGO, LEGO space ...). So the channel will develop this way when I have a lot of time and money to devote to it, which is not the case today ^^.

HB: On a more personal level, what is your opinion on the evolution of the LEGO Star Wars range, the many remakes of sets, the arrival in 2015 of Star Wars VII and its impact on the LEGO license?

I'm not going to play the ultra-nostalgic, I find that LEGO Star Wars has never stopped improving since its creation and that the sets are more and more worked and interesting. We have never had such classy and varied miniatures as today, more and more faithful sets and such successful ships! The criticisms that we can make them are their appearance a little too realistic, in particular on the miniatures ... we lose a little the naive aspect of LEGO ... and the playability which is sometimes reduced: Many sets have less hiding places, gadgets or accessories than old ships. And the prices of the boxes which are still exorbitant, even for quality products!

For the remakes, I find the principle correct because as the lifespan of a LEGO in the store is generally one or two years, some generations may never see a ship on sale. With the remakes, someone who misses the AT-AT of 2010 will find it in 2014 ... And in general, the remakes are always better than the old versions ... After it is true that there is some abuse: The swarm of Jedi hunters, the Snowspeeders who come back every year ... But in general, when it is legitimate, I appreciate a remake as much as a novelty (2014 will be almost exclusively made up of remakes and yet it will m 'interests greatly [and I have already fallen for some models ... the Cantinaaaa! ...])

And for Star Wars VII ... Well, it goes or it breaks ... I'm a little afraid to see a sequel that reopens a saga that ended a long time ago and when we see the blockbusters that are currently out we can expect the worst ... But secretly I tell myself that it is possible that it will work ... Disney has accustomed us to both the best and the worst ... Lucas will not be in charge but, after all, the best films of the saga like Return of the Jedi or Empire Strikes Back were not directed by him ... Either this film will be a masterpiece that will revive the American BlockBuster system, or it will be a vile massacre that will cause its collapse closer and closer ... In any case I would have preferred that they refrained from making this film ...

In any case for LEGO, no need to worry, our favorite toy seller is a potential opportunist who will be able to do well and the sets will be just as successful as the The Clone Wars sets. .. The only risk is to spoil the film with photos of future sets ^^.