I bumped into Alex Kobbs while waiting for the shuttle to New York Comic Con. We chatted quite a bit because the bus was late, and that's when I found out just what kind of work Alex does. I couldn't pass up the opportunity for an interview, so after exchanging cards we promised to follow up in more detail later.
Alex Kobbs is a professional animator and Lego brick enthusiast. A graduate of Fitchburg State College's [well regarded] film program, he began to specialize in stop motion animation in 2007. His Lego Wii short, released in 2007, gained more than 3 million views, and still climbing today. Kobbs' next major hit was the reveal of a Lego Zanzibar model (a scale model of a multiplayer map from the Halo 2 video game). The video became one of the most circulated videos amongst gamers, appearing on major game-news sites such as Kotaku.com and earning a spot on the Halo 3 Legendary Edition DVD. His first professional credit was an additional camera operator on the 2006 crossword puzzle documentary, Wordplay, which was an official Sundance Film Festival selection and nominated four times for best documentary in various events. In 2009 he was commissioned by Bidray.com to create a hand-drawn animated ad that advertised how easy it was to use the site.
Michael Tresca (MT): How did you get into stop-motion animation?
Alex Kobbs (AK): When I was younger, I loved watching stop-motion animated shows like Gumby. I was also always a big fan of miniatures and models, so shows like Thomas the Tank Engine and Theodore the Tugboat really appealed to me. Over time, I learned more about the craft of stop-motion and found that I could grasp the concept easily. I'm also very patient, so I knew I could do it.
MT: Did you play with LEGOs as a kid?
AK: Absolutely, but I was into all kinds of other toys as well. Rockenbok, Hotwheels, HO-scale trains, ect. However LEGO is the one that I rediscovered in high school. It became clear that my motor skills and technique had grown over the years to the point where I could make much better models than I used to make when I was a kid.
MT: What made you decide to combine videos and LEGOs?
AK: I reached a point growing up where I became tired of just playing with the LEGO bricks and wanted to do something more. I would build the models, use my imagination to act out stories and scenarios, but then they would just sit there and collect dust. The stories would also be gone as soon as I was done playing with the toys. I felt that there was another level that I could reach with them and thats what turned me onto stop-motion. There were also two movies in particular that influenced me greatly: "Where the Toys Come From" (an old and mostly forgotten Disney classic) and "Toy Story." Both of those movies featured toys that came to life and interacted with the human world. I knew I wanted to follow in their footsteps.
MT: What videos have you made so far?
AK: I started making stop-motion Star Wars animations way back when I was 12 years old and I improved my craft over time. Ironicly, my first big youtube hit wasn't animated. It was a movie called "LEGO Wii" that I had originally made in 2006 for a Nintendo short film contest. Unfortunately I missed the deadline for the contest but when I released it on youtube it became an unexpected hit.
After that I released a few unimportant films until my Geometry Wars spoof. Unfortunately, that film underperformed in the views department, but I pushed on with a Starcraft animation last year that was a big success. My latest film is called "Bricks of War," and it's based on the Gears of War franchise. Apparently, it's already gone viral and Cliffy B himself re-tweeted it.
But since the release of Halo 2 I've been working on a huge project in the background called "Battle of the Brick, Built for Combat." It is a 27-minute long, stop-motion film based on the Halo franchise that has been repeatedly delayed and is currently awaiting release. It is the project I am best-known for, even though it hasn't come out yet. I wish I could talk more about what the status of its release is, but I've been talking with some important people behind the scenes about it and I can't say anymore just yet.
MT: How long does it take you to build a LEGO set? And to film it?
AK: It depends on how large the set is and how many scenes there are. The diorama set in my Bricks of War film took about a week and a half, but some sets take longer because they have to be built from scratch or have a difficult look to them.
Filming the animation takes hours for just a few seconds of film. I used to shoot 15 frames a second, but now I shoot 24 frames a second. So for every movement of the model, I take 2 pictures. This means there are 12 model moves per second, and 24 total frames per second. This results in thousands of individual pictures for one movie alone. You can see some of this in "The Making of Bricks of War" doc I just released.
MT: You have film experience – how did you translate that experience to a miniature scale with actors whose arms and legs don’t move much?
AK: Well, I was animating models WAY before I got into live-action film. To be honest, I didn't like the nature of live-action filmmaking in college. Too many people to coordinate and too many moments of mis-understanding. I became so frustrated with telling other people what I wanted or arguing a point just to get a vision correct, that I just shy'd away from that medium and focused on animation. Instead of telling other people what I wanted, I could do it all myself since the models don't talk back...much.
MT: How much traffic do your videos get online?
AK: It depends on the quality of the video itself, how it's promoted, and if it reaches the right audience. For example, I consider my Geometry Wars film to be a well-made animation. But to this day, it only has about 73k views, where as my Starcraft animation has about 1,300,000 views. This is due to the poor timing of the Geometry Wars film. If I had made it when the game it's based on had just come out, more people would have clicked on it.
MT: For fans who want to try their hand at stop-motion animation, what do you suggest?
AK: Well, find a simple animation software. I recommend iStopmotion since the basic version is really cheap and easy. Then, get a camera....ANY camera, and start filming things. Some of my oldest animations were made with a horrible old camera that had no focus, so I literally had to prop up a magnifying glass in front of the lens to get the models in focus. However, the experience was invaluable, and I learned from my mistakes and gradually got better. I invested in a better camera over time, and better software until I reached where I am today. The most important thing for beginners to remember is that they need to start at the bottom, and try and improve slowly over time. Don't rush out and spend a lot of money on equipment you have no experience with. Also, watch a lot of animations and the behind the scenes features to get ideas.
MT: Do you do commissions?
AK: I have done them in the past, but right now I'm so busy that I haven't had time. However, I'm always open to the idea and I'll at least look at any serious request...just don't hold your breath.
MT: Where can fans contact you?
AK: The best way is through my youtube channel, or the Kooberz Studios facebook page. I also use twitter, but I can't visit it very often otherwise I'd never get any animation done.
MT: What’s next?
AK: Well, Battle of the Brick is going to come out, I just can't say when or where yet. For now, I'm already working on a new project, and I'm always looking for new opportunities. Ultimate goal? I guess make some kind of feature film with Mechs...in the same realm as Gundam, Chromehounds, Steel Battalion, or the Warhammer 40k Titans. I love mechs...
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