Interview with David Pagano

Mr. David Pagano, who we all know as the creator of Little Guys and Playback, has been a busy man lately. He's been making the short Space Police promotional Brickfilms which so many Lego fans have been following over YouTube. I took the opportunity to ask him some questions when he contacted me about his Sean Kenney (phew, got it right that time) interview.

John: How did Lego contact you, or did you contact them? Did the partnership come from your Go Miniman Go! film?

David: I met the folks from LEGO Club TV at the 2008 Brickworld event in Chicago, where I demonstrated some stop-motion techniques for a segment they were shooting. (You can now find this on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y64wu1KRe4I) After that initial segment, I developed a working relationship with those guys, and the rest -- to quote the vernacular -- is history.

John: The Space Police films include lots of special effects, which we haven't seen from you before. Did you have to buy new software for the effects?

David: I don't like to use too many special effects in my LEGO work. I prefer to experiment with unusual building and animation techniques. But, the future-noir atmosphere of the Space Police series does call for a large quantity of effects.

On Space Police, I do all the stop-motion and a significant amount of the heavy effects work (i.e. ships flying, camera moves, etc.). When I'm done with each episode, I hand it over to folks at LEGO who add additional special effects (spray paint, blinking lights, computer screens, laser blasts, smoke, etc.), polish, color correct, and generally fine-tune the episodes.

So, the difference in quality doesn't come from any software upgrades (of which there were none). It comes from there being more than just one person having an impact on the final product. Computers don't make things better, people do!

John: Did you have to buy more Lego for the films, or was your original collection enough to build the futuristic world you imagined?

David: Some parts were supplied by LEGO, most was from my original collection.

John: What now, then? Have you got any more films planned for the Lego Group? What about that Little Guys sequel you mentioned before?

David: Right now I'm working with the team from Space Police on some segments for the upcoming LEGO Club show. However, doing LEGO animation as a full-time job has meant that my personal work has shifted to less LEGO-centric areas of interest. But don't worry, I still have a few film ideas ("Little Guys!" sequel included) that I'll find an excuse to animate one of these days.

Thanks to David for answering my questions. Check out his Space Police Brickfilms here.

~John