The Magic Portal
Encyclopedia
The Magic Portal is a 16-minute stop-motion film created by Lindsay Fleay
in 1985. It is widely believed to be the first brickfilm
ever made.
parts and equipment borrowed from Curtin University, where he was enrolled. Shooting took 9–12 months, and audio editing and mixing took another two and a half years.
The film was broadcast six times on SBS
's Eat Carpet
, and locally distributed. Unfortunately, showings at more prominent film festivals were cancelled due to legal hostilities with LEGO.
ous magic portal, a rectangular arch flashing with various colors. Entering the portal, he is transported into a world of passageways. Some LEGO creatures appear and build a small car for him to drive through the world of passages. He then has a close encounter with a two-headed monster who chases him through the various paths of the mysterious world. After El's car has a bump from a crossing train, the car falls apart. El finds another portal, and nearly gets eaten by the monster, who ends up in the real world while chasing a leftover tyre from the devoured car and attacks Lindsay Fleay.
El reports his experiences to Captain Paranoia, but neither him nor his shipmate Pee believes him. However, Captain Paranoia finds another Portal, which takes him to a "white expanse" world, where a plasticine
creature messes around with him, making him very annoyed and then flushs him out of the white coloured world. The plasticine creature then goes back through the portal Captain Paranoia came through.
The Captain then finds his way back to the ship, and tells El and Pee about what happened in the Portal. El, Pee, Captain Paranoia and the Plasticine creature, go through the Portal, and find themselves in the real world, and get chased by liquid paper
daleks. The four escape the liquid paper daleks, which are scared off by the two-headed monster that El had an encounter with earlier, in a shoe
car. The monster is in pursuit of the shoe car, causing the car to destroy the set Lindsay Fleay was filming, and the monster knocks over the camera
. As the set is rebuilt, El walks through the ship corridors again. The film ends as the screen goes through the Portal.
s, which range from the stop-motion style employed chiefly in The Magic Portal to CGI and live-action variants.
Today The Magic Portal is available on the Internet, where most of today's brickfilms are available through sites like YouTube
.
Lindsay Fleay
Lindsay Fleay is an Australian Brickfilmer, Effect Manager and 3d animator best known for his Brickfilm The Magic Portal, The first known Brickfilm. He is also known for The Matrix, The Lord of the Rings films, Moulin Rouge! and Hero.-References:...
in 1985. It is widely believed to be the first brickfilm
Brickfilm
A Brickfilm is a film made using LEGO, or other similar plastic construction toys resembling LEGO toys. They are usually created with stop motion animation, though CGI, traditional animation, and live action films featuring plastic construction toys are also usually considered brickfilms...
ever made.
History
Pre-production of the film started when Fleay, an Australian, had graduated from high school in 1985. He obtained government funding for the project. Production relied on donated LEGOLego
Lego is a line of construction toys manufactured by the Lego Group, a privately held company based in Billund, Denmark. The company's flagship product, Lego, consists of colorful interlocking plastic bricks and an accompanying array of gears, minifigures and various other parts...
parts and equipment borrowed from Curtin University, where he was enrolled. Shooting took 9–12 months, and audio editing and mixing took another two and a half years.
The film was broadcast six times on SBS
Special Broadcasting Service
The Special Broadcasting Service is a hybrid-funded Australian public broadcasting radio and television network. The stated purpose of SBS is "to provide multilingual and multicultural radio and television services that inform, educate and entertain all Australians and, in doing so, reflect...
's Eat Carpet
Eat Carpet
Eat Carpet was an Australian television series aired on SBS 1989–2005. It premiered alongside MC Tee Vee and The Noise. Each hour-long episode consisted of up to a dozen short films shot by amateur directors or film students from all over the world....
, and locally distributed. Unfortunately, showings at more prominent film festivals were cancelled due to legal hostilities with LEGO.
Plot
The film starts with a shot of a spaceship flying through space. El, a crew member, walks through the corridors of the ship when he discovers the eponymEponym
An eponym is the name of a person or thing, whether real or fictitious, after which a particular place, tribe, era, discovery, or other item is named or thought to be named...
ous magic portal, a rectangular arch flashing with various colors. Entering the portal, he is transported into a world of passageways. Some LEGO creatures appear and build a small car for him to drive through the world of passages. He then has a close encounter with a two-headed monster who chases him through the various paths of the mysterious world. After El's car has a bump from a crossing train, the car falls apart. El finds another portal, and nearly gets eaten by the monster, who ends up in the real world while chasing a leftover tyre from the devoured car and attacks Lindsay Fleay.
El reports his experiences to Captain Paranoia, but neither him nor his shipmate Pee believes him. However, Captain Paranoia finds another Portal, which takes him to a "white expanse" world, where a plasticine
Plasticine
Plasticine, a brand of modelling clay, is a putty-like modelling material made from calcium salts, petroleum jelly and aliphatic acids. The name is a registered trademark of Flair Leisure Products plc...
creature messes around with him, making him very annoyed and then flushs him out of the white coloured world. The plasticine creature then goes back through the portal Captain Paranoia came through.
The Captain then finds his way back to the ship, and tells El and Pee about what happened in the Portal. El, Pee, Captain Paranoia and the Plasticine creature, go through the Portal, and find themselves in the real world, and get chased by liquid paper
Liquid Paper
Liquid Paper is a brand of the Newell Rubbermaid company that sells correction fluid, correction pen and correction tape. Mainly used to correct typewriting in the past, correction products now mostly cover handwriting mistakes.- Brand history :...
daleks. The four escape the liquid paper daleks, which are scared off by the two-headed monster that El had an encounter with earlier, in a shoe
Shoe
A shoe is an item of footwear intended to protect and comfort the human foot while doing various activities. Shoes are also used as an item of decoration. The design of shoes has varied enormously through time and from culture to culture, with appearance originally being tied to function...
car. The monster is in pursuit of the shoe car, causing the car to destroy the set Lindsay Fleay was filming, and the monster knocks over the camera
Camera
A camera is a device that records and stores images. These images may be still photographs or moving images such as videos or movies. The term camera comes from the camera obscura , an early mechanism for projecting images...
. As the set is rebuilt, El walks through the ship corridors again. The film ends as the screen goes through the Portal.
Impact
The Magic Portal is the forerunner to today's brickfilmBrickfilm
A Brickfilm is a film made using LEGO, or other similar plastic construction toys resembling LEGO toys. They are usually created with stop motion animation, though CGI, traditional animation, and live action films featuring plastic construction toys are also usually considered brickfilms...
s, which range from the stop-motion style employed chiefly in The Magic Portal to CGI and live-action variants.
Today The Magic Portal is available on the Internet, where most of today's brickfilms are available through sites like YouTube
YouTube
YouTube is a video-sharing website, created by three former PayPal employees in February 2005, on which users can upload, view and share videos....
.