The LEGO Movie and Learning to Build With LEGO Bricks

It was an impromptu Family and Friends night this Saturday at the 7:30 PM showing of The LEGO Movie at the Marina Pacific AMC.

My college aged nephew who builds his own LEGO models was there with friends.  His creations tend to focus on military vehicles.  They are very cool!

LEGO Minifig star Emmet is a basic construction worker.  Just about as plain a figure as you can get, with an expressionless face.  Emmet dreams of building a double decker couch.  Definitely not the stuff of Master Builders, who can devise exotic flying and wheeled craft in a matter of minutes.  Emmet looks at a box of bricks and goes blank.  Nothing comes to his mind.

Hey, I thought that a double decker couch was a good idea...

My secret?  I totally can relate to Emmet.  Sometimes I sit and look at a part and I know it's cool.  I just don't know what to do with it.  But I'm learning.  I put together LEGO kits so that I can see how the parts are used.  I look at LEGO videos, creations by individuals (MOCs) so that I can take inspiration from those creations.  I make observations on how something that seems like the hood of a car can easily become part of the armor for a mecha creation.

I can see it paying off... Oh, I'm no Master Builder... I may be on a face/name/email recognition basis of one or two (due to the communities known as LEGO User Groups).  And I do know a fair bit about LEGO parts, simply because I frequent the LEGO stores looking for cool bricks on the back wall and troll the internet looking at LEGO parts.

And one day, I too will create amazing builds worthy of a Master Builder.  One day I will make LEGO minifig videos and one day I will have my own creations (MOCs) on Cuusoo.com.

Here's a video I made of the carousel I'm trying to make.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rYSuwC8N_o8

Photographs are kits from The LEGO Movie.