Team Member Interview

Recently, one of the members of The Flying Platypi, Ryan Yarbrough, animated a video explaining this years FIRST Lego League challenge, Body Forward. We wanted to interview Ryan so he can tell us all about his project and the work that went into it.


Hi Ryan! how are you?

I'm doing great.

So, you're the one that made the new FLL animation right?

Yes, I am the one who made the FLL animation.

Cool! Can you tell me how an animation like that is made?

The FLL animation was made using a form of animation called stop motion. Stop motion is when you use a camera to take a string of pictures of whatever your trying to animate. You move the object, in this case a lego mini-figure, and take a picture. Than you move the object again and take a picture. You would repeat this process again and again until you have enough to make your animation. On the computer you have to compile the pictures in to a movie making software and then you began the editing. In the end it is a little more complex than this but that is a simple overview.

Wow, that sounds like a lot of work. How many pictures did you have to take for the entire animation?

To make this animation I took 3,854 pictures.

Whoa! How long did it take you to make the animation start to finish?

It took about eleven weeks. Three to six hours a night to make the animation.

You did have some help right?

I had four other team members help me with the animation. Trevor Long helped me write the script. Erin Wenig and Phillip Menesick were the voices of Nina and Dr. Justin Case. Also Phillip, along with Ben Agresti, wrote the original music that you hear during the entire video.

And the most important, did you have fun?

At times it felt like I would never finish, but in the end it was one the funnest and most fulfilling projects I have ever worked on!



The entire team would like to thank Ryan (and everyone that helped him) for his hard work in making this animation such a great success. You can watch the video here: