Remembering Tony Mines of Spite Your Face Productions - Brickfilmers pay tribute
In looking back at 2022, we thought we should pay tribute to a foundational brickfilmer who passed away from cancer last July, at just 44. As one half of Spite Your Face Productions along with Tim Drage, Tony Mines was one of the major pioneers of brickfilming, and co-created the brickfilms that were the most widely viewed and revered on the internet before YouTube even existed. Following the independent films All of the Dead (2000) and ONE: A Space Odyssey (2001), Spite Your Face Productions became the go-to animators of brickfilms officially released by The LEGO Group, creating Monty Python and the Holy Grail in LEGO (2001), Spider-Man (2002), Scary Thriller (2002), Star Wars: The Han Solo Affair (2002), and Spider-Man: The Peril of Doc Ock (2004).
More than just mere advertising, Spite Your Face's brickfilms for LEGO were primarily entertaining short films, and contained direction and artistry that have made them hold up in brickfilming for all time. In addition to being widely seen on the internet, they were also seen on DVDs and CDs, including the Monty Python and the Holy Grail DVD, and a CD that was included with two LEGO sets in 2002. (They were, of course, also subsequently posted on YouTube, and The Han Solo Affair remained prominently visible on the LEGO website for many years). Many people were introduced to the concept of brickfilming via Spite Your Face brickfilms, and they have influenced not only peoples' hobbies but also eventual careers.
This video features:
0:00 Foreword (with CG render by James Morr (@TAD.Animation))
0:24 Tim Drage of Spite Your Face Productions (@timdrage)
2:14 Adam Nies (@AntBandit)
5:31 Jay Silver (@zirkusaffe3)
9:20 Tim Drage part 2
10:46 David Pagano of @Paganomation
13:44 William Osborne (@LOTWStudios)
17:14 Tim Drage part 3
18:56 Chris Salaises (@MinilifeTV)
22:55 Chris Wynn (@Chris_Wynn)
25:23 Tim Drage part 4
27:07 Robinson Wood (@Nosniborus)
28:44 Zach Macias (@MindGameStudios)
35:17 Tim Drage part 5
39:16 Bricks in Motion documentary outtake (2015)
Video assembled by Seán Willis (@sillypenta)
Thanks to Kehinde Adeyemi and Adam Lewis for helping with the filming of Tim Drage's segments
Thanks also to Loïc Desjardins (@loicdesjardinsmusic) for digging up a French TV appearance that is briefly shown: • Brickfilms on French TV (TRACKS) in 2004 -...
We also encourage you to watch the work of Spite Your Face Productions: @tonymines01
and we have made the extended Bricks in Motion documentary interview with Spite Your Face from 2015 available unlisted: • Tony Mines & Tim Drage - Extended Bricks i...