Most LEGO stop-motion I come across keeps the lighting even and the camera close to the set, letting the bricks carry everything. Dylan Woodley's short goes the other way, and that contrast is why it stands out to me. Made in 2017 as a commission for The LEGO Group under the Brickbeard campaign, it set out to push what the lighting and animation could handle. The gamble pays off.
The centerpiece is a large multi-jointed mechanical dragon built from blue, black, and trans-light-blue elements. It emerges and spreads its wings, which open out in several blades, before lifting off. Around it the film mixes the two themes: a pirate captain in a red coat and tricorn hat ordering the crew to set sail and ready cannons, while Jay sprints through sliding paper doors past Master Wu sitting in a temple. There is even a crew of identical ninja-style drummers, a fun touch.
The staging details are what stay with me. Cloud patterns and mountain ranges come from layered paper or cardstock cutouts, the pirate ship flies sails marked with skull-and-crossbones graphics, and custom effects sit on top of the cinematic lighting. A printed backdrop would have been the easier route; the cutout layers give the sky a sense of depth that flat screens rarely capture, in my view.
One thing is left deliberately open. The pirates prepare their cannons, the dragon sends out a breath that looks like ice or energy washing over the ship in white, and then on-screen text asks viewers who the crew should attack next. That question never gets answered. In my opinion the open ending fits the playful tone of the whole short.
Project by Dylan Woodley. Watch it on their YouTube channel: