x
Breaking News
More () »

FOX61 Student News: Talking LEGOs

Story by Megan Phadael, South Windsor High School Learning how to make LEGO characters talk is not a normal classroom activity, but the students at South Windso...

Story by Megan Phadael, South Windsor High School

Learning how to make LEGO characters talk is not a normal classroom activity, but the students at South Windsor High School enjoyed learning how to do this. The Video Production class worked with Tom Maroney of FOX61 and made their minifig come alive.

Senior Cade Dabrowski likes watching the LEGO movies and learning how to do this process was a fun experience for him.

“Making movies, or film projects, has always been something that’s interested me, and, I feel like special effects would definitely be something I could do.”

Tom Maroney, a photojournalist from FOX61, visited South Windsor High School to teach the Video Production class how to make their LEGO characters talk using a process called rotoscoping.

The students took a video of a LEGO figure with a blank face and a short audio clip of  Maroney saying, “That’s the news.” They then took images of faces that corresponded to different sounds, sized them down to match the LEGO figure, and then synchronized it to the actual audio. In the final segment, the minifig says “that’s the news.”

While this was something new and exciting for the class, it’s similar to other production techniques that the students normally do in the Video class. Adding lightsabers to video footage, replacing a sky with a new image, and learning how to do 3D animation are typical assignments that the students complete.

LEGOs may seem like toys meant for young children, but the students at South Windsor High School enjoyed this chance to get creative and learn a new skill that is sometimes seen in actual movies.


The FOX 61 Student News program empowers Connecticut middle and high school students to explore the world of multi-media journalism by giving them the opportunity to capture, edit and publish original content under the guidance of industry professionals.

Each student produced and hosted segment will showcase a local story or event, highlighting all that is great about our state and align with our station's mission of HOPE. Segments will be featured on-air during Friday's Morning News at 7:25 a.m., the 5 and 10 p.m. news. twice during the FOX61 Morning News on Saturday, on our Facebook page and right here on FOX61.com!

Stay tuned and keep an eye out for the next news star! If your school would like to get involved learn more here or email us at studentnews@fox61.com.

 

Before You Leave, Check This Out