If you’re anything like us, you’ve probably already watched the incredible sequel that is Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse.
But did you know the brief LEGO scene near the start of the movie was actually animated by a 14-year-old fan? That fan is Preston Mutanga from Minnesota.
Apparently Mutanga had always had a flair for finding creative solutions, often scrapping the instructions for sets of LEGO blocks in favour of his own designs.
According to Mutanga via a recent interview: “I also used to make comics when I was younger. Looking back at them now, they’re not the greatest — I’m not going to lie — but it was good practice for telling stories.”
However, it was last December that he began a project that would change everything. He decided to use his dad’s old computers to recreate the trailer for Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse shot for shot, but in the LEGO style.
He’d already been making LEGO-style short computer-generated videos for several years, so by this point it was a piece of cake. And it quickly got the attention of LEGO Movie directors and Spider-verse writers Phil Lord and Christopher Miller.
Here’s the tweet that led to what happened next:
Well, it led to Christina Steinberg, another Spider-Verse producer, to contact Mutanga and ask if he’d like to animate a LEGO segment of the movie.
Here’s what Miller had to say:
“We found out that it was a 14-year-old kid who made it and we were like, ‘This looks incredibly sophisticated for a nonadult, nonprofessional to have made. It blew us all away, including some of the best animators in the world.”
It took Mutanga several weeks working on this project after his homework each night – and getting feedback from Miller who would check on his progress every other week and provide detailed input.
Now this high school kid has professional industry experience, he’s understandably looking forward to becoming a full-time animation director, and we can well see that happening!
Mutanga said: “I adored the first movie and was so hyped for the second one, so getting to work with the people who actually made this masterpiece was honestly like a dream.”
We love stories like this here at Geek Native – just a reminder that anything’s possible when you really put your mind to it.
Source: Yahoo! News
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