Stop-motion animator Jeremy Borchers has recreated a pivotal scene from the murder mystery Knives Out in LEGO form, and it works surprisingly well. Transforming the rather famous “eat sh*t” scene with toys made primarily for children certainly provides for some amusing juxtaposition, but the effort behind the animation alone is arguably the most noteworthy aspect.
Borchers (Joebor1777 on YouTube) runs a channel where he reconstructs scenes and trailers using LEGO, alongside his own original animations. As the latest in his creations, which include gems from re-imaginings of Star Wars trailers all the way to a John Wick fight scene, the Knives Out video gives a new perspective on the scene in question. Featuring the character Ransom (played in the film by Chris Evans) lashing out after being confronted about an argument he’d had with the murder victim, the scene is almost surreal given the combination of source material and medium. However, the attention to detail is impressive, and even given the choice of animation style, the feel of the original sequence remains impressively intact.
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Borchers is no slouch, having honed his animation craft on his channel for over 6 years, and that dedication shows. Many amateur LEGO animations have a similar look, with characters seemingly restricted to a limited set of movements. But Borchers utilizes some clever techniques, such as removing the figures’ arms and heads from their static pegs to allow for a greater range of motions, to drastically enhance the personality behind each character. The mouth animations, done with help from fellow animator Oak 99, appear to be done in post-production, which is to be expected since LEGO figures, tragically, cannot speak.
Knives Out, Rian Johnson’s surprise hit of 2019, took audiences on an intriguing ride through the process of private detective Benoit Blanc (played with clear ecstatic joy by Daniel Craig) as he investigates the family of a wealthy murder victim. While the story itself is intriguing enough in its own right, the film’s greatest strengths are arguably its character interactions and “requires a second viewing” details and clues sprinkled all throughout the 2+ hour runtime. The former is so well done that, as demonstrated by Borchers, scenes can retain their original punch even when transposed to an entirely different medium.
Stop motion is no simple task, so Borchers’ accomplishments cannot be understated. Even the most basic of movements will take a, frankly, barely reasonable amount of time to pull off, and given all the subtle nuances present in this animation, there’s no telling how long the whole ~2 minute video took to produce. All that’s certain is that there’s a ton of talent present here, so here’s hoping Joebor1777 keeps at it for a long time to come.
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Source: Joebor1777/YouTube
