Lego Dimensions

Intent

LEGO has a specific visual language — those chunky, colorful bricks have a toy-like quality that's the whole appeal. But Warner Bros. wanted cinematic drama for these game cutscenes. The challenge was adding film-quality lighting without losing the essential LEGO-ness of the characters and worlds.

Challenge

LEGO minifigures are essentially flat planes and cylinders — there's not a lot of surface complexity to catch light interestingly. Making them feel heroic and dynamic required finding angles and light qualities that added depth without contradicting the design language. Plus we're dealing with multiple franchises (DC, Lord of the Rings, etc.) each with their own visual expectations.

Approach

I leaned into the plastic material properties — that slight glossiness and the way light wraps around simple forms. Strong rim lighting helped separate characters from backgrounds. For dramatic moments, I used more theatrical contrast than you'd typically see in LEGO content, but always kept the fill bright enough that it still felt playful.

Reference

The LEGO Movie, obviously — Phil Lord and Chris Miller figured out how to make LEGO feel cinematic while preserving its charm. But also classic adventure films like Indiana Jones, since many of the franchises we were working with had that pulpy, dramatic sensibility.