Tony's CCCVI Contest Criticism

Discussion of personal LEGO Castle creations
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SavaTheAggie
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Tony's CCCVI Contest Criticism

Post by SavaTheAggie »

Last year I had a thread to where Contest entrants could get feedback on their contest entries, and I've been asked several times if I was going to repeat it.

So here is my thread - my Contest Constructive Criticism thread. While I may (privately) call it the "Why you sucked" thread, I will endevour to do my best to give you constructive criticism to your MOCs on why they did not score higher and what you can do to improve.

However, as not to hurt anyone's feelings, I am not going to volunteer any of my thoughts on anyone's MOC unless you first post a link to it in this thread. A thumbnail would also be nice so I can keep my replies straight, but I won't require it.

So if you're curious why I, the great Lord Sava of Aggie, I thought your MOC sucked... I mean did not score as highly as others, please post away.

I also encourage the other judges to add their constructive criticism when they feel it important, as we are all different in the way we view MOCs.

Please limit yourself to asking about one and only one entry. Last year I got swamped by the number of people asking about every one of their entries, so please just pick the one you feel you need critique on the most.

--Tony
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Hewkiril
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Post by Hewkiril »

Alright, let's do this.

What could I have done to improve this?
http://www.brickshelf.com/gallery/Hewki ... vi_011.jpg
[url=http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?f=162657]My Brickshelf[/url] - [url=http://www.flickr.com/photos/hewkii9/]My Flickr[/url]
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Aliencat
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Post by Aliencat »

Alright, can I be first (edit: oh I'm second, darn you Hewkiril!)
For this year's CCCVI I tried my hand at a vignette for the first time.
I would like your critique about this because I want to build vignettes more often, and this was my first one, so I figure I have a long way to go from here.

Image
Between plotting to kill you all and chasing balls of yarn, I also build [url=https://www.flickr.com/photos/30639040@N02/albums]MOCs[/url]

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Garbageman13
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Post by Garbageman13 »

well, I may as well give it a shot:

Besides the obvious(Image quality and photography), what could I have done to improve opon this MOC?
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jens
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Post by jens »

Ah, Sava the greatest, would you please be so kind and give me what you have about this unworthily entry:

Image

It will be difficult, but I would try to resist your destroying criticism
:wink:

regrads,
jens
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Spongey
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Post by Spongey »

Hello, Lord Sava of Aggie. Could you please tell me how I could improve my humble castle siege. http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?f=360127
Your criticism is greatly appreciated. Thanks.
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deathdog1
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Post by deathdog1 »

Ya know what? My entries didn't suck. They just didn't win. I did the best I could do and had a blast doing it, so no criticism for me, thanks.
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Hob Took
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Post by Hob Took »

Oh great Sava of Aggie, why are my creations doomed to rot in the pits of suckiness?

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-Hob Took
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Post by Rick-Ricks »

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Elephant Knight
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Post by Elephant Knight »

Oh great, powerful, mighty, awsome, Sava, please tell me why this creation of mine sucked so much:

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Sir Dano
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Post by Sir Dano »

Some advice on this one would be nice.
http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?f=359019\
And thanks in advance. :)
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Post by nanuck95 »

Just for the sake of curiosity, is there anywhere we can see the full listing or ranking of all the entries? I know people have said it was close, just wondering how close or where some of mine fell in the lineup. Thanks!
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Bruce N H
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Post by Bruce N H »

nanuck95 wrote:Just for the sake of curiosity, is there anywhere we can see the full listing or ranking of all the entries? I know people have said it was close, just wondering how close or where some of mine fell in the lineup. Thanks!
We've never posted the raw data on the judging, just the winners and honorable mentions.
[url=http://comicbricks.blogspot.com/]ComicBricks[/url] [url=http://godbricks.blogspot.com/]GodBricks[/url] [url=http://microbricks.blogspot.com/]MicroBricks[/url] [url=http://minilandbricks.blogspot.com/]MinilandBricks[/url] [url=http://scibricks.blogspot.com/]SciBricks[/url] [url=http://vignettebricks.blogspot.com/]VignetteBricks[/url] [url=http://www.classic-castle.com/bricktales/]Brick Tales[/url]
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SavaTheAggie
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Post by SavaTheAggie »

Hewkiril wrote:Alright, let's do this.

What could I have done to improve this?
http://www.brickshelf.com/gallery/Hewki ... vi_011.jpg
I like the SNOT base you used for this MOC, though the angled bit seems to do nothing but serve to extend enough space for the horse to stand later in the scene - it looks out of place. Also, you've tried to make a small a MOC as possible, which leaves the horse thief stealing the horse right in front of its' owner. Had it been a bit bigger, with the figs a bit more spread out (or two different locations built), I think it would have scored higher.
Aliencat wrote:Alright, can I be first (edit: oh I'm second, darn you Hewkiril!)
For this year's CCCVI I tried my hand at a vignette for the first time.
I would like your critique about this because I want to build vignettes more often, and this was my first one, so I figure I have a long way to go from here.

Image
There's nothing wrong with your vignette per se, it's a cute little scene. I especially like the time you took to make a cobblestone street and well. However, in a game of inches, every little thing counts. Your vignette is a little flat (something most of my own suffer from as well). I think it would have done better with something to give it more height, by either raising the base up more and putting some detail beneath it, or adding something above like a piece of a tree, or a taller well. All of the action and focus is on one half of the vignette, and leaves it feeling unbalanced.
Garbageman13 wrote:well, I may as well give it a shot:

Besides the obvious(Image quality and photography), what could I have done to improve opon this MOC?
This is a really well done MOC. There are a lot of great details you've crammed in there. However, it looks rather lifeless and dull. Most of the figs are simply standing there, it doesn't look like much is going on. It also isn't obvious from looking at it why the Orcs are sneaking up towards the castle - remember, we only have a maximum of three pictures with which to work with. Having the captured Orc visibly shown through the jail bars would have done a lot to show that.
jens wrote:Ah, Sava the greatest, would you please be so kind and give me what you have about this unworthily entry:

Image

It will be difficult, but I would try to resist your destroying criticism
:wink:

regrads,
jens
You did a really great job building your castle, and it's obvious you put a lot of time and effort into getting every detail right. However, that said, it also seems the rest of your MOC suffers. The tower of rock and cliff face look plain and featureless compared to the castle above. I would have liked to have seen more detail on the rocks, like large bird nests or larger tuffs of foliage. The waves on the water and the green plates you added to the rocks look too regular and evenly spaced. I would have liked to have seen more randomness in their placement, and some nice wave action crashing against the rocks would have been really nice.
Spongey wrote:Hello, Lord Sava of Aggie. Could you please tell me how I could improve my humble castle siege. http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?f=360127
Your criticism is greatly appreciated. Thanks.
You've built a decent amount of detail, and the wall looks good. The siege tower looks nice, but it looks as if it's backwards. Siege towers would usually have a more or less solid front and a much more open back side. My main criticism for your siege scene is that there isn't much life to it - almost all of your figs are simply standing there. I would have liked to have seen this siege about ten seconds later, where the crown knights have already begun pouring onto the Orc's wall, and a lot more going on.
deathdog1 wrote:Ya know what? My entries didn't suck. They just didn't win. I did the best I could do and had a blast doing it, so no criticism for me, thanks.
An excellent point of view, I hope you enter next year.
Hob Took wrote:Oh great Sava of Aggie, why are my creations doomed to rot in the pits of suckiness?

LINK

-Hob Took
Your MOC suffers from being more than one MOC. You've got something going on underground, but gave no real photos for us to see of it, and no real connection between the two. Does the underground area have something to do with the temple above? As for the temple itself, you've got a lot of action and detail in there, and that's great. However, you went ahead and built an underground area, why not a roof? I would have liked to have seen at least some hint of what is supposed to be on top of the temple, and if there isn't supposed to be a roof it looks unfinished.
Rick-Ricks wrote:How can I improve?
http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?f=360033
First off, you'll need to work with your camera a bit more to make sure your pictures are in focus. While we usually don't count off for problems with photography, it really distracts from your MOC. Your vignette is well built, with a nice and right amount of detail - not too plain, not too busy. However, the hallmark of a good vignette is that it needs very little explaination - the vignette speaks for itself. I didn't know what your vignette was about until I read the contest entry description. I couldn't figure out why the librarian was falling off a ladder, until I realized from the description that he had been frightened up it. I think posing and placing the fig better would have really added points to this vig, such as having the librarian standing aghast on the floor holding the lid of the barrel.
Elephant Knight wrote:Oh great, powerful, mighty, awsome, Sava, please tell me why this creation of mine sucked so much:

Linky

EKnight
You've got a lot of great height to your MOC, but the details are very flat. I'd like to see some grass or more flowers on the lower part of the MOC, or better yet some trees to give some foreground height to the scene. The ceiling of the hideout is also too flat, I'd like to see some curvature to it, or some arches to help hold it up. I realize that there isn't meant to be many things going on, but I'd like to see a few more figs included in the scene, perhaps giving the knight near the waterfall a few comrades, and definately more activity in the hideout.
Sir Dano wrote:Some advice on this one would be nice.
http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?f=359019\
And thanks in advance. :)
It's a very clean MOC with subtle detail. However the two living robber figs seem about as stiff as their dead comrade. I would have liked to have seen something like either one of them running in fear, or charging the shrine keeper. I can't speak for the other admins, but the subject of this entry doesn't seem very "chivalrous" to me. Perhaps if you had someone else in the shrine, a young child or an old man, behind the shine keeper, it would have scored higher with me.
SavaTheAggie wrote:Whew...
--Tony
Last edited by SavaTheAggie on Wed Jan 28, 2009 7:59 pm, edited 4 times in total.
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Voran_the_Scholar
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Post by Voran_the_Scholar »

Will you kindly explain to this humble (and somewhat humiliated :P ) Junior Gong Farmer how he might have fared better with his humble offering: The Entry

Any advice/criticism is welcome.
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