Piece by Piece’s pitch was built out of LEGO and ‘everyone loved it’
Director Morgan Neville has shared that the proof of concept for Piece by Piece was brick-built as well as more from the making of the LEGO movie.
The LEGO Group’s interview for Piece by Piece not only touches on the upcoming 10391 Over the Moon with Pharrell Williams but the movie itself too. Director Morgan Neville was also interviewed to detail his experience making the movie, a proof of concept made out of LEGO pieces and his past with LEGO.
“I’ve spent the past five years working on Piece by Piece, which was the most unlikely movie that I could have done, which is the thing that got me really excited about it,” said the director. “At the beginning, Pharrell’s agent called me and said that Pharrell wanted to talk to me about an idea, but they weren’t allowed to tell me what it was.”
Then, when we met, he told me that people had been interested in making documentaries about him for a long time, but he wasn’t interested in making a traditional documentary, and he thought I could make a documentary about him and then remake it in LEGO animation. And that was the jumping-off point.”
Neville’s response aligns with that of Pharrell Williams, who was asked a similar question recently about the decision to use LEGO as the medium for Piece by Piece. The team behind the movie were so confident in this idea though, that the pitch was brick-built.
“We told the LEGO movie team of our idea, and they said they loved it. And then, as a proof of concept, we built a scene – it’s in the trailer a bit – where Pharrell is listening to records as a kid and colours start coming out of the stereo because he has synaesthesia where he, in real life, sees colour when he hears sounds. And we showed it to Focus Features and they instantly loved it. Everyone who saw it got it.”
The director went on to describe just how important colour is to the story of the biopic, as well as their personal experience with LEGO.
“I grew up being a huge LEGO fan, with a giant tub of bricks you’d grab and just start making stuff, and I knew one thing that LEGO bricks have that seemed to really fit the story is – they have colour,” says Neville. “And colour is a huge part of this story, because of Pharrell’s synaesthesia, where, as I said, he sees colour when he hears sound.
So, colour becomes a metaphor for his own superpower, which is his unique creativity. We worked with the animation team to bring in someone to specifically design the synaesthesia, and what that would look like. And it’s made with LEGO pieces. So, working in LEGO animation was liberating, not constricting.”
Piece by Piece arrives in cinemas from October 11 and you can find our more international release dates by clicking here. You can pre-order the movie’s corresponding LEGO set – 10391 Over the Moon with Pharrell Williams – now for £94.99 in the UK, $109.99 in the US, and €109.99.
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Author Profile
- LEGO has been a part of my life ever since I was young. It all started when my brother passed down 7657 AT-ST to me. It’s guided me through my early years, through school and eventually through my degree in journalism. I still have all my collection proudly on display, including my many NINJAGO sets, my favourite of all the LEGO Group’s themes. Outside of Brick Fanatics I am an avid gamer and enjoy a good game of Dungeons & Dragons.
