IamA Guy who built the Lego tower that was destroyed by Terry Crews on Brooklyn Nine-Nine. AMA!

Were you paid in Lego for the gig?

I was! I could've been paid to do it, or get to keep all the pieces and sets that were ordered. I chose the latter.

Would you have made the same decision if you got paid in mega blocks?

I wouldn't have done the job in the first place if it had been mega bloks.

It must be hard to lego of something you spent so much time on, no?

It's hard to understand your question, I think you may have missed a word or two. I'm guessing you're asking if it was hard to see something destroyed that I spent so much time on?

Yes, but lego = let go ;)

Ah I see. No, it wasn't that bad. I knew from the beginning that it was getting destroyed.

Hahaha that pun flew right over your head and landed in your dollar sign shaped pool lol!

Thanks. I admit it flew right over my head, but alas, my backyard is pool-less, let alone a dollar sign shaped one.

Did terry apologize to you?

Haha. No, I actually didn't meet him.

Here's gyfcat video of the part where Terry smashes your tower.

That's awesome, thanks!

The structure seemed sound enough. Did Terry exhibit more strength than a 7 year old boy?

I'm always used to building structures that are sound and sturdy so afterwards I was a bit concerned that they wouldn't break easily. But I think as evidenced in the episode there wasn't a problem there.

What's your favorite Lego set of all time?

Oh that's hard, there's been so many good ones. Like I mentioned below, I love the Architecture sets. But I really loved when they came out with the Steven Spielberg Moviemaker set that came with the camera. That changed it all, and I started making all kinds of Lego movies. The first Mindstorms was a lot of fun too.

Remember Dinocop?

Indeed!

Fucking hell man, I got that set as a kid and I swear it just blew my mind wide open. Shitty as the camera was I could fucking FILM MY OWN STOP MOTION.

My childish mind just couldn't handle that shit. I'm pretty sure that set was the turning point that made me want to get into the film/television industry when I grew up.

Then there was the Lego RCX thing that my friend had that would let you build fucking robots and you could use both the Lego Cam and the RCX in conjunction with each other for rudimentary motion sensing and pattern reading. We spent so much time playing with that shit as kids, that friend of mine is an engineer now on an internship with the guys behind Pebble, the RCX was what made him want to go study engineering at Uni (well, that and his Dad.)

Yea, the RCX was the Mindstorms thing I mentioned above. So awesome. I used both of those things extensively as well.

My mom only buys me Mega Blocks.

"They're the same thing Peter".

"You know what, Lois? They are not the same thing. And the sooner you get that through your thick skull, the sooner we can get this marriage back on track."

How do you respond when you hear "Legos"?

"Where are they? And can I build something?"

Ok, I understand my mistake in adding the apostrophe, but is Legos not the plural of Lego? I would think it is. You wouldn't say "I'm going to go build a tower with my Lego." You'd say "I'm going to go build a tower with my Legos". Or am I wrong?

The official statement from the LEGO Group is that they should be referred to as "LEGO Bricks" since LEGO is their brand name.

I've just been calling them Legos my entire life. Why is this happening to me..?

I'm with you. I've always called them Legos. I don't see that changing in the near future.

Why didnt you build him a space ship!?

I would've if that had been the request! They asked for a tower.

It seems he REALLY wanted a space ship.

If I had known what the script was and that he was going to say that line, I would've built a spaceship and sent it along just for fun.

Did you have as much fun building it as Terry did destroying it?

It was frustrating at first because the instructions from the producers were pretty vague. I wasn't sure if it was supposed to look like it was professionally built or built by a kid, what the design should be, etc. So I won't lie, I took my rage out on the first couple attempts. But then I got it going again and sent in the pics. After getting positive feedback, it was much better. Then it was just a matter of building 2 more of the same tower.

Ever try Minecraft?

I'm an avid minecrafter!

Did you ever meet the cast? And how did you get a job building the tower ?

I actually haven't met the cast, no. My dad is the prop master on the show, so it was up to him to get the towers so he called me to see if I wanted to do it.

How did you fell after it being destroyed? And how much time did it take to build?

I spent about 2 days working on them. And honestly I didn't feel much after they were destroyed. I knew what the outcome was going to be from the start, so I was prepared.

Do you work for the show full-time, build legos full-time, or somewhere in-between?

I work in the film industry as a camera assistant but not for the show. My dad is the prop master on it so he called me when they were shooting that episode because he knew I liked building Lego's.

Very cool. Great build too, by the way.

Thanks!

Not to bash, because the design is great for how it was intended, but coming from the industry as a CA, aren't you concerned about continuity with regards to the color pattern differences? Not that many viewers would notice, but Tower One could be used in a setup shot whereas Tower Two might have been used in the actual destruction scene, and Tower Three in the retake, thus ensuring a continuity issue.

No, it wasn't an issue. I did ask in the beginning whether they had to be 100% identical and the answer was no. The scene happens so quickly that it really doesn't matter. Besides, and I don't mean to be blunt here, but it is just a half hour comedy after all, not the next Best Picture film.

What would you have done if they'd had to redo the take that same day?

Well that's why I built 3 of the same tower, so they could do 3 takes. They knew that's all they had, but given that they shoot most of the time with multiple cameras, it would've been a fail if they didn't get the shot in 3 takes.

How many Lego pieces do you estimate you have?

Hundreds of thousands. I've been building Legos since I was a kid, so I have boxes upon boxes of pieces. Unfortunately they're all mixed up in huge boxes in my closet right now, I keep wanting to take the time to organize them all but that would probably take months.

(EDIT: changed Lego's to Legos)

I'd sort them for you, sounds like fun. I like to sort things.

Are you located in LA? I wouldn't mind the help!

What will be your dream Lego set?

Like I've mentioned elsewhere, I really like the Architecture sets they've been coming out with, so more of those. Also I'm an avid skier, it would be cool if they came out with some skiing sets, such as a base lodge, a chairlift (or gondola), etc. But I also just like building my own creations too.

Dunno if this is still going on, but how is terry crews in person? One of my favorite actors

I actually wasn't there when they shot the scene. I dropped the towers off to the set the day before but had to work the day they shot the scene. But all I hear is great things from my Dad about Terry.

What are your feeling about complex but visually beautiful kits like the architecture series vs. more free building sets of Lego block?

I love the Architecture sets, I have several of them. But I also love building my own creations too. I like getting sets and building them, and then tearing them apart and building something of my own.

Is that a 2014 Subaru Forester 2.5i? You have great choice in cars!

The question is, how on earth did you figure that out? Do you have the same car? And thanks, I love it. On top of that it's a stick shift too.

What was the compensation for the gig?

All the Legos that were ordered! It was either getting paid in Lego pieces or money, so I chose the pieces.

Love Brooklyn Nine-Nine and thought your tower was awesome! 1. What was it like seeing terry destroy your tower the first time? 2. Have you done any other projects like this? 3. You said your dad was the prop master, what is that like? 4. How does one became great at making lego creations like you? I'm guessing a lot of patience lol. Thanks for doing this!

1. To be honest, I actually wasn't there when they shot the scene. I brought them to set but they were filming the scene the next day and I had to work. So my dad took the photos of that part.

2. No, I've never done anything like this before. All the Lego building I've done has just been for fun.

3. My dad's job is pretty cool, but stressful. It was really cool when he worked on Alias, lots of cool gadgets he had to get made for that. The AV Club recently did an article on him actually, and you can get more of a sense of his job there. Here's the article.

4. I'm not sure how to answer this! I've played with Legos since I was a kid, I've always loved building things. Yea, it definitely takes patience. And creativity.

(EDIT: Changed Lego's to Legos)

Ha, that's amazing. If you could have one of your Lego towers destroyed by anyone, living or dead, who would it be? and why?

Arnold Schwarzenegger

Like so

Have you been to Denmark?

No, but it's on my list. I want to go to Billund!

You have reached master builder bro. Terry crews is the man. What is Brooklyn nine nine though???

Thanks. It's a show on FOX.

What is the largest LEGO structure that you have built?

Over the course of several years when I was growing up, I worked on recreating the island of Jurassic Park in Lego. All the compounds, automatic cars, cages, etc. And I wired all the buildings with real working lights. It was quite intricate and never really finished.

This my favorite response so far in this thread. Any leftover pictures of your ambitious dino build?

The only pictures I have are from a few years ago when I tried shipping my old Legos out here to CA from back home. When they arrived a lot of it was destroyed but I generally pieced it back together. The thing you have to realize looking at these pictures is I wasn't trying to recreate Jurassic Park from how it looked in the film, rather it was my own interpretation of it. Here's the pics

Did any confusing and oddly homoerotic thoughts cross your mind upon seeing Terry Crews in person for the first time?

Aha. As I mentioned above, I actually wasn't there when they shot the scene. I brought the towers to set but they were filming the scene the next day and I had to work.

What episode was this in? I don't remember this happening.

Season 2, Episode 1

How much did the original sets cost? Did you have a budget or an expense account or how did you buy the sets? Did you worry that the three sets you built needed to be exactly the same (colors that matched and everything in case two different sets made it into one scene; like for a close up or something)? Did you consider hiding an easter egg in your color design - like you name or something?

I didn't buy the Lego bricks myself. My dad bought everything (it was close to $500 I think), and just gave it all to me to then build. It was part of the props budget for that episode.

No, there was no need to make sure that the colors matched exactly in all 3 towers. There was no chance that 2 towers would end up in the same shot. The only reason I made 3 towers was so they could do 3 takes if they needed to.

And no I didn't, but the easter egg idea is a a good one!

Did you actually get to visit the set yourself? If so, what was it like?

Yea I've been a few times. It's cool. I work in the film industry myself so it's not something new or very exciting. The sets always look smaller then how they do on TV though!

I noticed in another comment you said you've never done something like this before. Would you do it again?

Also, have you seen the lego movie?

I would definitely do it again, it was fun.

And yea, I absolutely loved the Lego Movie.

Since your dad work as the prop master, did you helped him on other lego related stuff?

Any future project in the show, like a real size replicate of someone made in Lego?

Not yet! This was the first time I did anything Lego related for a show. I'm sure he'll call on me if something else comes up.

When you built the latter two of the three identical towers, did you have to replicate the seemingly spontaneous color scheme of the first tower?

Meaning if (for example) the top row of the first tower's front wall had used three red in a row, followed by two blue, and a single green... the corresponding rows on the other two towers would need to have that same exact color pattern in that same exact order.

Or were you able to just use any colors you wanted on the second and third towers, as long as they looked close enough?

No, not at all. The color scheme was completely random on each tower. I didn't even really have to be so accurate with making the shape so identical, but I wanted to. The color continuity was not an issue though.

Do legos ever feel like work?

Not usually no. It did for a bit when I first started the towers, just because I felt like I had to create something for someone else, I wasn't completely free to just make my own thing.