My short bio: As requested by a user on r/pics, I'm doing an AMA. I'm surprised how much interest this has gotten.

My Proof: https://imgur.com/a/khn83

Comments: 714 • Responses: 57  • Date: 

Kayniaan933 karma

Were you paid in Lego for the gig?

austoncall1469 karma

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.

DDDJBeezneez38 karma

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

austoncall303 karma

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

davemello84517 karma

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

austoncall157 karma

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?

davemello84420 karma

Yes, but lego = let go ;)

austoncall197 karma

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

Omnidan81 karma

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

austoncall82 karma

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

sex_with_a_panda262 karma

Did terry apologize to you?

austoncall429 karma

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

austoncall53 karma

That's awesome, thanks!

seajellie236 karma

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

austoncall279 karma

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.

davevm223 karma

What's your favorite Lego set of all time?

austoncall331 karma

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.

paidinboredom67 karma

Remember Dinocop?

austoncall78 karma

Indeed!

CaptainBritish50 karma

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.)

austoncall16 karma

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

blueraider61538 karma

My mom only buys me Mega Blocks.

austoncall338 karma

"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."

sryx162 karma

How do you respond when you hear "Legos"?

austoncall302 karma

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

austoncall39 karma

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?

pridd_du112 karma

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

poosp17 karma

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

austoncall39 karma

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

TheW1ldcard145 karma

Why didnt you build him a space ship!?

austoncall141 karma

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

TheW1ldcard122 karma

It seems he REALLY wanted a space ship.

austoncall202 karma

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.

two_off104 karma

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

austoncall201 karma

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.

reached80 karma

Ever try Minecraft?

austoncall161 karma

I'm an avid minecrafter!

Xboxben62 karma

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

austoncall116 karma

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.

618pereira61 karma

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

austoncall110 karma

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.

astropjj42 karma

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

austoncall75 karma

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.

astropjj25 karma

Very cool. Great build too, by the way.

austoncall22 karma

Thanks!

macblastoff3 karma

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.

austoncall7 karma

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.

CrackLawliet42 karma

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

austoncall94 karma

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.

mokoyo38 karma

How many Lego pieces do you estimate you have?

austoncall79 karma

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)

Kinda_biased9 karma

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

austoncall10 karma

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

vincyrae4626 karma

What will be your dream Lego set?

austoncall37 karma

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.

MRhodes2226 karma

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

austoncall40 karma

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.

sryx17 karma

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

austoncall20 karma

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.

jefferey131315 karma

What was the compensation for the gig?

austoncall44 karma

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

tornato715 karma

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

austoncall12 karma

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.

aglowa15 karma

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!

austoncall27 karma

  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)

TheMoodiestOfHanks11 karma

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?

austoncall24 karma

Arnold Schwarzenegger

austoncall22 karma

MarzipanFairy11 karma

Have you been to Denmark?

austoncall12 karma

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

Five1six11 karma

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

austoncall16 karma

Thanks. It's a show on FOX.

laburtz8 karma

What is the largest LEGO structure that you have built?

austoncall25 karma

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.

Joystick18988 karma

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

austoncall34 karma

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

MattRyd75 karma

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

austoncall4 karma

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.

Nightman4634 karma

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

austoncall4 karma

Season 2, Episode 1

Rob-Fjord3 karma

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?

austoncall3 karma

I would definitely do it again, it was fun.

And yea, I absolutely loved the Lego Movie.

yoctograms3 karma

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

austoncall5 karma

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!

nobodyoukno3 karma

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?

austoncall5 karma

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!

Lexonir2 karma

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?

austoncall2 karma

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.

DayWalkerRunner1 karma

Do legos ever feel like work?

austoncall1 karma

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.

sabrefudge1 karma

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?

austoncall2 karma

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.