LEGO Animation: Egyptology Museum

Locked in The Atkinson after hours, two visitors stumble into the Egyptology museum and awaken the mummy of Nes-Amun who transports them back to Ancient Egypt…

Behind the scenes: Morgspenny Productions

Morgan Spence is a stop-motion animator with a passion for LEGO and film-making. His independent and commissioned films have been viewed tens of millions of times, featuring on ABC Television, BBC News and CNN, reaching audiences around the world.

You will have seen Morgan’s animations in our 2020 exhibition, Brick Wonders, that featured wonders of the world recreated from LEGO bricks.

The Atkinson commissioned Morgspenny Productions to animate our Egyptology museum with a grant from the Culture Recovery Fund. The museum was closed for extended periods throughout the coronavirus pandemic, during this time, Morgan created the stop-motion animation from his bedroom studio. Working with The Atkinson’s curatorial team, Morgan first created a story board and then built LEGO replicas of The Atkinson’s façade, entrance foyer, landing and Egyptology museum.

I create the animations using a technique called stop-motion, which is a sequence of photographs played very fast to form the illusion that an object or character is moving. I would take a photo and move the character, then repeating the process until I achieve the desired shot. I shoot in 15 fps, meaning that there are 15 individual photos in 1 second of film. You can imagine a degree of patience is required, but with practice makes perfect. I then edit the clips together, add sound effects, titles and music.

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Museum

Our stunning Egyptology museum takes visitors on a journey through what life was like in ancient Egypt at the time of the Pharaohs. The museum showcases Mrs Goodison’s personal Egyptology collection in an intimate exhibition.

The Goodison collection is both varied and well preserved. It illustrates the rituals that were at the heart of Egyptian beliefs, as well as the creation of personal beauty and communication through language & imagery. The collection also tells us about everyday life and allows us to imagine life as an ancient Egyptian, rich and poor.

Visitors can see an intricately decorated coffin lid, the Mummy of Nes-Amun, a wooden Ba-bird and rare paddle dolls, amongst many other artefacts. Interactive displays include the ‘Weighing of the Heart’ ceremony, X-raying an Ibis mummy and a hieroglyphic jigsaw wall. Take part in our new A.R. experience, The Ba Bird Tour, bringing artefacts to life by scanning the QR codes in the museum with your phone.

Plan your visit here.