Calgary-raised stop-motion animator Jared Jacobs is a big Toronto Raptors fan and wants star player Kawhi Leonard to stay with the NBA Championship team.
So to help convince the soon-to-be free agent, Jacobs has turned to his own area of expertise: Lego.
In a stop-motion video thatsa国际传媒檚 gone viral, Jacobs used the toy pieces to meticulously recreate Leonardsa国际传媒檚 famous buzzer-beater moment against Philadelphia in Game 7 of the second round.
sa国际传媒淚t was one of those things where I was like, sa国际传媒楳aybe this will make a difference in Kawhi picking Toronto, like the plant guy,sa国际传媒檚a国际传媒� Jacobs said Tuesday in a phone interview from his home in Boise, Idaho.
Jacobs was referring to a Raptors fan who became an Internet sensation for carrying an uprooted large plant in the streets of Toronto after the championship win, telling Global News it was sa国际传媒渁 housewarming gift for Kawhi sa国际传媒� a Kawhactus.sa国际传媒�
sa国际传媒淭he Internet is a weird place, so every little bit helps and that was my contribution,sa国际传媒� said Jacobs, 41.
Jacobs said he started using Lego in his stop-motion work about five years ago after playing around with his nephewssa国际传媒� pieces in his mother-in-lawsa国际传媒檚 basement during Thanksgiving.
He first used the interlocking plastic bricks and figurines to recreate a scene from the series sa国际传媒淏reaking Badsa国际传媒� for his Instagram account, which he says got attention from some of the actors on the show.
Jacobs made more Lego videos and gained so much buzz, he quit his job to focus exclusively on them as a freelancer, landing contracts with companies including Bleacher Report, the Golf Channel, and the NHL Network.
He said he wanted to recreate the Leonard buzzer-beater scene earlier but felt it was a conflict of interest because he was doing work for the Golden State Warriors during the Finals.
He isnsa国际传媒檛 sponsored by Lego (although hesa国际传媒檇 like to be) and has to custom-make many pieces.
For the buzzer-beater project, his graphic-designer friend created the jerseys.
sa国际传媒淲ith Kawhisa国际传媒檚 hair I just had to use a nail file to make it look like it was cornrows, because Lego doesnsa国际传媒檛 make cornrows,sa国际传媒� Jacobs said.
sa国际传媒淚 ruined a couple of my hair pieces trying to get it to look just right.sa国际传媒�
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The buzzer-beater video took about 40 hours to make, not including the research he put into it.
The end where the crowd jumped up and down raising their hands was sa国际传媒減ainstakingly long,sa国际传媒� he said, requiring him to move dozens of little people at the same time each frame.
Leonardsa国际传媒檚 shot bounced four times, but Jacobs had to take a bounce out in order to properly link the sound up with the visuals.
The team has posted it on its Instagram and Twitter pages.
sa国际传媒淭his one is cool just because itsa国际传媒檚 something that has blown up in Canada, which is my homeland,sa国际传媒� he said. sa国际传媒淚tsa国际传媒檚 just cool to see all the Canadians come out of the woodwork and appreciate my work. That special to me.sa国际传媒�
Victoria Ahearn, The Canadian Press
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