Interview with Fan and Model Designers of 21330 Home Alone
Posted by CapnRex101,
Representatives from several Fan Media outlets recently participated in a roundtable interview with the design team for 21330 Home Alone.
We spoke with the fan designer, Alex Storozhuk, alongside the set designers, Antica Bracanov and Enrique Belmonte Beixer, and graphic designer, Kirsten Bay Nielsen.
Brickset: Upon receiving 21330 Home Alone, I was pleasantly surprised by how much was retained from the original LEGO Ideas project. Were you surprised by this, Alex?
Alex: Definitely! When my project reached the review stage, I was concerned that it might be too large for approval because the model contained nearly 3000 pieces. When I was told that the revised model included almost 4000 pieces, you can imagine how surprised and thrilled I was! Increasing the piece count was worthwhile though because the designers have included even more references and Easter eggs than I had originally.
I noticed some similarities between this model and 71006 The Simpsons House. Did you take any inspiration from the earlier house when developing this one, or perhaps advice from its designer, Marcos Bessa?
Antica: We were certainly inspired by how Marcos approached that set, but probably more important was remaining faithful to Alex's proposed design. That was our starting point and we tried to maintain everything from the original submission that was relevant to the movie, while also retaining the same style. However, there are some definite similarities with 71006 The Simpsons House.
Breaking from the interview momentarily, I think the various similarities between 21330 Home Alone and 71006 The Simpsons House are interesting. These models share the same intent, incorporating as many details from the onscreen location as possible, while also considering accessibility and outward accuracy. These generally necessitate compromises in the internal space and room configuration.
The layouts of both the Simpson and McCallister households are reasonably well-established and could, theoretically, be translated directly into LEGO. However, the unusual proportions of minifigures and furnishings create issues because expanding the interior to include every room risks detracting from the external design, which should also remain accurate when displayed beside minifigures.
Furthermore, scale and price are important considerations. 71006 The Simpsons House lacks the structures above and behind the garage, while 21330 Home Alone excludes large sections on each side. Nevertheless, I think both models capture the essential shape and features of their respective source materials, balanced with reasonable internal space and good accessibility, on the whole.
Back to the interview...
The master bedroom is less easily accessible than other rooms within the house. Did you consider including another opening wall or altering the orientation of the room to provide easier access?
Antica: When we began working on the model, we were thinking a lot about the interior layout of the floors. The opening front walls mean that the other walls must be completely solid. There are beams which extend across the front of both levels, stabilising the whole structure. For that reason, we could not include more opening or removable walls.
We did consider placing the bedroom where the bathroom was eventually located, but decided upon the bathroom because that is where Kevin's famous scream takes place. There are some compromises where we would love to show more, but we cannot always do so.
Look out for additional interview content shortly from Brick.it, Jay's Brick Blog, Brick Fanatics, Blocks and AFDL.it, which also participated in the roundtable session.
Our review of 21330 Home Alone is available here.
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26 comments on this article
I REALLY hope we’re getting a Designer Video for this one!
Oh boy, it must be fun to have such a designer job/working for LEGO :) Thank you to both the fan designer and the LEGO designers making this a reality. I can’t wait to get some copies of this awesomness!
I didn't realize that there were large parts of the Home Alone house missing from 21330 until I looked at the stills from the film again: there are. The actual house is enormous. Somehow, the Home Alone writers thought felt the typical audiences of 1990 would have no problems believing that 1) a middle-class single-income family could have such a large house and nice quality of life and 2) that they would be able to relate to such people, implying they were not an anomaly. But, today's American worker is quantitatively much more productive than the American worker of 1990, and yet home ownership of even a small house is unobtainable on a dual income. All the excess value the American worker is generating relative to then is clearly being siphoned off and stolen from them somehow.
So it sounds like the interview is split into six parts, with one chunk being published in a magazine, one chunk on an Italian-language site, and one chunk in an Italian-language magazine. I really prefer the old format where multiple outlets co-interview, and then everyone involved posts the full interview.
@PurpleDave said:
"So it sounds like the interview is split into six parts, with one chunk being published in a magazine, one chunk on an Italian-language site, and one chunk in an Italian-language magazine. I really prefer the old format where multiple outlets co-interview, and then everyone involved posts the full interview."
Publishing content from roundtable sessions is difficult because participants are sometimes reluctant to share their content, which I can understand. On that basis, it is usually quickest and easiest to publish only the section with Brickset asking the questions.
However, I should mention that nobody involved with this session has ever expressed that reluctance, to my knowledge.
@CopperTablet:
That all depends on where you try to buy a house and what the relative real estate values are. I own a condo on a single income, and I know at least one other LUG member owns a house on a single income. Another LUG member bought his house without a mortgage, for about a third of the price of my condo. If you want to live in California (particularly in San Francisco), in actual Chicago, or in actual NYC, yeah, you’re going to be paying more for the location than the structure. But it costs less for someone working in NYC to own a house in New Jersey than rent a hole-in-the-wall apartment in the far fringes of NYC. The trade off is you have to live in New Jersey.
I’ve even read about someone who lived in PA, rented a bachelor pad in NYC near where he worked, and only went home for weekends, holidays, and vacations, because it was more affordable to do that (provided he could pay non-resident NYC taxes, which he had to fight for) than it was to move the entire family to within commuting distance of where he worked.
Hollywood homes also tend to end up bloated for a very practical reason. You can’t film a show in a 500 square foot apartment, especially not if it’s multi-camera. Look at Seinfeld’s set. The studio set basically shows three walls of what would, in real life, be a rectangular room. Try to film it like that and the cameras would all have basically the same POV, and the studio audience would only be able to see the back of the cameras and their operators.
You want to live near a major population center? It’s gonna cost you. Near the water, in a resort environment? It’s gonna cost you. Close to major tourist attractions? It’s gonna cost you. Hawaii? You can’t afford it. Kansas, two hours from the nearest grocery store? How big do you want your mansion to be?
“Relating to” the McCallisters is both unnecessary, and achievable from multiple angles. Children of large families may relate to Kevin feeling like nobody notices him. People who have been burgled may enjoy seeing burglars getting the snot beat out of them by a small child. Fans of Looney Tunes may simply enjoy the gratuitous, cartoon-like violence.
@PurpleDave said:
" @CopperTablet:
That all depends on where you try to buy a house and what the relative real estate values are. I own a condo on a single income, and I know at least one other LUG member owns a house on a single income. Another LUG member bought his house without a mortgage, for about a third of the price of my condo. If you want to live in California (particularly in San Francisco), in actual Chicago, or in actual NYC, yeah, you’re going to be paying more for the location than the structure. But it costs less for someone working in NYC to own a house in New Jersey than rent a hole-in-the-wall apartment in the far fringes of NYC. The trade off is you have to live in New Jersey.
I’ve even read about someone who lived in PA, rented a bachelor pad in NYC near where he worked, and only went home for weekends, holidays, and vacations, because it was more affordable to do that (provided he could pay non-resident NYC taxes, which he had to fight for) than it was to move the entire family to within commuting distance of where he worked.
Hollywood homes also tend to end up bloated for a very practical reason. You can’t film a show in a 500 square foot apartment, especially not if it’s multi-camera. Look at Seinfeld’s set. The studio set basically shows three walls of what would, in real life, be a rectangular room. Try to film it like that and the cameras would all have basically the same POV, and the studio audience would only be able to see the back of the cameras and their operators.
You want to live near a major population center? It’s gonna cost you. Near the water, in a resort environment? It’s gonna cost you. Close to major tourist attractions? It’s gonna cost you. Hawaii? You can’t afford it. Kansas, two hours from the nearest grocery store? How big do you want your mansion to be?
“Relating to” the McCallisters is both unnecessary, and achievable from multiple angles. Children of large families may relate to Kevin feeling like nobody notices him. People who have been burgled may enjoy seeing burglars getting the snot beat out of them by a small child. Fans of Looney Tunes may simply enjoy the gratuitous, cartoon-like violence."
I think that the home alone house is a case where suspension of disbelief is very much in play. While the movie is live-action, it's over the top in a way that makes it comedic. A 10-year old (or however old Kevin is) assembling makeshift flamethrowers and traps that would make Jigsaw to fight off cartoonisihly incompetent burglars after his cartoonisihly large family somehow left him in their cartoonisihly large house.
71006 The Simpsons House, an official Lego house without off colour stripes of plates and tiles by each floor!
I'm glad I had to get the chance to get the Simpsons house back in the day. It's totally awesome.
Not going to get this one though. Neither do I have positive feelings towards the movie, nor do I like the final product versus the original submission. Sometimes I really dislike what the designers do to it and by doing so ruin the look so completely. The more I look at it and compare it to the submission, the more I dislike it. Can't find any redeeming features to be honest. And I'm only talking about the exterior, because I don't get the Easter eggs anyway.
Easiest pass in a long time.
@CopperTablet
You also have to consider Peter was paying for the whole family to go on an expensive vacation over Christmas. So I don’t think anyone was thinking they were middle class.
Single income mortgages are harder to come by of you want to live in a decent area, that’s for sure.
Since the house opens at the front, why are there tan plates on the front of the house? The tan floors inside make sense, but the front would open and block the floors so could have been normal house color…
That would be the first thing I modify if I buy the set. But I hate having to improve on expensive sets. It’s already expensive, why should I have to do more work?
@Sethro3 said:
"Since the house opens at the front, why are there tan plates on the front of the house? The tan floors inside make sense, but the front would open and block the floors so could have been normal house color…
That would be the first thing I modify if I buy the set. But I hate having to improve on expensive sets. It’s already expensive, why should I have to do more work?"
Those are tiles, not plates.
@Koend1999 said:
"Do you ever have anything positive to say, or do you just come here to complain and exhibit your vitriol to the world? Just asking because you were complaining about the Titanic, and now about this set.
"
Erm, I do have a lot of positive things to say actually. You are also wrong in saying that I was complaining about the Titanic. Please quote my comment where I was complaining about it.
The only thing I said was that I would have been tempted had I not already got a different version by another manufacturer. As a matter of fact, when I bought mine, I had no idea a LEGO version was in development. The main problem for me which kept me from buying the LEGO one as well was simply that I have no place large enough to display it. I never complained about the set at all.
And I was highly positive about the nautical review, if you'd care to look for my comment on that article.
I only complain when I see a reason for it. And in this case it was because I honestly think the final set of the Home Alone house looks so much worse than the original submission, which didn't seem to need such a dramatic overhaul on the outside. It's not even as if it was necessary in order to save parts, as the final set has almost a thousand parts more than the already sizeable submission.
I really liked the original idea as a great looking house even if one - like me - isn't interested in the source material at all.
Don't you think the final version looks really plain compared to the original submission? The front especially was so much more realistic and detailed without looking fragile or in need of simplification.
And if I don't like that why shouldn't I be allowed to complain about it?
True, I also complained about the movie itself (because I honestly hate it guts), but I didn't complain about the set on those grounds. If the exterior of the final set looked more like the submission, I would surely have bought it even though I don't like the source material.
@Sethro3 said:
"Since the house opens at the front, why are there tan plates on the front of the house? The tan floors inside make sense, but the front would open and block the floors so could have been normal house color…
That would be the first thing I modify if I buy the set. But I hate having to improve on expensive sets. It’s already expensive, why should I have to do more work?"
Totally agree with you. For 10260 Downtown Diner I replaced just about all of the grey stripes (both light and dark grey) with tan and white and it looks soooo much better. It took a lot of plates and tiles though, for a look you'd think should be there out of the box for something called "Expert".
@Nytmare said:
"Those are tiles, not plates."
Tiles or plates doesn't matter, what matters is that they're off colour.
@Sethro3:
1. To match the look of the other three sides.
2. I believe this is designed so the front can open _or_ you can lift each floor off separately like a Modular, hence why they’d be tiles like @Nytmare noted.
@Sethro3 said:
"That would be the first thing I modify if I buy the set. But I hate having to improve on expensive sets. It’s already expensive, why should I have to do more work?"
Because you are the one deciding it needs to be 'improved'?
I suspect most people wouldn't be that bothered.
@Koend1999 said:
" @AustinPowers said:
"I'm glad I had to get the chance to get the Simpsons house back in the day. It's totally awesome.
Not going to get this one though. Neither do I have positive feelings towards the movie, nor do I like the final product versus the original submission. Sometimes I really dislike what the designers do to it and by doing so ruin the look so completely. The more I look at it and compare it to the submission, the more I dislike it. Can't find any redeeming features to be honest. And I'm only talking about the exterior, because I don't get the Easter eggs anyway.
Easiest pass in a long time. "
Do you ever have anything positive to say, or do you just come here to complain and exhibit your vitriol to the world? Just asking because you were complaining about the Titanic, and now about this set. :) Seems like we should call you AustinComplainers
"
I tend not to notice the name of the poster when quickly reading through comments but if it a largely negative post I always check to see if it is our regular German critic.
And. more often than not, it is.
That said, I have no issue with it, as everyone is entitled to their opinion and if the Brickset reviewers took the approach of always trying to be negative it could make for some interesting reviews. Though, I suspect, the supply of free review sets might dry up quite quickly.
@ShinyBidoof said:
" @Sethro3 said:
"That would be the first thing I modify if I buy the set. But I hate having to improve on expensive sets. It’s already expensive, why should I have to do more work?"
Because you are the one deciding it needs to be 'improved'?
I suspect most people wouldn't be that bothered.
"
And that's why I said that would be the thing "I" would change if I bought it...I didn't say you had to change it. *shrug*
@PurpleDave said:
" @Sethro3:
1. To match the look of the other three sides.
2. I believe this is designed so the front can open _or_ you can lift each floor off separately like a Modular, hence why they’d be tiles like @Nytmare noted."
The tan tiles on the front allow the walls to be swung open. There are other tiles to allow each floor to be removed (those are black, another off colour, and white, which actually matches the roof colour). The tan tiles are indeed tan to match the tan floor plates that are seen around the rest of the house, as the designers didn't hide them inside (just like they sadly don't on the modulars). The black stripes (there's one with plates too) could be instantly swapped to reddish brown though, my guess is that they made them black to visually balance the tan ones.
@MrClassic:
Ah, yeah, I hadn’t looked at it too closely and thought the front wall opened solid. Looking again, there’s a 2-plate gap between the 1st floor and 2nd floor walls where the floor layer peeks through. That makes it worse, though, since it means the brown layer could support the floor, if you build the correct pattern of tan on for the floor surface. And then swap the black tiles for brown, and you'd basically eliminate any stripes on the house (the white ones at top at least sorta blend into the snowy roof).
@CopperTablet said:
"a middle-class single-income family"
Not to be nit-picky, but I don't think that anyone ever considered the McCallisters to be middle class. Even taking into account some comedic exaggeration, I've always seen their house as practically a mansion. Plus they can afford to fly a dozen people overseas at Christmas.
Fun fact: One of the novelizations states Kevin's mom is a fashion designer.
@MLF said:
" @CopperTablet said:
"a middle-class single-income family"
Fun fact: One of the novelizations states Kevin's mom is a fashion designer."
That would explain why there are mannequins and fabric stuff in the basement.
@PurpleDave said:
"Looking again, there’s a 2-plate gap between the 1st floor and 2nd floor walls where the floor layer peeks through. That makes it worse, though, since it means the brown layer could support the floor, if you build the correct pattern of tan on for the floor surface. And then swap the black tiles for brown, and you'd basically eliminate any stripes on the house"
Indeed - I just watched a build video and there are actually 1x tan plates along the sides of the house on both floors, which could easily be swapped for reddish brown - it's just on the back of the building the tan stripe is caused by larger floor plates. Which makes the decision to have those unsightly stripes all around the house even harder to understand.
@Sethro3 said:
" @CopperTablet
You also have to consider Peter was paying for the whole family to go on an expensive vacation over Christmas. So I don’t think anyone was thinking they were middle class.
Single income mortgages are harder to come by of you want to live in a decent area, that’s for sure. "
Peter didn’t pay for the trip to Paris, his Brother did. Not Frank the cheapskate Brother but Rob, the Brother that also has the place in NY.
@Sethro3 said:
" @MLF said:
" @CopperTablet said:
"a middle-class single-income family"
Fun fact: One of the novelizations states Kevin's mom is a fashion designer."
That would explain why there are mannequins and fabric stuff in the basement."
And all kinds of sewing stuff in the Parents room.
@MLF said:
" @CopperTablet said:
"a middle-class single-income family"
Not to be nit-picky, but I don't think that anyone ever considered the McCallisters to be middle class. Even taking into account some comedic exaggeration, I've always seen their house as practically a mansion. Plus they can afford to fly a dozen people overseas at Christmas.
Fun fact: One of the novelizations states Kevin's mom is a fashion designer."
As a kid, I never even thought about how realistic it was (or wasn’t). I just thought what an awesome house it was and how great the movie was. It’s just the essence of Christmas. I can watch that movie in the middle of summer and feel like it’s December 25th.
There’s actually a house close to where I live that looks exactly like the house in Home Alone. Everyone in the area calls it the ‘Home Alone’ house. And even when giving directions we say, “Do you know the road with the Home Alone house, well you need to go straight past it and turn left at the roundabout...”.
I’ll never be able to buy the real ‘Home Alone’ house but it’s nice to know I can own it in Lego form at least :)