In Short: The lifecycle of a well-known music artist, Pharrell Williams is portrayed in an animated story using LEGO bricks.
It is safe to say that there is a high probability that a large number of the world’s population is acquainted with the figure of Pharrell Williams. He has been an important character in the scene for more than twenty years. He is unbeatable when it comes to producing music for some of the best singers or giving the world the catchy tune that is ‘Happy’, and no one can change my views about this great song. He never disappoints with his songs, even today, and those who are in constant need of an explanation would most likely look at the users of social media who say the singer keeps getting younger each day, or the many musicians who continue to name him as an inspiration. No aspect of his life can be considered typical of a mainstream artist. Therefore, the announcement of Piece By Piece could be described as a consistent invitation to the indignation of the audience. It was more or less meant to be about Williams’ life but in LEGO and the style of a flash animation documentary. And even as a longtime admirer of the artist in question, I remember the time thinking about how it would turn out. Was that something feasible? The most interesting aspect of PIZZA, in terms of character motivations, was the defensiveness regarding the film where they implied that the film had to be made to preserve the future of PIZZA.
All the concerned fears were removed as soon as the viewer had a look at the very unique introductory part of the film.
The film’s beginning has the typical feel of a normal documentary start where the Director Morgan Neville attempts to bring the documentary to life using LEGO bricks, but does not quite succeed. There is a camera stationed in various parts of William’s house as he talks to his wife, children, and various crew members who are engaged in the preparations. Williams and Neville were facing each other and Williams was emphasizing the whole experience by suggesting it to be in the form of LEGO. A rather bemused Neville asks for a bit more detail and indicates that California willingly wished to provide that level of detail. It gives both the film and Williams the style and tone that works perfectly for all concerned. Williams has for so long reconstructed Cacophonous music that he has worked his nail through the seams of the music box, why not use LEGO? In much the same way that level one loadout sets are built up in layers, Williams’s music has always been the build-up to the climax at the finish of the song. It enhances all within hearing distance to excite and dares listeners/builders to wish for more. That sort of thrill which can be felt in Piece By Piece resonates throughout the entire film.
It was a good decision to make this a LEGO experience because for Williams’ fans, there are many easter eggs and it goes accordingly on how his grand vision was supposed to be executed.
There was a time in my life when I was in a sort of a phase where I felt that I was only listening to the Neptunes’ production. Seeing the Pusha T minifig out on one side of him, defining Virginia Beach along Kweli, Missy Elliott, Timbaland, and a bunch of other seashore dominants of the scene, is enough to make any moving picture look remarkably dull, but for me, it’s as good as it gets. It is also nice to hear how those who were banging Williams’ door like the drum beat on “Grindin,” somehow slipped into the studio or how “Superthug” and “Frontin” came into existence for that matter. Yes, yes, yes. We have all returned to those wise words, as the vast majority of hip-hop heads have heard for the millionth time. Still, one does appreciate from them the grit and talent Neville had to make it look effortless and how for the entire genre it was a sweet shot of motivation as well. There was a time in the history of that music era when most people would have rated hip-hop as the least favourite music genre.
In one way or another, much remains the same as the culture is too much politically oriented and the people also have a provincial outlook towards this particular genre. Nevertheless, the success of the genre is beyond argument.
A substantial portion of that was indeed thanks to Williams and the Neptunes’ work.
Concerning where the hip-hop culture is at, it’s worth mentioning Snoop Dogg who quite amusingly enough, was featured a lot in the movie. His first appearance is in an album that to date has never had competition with another album called Doggystyle. In a single week of its issuance in 1993, more than 800,000 copies were sold. Back then, this album was seen as the fastest-selling in the history of hip-hop records. From that point on, it managed to succeed rack up four more platinum disc sales. Snoop Dogg has been working his way to the top for a long time, which was not in vain. His first decade at the top of the industry was a barren period for his dominant hi-tech song Drop It Like It’s Hot. This song was directed by the famous “The Neptunes” known for their collaborations with Williams. A lot of people know and enjoy the 90s revolution in rap, and who can meet gangsta for the first time, still perfecting the craft. It was not hard to imagine that rap was in the process of transformation before becoming pop.
People began reframing their views on the rough nature of hip-hop music and started enjoying it for all the intricacies, including pandemonium bass drops, remembering it as an intended bouncy dance. All the rap and hip-hop fans in the world are in the future going to find ways to explain this law to the rest who have lost touch with it. The Williams and The Neptunes sound is the first time the music industry has never heard this kind of sound.
In this same conceit, one should perhaps consider if Neville and Williams have crossed the line in the best way imaginable and even raised the standards of documentary-making a notch.
People are quite suspicious of documentaries because many have failed to seduce the tastes of the masses. An example of this would be the typical documentary type that’s like a PowerPoint presentation. This type sees the most use in contemporary documentaries. For the most part, they are head interviews, some old news clips, and no or minimal music. These wouldn’t be wrong completely, some of them do exist. However, this tends to be the case with most of the stereotypes people are quick to relate to documentary films. It can be inferred that Piece By Piece was video recorded using these formats. Later on, it was clear that LEGO animation was used last. Guests for many of the interviews were routed via Zoom or remote phone lines. They would even see the animations of interviews claimed to be held rather straightforwardly, courtesy of the artist. More vibrant storyboards create the images which are transformed into the visual art we currently have. Here, however, both Neville and Williams manage to break the mould and look towards new ways of making their documentaries.
In my view, it doesn’t hurt to stick to the format. After all, it has always been and will always be of paramount importance.
However, if Williams managed to work the audience over in the case of hip-hop, this might perhaps settle this experiment for the viewers as to how exciting the documentaries turn out to be. Perhaps, this should enable the documentaries to be slightly more daring in the mode of content delivery.
The last section of the film, “Piece by Piece,” makes one laugh, as one has witnessed what could only be described as a thrill ride involving Williams. It essentially overlooks the career’s empty, dry period and skips to where we are now in his artistry. And it’s safe to say, Williams and his music combined with the stunning and creative LEGO animation certainly… spreads. There is such a rhythm and speed to it all that is pretty difficult to articulate. This can be compared to how it feels like to listen to Williams’ works for the very first time. Of note, there is a self-evident image sequence which runs for about half a minute and consists of pixel art that captures some of the many synergies that were pursued. Is it not somehow enough to push Williams and the Neptunes to the top of the hitmakers charts? Piece by Piece does indeed leave someone dazed and contributes towards the thought that if a person is really strong in his or her intent to create something which hasn’t been seen before, it will always be unique and attractive.
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