"Mask of a Jester" - a first time entry by Christian Halberg

[Christian Halberg]

http://i912.photobucket.com/albums/ac329/wearechecked/JesterTeaserPoster.jpg

Written and directed by Christian Halberg
Based on a concept by Christian Vincent Jung

Update (08/25):

THE CAST:

http://i912.photobucket.com/albums/ac329/wearechecked/Mask-of-a-Jester---the-cast.png

Update (09/14):

A Danish article about 'Mask of a Jester' from yesterday's issue of Fyens Stiftstidende:


http://i912.photobucket.com/albums/ac329/wearechecked/Page1.png

A couple of quick screen grabs from our opening sequence:

http://i912.photobucket.com/albums/ac329/wearechecked/Billede3.png

http://i912.photobucket.com/albums/ac329/wearechecked/Billede5.png

Update (09/18):

A couple of additional screen grabs:

http://i912.photobucket.com/albums/ac329/wearechecked/Billede12.png

http://i912.photobucket.com/albums/ac329/wearechecked/Billede13.png

Update (09/19):

One more:

http://i912.photobucket.com/albums/ac329/wearechecked/Billede8.png

Update (09/20):

... And a couple of BTS stills from our shoot in the attic:


http://i912.photobucket.com/albums/ac329/wearechecked/Maskofajester521.jpg

http://i912.photobucket.com/albums/ac329/wearechecked/Maskofajester528.jpg

More info to come...

[Maximus]

Welcome to the party.

Great poster! Look forward to your film.

[DarkElastic]

You had me at scary arse poster!

[Christian Vincent Jung]

The poster turned out great, Christian... Really good work, very enchanting!

[Brian Parker]

Awesome poster! Welcome to the Fest!

[tmnt]

Great, great poster. Is this a musical?

[Christian Halberg]

Thanks to all of you for the nice responses.
:dankk2:


Great, great poster. Is this a musical?

It's not a musical, so there'll be very little singing and dancing in this film. I like the idea of making it a musical, though. :)

I'll post an update with more info in a short while...

[TMerry]

Great mask Christian!
Is this a physical mask or is it a 3d image?
It looks like you could touch it!

[Christian Halberg]

Great mask Christian!
Is this a physical mask or is it a 3d image?
It looks like you could touch it!

That's 'cause you CAN touch it. It's a real mask. :)

[Christian Vincent Jung]

That's 'cause you CAN touch it. It's a real mask. :)

And not just any mask... It's MY mask! Muahaha!

[Christian Halberg]

Update:

The story (in short): A female costume designer is forced to fight for her survival, when a mask that she’s acquired from a local museum starts altering the people who wear it.

Tagline (as proposed by our concept artist): Who’s laughing now?

Among others, the film will feature Christian Vincent Jung as Daniel Yorick:
http://i912.photobucket.com/albums/ac329/wearechecked/_MG_0217-1.jpg

Others are yet to be cast...

[Rodney V. Smith]

welcome to the party.

[ZazaCast]

Welcome & cheers! Looking forward to your mask film.

[Christian Halberg]

Thanks.

I forgot to mention that the film will be shot in Danish.
Of course, this means that it'll be subtitled. :)

[MrFluffy]

I love masks. Did quite a bit of photography with them. Its surprising that people do change when they wear them, so you have a great basis for your film here.

[ChrisHurn]

Alright! This sounds killer, real killer. I can't wait to see this one! Good luck. :evil:

[Nektonic]

Looks good. Love the poster.

Is that a Venetian mask, or is it based off of those? I think they're beautiful pieces of art. Imagine going to Carnival and seeing crowds of people wearing them.

[Christian Vincent Jung]

Is that a Venetian mask, or is it based off of those? I think they're beautiful pieces of art. Imagine going to Carnival and seeing crowds of people wearing them.

It's real allright :) And you are right, they are exceptionally beautiful, I fell in love with it the moment I saw it, and simply HAD to buy it...

But they can also look really scary in the right setting, which gave us the idea for the plot of "Mask of a Jester". Who said monsters couldn't be pretty? ;)

[Christian Halberg]

SO..

I had an elaborate conversation with our concept artist last night - and it turns out that we WILL be making a transformation sequence. There's going to be so much pain and a hell of a lot of screaming.

It'll be wonderful. :)

[Troy Ruff]

wow great poster! I can t wait to see, welcome to the fest. :)

[erich]

great poster! looking forward to this film!

[teresadecher]

Wow your poster is freaking awesome!

[Christian Halberg]

Finally,

I'll be finishing the shooting draft sometime tonight. Some minor details have been added and we've figured out how we're going to shoot the transformation sequence. People from all over the country have signed on for an audition and life is sweet. :)

[Mike Manning]

Wow... Great start! Good luck!

[Christian Halberg]

More people have been signing on for auditions. And I am practically aching for production to begin. Life is (still) sweet. :)

[Christian Halberg]

All of our actors have now officially been cast! :)
We've been holding auditions for two (really rather long) days, and we're extremely excited about the talent of the people that we'll be working with.

:thumbsup:

THE CAST:

http://i912.photobucket.com/albums/ac329/wearechecked/Mask-of-a-Jester---the-cast.png

Production begins in September... (Can't wait!)

[Mark Johnson]

Thanks.

I forgot to mention that the film will be shot in Danish.
Of course, this means that it'll be subtitled. :)

I love Danish cinema! Bring it on!!!

[ZazaCast]

Give me a Danish & a coffee anyday! Beautiful cast.....

[Sprocketboy]

This is on my 'watch' list. Christian, you sound enthusiastic. That's a good sign. And I love that mask. Awesome!

[Christian Halberg]

Christian, you sound enthusiastic. That's a good sign.

I don't think "enthusiastic" is a big enough word. ;)
Thanks. :)

[Alan H. Chang]

I really like that poster. It has that classical Phantom of the Opera look.

[Christian Halberg]

"Things just keep getting better!" --

We've just had a meeting about the equipment that we'll be using -- and 'Mask of a Jester' is going to be shot on a Panasonic AJ-HPX2100.

:D

[TMerry]

"Things just keep getting better!" --

We've just had a meeting about the equipment that we'll be using -- and 'Mask of a Jester' is going to be shot on a Panasonic AJ-HPX2100.

:D

Sounds great. I can only afford to shoot this one on my iPhone, but I do have the M2, microX, matte box and a Nikon 2,8/6mm Fisheye-Nikkor Auto non-AI mounted to it. :grin:

[Christian Halberg]

Professional composer Michael Kristensen has agreed to do the score for us.

Link: http://www.michaelkristensen.dk/musik.htm

:D

[Sprocketboy]

Professional composer Michael Kristensen has agreed to do the score for us.

Link: http://www.michaelkristensen.dk/musik.htm

:D


He is an excellent composer. Lucky you. :smile:

[Christian Halberg]

He is an excellent composer. Lucky you. :smile:

I know. He's definitely one of the most versatile musicians that I've ever encountered. I'm confident that he'll do a magnificent job. :D

("Life is f-ing SWEET!")

[Christian Halberg]

I feel like a crazed dog that simply can't stop wagging its tail!

Reason (!): I wanted to familiarize myself with the camera that we'll be shooting on, so I decided to bring it with me to a local theater where one of our actors had to do a brief make-up test (business, which has nothing to do with this production). And I am practically drooling over the quality of this unit! :)

Below is a screen grab of Christian Vincent Jung in full make-up:
http://i912.photobucket.com/albums/ac329/wearechecked/Billede1.png

I uploaded the footage to Vimeo:
http://www.vimeo.com/6405489

... I still can't wait for production to begin. :)

[Christian Halberg]

We've found the location for our opening sequence! And the people who own it were more than happy to let us use it. :)

Please ignore the grainy image quality -- the pictures were taken with my cell phone camera:

http://i912.photobucket.com/albums/ac329/wearechecked/DSC01295.jpg

http://i912.photobucket.com/albums/ac329/wearechecked/DSC01293.jpg

Classically creepy! :)

[Christian Halberg]

Production begins this Saturday, September 12th.
It's going to be beyond great! :grin:

[TMerry]

That is an awesome location and you have some great luck starting on Septemebr 12th!!!

You know why???

IT'S MY BIRTHDAY!!!! Sep 12th :thumbsup:

[Rodney V. Smith]

dude i fucking LOVE your location

[Christian Vincent Jung]

dude i poo pooing LOVE your location

The castle has loads of beautiful chambers... Try to search for "Nyborg Slot" (Meaning Castle of Nyborg, a town) on Google and check out the exteriors as well! :D

//C

[Sprocketboy]

Very nice, indeed. Beautiful castle. I'm actually still in the process of getting an attic space as well. Not as empty or as large.

[Christian Halberg]

Originally, the opening sequence wasn't going to take place in an attic -- but we simply fell in love with that location. The spaciousness of it alone should allow for some quite dramatic visuals. :grin:

[Rodney V. Smith]

I've had to alter my opening sequence just to take advantage of a location myself. I'm sure we all have at one point or another.

[Christian Halberg]

Thus, we have lived through our first day of shooting -- and it has been awesome! :)

We spent the entire day in the attic space, breathing heavy amounts of dust and bird feces. I haven't had much of a chance to review all of the footage yet, but the stuff that I've seen looks promising so far. :thumbsup:

I'm going to post a handful of BTS pictures pretty soon. :)

[Christian Halberg]

There was an article about 'Mask of a Jester' in one of yesterday's Danish newspapers:

http://i912.photobucket.com/albums/ac329/wearechecked/Page1.png

It's in Danish, but you're all welcome to try to read it if you wanna give it a go. :thumbsup:

I spent most of the day today creating a rough cut of the opening sequence. I've posted a couple of quick screen grabs below:

http://i912.photobucket.com/albums/ac329/wearechecked/Billede3.png

http://i912.photobucket.com/albums/ac329/wearechecked/Billede5.png

We'll be shooting again this wednesday. :)

[Rodney V. Smith]

SWEET! I'm filming in NYC so no attention here :)

[Jarek Zabczynski]

Sweet! :thumbsup:

[Christian Halberg]

A couple of additional screen grabs:

http://i912.photobucket.com/albums/ac329/wearechecked/Billede12.png

http://i912.photobucket.com/albums/ac329/wearechecked/Billede13.png

[ZazaCast]

This is looking REALLY good...can't wait to see the finished product! Great job.

[Christian Vincent Jung]

This is looking REALLY good...can't wait to see the finished product! Great job.

We're working on it! ;)

[Sprocketboy]

Your entry has a lot of promise. I love it. Great grabs of the girl in the attic and the sewing shots. Are the shots in the attic color graded?

Its time to put on your dancing shoes.

[TMerry]

Gorgeous screen grabs of the attic, CANT WAIT to see it :-)

[Christian Halberg]

Are the shots in the attic color graded?

I did a quick grading job on the attic-shots before I uploaded the grabs. However, they do look a little bit different this time around - the look of the opening sequence has become a tiny tad less saturated.

Everything is moving along fine, and we'll be shooting (once again) this monday. :)

[Christian Halberg]

One more -- just 'cause I'm a teensy bit bored:

http://i912.photobucket.com/albums/ac329/wearechecked/Billede8.png

:)

[Christian Halberg]

... AND a couple of BTS stills from our shoot in the attic:


http://i912.photobucket.com/albums/ac329/wearechecked/Maskofajester521.jpg

http://i912.photobucket.com/albums/ac329/wearechecked/Maskofajester528.jpg

:thumbsup:

[Sprocketboy]

Thanks for the shots! Your sound operator is doing a great balancing act on one foot.

[Christian Halberg]

Your sound operator is doing a great balancing act on one foot.

When filming in environments such as this one, we prefer to have all of our crew members be young and/or at least somewhat athletic. With a budget like our's you can't really afford to have hips that brake too easily -- let alone people who aren't likely to survive a crash through the floorboards that we're walking on. :grin:

[TMerry]

When filming in environments such as this one, we prefer to have all of our crew members be young and/or at least somewhat athletic. With a budget like our's you can't really afford to have hips that brake too easily -- let alone people who aren't likely to survive a crash through the floorboards that we're walking on. :grin:

Yeah Christian, I was wondering what the sound guys left foot is standing on.
Lath and plaster?

If mee alergies didn't get to me in the attic, mee wee hips would :-)

[TMerry]

Christian, it's a funny thing seeing the set as the correct perspective with the actors and crew in place. When you first posted the screen grabs of your location with that eerie blue glow. I thought it was ten times that size! It looked big enough to get lost in.

Perspective is such an interesting science, ain't it?

[Christian Halberg]

Yeah Christian, I was wondering what the sound guys left foot is standing on.
Lath and plaster?

His left foot is supported by a floor of wooden boards, but they're only a little short of an inch in thickness. We felt them bend the second we put weight on 'em, and the owner of the location told us that they weren't likely to hold if we even touched them with our feet.

Luckily, we made it through the day without any of us crashing down into the exhibition space that was situated below us. :-Laugh(DBG)-1


Christian, it's a funny thing seeing the set as the correct perspective with the actors and crew in place. When you first posted the screen grabs of your location with that eerie blue glow. I thought it was ten times that size! It looked big enough to get lost in.

When lighting this particular location we wanted to leave room for a portion of its natural (black) darkness. It makes the space appear a lot bigger than it actually is. :grin:

[Rodney V. Smith]

Adventures in filmmaking... yowza.

[Mike Manning]

This is looking awesome!

[Christian Halberg]

Bad news, people. :(

My computer (and our ONLY editing facility) broke down sometime during this week. Therefore, we are pretty much stuck at this point.

However, we are planning to still shoot the rest of the film. So even though we may not be able to finish it in time for the fest, the final film will still be made available for viewing online - once we've finished post-production.

C

[DarkElastic]

I am sure someone else could edit for you Christian? The internet has made the world a smaller place!!!

[Lawsuit_Boy]

Looks good so far. The poster's very crisp and the grabs are strong. Nice gear you got to shoot with! :thumbsup:

[TMerry]

Owch! Christian that sucks, sorry to hear that. Hope something turns up for you soon. I would most certainly volunteer to edit it for you except for the fact that my plate is already very full with other editing projects in addition to the MonsterFest edit :-(

I hope something breaks through for you soon, looks like your off to such a good start so far.
Do keep us posted!

[Alan H. Chang]

haha, love your boomop. He's got some chop skills.

[chaconkevin]

looks really good man, cant wait to see it

good luck

[Troy Ruff]

wow I love the grabs, everything looks great! I really hope you finish in time for the fest. Just put it on the credit card. :) ahaah thats what I do.... probably a bad idea.

[TMerry]

Any updates??? ;-)

[Christian Halberg]

Well,

Good news: The insurance company has recently provided me with a brand new Macbook Pro. The one that broke down on me appeared to be unsalvageable, so... :)

However, I am still waiting for the company to send back my old hard drive. Not until I have that, will we be able to finish the film.

Bad news: So we most definitely won't be able to participate in the fest. :(

[jasonthewho]

Bad news: So we most definitely won't be able to participate in the fest. :(

That's a shame, I was definitely looking forward to this one.

[Michael Anthony Horrigan]

Well,

Good news: The insurance company has recently provided me with a brand new Macbook Pro. The one that broke down on me appeared to be unsalvageable, so... :)

However, I am still waiting for the company to send back my old hard drive. Not until I have that, will we be able to finish the film.

Bad news: So we most definitely won't be able to participate in the fest. :(Sorry to hear that. I feel your pain concerning computer problems.
:badputer:

[Rodney V. Smith]

Damn dude. That sucks in so many ways. I was really lookign forward to seeing this one. When you do edit it please make sure to post here with the new link so we can see it. Would love to follow up on this film.

[ZazaCast]

..yeah.. what he said... I still want to see this film.

[TMerry]

Christian, any updates on the progress of your film? Have a new release date in mind?
I'm just two days away from my release and tweaking madly again :-)