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The Masque of the Red Death
Published: 2008-04-01 11:21:36 +0000 UTC; Views: 25564; Favourites: 654; Downloads: 0
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Description
Based on Edgar Allan Poe's short story 'The Masque of the Red Death', this short film was created for my University assessment at the end of 2006 for the University of Technology, Sydney.(Update, 2021): The view the film remastered in 4K, visit:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z2Nq-vā¦
Since its original submission for my course assessment the film has evolved significantly into something which I hope can be considered no longer just a student film, but something that is festival ready.
Pre production took 5 months, shooting was over 3 days, and post production took 18 months.
Most of the cast and crew donated their time to the project and have done an amazing job.
I am happy to answer any question in regards to the production, but in the meantime, please enjoy the film!
Camera Used: Panasonic P2 HVX-200 @ 720P
Editing Suite: Final Cut Pro (colour grading in Premiere Pro CS3)
Animated credits sequences: Adobe After Effects
Audio Mixing: Cubase SX3
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Comments: 308
ahh that was creepy, I loved it!!!!
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I must say that you have really outdone yourself. There was a film version of the masque of the red death made many years ago with Vincent Price, but it was very disappointing. The costume and general apperance of it left much to be desired, and they even went so far as to change the storyline, and that is simply unnacceptable in my oppinion. Yet they had all the money, and all the resources to make it, that I am sure you only had a fraction of, and this film you have madegoes lightyears beyond that. The music, the costume, the portrayel of characters; I believe that you have succesfully brought the horror of Poe's tale to life as I have never seen before. If you continue to make films like this, I have no doubt that in the future it will not only be people like me who will leave comments like this, but the entire population. If this is how you make films now, then I am very excited to see what you could accomplish in just a few years progress(for artists never cease to learn and make progress)
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Thank you very much for your details comments and support! I hope to raise the bar with my next project indeed!
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Well... I'm not going to be able to sleep tonight.
That was, in a word, WICKED!
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I disagree. This people behind this production set out to film "The Masque of the Red Death", and that is exactly what they did. And while they may not have been able to conjure up magical sets and stained glass windows, I found that the story worked anyway. I do agree with you though: Poe should have been referenced.
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I honestly can't think of anything to say...... I just know I loved this a lot. I'm totally going to try and get my friends to watch this.
Truly a great work and a wonderful job. Thank you for sharing! <3
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A beautiful adaption to one of Poe's many classics.
The costumes and cinematography where simply stunning, and I applaud the work put into this.
Simply a joy to watch.
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The film was well produced, but sadly disappointing. I find that the viewer may be left confused at the mention of the multipe colored rooms. This film would be better if the rooms were explained and visually represented. This film would be better if the rooms were represented and Edgar Allen Poe was given a descent amount of credit for righting the short story itself. Sadly, I believe that this film needs improvement and all fore comments are foolish and are made by people that don't understand the literature references behind the film.
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I don't get it, why did the creepy guy killed everyone?
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because he is the red death and many people died from it back then
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Wow! Better than some feature length films on the market today. wonderfully done!
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Shooting the film at the university was a brilliant idea...An excellent use of those fantastic antique buildings.
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Okay wow... the effects here are simply amazing, especially where he passed before the prince.
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Hello everyone!
Many thanks to the wonderful responses you have all given so far. The encouragement I have gotten from everyone has been so heartwarming! It's safe to say that I will aim to continually improve and upload more films as they come.
In the meantime, as promised I have some answers to some of the questions asked so far:
Q. How much did the production cost?
A. All up it cost around $8,000 (something around that mark, but no more than 10k). I saved up for half, and borrowed the rest. But worked my butt off over the following months to pay it back. The cost mainly went towards costumes, location hire, food and equipment.
Q. How much did it cost to hire actors/crew?
A. Pretty much nothing. They all donated their time. Considering most were in the same boat I was (developing in the industry and looking for some exposure) they were more than willing to display their talents for nothing more than the opportunity to take part in the production, and to have something to add to their show-reel/portfolio. I have immensely grateful for their commitment to the film as a result.
Q. What gear was used and what software did you use?
A. See my original post above this one. But for the specifics, the original shooting format was DVC-Pro High Definition at 720P resolution. The reason why we did not shoot at 1080P was because we needed to use a higher framerate for most of the ball scene so that when we slowed down the footage, we would get a beautiful free-flowing effect. Such framerates are not supported on the camera we used at 1080P resolution.
Bit of trivia:
The sepia haze around death was a last minute addition. After we shot the opening scene (with the peasants) we realised we needed to add the sepia tone to that scene to cover up a lot of the obvious sunny-day elements. It was a last minute suggestion to link presence of death in the ball to the presence which dominated the opening scene, thus exemplifying Poe's intention to emphasise death as the natural and all powerful equaliser of all mankind regardless of class.
Most of the film's ballroom scene was shot using steadycam. A system which is rigged up to a harness/vest attached to the cameraman's body and suspends the camera via various arms and springs so that when the camera operator moves around, the motion of the camera remains smooth.
I make a cameo appearance in the film as the second musician from the right. =oP
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Amazing film, I have to say. The pacing was utterly perfect from the first scratch of quill on parchment to the last drop of blood in the credits.
Your use of a hand-helled camera montage for the ball itself, rising to a peak just before the midnight chimes gave a distinct and unsettling feeling that the viewer was right there amongst the people. This decreased slightly before the last shot of the Red Death, which was somewhat of a pity.
Matt Heider did wonders with the music. It really gave the entire film an atmosphere that it would not have had otherwise.
The sepia filter used in the presence of the Red Death (Both disease and avatar) added an uneasy surrealism to the whole sordid affair.
Great costuming for the most part, though I felt that the skeleton gloves were somewhat of a let-down. Rather than the professional feel of much of the rest of the film, they carried the look of "I'm an actor wearing skeleton gloves!" Perhaps plain black would have worked better, or artificial skeletal hands like Monty Python used in The Meaning Of Life.
I first read and loved Poe's Masque Of The Red Death at an early age. It always made my spine tingle. Your short film has gone several steps beyond that to actually make me shiver throughout. Well done. This is definitely festival ready.
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Many thanks for your detailed comments. I agree that the music was indeed very well done and was lucky to have Matt on board as the composer (he has some sever computer game soundtracks and some television composition prior to his and knew him from way back). You might be interested to know that Death's hands (and the rest of him) were all done using make-up, there were no gloves used at all. In the original shots (pre-sepia) you could see they were hands with makeup on them, so we ramped up the effects to reveal as little as possible with regards to the makeup. Obviously we might've gone a bit too far (thus giving the impression of skeleton gloves haha). I am very glad you like it, and thanks again!
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Not a problem. As for the hands.. heh.
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This short film blows me away. The characters are spot on and suit their roles, especially the prince. The Red Death was wonderfully portrayed and the suspense was marvelously built from the moment he entered to the moment you saw his face.
Everything went together so very well, it was perfect. The actors were so natural in their setting and all of them complimented each other very well.
Amazingly well done and well deserving of a daily deviation. Has to be the best short film I have ever seen. Wow, just...wow!
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Thank you!! Glad you liked it.
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Very well done! I don't think I've seen another one on Deviantart that rivals it!
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Or any non-big-budget movie, for that matter!
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No kidding. I watched it twice and I still love it!
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This is fantastic. The costumes and lighting are so great. I love the affect of the color versus the black and white parts. The imagery is great and I believe you captured the true symbolism and horror that Poe intended. You really made this short story come to life.
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This was incredible!!!!! 
Everything was absolutely stunning!!!
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I didn't get to comment on it yesterday when I watched it, but I am incredibly happy to watch such a fantastic rendition of one of my favorite Poe tales.
Everything was so well done here, so I thank you for sharing it with us!
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This is absolutely stunning. Definitely something to aspire to.
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hey nice movie i love it also i have read the book but i love allen poe's writing,i have to admit from all the scariest one book i read allen is the job
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very well done. the camera work is wonderful and the transition from color to old sepia tone really gives it that extra flare.
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thank you for bringing poes' story to life. very well done
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very festival ready. The Narration is awsome and carries you all the way through. The Opening credits are amazing to watch and flow beautifully. The mix of styles with the old Impressionisum and the modern HD. Go for what have you got to lose.
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i absolutely love this 
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Yah, im not really seeing to much 'Sweeney Toddism' in this film. What filmimg programs are you using?
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wow. this is really well done. really. a couple people have said they wished red deaths costume was more impressive, but when you first see him,you don't actually get to see him. i wanted so bad to see what he looked like, that I got extrememly tense. I think you did a great job with that. costumes can get expensive. ya do what you can.
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nice use of forshadowing with the clock, an cuts to people haveing a blast. used just as well as shakespere intended it to be i'm sure.
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Edgar Allen Poe wrote this, dear, not Shakespere. :3
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i know! i have no idea why i said shakespere. i feel like an idiot already. thank you very much.
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I'm fairly sure it was Poe?
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I personally love E. A. Poe, but when I read this story in High School, not many people seemed to grasp it.
I think if there were more flicks like this to look to, it would be easier and more memorable to those.. not necessarily inclined to read it on their own.
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brilliant! the cinematography, though occasionally cheesy, was allover incredible.
great job!
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wonderful job, however I felt that the Red Death was somewhat underdone. still, the shiver went down my spine when I saw him ^^
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The font is extremely hard to read, even though it's pretty!
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