· By Selina M.
Jaak: how we built Derelict Planet in our kitchen
Most statue launch videos are pretty straightforward.
Put the statue on a turntable. Light it nicely. Rotate it slowly. Show the box. Done.
There's nothing wrong with that. We've made plenty of them since.
Jaak was our second statue, and we were still deciding what a House of Gog launch video should be. She comes from Derelict Planet, and Pascal Blanché had already built an entire world around these characters. Putting her in front of a nice backdrop and calling it a day didn't feel like enough. We wanted to put her in the world.
So we built part of it. In our kitchen.
And then things got a little out of hand.
The set
The idea was simple enough. Build a piece of Derelict Planet that Jaak could actually stand in.
We worked with a young set designer, still a student at the time, and she started with a wooden board and papier-mâché.
She shaped the dunes on the kitchen floor, poured and textured the surface, layered in sand and rock, then painted the whole thing until it looked like the desolate plains of Derelict Planet.
The build spilling out of the kitchen and into the dining room.
This is the part of a launch video nobody thinks about when they buy a statue. For us, it's where things get interesting. We make our statues ourselves, in our own workshop, hands-on. The set came from the same place. Figure it out. Get your hands dirty. See how far you can take an idea, and go for it.
At this point we had a piece of an alien planet sitting in the kitchen.
Which meant, naturally, it was time to bring in a film crew.
The finished set
The shoot
We turned the house over to the Charleswood Films crew. The set filled the kitchen and the dining room. We cleared part of the living room so everyone had somewhere to work.
Cameras. Lights. Sliders. Macro lenses. Monitors. Cables everywhere. And a tiny piece of Pascal Blanché’s universe in the middle of it all.
Video production by JP Charlebois, Charleswood Films
Watching the planet surface become a shot
Then we looked at the monitor.
The kitchen was gone. The walls were gone. It was Jaak, standing on the surface of Derelict Planet.
That's the moment it all started to make sense.
Ready to shoot
We kept going until two in the morning, and nobody was watching the clock.
Not that it went perfectly. One battery turned out not to be properly seated in its charger, which we discovered at the exact moment we needed it. Later, our cofounder P-A, now an impromptu production assistant, caught his foot on a lighting cable and took a lamp down with him. A little chaos, a little swearing, then back to work.
That is what shooting something like this actually looks like. It was a first for House of Gog, and we loved every minute of it.
Past midnight, still shooting
The Blademaster, lit
The music
Black Moth Super Rainbow is a Pittsburgh psychedelic electronic project known for its hazy analog synths, distinctive sound and heavily processed vocals. We had been fans for years.
So we took a shot and sent them an email. We explained who we were, what we were making and asked about licensing a track.
They said yes.
The song is "Gangs In The Garden," written by Thomas Fec from the album "Cobra Juicy" by Black Moth Super Rainbow. Warped, analog, futuristic and high energy. Its sound fit perfectly with a cool looking bounty hunter from a desolate planet.
Licensing a song from an indie band we loved was a big deal for us and it fit our own indie nature.
Cobra Juicy, Black Moth Super Rainbow
Why we don't do this anymore
Jaak was our second statue, and our first three ran editions of 400 units. That is a good amount of statues to spread the cost of a film shoot across.
Today, our flagship editions are 150. Building a set, bringing in a full crew and licensing music doesn't make the same sense at that scale.
So our videos are made differently now. Smaller crews. Simpler setups. Music we can use freely. But we still work with talented video makers. Less theatrics, same intent.
We don't regret doing it this way. Jaak got the elaborate version because Jaak could, and we're glad we did it while it made sense.
The video
Video production: JP Charlebois, Charleswood Films
Set design and construction: Cassy Jayde B
Music: "Gangs In The Garden," written by Thomas Fec, published by 70s Gymnastics, from Cobra Juicy (2012) by Black Moth Super Rainbow
Jaak, the Giant Hunter
Jaak is exclusively available on our shop.
-780$ USD, payment plans available
-Limited to 400 units, numbered and hand-signed by Pascal Blanché
-16 inches tall
-Two heads, two weapons, two display bases
-Small art print and metallic collector card
-Soft-touch deluxe art box
-Certificate of authenticity signed by both founders
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Love ya,
Selina
House of Gog | Community Dev.
"Always the illest for the illests"