Documenting of influences on production

I picked up a video camera and really fell in love with making videos let alone films, which was the first real step into the film business. Prior to that I was absolutely in love with movies from a young age, I never thought about it as a career but when I picked up a camera I thought "is it possible" and I just started experimenting from there. Here are some things that have influenced me to make the film I have made:

Director - Steven Spielberg

Undoubtedly one of the most influential film personalities in the history of film, Steven Spielberg is Hollywood’s best known director and one of the wealthiest filmmakers in the world. Spielberg has countless big-grossing, critically acclaimed credits to his name, as producer, director and writer.
He sets himself to be a good role model, as we aim to make our film as good as his.

Location – Highgate cemetery

Using this location was convenient for us to use as my associate and me came up with the script, even though we could film in any cemetery, we felt as if this one stood out. The cemetery has a big location; we can get many types of shots in.

Films

Grave Encounters, involves a lot of horror, me, as the director of ‘More Than Human’ believed that this film is marvellous and we should follow the steps of it, if not, surpass it. There are a few other films such as REC(2007) and The Blair Witch Project which include tremendous scare scenes, chases and more, these films inspired us and influenced us to direct an action film, the almighty ‘More Than Human’.

We have a broad range of films we’re working on. We like to do a film, if you take for example ‘More Than Human’ that is a film with a very specific demographic. We really wanted to make a film that pleased that younger adult mass and I am sure I will score incredibly high with that audience.

Photoshop/Sony Vegas

With regard to Photoshop, it enabled us to create magnificent poster and magazine covers, something other software’s couldn’t offer us. We used Sony Vegas to edit our trailer; we have found this software very useful as it provided many editing tools to the footage. 

Props

In our trailer, we will not be using many props as it’s a found footage genre, 

meaning the only real props would be cameras, torches, bags etc.

2x Cameras – most shots would be POV, make audience feel as if it is them with the characters in the scenes, also we would be filming each other and the surroundings, so would need to use cameras.

A torch would be used as we would be filming in the dark, using a torch light would provide us with light, vision, and glow as well as making it scarier for the audience to watch as they wouldn’t know what would be coming

Costumes/outfits - Denzel and Jack

Denzel and Jack

The type of costumes we choose for these characters are quite similar to each other and very important because it can help the audience to get to know the characters, for example their class, where they live, age or even gender. The choice of costume we have picked I think represents our characters and the conventions that go with them. Denzel would wear a coat, with dark grey sweatpants and Jack would wear black jeans with a jumper.

Script

More than Human

{Green screen}

{Paradox Entertainment intro}

Denzel - “Today we are at Highgate Cemetery”

CREEPY MUSIC START

[IN BRITAIN'S MOST HAUNTED CEMETERY]

{Both walking in cemetery}

Jack - “Hey Denzel, smile for the camera”

Denzel - “Turn it off!”

[TWO STUDENT FILM MAKERS...]

[DISAPPEARED WHILE MAKING THIS DOCUMENTARY...]

[A YEAR LATER THEIR FOOTAGE FOUND...]

{Both sit on bench}

Denzel – “Did you see that? What did just move?”

Jack – “What are you on about?”

[THIS SUMMER]

Jack – “its coming, its coming, its coming!!!”

[FEAR WILL STRIKE]

[LIKE NEVER BEFORE]

[BE PREPARED]

Jack – [black screen, only audio is heard] “if anyone finds this footage, please tell Denzel’s mum, and family that I am sorry, and my mum and my family that I am sorry too, this is my project... I... don’t know what to do”

Denzel – “It’s there!! It’s there!!!”

[IT’S ONLY A MATTER OF TIME]

Denzel – [Heavy breathing, look around]

Jack – “Where are they? Where are they?”

[THEY]

{Scene of Denzel running away}

[ARRIVE]

{Sobbing with limited light on screen}

Jack – “I have lost him”

Denzel – “Jack have a look over there, can you see it?”

MUSIC STOPS

Jack – “Denzel? Denzel where are you?”

[MORE THAN HUMAN]

CREEPY MUSIC STARTS

{Car scene of camera on windscreen, getting closer to a unknown person}

[COMING SOON...IN 2015]

Animatic Storyboard

Some movies (Shrek and The Matrix, for example) include sample storyboards shot-by-shot sketches drawn to visualise the action of key sequences as bonus material. As I learned these drawings, I have noticed that most frames are remarkably close to the actual shots they predict. Back in Hollywood's glory days, most directors rarely worked with storyboards; however most use them nowadays. Here is our first version of the Storyboard:

We weren't happy with the quality of this footage and believe the structure of the trailer could be much better, therefore have produced another, better version:

Our Camera - Sony HDR-HC3 High Definition Camcorder

This is the camera that we are using to film our opening two minutes with. It's my associate’s personal camera that he uses. It films in full HD, which should make it look pretty good, and this was the main appeal for this camera. It also has a microphone slot, so we don't have to rely on the internal microphone. The zoom is also good, and so we can get some shots from far away and it would still be very good quality. The camera contains:

16:9 Recording Format	Depth in mm: 139	Height (mm): 78
Width (mm): 82	Digital Input	Highest Focal Length in mm: 505
Video System: Mini DV	Digital Zoom (Ratio): 80	Image Stabiliser: Digital
Chip Type: CMOS	Firewire IEEE-1394 Interface: Yes	LCD Screen Size in Inches: 2.7
Viewfinder: Yes	Handheld Position: Horizontal	Lowest Focal Length in mm: 50.5
Maximum Aperture Tele: 2.9	Maximum Aperture Wide: 1.8	Maximum Pixel (in Megapixel): 2.1
Memory Stick	Weight in Grams: 510	Optical Zoom (Ratio): 10
Photo Resolution Heigth in Pixel: 1728	Photo Resolution Width in Pixel: 2304	Resolution: High Definition
USB Interface