More Than Human - Magazine front cover

I feel as if the magazine front cover was much harder to produce in comparison to the film poster, the main reason for this that much more information and extras are required in a magazine front cover. A generic poster has one specific purpose focusing on one movie whereas Magazine front covers tend to include other movies within its front cover although it tends to give one specific movie hype.

More Than Human Trailer

Here is the official finished trailer of More Than Human. We have released it after the deadline but this was due to understanding the importance of the trailer this year and thus spent most of our time on it. It was very much a team effort of James, and I. As I predicted, the editing process was the longest but thankfully, as we planned ahead, and knew what we both needed to do in order to finalise the trailer.

More than Human - Poster

Here is the finished product of my found footage horror movie poster.  This poster was created on Photoshop, and was a bit of a challenge for James and me because we have never used Photoshop before, so this was a fun piece of work to create and it was very enjoyable as well as stressful.

I have kept to the old conventions of horror movies by using the colours, Red, Black and White as I felt like they were the most effective colours and that they are more eye catching that the recent trends of horror movie posters, as it gives it a more older look as the reds, blacks and white colours were used in the 80's for a more scarier feel on the audience. As the colour black represents darkness (as many people are afraid of the dark) and represents fear and it also contrasts with the Red writing used as Red is used to conform blood and it stands out on the black background.

The heading "If on thoughts of deaths we are fed. Thus, a coffin became my bed" is a slogan used to make the film look more frightening and appeal more to the audience as it is used in capitals and in larger writing to try and capture the eye of the audience.

The Title "More Than Human" is used in large, capital writing and in the colours of Red and White. The use of the Red writing here is to stand out against the black background and the white writing, with the word "Than" in a larger font compared to the other words and makes the whole title stand out in the poster and draws the viewer into the poster and making them examine it too.

The faded black and white grave is used to stand out too in the poster, with the writing on the grave being in bold to eye catch the audience. The grave is also used to conform death, supernatural and paranormal activity, linking it with ghosts, zombies etc.

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

Shot list

As a director, it is my responsibility to translate the written words of a script or outline into the compelling visual images that effectively tell my story. I can do this by focusing my audience's attention on the part of a scene that is most important at every moment.

I have started by creating a shot lists to help me look back at when I am creating the storyboard.

Organizing my project before I shoot would save me time during the edit stage.

Pan: Fixed camera position, horizontal movement.

Tilt: Fixed camera position, vertical movement.

Tracking shot: Camera moves with action in any direction.

Crane shot: Camera rises or descends.

Zoom: Fixed camera, optical motion toward or away from subject.

Dissolve: Transition with one shot fading out as another simultaneously fades in. While this is not actually performed during the shoot, it needs to be planned for in the edit.

Rack Focus: Shifting the focus from something in the foreground to something in the background, or vise versa.

XCU: Extreme close up. For people, maybe just the eyes.

CU: Close up, the subject fills the frame. Emphasizes detail. For people, this is a usually a head shot, with perhaps only the tops of the shoulders visible.

MS: Medium Shot, the subject seen from the chest up.

FS: Full Shot, the subject seen from head to toe.

WS: Wide Shot, the subject seen within the larger environment.

EWS (Extreme Wide Shot): The view is so far from the subject that he isn't even visible. Often used as an establishing shot.

(OSS)Over-the-Shoulder Shot: Looking from behind a person at the subject. Used to show two people speaking to eachother.

Point-of-View Shot (POV): Shows a view from the subject's perspective, to make the audience feel as if its them.

Weather Shot:The subject is the weather. Can be used for other purposes, e.g. background for graphics.

Noddy Shot: Usually refers to a shot of the interviewer listening and reacting to the subject.

Two-Shot: A shot of two people, framed similarly to a mid-shot.