Herobrine Origins

***Herobrine Origins*** is a 2014 *Minecraft* supernatural horror film, directed by Will Evans and Cai Williams. The film was inspired and based off Stephen King's 1974 novel "*Carrie*". The film was produced by Shea Winter and Will Evans, with a screenplay by Shea Winter. The film was released on the EliteProductions YouTube channel on April 12th 2014. The film stars DaneDimension as Steve Briggs, Paul Giannotta as Steve's father Robert Briggs, Marv Gatehouse as Jack Briggs and Joey Wong as Thomas White.

The film follows Steve Briggs (*Dimension*), a shy 16 year old who is an outcast in high school and sheltered by his over protective father (*Giannotta*). After a life of being bullied by his school peers, Steve discovers he has telekinetic powers which he uses to unleash revenge on his bullies during the high school annual End of Year Party.

## Plot

After the death of his mother when he was 3 years old, Steve Briggs (DaneDimension) lives at home with his over protective father, Robert Briggs (Paul Giannotta). Due to being always sheltered by his father, this has lead to Steve constantly being the target from bullies, particularly Thomas White (Joey Wong).

Steve discovers he has telekniesis after a cup in his room begins to float. He researches his abilities, trying to harness and control them.

## Cast

* DaneDimension as Steve Briggs
* Paul Giannotta as Robert Briggs
* Marv Gatehouse as Jack Briggs
* Joey Wong as Thomas White
* Shea Winter as Principal Henry Shackleton
* Tijn Bosters as Randall Holland

## Production

In December 2013, EliteProductions announced that they would be cancelling Herobrine 3, the third film in their Herobrine series. And instead would be working on a new untitled film. Shea Winter was hired to write the film, a respected writer in the Minecraft film community with Knightsabers giving re-writes and corrections to the script.

Filming began in late January 2014 with Will Evans directing. This was EliteProductions' biggest project at the time, with previous films only needing 2-3 actors, this film required a team of actors. Paul Giannotta was the first to join the cast. Originally the role of Steve Briggs was going to be given to Marv Gatehouse, but instead he was given the role of Jack Briggs with DaneDimension being cast as Steve Briggs.

## Release

The original release date was April 14th 2014, but the film was complete and the release date was moved forward to April 12th 2014.

EliteProductions held a "First Look Premiere" on Plug.DJ on April 10th 2014 that allowed the viewers to give their opinions on the film which EliteProductions could use to improve the film, but the film impressed the attendees.

## Reception

#### **Critical Reception**

Minecraft film site MinecraftFilms.com gave the film a 6/10. Praising the films writing and cinematography. The website's consensus reads, "The story is well written, giving the viewer an exciting experience. Though the voice acting isnt the best, the film makes up for it with decent visuals and good music selection."

The majority of the comments on the film are positive, praising EliteProductions for bringing something fresh to the Minecraft Machinima community, with many claiming it to being the best Herobrine origin story released.

Negative feedback on the film usually focus towards the film's acting, with some saying its the only thing holding the film back from being "amazing". But with many praising Marv Gatehouse for his performance as Jack Briggs.

## Sequel

Herobrine Origins was originally meant to be a one-off film with no plans for a sequel. However due to the film's popularity and demand for a sequel, Will and Rhys began working on a plot. Will stated during a livestream on the channel, "if we couldn't think of a story that we liked, we wouldn't have made a sequel. After coming up with about 10 ideas, we finally found a story that we were happy with".

Filming started on August 27th 2014 and Herobrine Origins Part II was released on November 23rd 2014.

## Trivia

* The film's protagonist, Steve. Was originally called Steve Brine for most of production. But the name didn't fit and the writers felt it was too cheesy, so it was later changed to Steve Briggs.
* The final scene was supposed to be longer with more deaths. But due to a lock of body actors and animation resources, the scene had to be cut down.
* Will Evans, the films director watched the 2013 Carrie remake 4 times before filming. This helped with getting the shots and the style it was edited.
* There was a lot of recasting for Herobrine Origins. Steve was originally played by Marv Gatehouse but was later replaced by DaneDimension. Marv however took the role of Jack Briggs.
* This was Paul Giannotta's 4th acting role in an EliteProductions video.
* This was the first EliteProductions video to use animation.
* The film had 3 different plots before deciding on the final plot.
* The End of Year Party set was based off the hall in Will, Rhys and Cai's actual high school.
* The idea for Origins started in November 2013 after watching the Carrie remake. But the project didnt start until January 2014. However a first draft of the first version of the film was written in December 2013.
* The End of Year Party was originally a bonfire which had students being thrown into the fire and trees.