To boldly go where no student has gone before…

A Staffordshire University student recreated the bridge of a Star Trek inspired spaceship as part of his final year film project.

John Northam, 23, a Film Technology student, built the elaborate set for his space-based saga, Star Trek: Hyperion, which took two years of pre-production before filming could start.

The short film is based on the popular television and film franchise, containing authentic looking props and uniforms, but the story and characters are the third-year student’s original creation.

In total, filming took four days. Staffordshire University’s Beaconside based television studio, which housed the set, was entirely transformed during the process.

Every aspect of the £3,500 production was completed and paid for by John – from writing the script to building the set, as well as casting and filming – which had “been a long time in the planning”, he said.

“In the month leading up to the shoot, we finishing building the set by doing 16 hour days – it nearly killed us,” said John, originally from Birmingham but who now lives in Stafford.

“I enjoyed the process, though. It was an experience. As soon as we started filming it was really exciting.”

The storyline for the film follows the maiden voyage of a starship under the captaincy of 400-year-old Richard Conell. Whilst exploring outer space the ship’s crew encounter a race of beings whose very presence is toxic to human beings. The aliens, who had been subjugated by Starfleet 200 years previous, attack the ship and eventually kill all those onboard.

John said: “A lot of the story came out of necessity – budget restraints meant we couldn’t have loads of special effects – so the film is very character driven. It is an emotional roller coaster.”

John put an advert on a casting website for actors to play the film’s seven roles and, three months before filming was due to start, he had 86 applications.

However, he was pleased with the choices he made and, on June 4, filming started. He added: “The actors were phenomenal and their performances were great.”

John is now in the middle of editing all the footage before he sends it to a Star Trek sound specialist, based in the USA, who will add the score.

He hopes to have it all completed by March 2010, when he will add it to his website, www.dosime.co.uk.

Using the skills learnt from his time on Staffordshire University’s Film Technology course, John is aiming to “carry on directing films after University and I might go down the script writing route.”

He added: “Film Technology has been a really good course. It was a shock to find out in the first year that you can do your own thing; I prefer the practical side of filming – grabbing a camera and just going for it – to the technical side, for example. There are definitely things to suit everyone.”