To finalise my draft for the DVD label, I went back to my previous draft, and had a final attempt at adding the squares of colour to it. I tried to add a layer of text around the edge of it, copyright notices etc, but found an issue with one of the images obscuring the text beneath it, and sending the image to the back etc wouldn't solve the issue.
I went back into Photoshop and used that to edit the image to have a smaller black border around it. This allowed me to go further with the text and continue it around the whole object. This made the job of finalizing my draft easy.
I also toyed with the idea of turning the entire DVD Label into a colour block, allowing me to apply a gradient and noise to it, to tie it in with the idea used in the intro sequence in the series and the blocks used in the Amaray case inlay. This proved to be a little harder than expected so I abandoned the idea.
While I feel the final design is rather simple, I like that it works and ties in well with the front of the Amaray case.
Sadly there isn't much more to say on the final draft. I made sure all the images were inside of the bleed edges set up in the template, made sure the text was just inside of this, putting it on the outer most rim of the DVD should the bleed edges be necessary. The center of the DVD case was left Black, I could have also removed the middle section, allowing for the case to just have the translucent plastic and the hole in the center, but I decided I liked the look the whole solid black better.
Monday 12 May 2014
DVD Label - Early stages
In creating the DVD label, I had a lot of ideas of how to go about the different sections. As with my other ideas, I have had to change a few thing as I go, as they have not looked as good as I thought they might, or they have been a little outside of my talent range.
One such issue was the coloured squares. I simply couldn't get them to a point I was happy with them. I tried a variety of colours and sizes, but nothing looked quite right. In the end I decided to opt for a much simpler approach, just using the silhouettes for a high contrast approach to make the disc stand out.
The other images I wanted to add to the disc were my logo and the certificate 18 symbol. The symbol I found online, adding it to the disc was easy as I found a copy with a black background. Only having to copy this into place and resize it. I considered turning it into a vector itself, but the complex pattern in the red section didn't come out well, so I opted to use the standard version.
The logo was actually done in much the same way, finding that the stroke size of the image made it difficult to resize easily, so I opted to use a standard pixel version of the image, to keep the proportions the same. I didn't want the logo to appear different to the one used on the Amaray case.
I arranged the images in the correct place for the first draft and left it there. Mostly complete and a good example of what I wanted the final draft to look like.
One such issue was the coloured squares. I simply couldn't get them to a point I was happy with them. I tried a variety of colours and sizes, but nothing looked quite right. In the end I decided to opt for a much simpler approach, just using the silhouettes for a high contrast approach to make the disc stand out.
The other images I wanted to add to the disc were my logo and the certificate 18 symbol. The symbol I found online, adding it to the disc was easy as I found a copy with a black background. Only having to copy this into place and resize it. I considered turning it into a vector itself, but the complex pattern in the red section didn't come out well, so I opted to use the standard version.
The logo was actually done in much the same way, finding that the stroke size of the image made it difficult to resize easily, so I opted to use a standard pixel version of the image, to keep the proportions the same. I didn't want the logo to appear different to the one used on the Amaray case.
I arranged the images in the correct place for the first draft and left it there. Mostly complete and a good example of what I wanted the final draft to look like.
DVD Label - Planning
For the DVD label I decided to continue the theme from the inlay. This means a nice simple black background, a few coloured rectangles and a couple of images. This will give a nice bold design that should be fitting for the DVD label.
I will make use of bold coloured squares, much like on the back of the Inlay, I may try to use the same colours should they fit well. I might even re-use the silhouettes from the case, perhaps even turning them into a vector image to allow them to be resized easily.
I plan on using a text wrap to add information to the outside of the disc, this will be created using a circle, to wrap the text around.
The main logo will also be copied over from the inlay, allowing the two of them to match each other and tying them together.
I will make use of bold coloured squares, much like on the back of the Inlay, I may try to use the same colours should they fit well. I might even re-use the silhouettes from the case, perhaps even turning them into a vector image to allow them to be resized easily.
I plan on using a text wrap to add information to the outside of the disc, this will be created using a circle, to wrap the text around.
The main logo will also be copied over from the inlay, allowing the two of them to match each other and tying them together.
Sunday 11 May 2014
Copyright and Creative Commons
During this assignment I spend a lot of time considering the impact that copyright would have on the process if it was being done for a real film. It is a daunting prospect to find the exact right clip or footage to set the exact atmosphere and mood for a trailer while having the right to use it. Thankfully due to the nature of my choice of topic, it has not been as much of an issue as it could have been.
Creative commons is an organisation that allows users to contribute to an ever expanding selection of media that can be used by others to further their own projects. There are a selection of different ways of making use of creative commons, they have many different licenses that can be used. This means anyone trying to make a promotional video, or poster for example has a wide range of media available to them for free. The type of license used will change how you can make use of the media.
The licenses are:
Attribution - This license allows people to replicate, distribute and use the media as they see fit, as long as the original creator of the media is accredited in the work.
Share-alike - This is similar to attribution, but stipulates that the final piece be distributed with the same license. This is great for people doing their own projects, but for something that could be used in industry or for a profit could come into issues later if the work has to be given a Share-alike license.
Non-commercial - This allows the user to do whatever they wish with the media, providing it is not used in a profit making or commercial purpose.
No Derivative Works - This allows people to use the media in their works, but only in it's unedited form. It does not allow people to use the work if it has been altered in any way.
If I were to do the project again, I would have used a different subject for it. Looking through creative commons, I noticed the shear number of images and video clips relating to real world locations, especially public places. A modern day setting, would have made the matter of a trailer, and finding images a lot easier than using an animated series.
Creative commons is an organisation that allows users to contribute to an ever expanding selection of media that can be used by others to further their own projects. There are a selection of different ways of making use of creative commons, they have many different licenses that can be used. This means anyone trying to make a promotional video, or poster for example has a wide range of media available to them for free. The type of license used will change how you can make use of the media.
The licenses are:
Attribution - This license allows people to replicate, distribute and use the media as they see fit, as long as the original creator of the media is accredited in the work.
Share-alike - This is similar to attribution, but stipulates that the final piece be distributed with the same license. This is great for people doing their own projects, but for something that could be used in industry or for a profit could come into issues later if the work has to be given a Share-alike license.
Non-commercial - This allows the user to do whatever they wish with the media, providing it is not used in a profit making or commercial purpose.
No Derivative Works - This allows people to use the media in their works, but only in it's unedited form. It does not allow people to use the work if it has been altered in any way.
If I were to do the project again, I would have used a different subject for it. Looking through creative commons, I noticed the shear number of images and video clips relating to real world locations, especially public places. A modern day setting, would have made the matter of a trailer, and finding images a lot easier than using an animated series.
Evaluating the Trailer
For the assignment, I've created a minute long trailer to accompany the DVD label and the DVD inlay. This trailer is 60 seconds long, in a Quicktime widescreen format. I have taken clips from various Archer episodes from a variety of seasons.
My final design was a success. It took a lot of work to get to a point where I am happy with it. I have gone through a variety of ideas and different designs to follow throughout this process, and I am pleased with the final result. I have successfully used the tools in premiere to create a final video that stays true to the source material, even utilising a song from the series. Editing the song proved difficult, as the editing tools only allowed for a minimum edit, which was not quite accurate enough to get seamless transition between clips. If I had more time, I would have used some other software to complete this transition, allowing me a seamless change between the two. As it stands, it is barely noticeable and still works adequately for the trailer.
Editing some of the clips provided more trouble than I expected. Especially trying to get a copy of the scene I wanted without any TV logos or similar on them. In the end I've had to include clips with this in place, as I did not have the time to address this issue. If I had to do this again, and I used the same premise, I would make sure I could obtain all of the source material I needed without such logos being in place. One way I would attempt this, would be to use some screen capture software to copy the scene I needed from a DVD or even a streaming service such as Netflix. This could have added to the trailer, but unfortunately I could not complete it this time due to time constraints.
Another option could have been to make use of the Isis logo to try to cover over any issues such as these. While this would have provided an easy way of covering the unwanted logos, sadly they were in a position that would have obscured the clips I am using to too great of a degree. I have used images within the trailer already, so the process of placing them in would not have caused an issue. The border I used is an image that was taken from the clip, and altered.
During the creation of the trailer, I used a lot of existing archer footage, this may have been an issue if I was creating this for another project. As the film would be created by whoever held the rights to the franchise, it would not be an issue of using copyrighted work. The only sections of the trailer that wasn't original footage was the background track and the initial few seconds of the trailer where the computer terminal appears to initialise. This was taken from a video on YouTube that was created to achieve a similar effect. This could be an issue for copyright, although should this have been made for a real film, the effect would have been used in the film already, so would have tied in better with the art style of the animations. The backing music track is actually part of season 5 of Archer, where Carol/Sheryl/Crystal/Cherlene has a singing career as a country singer. This would also cause no issues with copyright as it would also be owned by the company holding the rights.
Overall there isn't much I would change with the trailer, although I would have liked to have given myself more time to put finishing touches in places, such as removing the company logos and editing the soundtrack as mentioned. I like the clips I have chosen, and although I regrettably missed out 2 characters I would have liked to have feature, Krieger and Woodhouse, I feel the trailer is a good introduction to the show, and serves it's purpose of showing the film, without giving away much beyond the initial plot and the setting. While it would have been hard to give away spoilers to the plot using original footage, even with fresh footage available, I would have kept a very similar script for the trailer, to entice fans, without ruining the experience.
Evaluating the DvD Label and Logo
For this section of the assignment I created a label for the DVD disc to accompany the Amaray inlay and the trailer.
My final design was a simple black disc, with the archer logo, two of the silhouettes used on the inlay, some text, my logo and the 18 certificate image. This created a effective high contrast label that easily stands out. I feel I could have tried to make the silhouettes look a little better, although they are adequate to the task at hand. It's a shame my original ideas of coloured boxes didn't work, as I think this would have been a great addition to the label and if I had to do this again, I would make sure to set aside enough time to get these right.
If I was to do this project again, I would allow myself more time to familiarise myself more thoroughly with the program and to make sure I got a few more details right. I would have liked to be able to create a slightly more dynamic label, but I do feel this would have detracted from the boldness of the current design.
The logo I created was fun, as using the different tools to create a nice bold, yet simple, logo was a new experience. I enjoyed toying with the different vector tools to create my final design. If I was to do this again, I'd try to use the Pen tool to a better extent. While I experimented with it in creating the logo, the shapes I wanted were all uniform, so the existing vector shapes were a better match.
My final design was a simple black disc, with the archer logo, two of the silhouettes used on the inlay, some text, my logo and the 18 certificate image. This created a effective high contrast label that easily stands out. I feel I could have tried to make the silhouettes look a little better, although they are adequate to the task at hand. It's a shame my original ideas of coloured boxes didn't work, as I think this would have been a great addition to the label and if I had to do this again, I would make sure to set aside enough time to get these right.
If I was to do this project again, I would allow myself more time to familiarise myself more thoroughly with the program and to make sure I got a few more details right. I would have liked to be able to create a slightly more dynamic label, but I do feel this would have detracted from the boldness of the current design.
The logo I created was fun, as using the different tools to create a nice bold, yet simple, logo was a new experience. I enjoyed toying with the different vector tools to create my final design. If I was to do this again, I'd try to use the Pen tool to a better extent. While I experimented with it in creating the logo, the shapes I wanted were all uniform, so the existing vector shapes were a better match.
Evaluating the Inlay
For this section of the assignment, I have created an inlay to go inside of a Amaray DVD case. This is to go with my idea for an Archer movie. For the case I took inspiration from the open credits for Archer, a black background with bold colours over the top. This allowed my design to start to take shape. I found a few images online that worked well. Including some nice silhouettes, although to get others, I had to take an image and change the colouring to be black and white to create the silhouette.
My final design was not what I had originally intended, or quite how I envisioned it, although I am not completely dissatisfied with my final design. Certain parts of it could have been improved with more time, or a little more foresight into the design I was creating. The part of the case I am least happy with is the bottom text on the back of the case. I couldn't find a good example of an Archer DVD, so had to look at a range of other DVDs around the house. Some of these were covered in details of who produced them, etc, while others had very little information on this, and focused more on the DVD content itself. I opted to go for the second option, as it was easier for me to produce.
My final design was not what I had originally intended, or quite how I envisioned it, although I am not completely dissatisfied with my final design. Certain parts of it could have been improved with more time, or a little more foresight into the design I was creating. The part of the case I am least happy with is the bottom text on the back of the case. I couldn't find a good example of an Archer DVD, so had to look at a range of other DVDs around the house. Some of these were covered in details of who produced them, etc, while others had very little information on this, and focused more on the DVD content itself. I opted to go for the second option, as it was easier for me to produce.
If I was to undertake this assignment again, I would try to plan a lot further in advance, and try to stick more to plans I had made. I struggled initially to come up with an idea for this assignment, for me the scope was a little too broad for me to easily make a decision. If I repeated it, I would try to use a lot more preliminary sketches and try to brainstorm a few more layout ideas, rather than just ideas for content. I would have opted to put a little more time into Photoshop, to try to learn a few more techniques to maybe make a colourful action packed front design, although I am happy the one I have created matches in with the series well enough.
Next time, I would spend more time on my initial design and learning new techniques for Photoshop broaden my knowledge, and skills in the program. These could have been used to improve my design, although this is not an area in which I have much interest or talent. I would use a for more placeholder images in future, to allow me to finish the DVD label and trailer before completing the Inlay, matching up some clips and images on the back, allowing me to tie in the three parts more completely.
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