Week 6 Review Photoshop Improvements

Now that I have discussed and gathered all of my feedback I have started to implement these changes. The first adaptation I have made to my DVD inlay is adding a regional code. I researched online and found that the region code for Europe is region 2. I have hence added this piece of information to my DVD inlay. The source I used to find out this information and my DVD inlay with this piece of information included can be seen below.

 

Sourced: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DVD_region_code Accessed: 13/03/2014

The next piece of feedback which I began to act upon was from Tony. He suggested that I research into age rating and if this had a specific size. When I started researching this I found so much information which I didn't previously know. These logos come from the British Board Of Film Classification. A film is watched by an employee of this company and then a rating is given based on its content. This logo isn't actually compulsory on a film and this was something which I really wasn't aware of. Tony suggested I found a standard size but seen as these are not compulsory it seems there isn't actually a set size. The majority of big film companies use these logos as they improve the saleability and many cinemas wont show a film if it doesn't have an age rating. For this reason I simply set all of my age rating logos on my DVD inlay to the same size. This makes them consistent. The image below shows this in practise along with some extra research which I gathered about the age rating which I used on my DVD inlay.

'What does the 15 symbol mean?

No-one under 15 is allowed to see a 15 film at the cinema or buy/rent a ‘15 rated video. 15 rated works are not suitable for children under 15 years of age.

Are there any limits on what sort of theme a work can have at 15?

No theme is prohibited, provided the treatment is appropriate for 15 year olds.

What might I see in a 15 rated film or video?

Any of the following:

        strong violence

       frequent strong language (e.g. 'f***').

        portrayals of sexual activity

        strong verbal references to sex

        sexual nudity

        brief scenes of sexual violence or verbal references to sexual violence

        discriminatory language or behaviour

        drug taking

How much strong language is allowed in a 15?

There could potentially be a great deal. At 15 there is no upper limit on the number of uses of strong language (e.g. ‘f***’).
Occasionally there may be uses of the strongest terms (e.g. 'c***'), depending on the manner in which they are used, who is using the language, its frequency and any special contextual justification. However, continued or aggressive use will not normally be passed 15.

What about discriminatory or offensive terms?

There may be racist, homophobic or other discriminatory language, and the work could explore themes relating to this.
However, at 15 the work as a whole must not endorse discriminatory language or behaviour.

How much sex and nudity is allowed at 15?

At 15 sexual activity can be portrayed, but usually without strong detail. Some sex scenes can be quite long at this category.

Though nudity may be allowed in a sexual context there will usually be no strong detail. There are no constraints on nudity in a non-sexual or educational context.

There can be strong references to sex and sexual behaviour, but especially strong or crude references are unlikely to be acceptable unless justified by context.
Sex and sex references are treated the same irrespective of sexuality

Can there be strong violence?

Yes, at 15 violence may be strong. It should not dwell on the infliction of pain or injury, however, and the strongest gory images are unlikely to be acceptable.
Strong sadistic violence is also unlikely to be acceptable.

What about sexual violence?

There may be detailed verbal references to sexual violence (for example descriptions of rape or sexual assault in a courtroom scene or in victim testimony) but any portrayal depiction of sexual violence must be discreet and justified by context.

What about horror works?

At 15 there can be strong threat and horror as long as there is no sustained focus on sadistic or sexualised threat.

Can you see drugs in a 15 rated film or video?

At 15 drug taking may be shown but the work as a whole must not promote or encourage drug misuse (for example, through instructional detail).
The misuse of easily accessible and highly dangerous substances like aerosols or solvents is unlikely to be acceptable at 15.

What about dangerous behaviour or things teens might copy?

We consider the risk of potential harm to impressionable teenagers. For example, dangerous behaviour such as hanging, suicide and self-harming should not dwell on detail which could be copied.
Whether the depiction of easily accessible weapons is acceptable will depend on factors such as realism, context and setting.'Sourced: http://www.bbfc.co.uk/what-classification/15 Accessed: 13/03/2014

The next aspect which I improved was in relation to the actor names along the top of the DVD inlay. These were unevenly spaced and actually quite small in comparison to the rest of my DVD cover. I improved this aspect in two different ways. The first improvement I made was to lay these actor names out in the same formation that the actors stood in the main image. This was Sarah Jessica Parker, Mila Kunis and then Cameron Diaz. From the image it looks as though Mila Kunis is the main character and hence I made her name slightly larger. I then spaced out the other actor names more evenly. This small change seemed to improve the overall appearance greatly.

 

In my Photoshop feedback from Khyle she suggested that I should try to refine the edge of Sarah Jessica Parker in the main image on my DVD inlay. This was because there was a small amount of white surrounding her. I did have difficulty when I initially cut these actors out as they were mostly on a similar coloured background however I was willing to give this a try. I went back and opened the workspace which contained this aspect of the assignment. I then used the Magnetic Lasso Tool and recut Sarah Jessica Parker. I then played around with the settings in the Refine Edge dialog box. No matter how much I changed these settings it seemed to make little if any difference to the overall look of this actor and hence this is something which I have not been able to resolve. The dialog box which I changed the Refine Edge settings in can be seen below.

 

As I mentioned in my previous blog post I was completely unaware of any legal information which I needed to include on my DVD inlay. I hence found some DVDs myself and searched for the legal information. I then adapted this to fit my own DVD and added this to my inlay. The font I used was Hobo Std and the font size was 4pt. This font style will be justified later in the post. The added legal information can be seen below.

 

Jamie suggested that the blurb on the back cover of my DVD inlay was hard to read and suggested that I could try some different fonts or change the positioning to try to improve this. The screenshots below show the different trials which I used.

I started by changing the Spacing of the font which I already had. This can be seen below. This didn't make a considerable amount of difference however I tired to straighten the text. This can be seen in the second screenshot. With both of this in mind it was clear that I would need to change the font in order to make any substantial difference.

 

 

The below font was the first font I decided to try. This was Hobo Std. I also changed the font size as now the font was clearer it didn't need to be quite so big. This font is much better and I still feel like it works with the other font I have used and doesn't look out of place which was what I was worried about. 

 

The next font I tried is SketchFlow Print. This can be seen below. I also reduced the font size on this trial for the exact same reason as above and hence this is 14pt also. I don't like this font as much as I do the above based on the fact that it is so largely spaced. It also took up so much room and looks very standard. This doesn't particularly work well with the other font I have used and hence I wont be using this font.

 

The final font I tried was Papyrus. I also reduced the font size on this trial for the exact same reason as above and hence this is 14pt also. Although I do like this font more than the font I used above I still don't like this as much as the first font I chose.

With all of the above in mind I decided to use the Hobo Std font in a size 14pt. This is much clearer to read and also stands out much better. The image below shows this in position along with all of the other changes I have made to my DVD inlay.

 

The final issue which Jamie raised was in relation to the actors in my main image. He suggested that these looked as though they were floating. This look was the intended as I wanted to create a semi fantasy feel. This was achieved using the pink sky. There is no land shown in the first image and hence it is arguable that these actors would look like they were floating no matter where they stood. I have not changed this aspect based on the fact that it was the intended style.

Premiere - Brainstorm

Now that I have some initial ideas I have created a couple of brainstorms. These represent my two different ideas. Both of these can be seen below.

The two ideas which I came up with use similar clips but give off an overall different feel. My first idea gives off the sad and emotional vibe while my second idea gives off the happy vibes. Although the clips I would use for each idea would vary based on this factor the main aspect which would give this feeling is the song choice. Thinking about my ideas and these brainstorms I have come to the conclusion that the music on the trailer is one of the most important factors. For this reason I started looking at some other potential music and the feelings that each song gave off. The list of songs can be seen below. The faces next to each song represent the feeling I feel they give off.

 

Looking at this list of songs and my original song ideas I have narrowed this down to my favourite and most appropriate two sad songs and then the same again but for the happier vibe. Beyoncé - Broken Hearted Girl is still my favourite song choice for theme one while Shontelle - Impossible is my second choice. Cyndi Lauper - Girls just wanna have fun is by far my favourite cheerful song for theme number two while Beyoncé - Single Ladies and Spice Girls - Wannabe sit closely tied as my second choice.

 

My aim now is to look at current DVD trailers which are of a similar Genre to my DVD and then review them based on what I like and don't like. I will also look at whether these tend to focus on the emotional side or the happy side of the film in the trailer as this may sway me towards one of my own ideas. I would be particularly interested in looking at a Sex And The City trailer as this is closely linked with my own film. 

Premiere - Introduction To Trailer Creation

Designing and creating a DVD trailer is the third and final aspect of this assignment. Like the Photoshop and Illustrator aspects of the assignment I have a set criteria which I have to meet and then anything that I do which is extra will be only improve my grade but also my final product. As a minimum I need to use the following tools/features: import images and video, setting up a Premiere project with the right frame size and frame rate (and widescreen), trimming clips, adding transitions to clips, and adding titles over clips. The final project has to be submitted as a QuickTime movie file and I am able to use elements which I had made using Photoshop and Illustrator.  I will and have been gaining the basic skills within all of these mandatory requirements and then taking these skills and playing/experimenting to widen my knowledge. I decided to gather my initial ideas before looking at the mandatory requirements in this element of the assignment as I feel that previously my ideas where limited because I was trying to hard to find ways to fit these specifications. By gathering my ideas first I was able to think outside the box. My next blog post will show my brainstorms which have led on from my initial ideas. I have put thought into how I could meet the requirements but still sticking to my initial ideas in my brainstorm. I feel this shows how I am improving and learning as I progress through this assignment.

Premiere - Inital Ideas

Now that I have my Photoshop aspect finished and my Illustrator element well underway it is time to start thinking about Premiere. This is the element in the assignment were I need to create a video clip which relates to my film. I have decided to create a movie trailer for my DVD 'What Happens In Paris, Stays In Paris'.

I have some initial ideas which include using clips from three main films, these films are Sexy And The City, Sex And The City 2 and finally The Holiday. This film selection is based on the fact that each of my main characters stars in at least one of these films.

I aim to try and find some clips of Paris to tie in the main characters with the setting. This could be sourced from somewhere like YouTube.

I aim to use a sound track throughout at least some of the video. I have a couple of ideas for the theme of this song. I will either go for something sad which related to heartbreak. This would represent the heart break Carrie goes through. An example of a song I could use for this theme is: Beyoncé - Broken Hearted Girl

This song is a well known girly song which would be recognised if it was played and hence it could work for my movie trailer.

The other option I have is a more upbeat theme. This would represent the united front that a group of girls create. For this reason the second song I could use to suite this theme is: Cyndi Lauper - Girls just wanna have fun.

 

 

I aim to create a movie trailer which has text at the beginning and then some 'in movie clips'. This is as far as I have got when it comes to ideas and hence my next stage is to create a brain storm with all the films and tracks I could use and how these would work together. I would then like to review some current Rom-Com DVD trailers and then create a summary of what I have found out and what I plan on doing. 

Photoshop - Other Back Cover Features

Now I have created the two main elements for the back cover of my DVD inlay I needed to start adding the basic elements which tied in with this. Within this blog post I will look at all the other features and aspect which I added to the back of my DVD inlay. There were more elements which I needed to add to this than that of the front. This is simply due to the nature of the back cover of any DVD inlay.

I shall begin by discussing the borders which I added to my previously created images. This was done very simply but looked really effective. I firstly inserted both of my images onto the back cover of my DVD inlay. I then used the Rectangle Shape Tool to draw a rectangle. I changed the fill of this to None and then changed the colour of the stoke. Due to the fact that I had two images which I needed to add borders too I duplicated this rectangle border. I changed the colour of the stoke on one of these shapes to white and the other to the light pink. I then placed these over the top of my images and reshaped them until they acted as a complete border. The Direct Selection Tool allowed me to do this. The next step to creating this border was adding the small bow. This bow shape can be found in the Custom Shape Panel. I drew one of these out to the size and shape which I wanted. When I was happy with this one I simply copied and pasted it onto a new layer. I then changed the colour of these to fit with the colour border which I had previously created. The images with there borders
can be seen below.

The next aspect which I added to my back cover was the blurb. This is the text which tells the audience the basic plot of the story. The blurb itself I made up myself. To create the blurb I started off by setting myself a path. I drew a rectangle using the Rectangle Shape Tool and then changed the settings to make this a path. I then took the type tool and selected inside the box. I then typed out my blurb. The path I created encapsulates the text so that it is refined to that area. I then changed the font of my text. Like with everything on my DVD inlay the text used was Harlow Solid Italic. The size of this font is 16pt and the positioning was set to central. I also set this text to white. This was so it was clearly visible on the bright pink background. The image below shows this text on the back cover.

 

The next aspect of the back cover was the small table like feature which can be found at the bottom of the DVD inlay. This holds all the film information in terms of its running time and widescreen format... I decided I wanted to follow the general rule on DVD inlays and place my information in a similar format. I firstly used the Rectangle Shape Tool to draw a rectangle along the width of the back cover. I changed the fill of this to None and then changed the Stoke to white. I duplicated this 3 times so that I could split my information into three different categories. This is my template for inserting information. I began by adding the images that I needed in this section. This was in the form of the barcode, the age rating and the DVD Video Logo. I then used the type tool to add information. I began by adding the Languages and Subtitles. These acted as mini headings and hence the font size of these aspects were slightly larger than the rest of the type. These were set to 20pt and the main text in this aspect was set to 10pt. I also added the running time, colour and widescreen format to this aspect. The image below shows this area added to my DVD inlay.

 

 

As you can see from the image above there is still a fair amount of space on my back cover. I wasn't found of this fact and hence used the Custom Shape Tool to add some hearts to fill this space. The hearts also worked with the film in terms of Valentines Day. I reshaped and resized these to fit the given area and also changed the colour to fit with my colour scheme. I used colours from my ready made swatch. Now I was happy with the look of my back cover. This can be seen below.





 

 



Now I have created both my front and back cover along with my DVD Spine my final stage of this process is to evaluate. This will be in a later blog post. The image below however shows my final DVD inlay.

 

 



Photoshop - Other Front Cover Features

Now I have created my main image for the front cover of my DVD inlay I needed to start adding the basic elements which tied in with this. Within this blog post I will look at all the other features and aspect which I added to the front of my DVD inlay.

I will start with the bar I added along the top of the front cover. After looking at a variety of current DVD inlays I decided that I liked the idea of having a bar along the top of the inlay which will house all the actor names. This seemed to break up the front cover which was also what I wanted to do. To achieve this I simply used the Rectangle Shape Tool to draw the pink section. I used the same colour as I created in my swatches previously in order to make this fit my colour scheme. I then added the text. I used three different layers for each actor name. This allowed me to move each as an individual rather than struggling to move them all together. I used the same font which I have used throughout this process. As a reminder this is Harlow Solid Italic. I then changed the size of the font. I initially had all of these set at the same size. This can be seen below. This however didn't really appeal to me and hence I made the central name much bigger. This can also be seen below.

 

I added an effect to this text. This was the Bevel and Emboss. This just made my text stand out slightly. This can be seen below.

 



 

The next feature I added to the front of my inlay was the Age Rating. I simply used an image from the internet and opened it into a separate workspace. I then selected the whole rating symbol and placed it onto my DVD inlay. This was a bitmap image. This image can be sourced from http://bilborough752.blogspot.co.uk/2011/11/research-age-certificate-min.html and was accessed on 21/02/2014. This age rating can be seen below.

The next aspect which I added to my DVD inlay was the star rating. I split this into two separate aspects. The first were the stars and the second was the text which accompanied this. To create the stars I simply used the Custom Shape Tool and then searched for the star shape. I drew one to start with and then copied and pasted this 9 more times. Each one of these stars were put on a separate layer. This allowed me to move each one individually rather than trying to move them all at once. Once I had drawn all 10 stars I then separated them into two groups. 5 stars each. I used the colours from my swatches to create a pattern between a light purple and a dark purple. I then added two different effects to all of these stars. This was time consuming because I had separated them into various layers. The screenshots below show the settings within the Bevel/Emboss and Outer Glow which I applied to the stars.

 

The image below shows the stars which were created at this stage.

 



 

To finish this stage I added the text. These pieces of text were the companies which rated my film. In this case they were Heat Magazine and Virgin Media. I used the same font for these pieces of text and then used the deep pink from my colour swatch as my font colour. I used the Arch Tool to make this text arch over the star rating. The settings I used to create this arch can be seen below.

 

 





This was my star rating now finished. The image below shows this.

 



The final aspect of my front cover was the film title. This was made using the Type Tool. The font I used was the same as the font I have used throughout this process, this is: Harlow Solid Italic. The size of my text was 36pt and the positioning was set to central. With my basic text in place I firstly changed the basic colour of my text. I set this to the Deep Pink which I had previously saved in my swatches. I then looked at different effects which I could use to make my title stand out as at this stage it was a very weak aspect of my front inlay when in reality this is a key feature. I began by using the Bevel/Emboss effect. This gave the text a shadowed effect. The settings I used to create my given look can be seen below.

 

I then added a Stroke. This made my text appear slightly thicker. The settings I used to create my given look can be seen in the below screenshot.

 

The final effect I added was the Outer Glow. This by far made the biggest impact on this text. The glow really made the title stand out. I set the glow to a light pink to it also softened the edges of the title on the background. The screenshot below shows the settings I used to create this look.

With all of these aspects added the font of my DVD inlay was complete. The image below shows the front of my DVD inlay with the main image which I created previously and then all of the features discussed above on show.

Evaulation - Week 6 Lecturer Review

As the second stage of this review week I was able to discuss my progress and gain feedback from my lecturer, Jamie. We began by looking at my Photoshop work. Jamie could see from my Peer feedback sheets that I had achieved all of the mandatory features. He then went straight on to give me comments on areas which I could improve my work. The first area which Jamie picked up on was the blurb on the back cover of my inlay. After reading this area he said that what I had was really good however the font which I had used made it slightly difficult to read. This was an issue as the font was used throughout my assignment and was hence consistent. This is something I will look into and try different fonts and then make a decision as to whether I leave this or change this aspect.

The second comment Jamie gave me was the fact that I had no legal information on my DVD. This is something I knew very little about and hence I will need to look into this before implementing. I will be adding this aspect to the back cover of my DVD inlay at a later stage. The final comment Jamie made was in relation to the actors on the front of my inlay. He said that they looked like they were slightly floating. This is something which I had noticed but not really paid much attention too. I like the way the actors look and hence I will simply need to justify why I have chosen to leave them as they are. This will be information to follow in my evaluation.

After gathering my feedback for the Photoshop element we began to look at the Illustrator side. Jamie had already looked through my blog and see my previous design ideas, he commented on the fact that he liked my other design and suggested that I could try to incorporate this into my final design somehow. This is something which I also really liked and I will try to play around with this feature again at a later stage in the project. Jamie noticed how I had used Bitmap images for all of my ratings and logos which I had placed on my disk. These were slightly pixelated and hence he suggested that I try searching for vector logos using a SVG file type as these would compliment my design better.
The final piece of feedback which I received from Jamie was to add some legal information to my disk like I also need to add to my inlay. I thought I could use a text wrap to achieve this and hence this would hit two pieces of criteria in one.

Overall I feel receiving this feedback has made me more confident about what I have already achieved but it has also given me areas for improvement. The legal information in particular was something which I hadn't even thought of and hence this is something which I would have missed out if I hadn't of received this feedback. I hope to work on all of the feedback which I have received both in peer and lecturer form over the next few weeks and then create a blog post which looks at what I have changed based on this and what I have decided I will retain.