Index
Monday, 18 July 2016
The Brief
In
this assignment we were asked to come up with an idea for a package,
composed of an Amaray DVD Cover, a Disc Label and a short (one minute
long) video. This package could be done for an existing Movie/Game, a
non existent Movie/Game or a mashup of several Movie/Games.
For this assignment we will have to use Photoshop for our DVD Cover, Illustrator for our Disc label and Premier for our video. We are allowed to use any other programs to complement our ideas, but the final work needs to be done on these three programs.
The assignment must be handed in by 14:00 on 6th of May 2016.
This must be created in Photoshop. It must demonstrate that you can setup a Photoshop file with the correct Size and DPI, and that shows that you understood how to use Selection Tools, Filters, Layers, Layer Transparency, Levels, Guides and how to apply Effects.
This must be created in Photoshop and/or Illustrator. It must contain a Logo and must demonstrate the use of Pen Tool, Type Tool, Brushes, Clipping Masks, Guides, layers, Transparencies, Text Wrap and the placing of Images.
The final editing must be done in Premier, but you can import elements from other programs. The video must be 1 minute long. The final product must demonstrate knowledge of setting up a Premier project (with the right frame size/rate and in widescreen), importing images, importing audio and video, trimming clips, adding transitions and effects to clips, and adding titles over clips. The finished product must be encoded with an appropriate codec.
For this assignment we will have to use Photoshop for our DVD Cover, Illustrator for our Disc label and Premier for our video. We are allowed to use any other programs to complement our ideas, but the final work needs to be done on these three programs.
The assignment must be handed in by 14:00 on 6th of May 2016.
DVD Cover
This must be created in Photoshop. It must demonstrate that you can setup a Photoshop file with the correct Size and DPI, and that shows that you understood how to use Selection Tools, Filters, Layers, Layer Transparency, Levels, Guides and how to apply Effects.
DVD Disc Label
This must be created in Photoshop and/or Illustrator. It must contain a Logo and must demonstrate the use of Pen Tool, Type Tool, Brushes, Clipping Masks, Guides, layers, Transparencies, Text Wrap and the placing of Images.
Promotional Video
The final editing must be done in Premier, but you can import elements from other programs. The video must be 1 minute long. The final product must demonstrate knowledge of setting up a Premier project (with the right frame size/rate and in widescreen), importing images, importing audio and video, trimming clips, adding transitions and effects to clips, and adding titles over clips. The finished product must be encoded with an appropriate codec.
The Idea
I have decided to do my assignment by distorting a documentary into a small Movie Trailer.
The documentary in question is called "Ancient Aliens" and was originally released by the History Channel (and later seasons by History Channel 2). I will take their Ancient Alien Theory, use it as a back story (meaning I would be assuming their theory was right), and then transform it into an Alien Invasion Movie.
My original idea is to have a very stereotypical cover, with a spaceship beaming down a few Aliens (but you'd only see the black silhouette because of the light of the beam), or have several Alien spaceships approaching Earth.
I gave two ideas for the DVD Cover. To make the Disc Label different from the cover, I will probably use whichever idea I didn't pick for the DVD Cover.
I will be mostly using scenes from the documentary itself, and try to stay as faithful to the documentary as I can. May or may not inject some humour into it (to make it a bit lighter instead of very grim). It will mostly consist of direct quotes from the documentary, being taken out of context to make it seem like they are talking about the invasion, as well as Video Clips, from the documentary, that show CGI of Aliens and their Spacecrafts.
The documentary in question is called "Ancient Aliens" and was originally released by the History Channel (and later seasons by History Channel 2). I will take their Ancient Alien Theory, use it as a back story (meaning I would be assuming their theory was right), and then transform it into an Alien Invasion Movie.
DVD Cover
My original idea is to have a very stereotypical cover, with a spaceship beaming down a few Aliens (but you'd only see the black silhouette because of the light of the beam), or have several Alien spaceships approaching Earth.
DVD Disc Label
I gave two ideas for the DVD Cover. To make the Disc Label different from the cover, I will probably use whichever idea I didn't pick for the DVD Cover.
Promotional Video
I will be mostly using scenes from the documentary itself, and try to stay as faithful to the documentary as I can. May or may not inject some humour into it (to make it a bit lighter instead of very grim). It will mostly consist of direct quotes from the documentary, being taken out of context to make it seem like they are talking about the invasion, as well as Video Clips, from the documentary, that show CGI of Aliens and their Spacecrafts.
Project Sizes
Amaray Size
Amaray Style DVD cases need a full cover (Front+Back+Spine). Due to the nature of Lenticular Lenses I will need to do the front cover in a separate file from the spine and back cover.
My front cover will measure 130.5mm by 183mm (5.125'' by 7.25''), while my back cover and spine will measure 130.5mm by 183mm (5.125'' by 7.25'') and 12mm by 183mm (0.5'' by 7.25'') respectively.
Meaning one file will be 136.5mm by 189mm (Front Lenticular cover + Bleeding Edges) while another file will be 148mm by 189mm (Back cover + Spine + Bleeding Edges).
This project will be exported in both TIFF and PDF. The reason for this is that while TIFF holds a lot of information, that in itself can be a bad thing. When using a 3rd party printing service, you never know who is going to be using your design. By providing them with a TIFF they can change it, and even steal your design. Personally I would use TIFF if it was a well known printing service, or PDF for other 3rd party printing services.
Disc Label
The Disc Label will need a slightly larger bleeding of 4mm (0.16''). The printable Disc area has a diameter of 117.5mm (4.63''), with a hollow center that has a diameter of 8.7mm (0.34'') and that is surrounded by an unprintable area with a diameter of 16.7mm (0.66'')
This project will be exported as a PDF File, as it is the most appropriate file for printing from Illustrator.
Video Settings
The
video size will be 1920x1080 (also known as Full HD), as it is
currently the most popular video size, and with the following
video/audio settings:
General
Editing mode: HDV 1080p square pixel
Timebase: 29.97fps
Video Settings
Frame size: 1920h 1080v (1.0000)
Frame rate: 29.97 frames/second
Pixel Aspect Ratio: HD Anamorphic 1080 (1.333)
Fields: No Fields (Progressive Scan)
TV Standard: NTSC
Render at Max Depth: Yes
TV Standard: NTSC
Render at Max Depth: Yes
Audio Settings
Audio Format: AAC
Channel Format: Stereo
Number of Channels: 2
Audio Format: AAC
Channel Format: Stereo
Number of Channels: 2
Sample rate: 48000 samples/second
Audio Quality: High
Bitrate: 320kbps
Audio Quality: High
Bitrate: 320kbps
Colours
Due to the Sci-Fi nature of the project, it is only natural that the colours follow the Sci-Fi style, meaning there will be lots of Grey's (pun intended) and Blue, as well as some Black.
There will also be space fights and destruction, so there will be some oranges and reds as well.
Unfortunately due to the nature of the Video Clip's Source (meaning a TV Documentary), in some instances I will have to crop out the History Channel's Logo, and in other instances I will have to just smudge, or pixelate, the logo in favour of News agency logos.
There will also be space fights and destruction, so there will be some oranges and reds as well.
Unfortunately due to the nature of the Video Clip's Source (meaning a TV Documentary), in some instances I will have to crop out the History Channel's Logo, and in other instances I will have to just smudge, or pixelate, the logo in favour of News agency logos.
Most popular image formats
BMP (Bitmap)
Arguably the most used, uncompressed format, it was originally used to handle the graphic files inside the Windows OS. This file format delivers large file sizes with lossless compression. Due to it being around for a while, BMP is widely recognized in Windows programs. Also because of it being introduced some time ago, BMP does not support transparencies.
GIF (Graphic Interchange Format)
A popular file format during the dark days of the internet (aka dial-up) for its very small file size, making it quick to load. GIF uses an 8bit colour depth. Nowadays, because it supports animation, it is more widely used to show animated clips, clips from movies (in a small image) and other small animations, while keeping a small file size (and of course very low image quality).
JPEG/JPG (Joint Photographic Experts Group)
JPEG is a lossy (an irreversible compression that approximates data in order to discard other bits of data, to reduce file size), it supports 8bit Grayscale and 24bit Colour images. While using JPEG you can choose whether to have a very small file size, but poor image quality, or a larger file size with better image quality. One shortcoming of JPEG is that the more you edit and save, the higher the generational degradation, which makes the quality look worse the more you edit it (even if you keep the same compression settings). Another shortcoming would be its inability to show transparency.
JPEG 2000
This format enables both lossy and lossless compression. Even though the names might be similar, JPEG/JPG and JPEG 2000 use very different compression methods. JPEG 2000 has better quality and compression rations, but uses significantly more computational power.
TIFF (Tagged Image File Format)
TIFF is more flexible than most formats and supports 24bit or 48bit colour images. TIFF can be lossy or lossless and has good compression algorithms. Unfortunately TIFF is not widely supported by Web Browsers. Due to it's tagged structure, TIFF is preferred in Photography and Printing, as it can retain a lot more information. Of course this also makes TIFF one of the larger file sizes.
PNG (Portable Network Graphics)
This file format is the most popular file format, on the internet, now a days. It has, for the most part, replaced GIF when it comes to displaying images online, or images with transparency in them, PNG also supports 24bit and 48bit truecolor, and alpha channels. PNG can also support animation, under the form of MNG and APNG file formats.
Arguably the most used, uncompressed format, it was originally used to handle the graphic files inside the Windows OS. This file format delivers large file sizes with lossless compression. Due to it being around for a while, BMP is widely recognized in Windows programs. Also because of it being introduced some time ago, BMP does not support transparencies.
GIF (Graphic Interchange Format)
A popular file format during the dark days of the internet (aka dial-up) for its very small file size, making it quick to load. GIF uses an 8bit colour depth. Nowadays, because it supports animation, it is more widely used to show animated clips, clips from movies (in a small image) and other small animations, while keeping a small file size (and of course very low image quality).
JPEG/JPG (Joint Photographic Experts Group)
JPEG is a lossy (an irreversible compression that approximates data in order to discard other bits of data, to reduce file size), it supports 8bit Grayscale and 24bit Colour images. While using JPEG you can choose whether to have a very small file size, but poor image quality, or a larger file size with better image quality. One shortcoming of JPEG is that the more you edit and save, the higher the generational degradation, which makes the quality look worse the more you edit it (even if you keep the same compression settings). Another shortcoming would be its inability to show transparency.
JPEG 2000
This format enables both lossy and lossless compression. Even though the names might be similar, JPEG/JPG and JPEG 2000 use very different compression methods. JPEG 2000 has better quality and compression rations, but uses significantly more computational power.
TIFF (Tagged Image File Format)
TIFF is more flexible than most formats and supports 24bit or 48bit colour images. TIFF can be lossy or lossless and has good compression algorithms. Unfortunately TIFF is not widely supported by Web Browsers. Due to it's tagged structure, TIFF is preferred in Photography and Printing, as it can retain a lot more information. Of course this also makes TIFF one of the larger file sizes.
PNG (Portable Network Graphics)
This file format is the most popular file format, on the internet, now a days. It has, for the most part, replaced GIF when it comes to displaying images online, or images with transparency in them, PNG also supports 24bit and 48bit truecolor, and alpha channels. PNG can also support animation, under the form of MNG and APNG file formats.
Company Logo
I have decided to make a new company logo. This company would be the one funding and publishing the AA:ET Movie.
I have opted to keep this in line with the Sci-Fi theme and call the company FarReach.
I envision the logo as just the name itself 'Far Reach' in blue-ish and black colours (maybe a fast gradient between the two) with a dark hand coming from behind it and wrapping it's fingers over the logo (like it is coming from far and reaching for the logo).
I originally planned on only using Illustrator for this, but because I needed to use a lot of layer masks it ended up being more practical to start it on Illustrator and then move to Photoshop to add the hand.
Just a simple, blue logo, in Rockwell Extra Bold. I chose this font in particular because to make a 3D effect look good I needed thick letters. As a personal preference, for this type of work, I like to use Serif type instead of Sans Serif.
Added Kerning for better readability once I do the 3D effect.
Duplicated the blue text, removed the fill and gave it a slight black boarder to help with the 3D effect.
Duplicated the black boarder, removed the outline, and filled it with black, then moved it slightly lower and to the left. Afterwards I used the Blend Tool on the black boarder and the new black text and increased the repetition amount.
The reason I chose to do it this way, instead of the conventional 3D effect, that comes in Illustrator, is that to use the 3D tool I would have to convert the text to a Path. By doing so I essentially lose control over the text, and if I want to modify anything on it, I would have to start from scratch. This way I still get a nice 3D effect, while being able to change the effects on the text or even the text itself.
Went to the Appearance tab and gave it a gradient look, from blue to 80% Opacity White.
Time to save this as an .Ai file and move on to Photoshop.
My hand stock Image, unmodified. I simply used the Quick Selection Tool to select the hand and Copy-Pasted it to a new layer.
A lot of work has been done, using the Clone Stamp Tool, to erase the watermark on the hand. Normally this could not be done in a professional design, but due to the Academic nature of this project we were allowed to use Copyrighted material.
Used the Black & White image adjustment, and messed around with the settings until I was satisfied Clipped it to the hand layer (so it only affects it).
I duplicated the hand selection (the one in colour) and Clipped it (above the B&W adjustment layer) and gave it a 20% Fill and Color Blending mode, just to give it a hint of colour.
Placed the .Ai file with my text. I tried doing it the other way around (putting the hand on Illustrator and then modifying it there) but the hand kept being imported with strange anomalies that were not visible in Photoshop, and persisted even after I fixed them. That and the fact that Photoshop is superior to Illustrator, when it comes to image composition, I decided to finish this up in Photoshop.
I added the hand under the text and used a Layer Mask to hide areas of the text, so that it appears that the hand is trying to grab the text. The brush was set to 80% opacity, on the areas under the hand, and the hand opacity was reduced as well, to give it a more ghostly appearance.
I saved it as a TIFF format, to preserve all the image's properties.
Final:
I have opted to keep this in line with the Sci-Fi theme and call the company FarReach.
I envision the logo as just the name itself 'Far Reach' in blue-ish and black colours (maybe a fast gradient between the two) with a dark hand coming from behind it and wrapping it's fingers over the logo (like it is coming from far and reaching for the logo).
I originally planned on only using Illustrator for this, but because I needed to use a lot of layer masks it ended up being more practical to start it on Illustrator and then move to Photoshop to add the hand.
Just a simple, blue logo, in Rockwell Extra Bold. I chose this font in particular because to make a 3D effect look good I needed thick letters. As a personal preference, for this type of work, I like to use Serif type instead of Sans Serif.
Added Kerning for better readability once I do the 3D effect.
Duplicated the blue text, removed the fill and gave it a slight black boarder to help with the 3D effect.
Duplicated the black boarder, removed the outline, and filled it with black, then moved it slightly lower and to the left. Afterwards I used the Blend Tool on the black boarder and the new black text and increased the repetition amount.
The reason I chose to do it this way, instead of the conventional 3D effect, that comes in Illustrator, is that to use the 3D tool I would have to convert the text to a Path. By doing so I essentially lose control over the text, and if I want to modify anything on it, I would have to start from scratch. This way I still get a nice 3D effect, while being able to change the effects on the text or even the text itself.
Went to the Appearance tab and gave it a gradient look, from blue to 80% Opacity White.
Time to save this as an .Ai file and move on to Photoshop.
My hand stock Image, unmodified. I simply used the Quick Selection Tool to select the hand and Copy-Pasted it to a new layer.
A lot of work has been done, using the Clone Stamp Tool, to erase the watermark on the hand. Normally this could not be done in a professional design, but due to the Academic nature of this project we were allowed to use Copyrighted material.
Used the Black & White image adjustment, and messed around with the settings until I was satisfied Clipped it to the hand layer (so it only affects it).
I duplicated the hand selection (the one in colour) and Clipped it (above the B&W adjustment layer) and gave it a 20% Fill and Color Blending mode, just to give it a hint of colour.
Placed the .Ai file with my text. I tried doing it the other way around (putting the hand on Illustrator and then modifying it there) but the hand kept being imported with strange anomalies that were not visible in Photoshop, and persisted even after I fixed them. That and the fact that Photoshop is superior to Illustrator, when it comes to image composition, I decided to finish this up in Photoshop.
I added the hand under the text and used a Layer Mask to hide areas of the text, so that it appears that the hand is trying to grab the text. The brush was set to 80% opacity, on the areas under the hand, and the hand opacity was reduced as well, to give it a more ghostly appearance.
I saved it as a TIFF format, to preserve all the image's properties.
Final:
(seems this board is not a fan of transparent backgrounds)
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