Evaluation
In my proposal I aimed to create a realistic and proportional DVD Sleeve and
Poster for a psychological thriller, this was aimed at an audience of late teens and
young adults, of an age range of 18-40, the film is also aimed at those who have
seen or struggled with mental illness or have witnessed some body else deal
with it.
The effects that i used on the main picture for both my poster and dvd sleeve
included using three separate angles of the same person and distorting the image
using various filters such as radius blur and motion blur.
I used this method to portray the effect of a distorted view on reality and a
distinction between what is normal and what is not, which is the baseline of the
films plot.
This is also symbolism for the mental illness explored during the film, the feeling
of being mixed up or broken and distorted within you.
The source of my information for this decision was the fact that both me and
members of my close friends and family have suffered with mental illnesses
before, from ADD to depression and more, so I have a close understanding of the
destructive nature of the conditions involved in the film.
The process I used for my creations was that I created a base image that was 3
pictures of my actor Clay Rose, which I took myself on a Canon camera, I then
added these to an International Paper sized canvas and added the film title:
Fugue Identity.
I then distorted the images until I was happy with the look of it, I Proceeded to
add Taglines and Rating Certificates onto my poster, and a blurb and barcode as
well as some additional photos onto my DVD sleeve before arriving at the final
product.
I used inspiration from the DVD sleeve of Requiem For a Dream, a film that
explores similar areas but to do with Drugs and Social issues more than mental
health such as mine does, This is where I came up with the layout and the idea
for a close up of an Eye with distorted pupils.
I created this effect by using a picture that I found of a galaxy from outer space
and blurring it and adjusting it to fit the area that was left by the now absent
pupil that was originally part of the photo of the eye.
The skills that I displayed in creating both of these pieces of work include: Adobe
Photoshop skills (Use of Cropping, Distortion, Blurring, Image Creation &
Alteration, Text creation, Magic Wand and Drawing)
I encountered some problems such as not being able to find a font that I thought
I complimented the style of the piece, or struggling with the font size and the text
for the blurb, but I overcame all of these with a short contingency time of roughly
2 hours for all of the issues together, which I consider quite successful.
My DVD cover took a different approach in
terms of production as opposed to my DVD
sleeve.
I wanted to use a tagline that would set the
mood for the film’s plot whilst also keeping the
same feel as the DVD sleeve throughout the
design.
I used the same three photographs that are
evidenced in the DVD sleeve, however they
have slightly different proportions, and they
are definitively the centre attraction of the
poster, as opposed to there being more going
on in the DVD sleeve that can take the viewers
concentration off the more important aspects.
I had some issues with the scaling of the edited
photograph and matching it to the size of the
font, but after using the process of holding Shift
whilst free scaling I managed to get it to a point
that I was happy with.
I got my source of inspiration for this style of
design from the film Body snatchers.
This film was one of my favourites growing up
and the poster art always stuck with me
because it is so iconic, I love the idea of three
split images of the same person splitting away
from the central image, so I took that concept
and ran with it before coming up with the
version that I decided to use.
There are areas for this that I could have
improved upon, for example I could have taken
slightly different approaches that might have
looked better in the finished product if I had of
Blended the three images more cleanly and at
slightly different angles.
I believe that the finalised version of my DVD
poster communicates the issues that can come
from a fragmented reality and self-image;
When you struggle with mental illness it can
become hard to distinguish which version of
you is the real you, and I believe that I showed
this well with my design.
Along with this, I choose the use of Red and
Black for the text colours because both are
used often as code for Danger.
When compared to my early Photoshop work,
It is a huge improvement in my skill-set and my
effectiveness, as well as efficiency.
For example, this piece of work was my first
use of Photoshop just 4 months prior and It
was only the use of the spot blemish tool and
the airbrush that was used, as well as the use of
a smart blur and some eraser work.
It is not the best piece of work but It is
adequate for what was desired from the piece.
Taking more time with it could have improved
it, and if I had the understanding that I now feel
that I have got over Photoshop, that would
have made a big difference.
I also completed this piece of work when
getting used to Photoshop, and this is a better
comparison because It showcases me trying to
use filters and other such features like Blur and
distortion.
It Is also the first time that I have started
something practically from scratch on
Photoshop.
This is the first Landscape piece of work that I
completed on Photoshop.
It Is based on the Expendables 3 poster and it
was produced using photographs of members
of my class, holding a prop gun and with a
backdrop of A streetlight that I edited into it. As
well as barrels and an old-school mobster 6”4
car.
The reason I used these images was because
they all stick with the mobster theme.
This was the first piece of work that stuck to a
specific theme so It is comparable to my DVD
project in that manner.
Information Sources –
I collected Images and Ideas from several sources, however the base of the
designs for both of my creations was personal to me as a designer, as I took the
photographs myself and used fonts that are already defaulted in Photoshop.
However as previously stated I did use aspects from other peoples work, such as
the inspiration of design from both Requiem For A Dream and Bodysnatchers.
I sourced both of these images through Google images and from the following
site.
www.moviepostershop.com
I also used images such as the Dolby Digital Logo, the DVD logo and the BBFC
18+ logo.
I found these at the following sites.
www.Wikipedia.org
www.logos.wikia.com
The only other information that I outsourced was when I was searching for
famous movie taglines to look for inspiration for my own, I didn’t find any that
inspired my actual quote but I did find some that I liked such as “Cocktails first,
Questions Later” & “In space, Nobody can here you scream”.
In conclusion, I believe that I stuck to the original idea for my work quite
comfortably and that the finished product is a good embodiment of the original
idea, with some added touches and evolution as the project went along, ending
up with a more realistic and overall better finished product, one that I am overall
very satisfied with.
Both the poster and the DVD sleeve are appropriate for the audience and
aesthetically are quite nice to look at, as well as sticking to the plot and
guidelines that the genre and plot of the film are aligned with.
I am pleased with the finished product in terms of content and style, because I
believe that although I stuck to my original ideas and templates, I was not scared
to evolve and scrap previous work If I felt that it could be improved.
The finished product is essentially an evolved version of my original vision for
the product.
I feel that it is effective, well put together and portrays every aspect that I
wanted to be portrayed.