The Final Outcome

The Video Trailer

    My idea for the trailer was that it would be a short video with quick flashing clips with dramatic music. The clips would include short dynamic scenes such as running and fighting.
   So I have managed to import into Adobe Premiere the maze runner movie as well as one episode of teen wolf that had interesting scenes with the main actor. After creating the project for a HD fromat video, I have dragged and dropped the videos onto the timeline. Using the selection and the razor tool I was able to split the long videos into small clips. Next, using the selection tool and holding CTRL I have placed key frames and by lowering the opacity levels I was able to create fade effects. I have also imported a dramatic audio track that nicely went along the clips and added to the quality of the movie. Between the clips I have added title clips that had narrative text inside. For the text I have used the well known now Pirluen font to keep the style consistent with the other projects. At the end of the movie I added a rolling title sequence which displayed the cast and the director of the movie.

DVD Label

  When it came to setting up a project file for the dvd label I created the base of the dvd by creating two circle shapes and then merged down the layers. For the dimensions of the circle I used millimeters because this unit is suitable for printing.

  My concept of the dvd label was pretty simple. I wanted to the faces of both characters on each side of the dvd with logos of the movie and a title. 

So using the free transform tools I managed to re size my images so that they both fit well on the label. Using the clipping mask I did not have to trim the images which is very convenient.

Using adjustment layers I increased the brightness and contrast of both images to give them a sharp look. Adding too much contrast was done on purpose to give the characters a sense of importance.

To increase the above effect and level the differences in colour I used a combination of colour balance and brightness/contrast adjustment layers with layer masks to apply these effects with precision.

I have re used images of the title, the dvd logo and the rating sing that I used for my case in order to keep the style consistent

     In order to add some mystery to the image I have created in Illustrator a mysterious logo with letters written on them. These letter relate to the movie and are yet to be deciphered. I also added some maze accents. 

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Amaray Case: The Back and Finishing Touches

   I have managed to finish the back of the case. As you can see its very standard. Using clipping masks I have added images inside frames that have the same texture as the text. I have added critic reviews with ratings. The stars were done in illustrator using the pen and line tool and then filled with color. Trying to keep the same style throughout the project I used the same font for all texts that I have placed as well as reused the erosion texture on the description text.

   Using transparency in a gradient I have created border shadows around each part of the case to give it a more professional look. Also as you can see at the bottom of the back page I have placed a bar code created in Illustrator using the line tool and then imported it into Photoshop. I also acquired rating and dvd logos and placed them in suitable positions so that they don't cover important parts of the image.

Amaray Case: Title and the main theme

      In this post I will describe how I have managed to add the main items to my case project. As you can see on from the image above, I have added images of Theresa and Thomas as well as a monster in the background. As I explained earlier in my post about the design of the cover, I planned on placing the two main characters on the front of the cover. I took snaps from the first move and using selection tools I have cut out Thomas and Theresa. I used the same technique on the monster.
   In addition to this I used adjustment layers to make sure they fit the mood of the background. The problem problem here was that each character was taken from a different scene, therefore the lighting was different for each character. However by using colour levels adjustment layers I was able to manipulate the images so that they fit the mood of the background.

   I have also managed to create the text for the title and the spine of the case. I used the texture image to apply to text to make sure it looks similar to the original font used in the movie. Also I have managed to find out what font is used in the movie. It it called Pirluen bold. Although I couldn't find the exact same font, I was able to download Pirluen Regular, which is a regular version of this font. So I used it in my project to give my fonts similar effect that can be found in the original case. On each font there is a texture layer with a mask that represents the text. There are three of therm, each having different blending mode selected, From top down I've set them to Overlay, Overlay and Multiply. I have done this because this gave me a similar effect to the original font.

Amaray Case: The background

   
    Today I have finished the background of the case. As you cans see from the picture above, I went with the dry desert image because looks more rough and more challenging to face. Also I have added an image of the wall from the maze. This image was taken from a scene in the first move 'The Maze Runner'.
    You can also see that I have used guides. Yes, guides are really important because they helped me define portions of the case such as the back, front and the spine. Additionally, I added guides for the bleed so that I wont place any important images or text within that area.
   As for the background itself, I have  edited it moderately. So firstly I added a hue/saturation adjustment layer that covers the whole image. This was done so that to make the image appear warmer. I had to modify the image of the wall in order to make it look like its a part of the background. So from the original image of the wall I have used the selection tool to select any background and using the eraser tool I have removed all unnecessary parts of the image leaving just the wall and a bush at the front.
     In addition to this I have used that burn tool to darken the shadows and mid tones at certain places of this image such as the wall the sand and the mountains in the back. This was done to give more depth to the image.
     I also used a Colour balance adjustment layer in conjunction with a layer mask to edit the the sky, so that its more vibrant and less yellow, as you can remember the original image had white and yellowish clouds which I did not want in the picture.
   In addition to all this I have tried to create a 'sizzle' or heat effect so that the image would look more realistic and look hot. I've done this by duplicating the original image and using a soft brush removing most of the top image, just leaving the sand. I have changed the filling rate of the second image 86% and applied a Ripple filter. I have made sure it's barely visible because otherwise it would ruin the original image.
 
   

Amaray Case: Project Setup, dimensions and initial images

    So I've looked around the internet to find the specific dimensions of a DVD case so that I can set up my Photoshop file, but it looks like there is no one definitive answer to my question. So I decided that the best way to solve my problem is to get a DVD case and measure it by hand. The results are as follows: Width 276 mm x Height 187 mm (including 3 mm printer bleed).

  In addition to the  with and height i have also set up the colour mode to CMYK because this is the colour format used by printers compared to RGB which is used for digital media. Also the resolution of the image I set to 300 ppi so that it would give me an optimal print quality. I have also saved the preset for this configuration so that I can reuse this setup later on.

On top of this I have done some research for images that could come in handy for my project,

   The first two images that caught my interest are images of a desert. As I said earlier I'm planning on using the theme of a desert as my background. I have looked for high quality images that would be suitable for print and chose the above two. I have yet to decide which if any i'll be using in my project but I think I am more likely to go with the bottom one because it has more depth to it.   

 Also I have managed to find a suitable image for the texture of my font. I am very happy with this image because it looks similar to what I've seen on the original cover image. I chose this image because I think it will blend in nicely and fit the theme of this project.  

Amaray Case: The Design

     In order to create the case for my project I have used Photoshop and a Wacom graphics tablet to create a rough design of what I want to achieve.

     In my design I used reference images of both Theresa and Thomas and sketched both of them. I'm aiming at having something similar as my final result. I decided that I'm going to put both of the main characters at the front of the case because although the movie has its main plot it seams that the future parts of the movie will focus on the mysterious connection between Thomas and Theresa.

   As for the title, I am trying to achieve the same or rather similar typeface effect as it is used on the original case cover image. I am planning on using this font throughout the project.
 
   I also considered the background and came up with the idea of a dessert since as the name suggests (The Scorch Trials) the second movie takes place on a dessert.

   The back and the spine of the case will be rather standard, there is not a lot that can be done there. I am planning on putting some critic review, a description of the movie and some pictures. Also I will try to keep the theme consistent throughout the design.

Decisions decisions...

     As the theme of my graphics project I have decided to create art for a movie. Specifically, I am planning on doing the second film of the Maze Runner series named The Scorch Trials. As the film is yet to come out I will probably end up reusing clips from the first film. I have deiced to use this movie as the theme of my project because I really liked the first movie and I thought I would let my imagination go wild and create box art and a trailer for the next one. Additionally, the main actor that appears in this movie series is Dylan O'Brien which happens to also play in a TV series called Teen Wolf, therefore I could use some scenes from the TV show as well.

     In addition to all this I have managed to get a hold of the cover art of the first installment of the series. I am planning on using it as a reference in order to keep the theme of the Maze Runner consistent throughout my project.

Introduction to Digital Imaging Software

      Welcome to my blog. My name is Dan and in this blog I will be exploring the world of digital imaging software. The main purpose of this blog is to document the process of creating artwork for a CD case and CD label as well as creating media to go on the CD. The theme of this task is completely up to me. The idea is to create complete box set including a movie trailer for a sequel of a movie or game that is already in existence. The main constraint of this project is the genre of the media I'll be producing content for. It can either be film or gaming, the choice is quite limited but I think I have some ideas. I wonder if I could use TV Series for this task. 

     The software I'm going to use in this project is Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator for the graphics part and Adobe Premier for video production, however some other tools might come in handy as well so I will mention how I used them too. I will document every step of the process with explanation of tools used.

  

     The main goal for now is to figure out which category I'll be doing and what it'll actually be about. For now I'm thinking more about doing film as I think I would find more content to work with if I was to choose film. On the other side if I chose gaming I could create the content myself with screen capture. 

     Additionally, I might write about tools and techniques we learned during lectures with pictures of how and what was achieved. During our first lecture we briefly explored the tools of Photoshop. We were given a task to go back in time and make the man in the picture(left) a bit younger.