DVD Movie Jewel Case Design

The Ground Rules

• You will provide all untouched images separately in a folder, in their native format, size and resolution.
• The whole project will be contained in one Photoshop file.
• You can create art in other applications, but everything needs to be brought into Photoshop.
• Your piece will include type, so you must provide the fonts you have used. Don't rasterize your type.
• Your piece must have a minimum resolution of 200dpi.
• You must work in RGB.
• You can get photos anywhere. Ownership is not an issue.

Typical Movie Design Elements

Your movie piece will need to include all the mainstays of the typical package. Let's take a look at what that includes. You are not obligated to include all of these elements on your piece, but you will probably use many of them. I suggest you take a gander at a few real examples and decide what you'll use.

Main Elements

• Title
• Celebrity
• Movie Scene
• Movie Review
• Star Rating
• Collector's Edition
• Movie Tag Line
• "Version Française Incluse"
• Synopsis
• Movie Web Site URL
• Awards (Oscars...)

Technical Specifications:

• Dolby
• Credits (In Tall Narrow Font)
• Region Code
• DVD Logo
• Distributor Logo
• Movie Studio
• Record Company Logo
• Soundtrack Available On Cassette Or CD
• Rating
• Canadian Flag (Country Version)
• Bar Code
• Recycle Logo
• NTSC/PAL
• "Supplemental Material Not Rated"
• Copyright Info
• Studio Web Site URL
• Distributor Web Site URL
• Distributor Street Address
• "Made And Printed In The U.S."
• "Dual Layer Format"
• "Colour: Digitally Re-Mastered"
• Bonus Features:
• • Out-Takes
  • Never-Before Seen Footage
  • Alternate Endings
  • Commentary (Director's ...)
  • Trailers
  • Teaser-Trailers
  • Game Preview
  • Virtual Tours/Interactive Content
  • Interview With Film Makers And Authors And Celebrities
  • Making Of....
  • Deleted Scenes

DVD Features:

• Running Time
• Subtitles
• Languages
• Full/Wide Screen
• Surround Sound
• Captions

How to get an "A"

Effort:

This is not a project in which to be minimalist. You need to find a balance between overloading with gratuitous Photoshop effects and artful use of the tools you learned this semester.

Maintain editability:

This is the main goal of this assignment. Make sure you isolate graphics on Layers. Use masks to erase areas, not erasing actual pixels. You can also use Clipping Masks. When you mask a layer, make sure you do it completely. I don't want to see masks that are all scribbled. Mask the whole canvas to reveal only the image.

Some editing will be destructive, like using the transform tool. This is why you are giving me all of your untouched images in a separate folder. If you can, duplicate the Layer before you do a destructive transformation.

Name your layers:

Every layer needs to me named. Even Adjustment Layers. Everything. You shouldn't even have them numbered. Name them more contextually.

Use layer sets to organize your work. If you have a photo montage on the front of your piece, create a set to keep it together. This will help me see how you put things together, and it will help you stay organized.

Don't scale images up:

Start your project in Photoshop by dragging your images into Photoshop. At this point you can use free transform to scale them down. Don't stretch them bigger — it will show. Contrary to popular belief, the blur filter doesn't hide the pixelation caused by re-sizing.

Use vector shapes:

All the logos on your piece should be in vector format in Photoshop. If you copy and paste from Illustrator, select "Vector Shape" from the resulting dialog box. Vector shapes in Photoshop are the most flexible way of doing things.

Include the right stuff:

Make sure you refer to the list at the bottom of this page. It includes all of the elements found on DVD packages. Make sure you include them. You won't use them all, but make sure your piece has the right ones, depending on your movie.

Creativity:

Make sure your design looks like a movie piece. These have typical visuals which we really expect.

Identity design:

No matter what your project is, you need to design your own identity for it. Make it appropriate. Make it original.

You're expected to go heavy on the Photoshop, but make sure you do this is a considered way. Do not use effects for nothing. Make them appropriate to the movie.

Use the right type:

You should have one or two main type faces for your piece. There will be more of them for the various logos and such, but the type which is directly related to your movie should be fairly limited.

Make sure you supply all the fonts you use. Photoshop has no package function, so you'll need to keep track of the fonts you use.

When you are typing a single word or line, just click with the Type tool and do your thing. This is called point type. If you are typing a paragraph, drag a text box with the type tool. This is called area type. Photoshop has great type features. Use them. They are similar to the ones from InDesign or Illustrator.