19. My trailer evaluation

I will evaluate my trailer in sections so that I don’t overlap myself.

Starting with the story it portrays I feel I was able to cut and rearrange scenes effectively and that the full minute playback makes sense and follows easily. In the making of this I was able to simply mark in and out the parts of a long video that I wanted to utilise and then cut any discrepancies down with the razor tool on the time line. The razor tool was really efficient for removing extras or splitting scenes so that individual points could be altered without it effecting the entire section. This is a technique that I used for the backing track so that I could alter the volume levels differently depending on what was playing at the same time as the music. The piece on a whole plays smoothly I feel and is fairly seamless with the exception of one or two places. As I mentioned in my first trailer write up, I used transitions tactically in some places to remove any jars in the flow of the video. For example, I used a dip to black in between the scenes of Gandalf and Saruman talking and Saruman sitting because it really didn’t fit well at all; I used this transition in particular to emphasize the movement Saruman makes in front of the camera and the dissolve effects didn’t execute this as well as Dip to black did. 

I believe that I used the appropriate transitions and in the appropriate places. I didn’t want to be overbearing with the use of transitions or effects as I don’t believe quantity makes the quality necessarily better. 

I’m happy that I took the time to split the backing track as I mentioned before instead of having one continuous volume all the way through the trailer. I wanted to be able to change the focal points aurally to convey the atmosphere or the dialect that was occurring at that moment of viewing. I sparsely used transitions/effects on the audio track, mainly because I think I achieved what I wanted before adding these in, however the gradient audio transition does remove some of the staccato volume changes. 

I had some trouble with changing resolution and I did not alter the frame rates whatsoever. I mentioned in my trailer blog post that I did not use tools or methods that I learned, such as using a still image to make a moving piece and I know that from this I have lacked to show skills and techniques that I absolutely should have incorporated. Another issue I faced was with the title page image at the very end of the trailer. I made this in Photoshop, but did not set any specific dimensions to it. As a result of this the image was completely enlarged and out of focus when I imported it into Premiere. I had to re-edit this image multiple times, but this has ended being a stretched image instead of one with the correct dimensions. 

To look at the piece as a whole, including the methods I used to achieve it, I know that I could have done much better, but to not be overly critical I am still pleased with the outcome. I stuck to the research I had carried out to keep a theme and atmosphere that correlated with the fantasy genre and if I was to make a comparison I believe that I could pin point similarities in the order and general feel of the information it gives out. 

18. My production company logo evaluation

To summarise and shortly evaluate my production company logo I’ll begin with the tools I used for this part of the module. I used a range of tools in Illustrator to create the image that I have such as the pen tool, the paintbrush tool, fill, framing and anchor selection. 

I had the aid of a graphics tablet for this part of the module, this really helped with the initial outline and the filling in and shading of the tornado. The narrow ended, precise selection helped with using anchor points tenfold and I found it much easier to manipulate the shapes I had created. 

I left this image without backing, frame or text in front of it for a long period of time and I’m still not completely happy with this part as it is. The frame could have potentially been an oval shape, filled with a less abrasive colour; this could have left the text just overlapping the sides slightly instead of everything just sitting in a box. I feel that my logo looks unprofessional now that it is a ‘completed’ section. 

Although I managed to utilise tools successfully, I could have created more complex shapes or have created the tornado using different methods that would have fit the module criteria. I treated this part of the module with far less importance than the three ‘main’ sectors and this affected my work negatively. Next time I would allow more time to focus on parts of the ‘same’ value and orchestrate my working hours for efficiently. 

17. My Disk cover evaluation

To evaluate my disk cover I will first focus on the image I chose to use; I chose this image because it related to something in the trailer, but didn’t feature on the cover. It aesthetically works very well with the placement I have chosen. I layered over a texture to tie in with the worn down atmosphere that I conveyed on the front cover. I didn’t make the same mistake of using dark font and it is much clearer and professional looking as a result. 

A major downfall here is that I was unsure of how to correctly set up the guides so I used a template to achieve the dimensions and this didn’t translate correctly when I printed. The disk cover also loses it’s DVD logo when printed, this is something that I should have corrected. 

I learned about inverse selections and how to remove around the layer you were focused on by using a template, but I believe I used the worst method and I should have tried to find better resources for help in this. Next time I would print out the image more in advance of submission.

Overall I am pleased with the disk cover I created, I believe I used the correct tools for the tasks I put them to and that I was able to cover most of the basics that were set out in the module. 

16. My DVD cover evaluation

I’ll break my cover down into sections to evaluate it.

Starting with the front cover; I’m really happy with the image that I chose for this part. Initially I left it without a filtered texture on top, but I think I made the right decision in putting it on. The pattern it leaves makes the sky atmospheric, but doesn’t seem to affect the building and I think this makes it really leap off of the cover. If I was to reattempt this again I would try to lighten the very top or set the font as white. In hindsight using white font would have tied in with the font on the back cover as well as the disk cover. The title draws away from the authenticity of the rest of the image. I can liken this to a professional level DVD cover and agree that my end result doesn’t look heavily edited or messy in comparison. Although I did not utilise many tools in the making of the this section I think I selected the appropriate effects to achieve my goal for the front cover.  

The spine doesn’t have much complexity to it; I used an image of rust, stretched out to get the color gradient here. I used the text tool for the lettering here, instead of importing the image with the text on already. I’ve copied in some cut out logos; I used the magnetic lasso for snapping to the shapes, so I think I used the quickest tool available for the task. When I first printed the cover I had set the guides up incorrectly and it was far too small, I managed to rectify this really easily by readjusting the guides.

Lastly the back cover; I’m not greatly pleased with the outcome of the back cover. There are aspects of the overall page that I am pleased with, for instance the border around the synopsis. I’m pleased that I elected to make a full one with 4 corner images, I think without creating a full frame in Illustrator it would be impossible to get a tidy result. However, I am unhappy with the way the stills sit on the page, they look unnatural. I tried to rectify the top 3 slightly by lowering the opacity of the middle one, I believe this helps, but overall I could have researched into how to set images down better. 

Overall I can comfortably say that I kept a fair likeness to the types of DVD cover I was trying to ‘fit in’ with, with my cover. I’ve used a variation of tools to create something that covers the basis of the module set out. There is definitely more that could have been done and more utilities and techniques that I could have applied in this. 

15. How the trailer plays

Again, as my plot changed during this module I'd like to just make a small outline of what my trailer should play out with some screenshot of the trailer when it is playing.

The trailer will started with a subdued flash of the Tolkien logo, this immediately links it to an already existing franchise.

This has a dip to black effect at the end which then melds into a scene with Saruman. I've arranged clips from the Hobbit in a backwards order so that it seems as though Saruman is raising Sauron instead of banishing him.

This process covers almost a third of the 1 minute duration we were set for the trailer. Following this I have selected to use some Dialect between Gandalf and Saruman, this explains the story that the film would theoretically follow.

This is one of the places where I had to tactically use a dip to black to make the scenes fit in a more professional manner. At the end of this dialect sequence I used a dip to black again, but this time for dramatic effect. I wanted the speech at the very end to tail off and using this transition definitely helped achieve the result I wanted. Straight after this dialect ends the scene changes into the main villains of the trailer, it shows them riding out followed by their leader donning his garb. 

It will end with a short sequence of one of the Ringwraiths turning round to the viewer. Again for dramatic effect I cut the backing track at this point so that the final line could be heard clearly with no distraction. 

The trailer ends on a Title page as they typically do. 

I struggled to get the dimensions completely correct for this and had to re-edit this multiple times in Photoshop so that it would fit the widescreen. 

This is the title page for the very end of the trailer, as you can see it has become stretched from excessive editing, but it does fully show on the screen with the dimensions set in premiere. 

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14. My Trailer

Unfortunately I had to change from my original idea to use original filming and collaborate that with existing film footage to create the plot idea that I had settled on.

I altered my plan so that I could use solely existing film footage from the Lord of the Rings films and the Hobbit films. I have been able to cut parts of scenes from these trilogys to make a different story for my trailer. I have not been able to showcase any skills that relate to using my own footage, for instance changing the temperatures on clips so that they match the tone and lighting of the existing footage I used.

I have been able to use a variation of skills and tools that are available within Premiere to create this trailer. For starters I arranged my project space with appropriately named bins. I wanted to ensure that all of the fragments that made up the trailer could be easily found.

Import Space

Import Space expanded

Once I had imported the files that I wished to use I worked through them systematically and cut sections from the sequences that I moved over to the timeline. I used the mark in and mark out tools for this function.

As some of the clips have come from different parts of different films I have tactically used transitions such as cross dissolve, non-additive dissolve and dip to black to disguise any minor discrepancies in the footage that I linked together. In a number of places the resolution differs, but unfortunately this is something that I have not been able to rectify. 

My finished timeline

This is the result of my finished timeline. I have the sequences and images running along the first Video line and their own audio attachments below. The last audio line is a backing track that I have added. I used the Razor tool to snip down the audio even though it has not been rearranged, this is so that I could adjust the audio controls for each of the sections. I didn't want the music to overpower any dialect in the trailer, but I did want it to be the main aural piece for every thing else. I have added in some gradient fades to the starts and ends of the audio in some places so that the change in volume is not so drastic. I also reduced the sequences' audio is most places apart from the dialect which I raised to full volume. The module guide laid out that the trailer must not exceed a 1 minute duration and this I managed to successfully achieve; my trailer ends at exactly one minute long.

There are skills that I have that I have not been able to showcase in the trailer that I made such as giving the effect of a still image moving, but I didn't see opportunity in what I wanted to create. 

13. My Disk Cover

I have designed a disk cover to accompany the DVD insert.

This has been made solely in Photoshop using a range of techniques. I first found the image that I wanted to use for the main background cover (below) and set the image size to 1370 pixels. I've used 1370 pixels as the measurement as that is the number that correlates with DPI of 300 and the size of a standard disk cover.

The next step I took was to duplicate a disk cover template into the image I selected for my cover. The template is a 116 millimeter circle with a 23 millimeter hole. I arranged this so that it was covering the part of the image that I wanted displayed on my disk and set the opacity to 20%. I inserted some text in the themed font I have chosen and duplicated in the logos for the rating, DVD and my production company logo. 

For a finishing touch I wanted to add a scratched effect to the main image; I decided on using this image (below) to filter over the whole cover. 

This has opacity set at 34% and I have used the filter Hard Light to obtain the desired result.
I've hidden the layer that contains the disk guide instead of removing it so that this can be shown upon checking the project. 

This is the finished result;

Overall I am pleased with the outcome of this section of the project. I feel the layering effects that I have used work really well with the image that I chose and the decision to color the text white makes the whole piece very aesthetically striking.