Magazine layout

This the layout of the magazine article I created about graphics, softwares and file formats. This was created on Adobe Indesign and is not fully finished yet, this is just a basic layout of the article, it will be finished soon.

Websites used for graphic file formats research

These are the websites and the links of the websites I used to find information about each format:

http://whatis.techtarget.com/fileformat/WMF-Metafile-Microsoft-Windows

                           

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BMP_file_format

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adobe_Illustrator_Artwork

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portable_Network_Graphics

http://www.fileformat.info/format/tiff/egff.htm

http://pc.net/glossary/definition/jpeg

Graphic File Formats

JPEG (Joint Photographic Experts Group)- A JPEG is a compressed image file format, they are not limited to a certain amount of colour making it the best format for compressing photographic images. If you come across a large, colourful image on Google Images it will most likely be a JPEG.

TIFF (Tag Image File Format)-TIFF is a standard file format found in most paint, imaging, and desktop publishing programs and allows storage of multiple bitmap images of any pixel depth, makes it ideal for most image storage needs.

PNG (Portable Network Graphics- A PNG is a raster graphics file format and is used to compress the image and is usually found in Photoshop and Illustrator.

BMP (Bitmap Image File)- The BMP format is mostly used for raster graphics to save image files. The format stores colour data for each pixel in the image without any compression needed. This will give the image a crisp, high-quality image.

PSD (Photoshop Document)- A PSD is specially made for Photoshop and it's when you can save it as this file format and you can still view the image you created and also edit the image if you wish to.

AI (Adobe Illustrator)- For this format only Adobe Illustrator can read it and is based on a PDF, when you save it as an AI file you can view it and also sill edit it just like a PSD.

WMF (Windows Metafile)- WMF is a file extension used with Microsoft Windows, they can contain vector and bitmap graphics.

Vector Graphics

Vector graphics are smooth lines and curves made with mathematical equations. No matter how much you zoom into the picture it will stay smooth and will not go into pixels. If you re-size or change the colour of the image it will not lose the quality of the image. The software used to make a vector graphic image is Adobe Illustrator but bitmap softwares such as Photoshop are more popular because they are used more frequently than vectors.

Bitmap Graphics

Bitmap Graphics, also called Raster Graphics are images made up of of millions of pixels with a specific location and certain colour value. They are the most popular image graphics and are used for photographs and images found on the internet. If you zoom into a bitmap image it will start to look jagged and if you continue to zoom in you will see the pixels which look like blocks coloured in different shades.

Evaluation

Skills Acquisition:
I already had general knowledge about Photoshop and Adobe Illustrator and I produced different work designs to increase my skills in these softwares. I also learned a range of transferable skills and techniques through a series of tasks using Adobe applications. I created a portrait of myself on Illustrator and also manipulated a photo in Photoshop to make it 'perfect'. In my proposal I wanted to make it look 80's style Sci-Fi and make it look realistic which I have achieved in my opinion. I wanted to show my cinematography style as well so I added shading to the actors and in Photoshop I made the back more colourful.
I created a poster in Photoshop using green-screen elimination so I took photos of people in front of the green-screen such as this one:

This helped me create better imagery and make it look more realistic because I was using real people for the poster/DVD sleeve. If I didn't use real people for the poster it would look fake and unrealistic.







Research/ideas stage:
I looked at different fonts and title names using a website and looked at the Sci-Fi category and had a thorough look at the different fonts and after looking round for a while I chose to use the font "Dodger' as it had a Sci-Fi look to it and reminded me of other Sci-Fi films such as; Guardians of the Galaxy and Blade Runner. Here is the font I chose:

The final title I chose was 'InFamous' mainly because the Playstation game series "Infamous" is one of my favourite game series of all time and also because I like the definition of the word, it means; known for being bad which fits the story of the film.

The story synopsis of the film is: "James, a robotics engineer was living a happy, normal life with his beautiful wife until one day she doesn't come home and James finds out she has been brutally murdered by a gang of bandits and is then framed for her murder and all the other crimes the gang has done. Gagging for revenge James leaves and goes after the bandits wanting revenge but his journey takes some unexpected turns along the way."

I also wrote about five different Sci-FI posters to give me a better understanding of what to put on my poster. I looked at the films; Looper, Pacific Rim, Guardians of the Galaxy, Edge of Tomorrow and Inception. From analysing these posters I noticed that they are all colourful and they all have the main characters on the front of the poster and that they all have a strong Sci-Fi background behind the characters to show they're going to be a mainly Sci-Fi style film.

The last thing I made was a proposal for the film idea to give to the teacher and also to use as an official proposal. In the proposal it included things such as; Format and Medium, The Sector and The Genre of the film. I found this useful because it shows I can plan projects in advance and be able to show that I can create a whole film and poster/DVD sleeve and make a form and medium for it.

Digital Design Stage:
To get the ideas for my poster and DVD sleeve I already had a rough idea of what I wanted the poster/DVD sleeve to look like, the main thing I wanted was a futuristic city as the background to show the audience it takes place in a city, so I Google searched for some and I found a city that is from one of the films I got my ideas from, Guardians of the Galaxy. The image was large and suited the background well:
The only problem with the image was the strange large object in the background, I didn't like it being there so I removed it using the patch tool.

The rest of the design stage I did as I was making the poster/DVD sleeve because I can picture it easier in my head than drawing it on paper or roughly designing it on a software, the only other rough idea I had was that I wanted the main characters in the middle of the picture and also have a large planet in the background. I Googled planets and found an image from the TV show Doctor Who, the image had the perfect planet to use in the background:

The planet in the background was perfect for the poster/DVD sleeve because it gives a better effect as the fading shows it is far away yet extremely large and was much easier to manipulate and change.







 Evaluation of final design:
This is the final poster and DVD sleeve I made:

In my proposal I aimed to make the poster look dark yet colourful to give it a unique look and give it a 1980's-1990's look. My target has been achieved because I chose a Blade Runner looking font and put a white background behind it so it stands out more and gives it that 1980's-1990's look. I also wanted to make it look dark yet colourful and I achieved that by colouring the city a dark blue colour and making the sky colourful to give it that look I wanted it to have. To show it is a Sci-Fi based film I added the Millennium Falcon, a large planet and a futuristic city so the audience are certain it's a a Sci-Fi movie. The Millennium Falcon is (in my eyes) the most famous spaceship in movie history making it so iconic to Star Wars and film fans so having it on my poster will catch their attention and will also prove to them it is going to be set in space or a distant planet because of that ship.

The poster compared to the sleeve is different in many small ways because on the sleeve all of the studio logos and official labelling is at the back so the front can look more appealing to the public and will catch their eyes when looking at different DVDs. While on the poster all of the official labelling is on the front because it doesn't have a second layer to put them on.

I placed the main characters in the centre of the poster and DVD sleeve to show they are the most important people in the film. The facial expressions of the main characters are serious looking to show the audience they are going to be serious and mean business. For the lighting I put a light to the left of them so half of their face is dark to show the darkness of the characters and also the darkness of the film. The body language of the characters are stiff and bold, they are holding guns, this is all to show how serious the film and characters are going to be.

Faults:

By mistake I rubbed out part of the tall building in the background and I couldn't fix it so to hide it I added a large explosion. The explosion also makes the poster look better because it shows the audience the film is going to be action-packed.

The summary of the film at the back of the DVD sleeve is too long, the sentences have a large gap between them and gives it a stretched look when it should be closer together to give it a better look.

One of the areas on the Millennium Falcon is slightly rubbed out and coloured in but is very hard to notice and I couldn't do anything about it because I didn't notice it until near the end.

At the back of the DVD Sleeve next to the reviews I  accidentally rubbed out some of the poster and I couldn't undo it and then I added a colour to the background and it made it stand out even more.

DVD sleeve updated version:

I had to apply some changes to the DVD sleeve to make it look more realistic, I added the Ultra Violet online sticker at the front and the details about it at the back because most DVDs these days have the Ultra Violet add-on. I also added a special features box as a lot of DVDs have special features so this helps add to the realism. I added small pictures that are supposedly from the film to show the buyer what it looks like and is also like a teaser for the film. The last thing I added is a barcode to add to the realism and also the age rating 15 to make it seem more legit.

Movie DVD Sleeve Final Product

Movie Poster

This is the final poster for my movie poster idea called "Infamous"

Proposal for a poster

Matthew Mellors 30/09/14

Proposal for Creative Media Production Project:

Format and Medium: Print Movie Poster

Sector: Film marketing material will be crucial in magazines, the sides of buses and billboards.

Working Title: InFamous

Genre: Sci-Fi, Comedy, Action-These genres mixed together will create a Sci-Fi look to it while also having action sequences and hints of black-comedy into it to make it more entertaining and so it's not so serious and the audience can have a breather from all the action happening.

Intended audience and age: The audience for this poster is aimed at 15+ due to the comical side of the film and the overall story and they are going to be into that genre of films because it will look very sic-fi looking and also like films such as; Star Wars and The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy.

Summary of Content: James, a robotics engineer was living a happy, normal life with his beautiful wife until one day she doesn't come home and James finds out she has been brutally murdered by a gang of bandits and is then framed for her murder and all the other crimes the gang has done. Gagging for revenge James leaves and goes after the bandits wanting revenge but his journey takes some unexpected turns along the way.

Summary of Style: The film will look like a cross between Guardians of the Galaxy and Star Wars but feel like Taken and The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy. It will look like this to give it a unique look and the Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy will give it that comical side to it.

Legal and Ethical Considerations: To not upset any social groups I would need to avoid being racist and have no nudity involved in the poster or any swear words on it. I will be doing this so the film doesn't get hate from the general public or make the film controversial.

The BBFC film rating:
*Violence
*Frequent Strong Language
*Drug Taking

Advertising Standards Authority:

Because of the films subjects I would have to not make the films imagery offensive or harmful to a younger audience so I don't upset them or make them repeat the words said in the film.

The films poster will not include any use of alcohol consumption so it does not affect the younger audience or influence them to drink alcohol under the age limit.

Skin Smoothing on Photoshop

Before

After

To create this skin smoothing look I firstly used the 'spot healing brush tool' and removed all the spots and freckles one at a time, then when that was finished i duplicated the layer and went onto the the filters and clicked on 'smart blur' and then it made the picture slightly cartoony. We added a mask onto that layer and chose the colour black and I used the paint brush and started to bring back her eyes, lips etc but left the skin to give it a smoother look. This shows us how easy it is for magazines and products to make women and men seem "perfect" when they look incredibly fake, the whole industry of photohopping men and women has taken away the idea of natural beauty and made millions of people insecure about how they look because of these pictures they create.

What is on movie posters

This shows us what was is on movie posters so then we know what we can put onto ours so it looks more professional.

Sci-Fi Poster Analysis

Guardians of the Galaxy

This poster shows the four main characters in the film, the 'Guardians'. It is very colourful but certain aspects of the poster stands out such as their costumes, the sky and Gamora's skin and hair. The bright colours show the audience that it's not a dark scary film and that it actually shows it's a fun film for people to watch. The main actors names are at the top of the poster and are in a bold font. The title of the film is a bright colour and also looks worn out and rusted.

Inception

The Inception poster has a blue overlay over it to give it a cold feel to it. The main title is large, bold and red which signifies that it is mysterious. The tagline is near the centre of the poster and the main actor is above all the other main stars and then below that is advertisement of another film and shows that the director is recognisable. The imagery in the poster is a lot different to normal Sci-Fi posters as it gives you clues of what the film is about and that it is strange because part of the city is being moved over them. The main stars are all looking around the poster in a clueless way and are on a small scale compared to the rest of the poster. 

Pacific Rim

 The Pacific Rim poster has a blue and orange overlay, the main Jaegar (robot), Gypsy-Danger is the largest object on the poster and has a light shining around it, the other Jaegars are beside it in action. Gypsy Danger is the most colourful object in the poster and shows how large it is by making it walk in the ocean.The title is in large bold letters with a colourful orange rip behind it. The actual camera shot is looking up at them to also show us how large they really are.

Looper

This poster has the two main stars at the front (Joseph Gordon-Levitt & Bruce Willis) with these strange little pieces coming off them and the city below them which links to the story of the movie as Bruce Willis is the future version of Joseph Gordon-Levitt and they inter-wine into one story. It has a blue overlay because it is a Sci-Fi movie giving a futuristic look. The title of the film is widely spaced which could show the space between their lives.

Edge of Tomorrow

The edge of Tomorrow poster has got the two main characters at the front (Tom Cruise & Emily Blunt) in a war zone from the movie with futuristic helicopters falling from the sky. The title is in a large bold font and the "Tomorrow" is red and not a silver colour which links to the movie because he dies and repeats the day. The main stars names are above the title in large text to show the dominance these two actors have compared to the rest. 

The Dark Knight Poster Analysis

We analysed The Dark Knight movie poster to give us an idea of what our posters should look like and what should be in it.

Adobe Illusrator

We went on Adobe Illustrator and made a cartoon of ourselves using Vector Graphics.

Original Photo

Vector drawing

Five different types of research.

*Bold and metallic, large letters shows authority and that it is serious.

*Has sharp, straight edges like knives or something military style like bullets.

*The letters are really close together shows there is going to be tension, this font would be better in a pitch black colour or a very dark grey.

*This font has a medieval type look and is a good font for Historical Drama because it has a historical look to it and also looks dramatic with all the sharp pointed edges.

*The font will look better in a dark brown or a dark red colour as they are the most commonly used colours in TV medieval dramas.

*This font looks like it has been written with a quill and ink, which is commonly used in old romantic films when they write a love letter.

*It shows that it has been done with care because it has smooth curved edges and flicks at the end of some of the letters.

*Large, Bold letters and edge on the inside of some of the letters makes it look like it is on the inside of a space ship.

*The large bold letters show that it is serious and not ‘playing games’.

*Has spiked edges like knives could signify murder and violence just like horror films.

*The letters are widely spread apart and not close together which could show mystery.