DVD packaging photos

 The packaging with the simplified outer sleeve, just black stock with a ten cut out showing through the white of the inner sleeve. I also cut a little pull tab out in the shape of a plectrum, thought this would be a nice touch...

The inner and outer sleeve together.

 A little more detail of the ten cut from the black outer sleeve.

The inner sleeve showing through the ten cut from the cover.

 a bit of type detail from the inner sleeve.

DVD Packaging

Screens showing the digital development of my packaging for the DVD. Starting with the outer cover, I was looking to create something that would tie in with my idents and intro sequence visually, so for this I started with a black backdrop, using the type from my motion graphics. Although this was OK I felt it lacked something. After thinking for a while, I came up with the idea that I should use a pack of stings for the CD case, however on realising that the packet for strings was too small, I decided to create something that would look a little like it.
Although most people will never have bought strings, I feel that this is a good way to visually link my packing to my subject matter. Guitar strings tend to come with an outer sleeve, then all the strings are either bunched together in a foil packet or wrapped separately in very thin paper envelopes paper. I went for the second option because of the ease of actually producing this, and also the tactility of having multiple sleeves in different stocks etc.
The screens from the latter part of this document on white backdrops are for the inner sleeve. These I designed to look like string packaging and eventually had printed on a very light white stock that I think gives a really interesting feel. I then decided on reflection to simplify the cover, with the inner sleeve holding the bulk of the information.

Final Sequence.

My final 60 second sequence.

Smoke titles for sequence.

Really pleased with these titles, I think the effect created is strong visually and links well to the ideas I had on my original storyboards. It also gives the impression of a live atmosphere, which is the direction I intended for the animation.

Development of smokey titles.

Titles produced for my sequence following a tutorial based around the creation of smoke from still images. I am very pleased with the outcome of this and as is evident from the screens, the way that the effect gradually builds up. I then went on from the tutorial adding type on a 3-D layer and using an adjustment layer to give a different effect. More like the atmosphere of a live concert, which was the basis for my original idea. I went on and used this technique for the split screens between each of the guitarists within the sequence.

I really love the effect this creates and I think it fits brilliantly with the other subtle animations within my sequence. Using this for the very short number frames between the guitarists may make it a little difficult to read, but I kind of like this in creating a bit of mystery around the actual top ten.

Transition tests.

A test animating with a wah pedal that would be placed with Jimi Hendrix within my final composition. Although this is a little out of time with the musi it is easily rectifiable within the final composition. Surprisingly this was a fairly complicated animation to do as it required animating a mask with the moving parts to block out the parts of the pedal that would overlap.
Another test for a transition, this time using an effects pedal, although I did animate it to a part of the music I removed it to place it into my final composition, and I think it just shows the simple motion of the knobs easily enough without music.
A third test, this time with a wall of vox amps, something Brian May is renowned for. Again animated to music in order to help it integrate.

Transitions?

After a short discussion with Lorraine it came to my attention that the video I currently had was simply an animated slideshow. Although I was aware of this, and I had just put it together to show each of the separate compositions, I really did need to create some kind of transitions between them.

So I took Lorraine's advice and moved off the computer to get some ideas onto paper and think about ways I could transition between the different guitarists.

I started by thinking about what makes each of the players in my top ten great guitarists and why they are so influential, writing down the first few things that came into my head about each of them.

Jimi Hendrix
Hair
Wah pedal
Playing with teeth
Setting guitar on fire

Jimmy Page
'Riffmaster'
Playing with violin bow
double neck SG
Theramin

John Frusciante
Drug use/abuse
Flea
Wheelie bins

Jack White
Stop motion video - button to button
Traingles - seven nation army

Dave Gilmour
The Wall
Pulse
Fluid guitar

Kurt Cobain
Dying at 27 - shot
smashing guitars
energy - teen spirit

Omar Rodriguez Lopez 
Energy
Skinny legs
Effects
Guitar spinning

Tom Morello 
Kill switch
DIY guitars
Pitch shifting

Jonny Greenwood
Multi-instrumentalist
crazy drum machines
hail to the thief

Brian May 
Playing on Buckingham Palace
Wall of Vox amps

Transitions...

A happy accident when leaving a gap between compositions giving a white space led to this. I quite like how quickly the transitional frames are on the screen as it sort of gives an air of mystery about the top ten if you don't manage to read it...It also works to break up the animations and give a little speed/energy.

Final crit

Questions I wrote for answers in terms of feedback. 
 Is the text in the animation readable? on the screen for long enough? big enough? moving too quickly? etc.

Is my blog clear? is it evident what the top ten is?

How could the transitions between the each of the guitarists be improved? (at the minute I have an animated slideshow...)

Is the pace of the animation OK? or does it need to be more energetic?

Does the sound work on the idents?

any suggestions for alternative music/soundtracks for the title sequence (currently going to use the song Kashmir from the Jimmy Page ident.


Will & Frankie 

Strengths 
- Very well put together, transitions
- Idents match music perfectly. Especially the jack white one.
- blog very clear, good use of issuu and vimeo. evident what the top ten is.
-Vectors match imagery and compliment photographs.
Considerations 
- Song for 60 second clip, maybe use a track that hasn't been used yet, Nirvana? Could use audacity to fade tracks together.
- Consider transitions from frame to frame, gaussian blur?
- try stretching the 49 seconds to 60, or an introduction to the title sequence.

Alex & Claudia 
Strengths 
- Well done on getting so much done
- Idents are looking good - can imagine them being on TV
- Blog seems up to date
- Good picture choices, colour works well as links into the photos, well put together
- Type is a strength - brings everything together
- Guitar vectors - really well made.
Areas for improvement
- Need to show more storyboards to show how you've come to the final.
- Pace of animation does need to be more energetic
Considerations 
- text seems fine - is readable  and big enough
- Sound works well on idents
- 60 second one seems like what would be in the actual program - needs to be conveyed more as a title sequence - having the words 'most influential guitarists' would help to explain this - and speeding up the other actions to make room for this
- guitar vectors would look good on the packaging.

All compositions for the final animation.

This video is simply a render of all the compositions I am going to use within my final video. Although there's no audio or transitions between the separate comps I think it shows the movements well.

Interim Evaluation

Design Direction 
Strengths  
Subject with good visuals to work from. Feel I know where it is going in terms of animation and what I've left to do.
Weaknesses 
Choice of animation style could prove a little limiting but can find ways to work around it.

Design Development
Strengths
Coming on Ok, again because I know where I want the visuals be and how I need to go about doing it, I feel a little more confident I'll be pleased with the outcome.
Weaknesses
A lot more to work on and need to get down to animating a lot more substantially instead of creating a slideshow. Thinking more in terms of the transitions would be useful.

Visual Quality 
Strengths 
Good visuals from sourced images and very happy with how they are coming together in after effects, especially with type.
Weaknesses 
Because of the subtleties of the animation I need to find a good way of transitioning between them that may inject some energy into the animation or just tie them all together nicely. Also need a new song to go along with the visuals because my original choice, Kashmir, doesn't really go with the animation.

Technical Competence
Strengths 
My technical competence on After Effects is growing slowly. The workshops are really helpful but still finding after effects very difficult when working without some kind of guidance. Find it's based very much around working methodically/logically/in order.
Weaknesses
My main problem when working in most software packages is the ability to work methodically/logically/in order, even more so when working on multiple layers. I usually try to stick to as few as possible so as not to complicate things but not really possible with animation.


Action Plan
Organise all files and name everything!

Work on transitions between compositions in order to get a more effective title sequence.

Packaging design

Context and design practice blog up to date

Storyboard!

Kurt Cobain Image Manipulation

separating Cobain from the background in order to allow 3-Dimensional motion within the After Effects composition.

Omar Rodriguez Lopez Image Manipulation

Image manipulation with Omar Rodriguez Lopez in Photoshop ready to work with in after effects.

John Frusciante image manipulation.

Image manipulation with John Frusciante in photoshop ready to animate as a 3-d space.

Guitar Vectors

Vectors ready to go into my animations. Here I have given a small amount of information for each guitar and the player who uses it from my top ten. The image was too large to place straight onto blogger, hence the issuu document, but I think it helps with the amount of zoom that is possible. Gives a really clear image of the vectors and I think I've achieved the technical drawing aesthetic I was going for.

Audio for intro sequence.

Stone Free by The Jimi Hendrix Experience.
I chose this song because of the fairly lazy sound of the lyrics etc over the top of the song that has a strong beat and also some interesting points to work with. Such as the cowbell throughout the verses. I also thought it fitting that it were a song by Hendrix, number one in the list of Most influential Guitarists.

Some other choices for song included:
The wind cries mary.
Another Hendrix song that I thought was fitting with the subtle movements in my animation, but I felt there needed to be a little more energy in the video and a little more obvious guitar work.
Little Wing by Jimi Hendrix.
The song I went to after the Wind Cries Mary because of its more obvious guitar work, especially in the solo section, however I thought this one may be a little difficult to fit the motion to.
Led Zeppelin Since I've Been Loving you.
A nice slow number based pretty much entirely around the guitar, hence why I thought it may be fitting for the intro sequence. Ignoring the first few seconds of this live version however, as its a bit much for an intro sequence. Possibly difficult to animate to.
Led Zeppelin Stairway to Heaven
Another fairly obvious choice, however a really iconic rock song despite still being fairly subdued. I was also going to use this version from Madison Square Gardens as the start comes to exactly a minute. However again I chose against it as there's nothing in this section of the song to move it along, like a beat to animate to...

Jack White finalised ident

Final ident for Jack White

Tom Morello finalised ident.

The finalised ident for Tom Morello.

Jimmy Hendrix finalised ident.

The finalised Hendrix ident.

Jimmy Page finalised Ident

The finalised ident for Jimmy Page with the title screen added.