Media ProjectThis unit will help you to demonstrate your ability to put Into practice skills and knowledge learned elsewhere on the course, and to work independently and creatively on a media project.

You have using photoshop to create differing types of digital media over the past few weeks,

Now its time to think about how it is used inThe media industry, in particular, itsUsefulness to create DVD menus.

DVD came out around the mid way point of1999, and since its arrival it has overtakenThe VHS tape as the dominant format in Which to provide us with moving imageEntertainment, from films and TV shows.

One of the other advantages of the DVD was the amount of space a Disc could have to put a film on as well as supplementary extra features such as behind the scenes documentaries, trailers, still galleries as well as film maker commentaries. But for you to access all of these, and unlike the capability of a VHS tape, you have to navigate your way through menus, which for instance allow you to access set up options (subtitles turned on/off, 5.1 sound or mono to be played),

Menus therefore also have to try and reflect the content and visuals of the actual film its selling.

The above menu is for the film Cars by Disney. Look at the colours and where things have been placed. Do you agree with the look? Is it pleasing to the eye or not enough going on? What would you do differently?

Formative Activity Brief

STUDENT NAME: Jamie Coulson TUTOR: Dave Hastings

GROUP: B-TEC NATIONAL Year 1

Write your answer here: On this scene selection screen, each of the scenes are spaced equally from each other in an orderly fashion so that it is organised, clear and easy to navigate with a DVD remote. One of the characters from Cars is situated in the centre for decoration. The colours used in the menu are used to reflect a nightlife-esque theme, the colours work well with each other and the layout is easy on the eyes due to the rounded edges on the corners. The colours are vibrant and have a hint of sleekness within them making it more attractive.

I would like you to try and find a DVD menu for a film/TV show that is one of your favourites. Once you have done this, I would like you to present it to a friend who has no idea what the product is about, no knowledge at all (what is its story, themes, characters etc), and ask them whether they can tell what it means. What would they expect from the DVDs main content/film/show based on its DVD menu design.

Remember, to ask them to think about colours being used - why have they used a blue colour instead of red for instance? (Blue can mean chilled out, is it a comedy then? Or maybe its blue to demonstrate a sad film/show)). Are the makers trying to make you feel this through the designed DVD menu?

What spacing is there? Remember, this could help you decide who is the main characters(s). An order of importance?

Place the DVD menu here in your work and then ask your friend to write down their conclusions in the box below.

If you have got this far, I would like to see you now think about designing a DVD menu on photoshop.

You must watch the youtube link below so you know what the DVD will be hosting and use your own creativity to then think how you can reflect the film in a dvd menu of your own making.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2I91DJZKRxs

Use the following page to write down ideas (what to show, what to not) and research (who stars in it? Who is the main characters? Does the film have a specific font style? Are you going to show images from the film itself? Where will your buttons be? What buttons will you use? Colours you want to highlight?)

One the next page are various DVD menus you may have come across your time. I would like you to rate each style out of 10 (10 being excellent, 1 being Bad), and give a brief comment on why you have rated it this way

Rating (out of 10) ..............10..............

Reasons for your rating: All of the menus feature the same colour theme and are entirely related to the theme of the film, they feature two of the main characters of the film in the menus creating a link between the menu and the film. And the menus are particularly appropriate for a child audience. The highlight is in bold yellow so is easy to navigate.Rating (out of 10) ..........7..........

Reasons for your rating: Whilst the menu seems quite basic, it relates well to the theme of the film (being based around the Indian “Who wants to be a Millionaire”) It uses both western and eastern fonts. However there isn’t much going on in this menu and could be seen as dull. From this picture the highlight isn’t visible either.Rating (out of 10) ...........7..........

Reasons for your rating: This is a simple yet effective menu using monochromatic colours to reflect the era of the TV show. The screen is also easy to navigate (full circle indicates the selected option)Rating (out of 10) ..........8..........

Reasons for your rating: This menu design is very gritty and the dark, dingy colours do well to reflect the horror theme.

Notes