[dorkiness]

So in the summer me and my friends started filming a fun film, it's about twenty minutes long, called the Cheez Whiz Movie. It's about my friend Jackie who goes on a journey to get some Cheez Whiz. It's pretty silly, but funny, and cute. Anyway, we've kinda let the project rest a bit but now we're finishing it up. I'm making a DVD of it for all my friends involved, because we're the main characters. I just want some help on the DVD design.

These are the two I have:
 DVD2_copy.png (464.55K)
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This one has the main character on the front.

 DVD3.png (464.43K)
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Same design, but I moved the text above Jackie's head up so there's less space, and you can center her better.

 DVD_copy.png (134.51K)
Number of downloads: 0
This one has a striped layout following the colour scheme of the rest of the DVD. I plan to put a picture of Jackie in here too, but with a different pose. I was gonna use the pose from the first cover, but I'm too lazy to cut out the background so I want to take one with a solid background that I can get rid of easily.

The white boxes will have screen shots from the movie.

This post has been edited by dorkiness: 31 January 2008 - 07:10 PM

[Darkstalker]

I lol'd. Pretty cool that you did this, though.

[Sway]

What exactly are you looking for in terms of help?

[dorkiness]

Well, I want to know if anything looks akward or off, if the colours work well, if there is any spelling mistakes, if I missed anything, things I should remove or add, etc. Basicly any criticing I guess, because I want it to look nice. I also need some ideas for extras to include, I had a list a while ago but I lost it.

[Sway]

Okay, well...

I think the second one is the best. The added space you've given your subject works better and gives some breathing room. I do think you should give a shadow to your top text to be consistent, and either take it out of "Extras" on the back, or add it to the critic quote.

I like the colors you've chosen. The red, blue, and yellow-orange are very close to primary colors, and so they contrast well. The blue you chose for the text outlines goes with the main blue nicely.

I'm impressed that you allowed the back synopsis to follow the flow made by the screen shots; it definitely unifies things on the back in a way that would not be possible otherwise. Is that text within a path? If so, kudos on knowing some more obscure Photoshop stuff.

For spelling/grammar: All in the second paragraph -- there's no space between "Cheez" and "Whiz", or the comma and "Jackie". "Dads" should have an apostrophe.

Extras ideas: Audio commentary, alternate ending, cast and crew interviews, soundtrack, Cheez Whiz commercial reel, mini cooking show featuring dishes that use Cheez Whiz.

Anyway, some things I'd change: For one, I'd definitely try to take a new picture. The one you have is much too plain. I'd definitely try to take some shots that you can cut her out of and place her in another scene. For example, you could have her standing in a wide stance, holding the Cheez Whiz above her head with two hands, looking up, and then place her on a cliff/mountain and have the Cheez Whiz struck by lighting, in Excalibur fashion. At the very least, get a less busy background.

I would also like to see the movie logo and tagline positions switched, although I'd like to see the tagline more off to the side and smaller, actually. It might not work, but I'd just try it. It's mainly the headline name in relation to the title that looks off a bit right now.

The margins are pretty good, because DVD covers have terrible margins, but the studio logo and Cheez Whiz shot on the spine should be shrunk and moved in just a tad, because you won't be able to see the whole thing when it's bent around an actual DVD case. Also, I hope you are aware that the size of the cover should be approximately 10.8"x7.25" at 300 dpi. You may know this, but I'd like to save you some trouble. You'll need legal size paper or larger to print this way as well.

There's more to say, like adding a UPC, copyright info, the DVD logo, etc., but that's all a matter of choice on your part, so either way is fine.

Hope this gives you some ideas.