Charley Longden

Treatment

Techniques –

Client Requirements - In my project, I am working as a junior for a record label in their DVD design and production
department. They have asked me to design and produce a DVD menu for a taster DVD they are about to release for
one of the bands/artists on their label. The DVD must link to five short video clips which are no longer than 30
seconds each showing the artist/band best releases and details about the band. In a meeting with the client we
found that the client wants: To research and plan by creating 4 storyboards, a detail page, an opening screen, a
contents page and an additional page, we also need to brainstorm our ideas, the client also wants us to create this
DVD on director, using the stage size 1024 x 768, the client also wants there to be controls on the DVD, including
working navigation, and controls on the videos we use, we also need to use quality illustrations and a quality stage
design, the whole project must be creative, also the client wants there to be some multimedia content but not too
much as it needs to be professional looking. The band or artist we choose must have music videos with the songs
they have released because I will be making work very difficult for myself if I don’t. I will be mined mapping a list of
bands I would like to use, then I will carefully choose one of these bands to make my DVD Menu for.

Create timeline – This is my ILP, which is what I will be using as my timeline throughout my project, as you can see it
clearly manages my time very specifically which is good because I can see whether I am on track to meeting the
deadline, it also helps because it motivates me to complete each piece of work in the time that the ILP allows me.
Also on my ILP, there is a session review at the end of each lesson, which I write what I have done in that session,
this helps me because I can look back to see how far I am and what I have got to do. On my ILP, I could set myself
milestones or targets to complete certain things in a certain amount of time, this also helps because I will push
myself to meet these milestones on time.

Importing Material – To create my DVD project, I will be using Director. My aim is to create an interactive media
project which allows the client to navigate through a DVD, watching videos of their best hits, and finding information
about the band. The assets I will choose will be imported into director so that I can make the project look good. Any
adjustments or bits of editing I need to do will be done before I import them into director to save confusion at a later
stage. Graphics are very easy to import and use in director, however sometimes you can have problems importing a
video. In my DVD, I will have to import lots of different assets so that the project is interesting and has a professional
feel. The material that I will be importing are mainly videos and images. I will choose this material by researching
online, the assets I use need to be high quality so they look professional but I need to be careful of file size because if
I use images of too high quality it will inflate the file size massively. I also need to make sure that the assets are
appropriate for people under the age of 18 and therefore there can be no bad language and no nudity. The videos I
choose cannot be too long as that will also increase the file size, also if I use videos of too high a quality, they will
likely struggle to run because Director is an old piece of software. So therefore, I will probably have to edit any
videos I use to make them shorter.
Charley Longden

Selecting Images – Images in a DVD menu are a crucial thing, if the user doesn’t have images to look at, they will
easily get bored and not want to continue reading. The images and graphics I select in my project need to be of high
quality and they cannot have a pixel look, because if the images are low quality then the project will not look
professional. Therefore, I will carefully select a few images online which are both high quality and appropriate. The
images I would like to use are going to be of the band, probably while they are playing live or at a concert. It is
important that I don’t use too many high-quality images because I must be careful of the file size, if the file size is too
big then the project might not run on certain computers, so I will only use one or two images per page. Any images I
use, I would like to edit them on photoshop, my initial ideas are to change the opacity to make them slightly more
opaque, this will make the images slightly blend in, this may sound like a small adjustment, however this will make
the project look much more professional.

Selecting Sound – My DVD menu needs sound, I will be carefully selecting the bits of sound I use from the band’s
music videos. I need to be careful while selecting this as I cannot add any bad language or inappropriate videos, this
includes not having any drug use, not having any nudity in the video or sexual scenes. I also need to be careful of file
size and video quality, the videos I use need to be a good enough quality so that the user can see clearly what is
happening, but I also need to be careful to not use videos of too high quality because the file size will be too large
and my project needs to run on all computers. Most of the band’s music videos have been uploaded to YouTube,
where I can choose what quality I want the video, I can them download them from YouTube converter onto my
computer, once they are on my computer I can make any edits or changes that I need to do, I also need to cut the
music video down to 30 seconds’ maximum, I will do this on the software projector. From here, I can import them
into director and add them to my DVD menu. I will need to add controls to these videos because some people will
not want to watch the videos on a loop and therefore I will add a pause and play button when creating the project
on director.

Creating Text – In my DVD Menu, a crucial feature is text. The text I use will be where all the information and detail
about the band will be. The text will not be as persuasive as my last multimedia project, it will be more informative,
telling the user about the band. It could be slightly persuasive to make the user want to listen to the band before
they get the chance to. The text I use will probably be inside a scrolling text box as I think they are effective and an
easy way to get lots of text into a small text box, also a scrolling text box adds to another multimedia feature, which
we need to add some of, however it states on the brief that there doesn’t need to be too many multimedia features
because the DVD Menu needs to look professional, and not too in your face. The text size I use will also be important
because the text size cannot be too small because the user won’t be able to read it, however it cannot be too big
because then it won’t look professional and it will be too in your face.
Text Size - 10

Text Size - 12

Text Size - 14

Text Size – 16
Text Size - 18
Charley Longden

Chaptalisation – The DVD Menu I am going to make will be split by different pages, in this case “chapters”, the
different pages I will be creating are, home page, contents page, sub contents page and music page. Each of these
pages need to be consistent and professional looking. The home page will have large images of the band, the band
logo and an enter button, the home page should be simple and clear, but it also needs to look good. The user needs
to clearly know what the DVD Menu will be about when they see the home page, I could even add sound to this
home page by having the option of listening to a small segment of one of the red-hot chili peppers songs, if it is
controllable, the purpose of having a home page is to have a nice introduction to the DVD Menu, the homepage sets
the tone of the whole DVD Menu, as the layout needs to be consistent. The contents page will have three main
options, Music, Information and Home page, If the user clicks the music page, it will take them to the sub contents
page, if they click the information page, it will take them to a page with information and details about the band, if
they click the home icon, it will take them back to the home page, and if they click on the information page button, it
will take them to a separate page which will give the user lots of facts and figures about the band, the information
page will also be where the social media links are. The sub contents page will have five links to five different red hot
chilli peppers songs, and the links will take them to five different music pages, these songs will be, By the way, Under
the Bridge, tell me Baby, Can’t Stop and Dani California. The music page will be where the user can watch a small clip
of a red hot chilli peppers music video, with the song, this clip can be no longer than 30 seconds. I will probably add a
small bit of information about that song, like the number of downloads it has had, and which album the song is from
if I have time, however this is not crucial because the user will be able to find these facts in the information page. I
will also use images on each of these pages to make the pages more interesting, these images will be in the same
places on each of the pages because the layout needs to stay consistent, I will probably edit these images on
photoshop to make them blend in slightly.

Identify Links – In my DVD Menu, there will have to be links between the page. These links need to be clear as we
cannot expect that everyone will know how to use our website; therefore, it would be an idea to have user
instructions, user instructions are small comments which tell the user what to press to go onto a different page. All
my links need to go to where they say they go or else it will end up confusing the user. An example of the links I
would like to use is from the contents page to the sub contents page. I will create these links on director by using the
go to frame x tool, this is a very simple tool which allows you to type in the fame which you want the link to go to,
and it works every time. I have made the links very clear by creating a Navigation chart which clearly shows how
each page will link, I will have a home and back button on each page so that the user always has an option to go back
if they choose.

Identify rollover buttons – In my DVD Menu, I am very likely to use rollover buttons. Rollover buttons are effects on
images that when you hover your mouse over the image, it changes to a different image. I believe that these
rollovers add an engaging and interesting feel to the images. I will probably use rollovers on the home page, but not
the whole way through, because the client stated that they want it looking professional not too in your face, and I
think that overusing the rollovers will make the product look less professional. However, if you use these rollovers
right, it can make the project look great. Another way of using rollovers is in text, for example if you hover your
mouse over a back button, it might change colour to clearly show that the user is about to click on that button, I
believe this is good because it makes it even more clear for the user, and I believe that the product needs to be clear.
It was stated in the client meeting however, that the use of multimedia features is not as important as the last
project, so using rollover buttons will only be for aesthetic use, rather than it being a must do.

Identify visual effects – Some examples of visual effects are, rollover buttons, cycle graphics and transitions. These
visual effects can make the project more engaging and exciting for the user, because it adds a level of interest rather
than just using a project that doesn’t move or change. However, a disadvantage to using visual effects is that it can
make the project too in your face which is a problem when you’re trying to create a professional looking product.
Therefore, I will use these effects but only in a small amount, as I don’t want to lose the professional effect. You
often see people who have created DVD Menus add small amounts of visual effects because they can be clever and
add some personality to the Menu.
Charley Longden

Identify sound effects – On my product sound effects are an option to add another feature. Sound effects are often
used with a clicking noise when a button is pressed, these sound effects can be effective if used right, however
because I will be promoting a band, I feel like it is unlikely that I use sound effects, as I will already be using sound,
with the band’s music. If I was to add sound effects it would be to go along with the buttons to add another feature,
this could make it slightly more interesting to use however I don’t believe that sound effects would add too much to
the project, so I feel like I would be giving myself unneeded extra work. Another way I could use sound in my DVD
Menu is by adding music, this music could play automatically when the user opens a page, this music could be useful
as we are doing this DVD Menu for a band, I will definitely be using some of the band’s music because I am adding
video clips from the band’s music videos, however the automatic music could play on the home page to add more
interest for the user, if I was to do this, I would have to add controls, as the user might not want to listen to the
automatic music.

Functions and elements –

Buttons – In my DVD Menu, one of the crucial elements to making it successful is buttons. The buttons are what
makes it clear for the user on how to navigate through, on my product I would like to add a home button, back
button, exit button and possibly an enter button. Each of these buttons need to work, and the links need to go to the
correct places or else the user might end up getting confused and go off the page. I will make these buttons as clear
as I can by finding images online to use as the icons, I will probably edit them on photoshop to get rid of their
backgrounds, I do this to make the whole project look more professional. I could add rollovers to these buttons to
make them clearer and to add an engaging effect to these buttons, I would do this by changing the colours of the
buttons in photoshop and then importing the new coloured buttons into director, and creating the rollover, by doing
this it makes it clearer which button the user is about to press. To make it even more clear I could add user
instructions. User instructions are basically small messages to tell the user what to click to get to a certain place, for
example “Click the image to learn more.” User instructions are good for people who don’t know their way around a
computer very well.

Backgrounds – On my backgrounds for my DVD Menu I would like to use the same image the whole way through, I
think it is likely that the background is an image of the band, possibly while they are playing live, I could edit the
image I use by changing the effect to fit in with everything else on the DVD Menu. I think it is important to use the
same image the whole way through the project so that the layout can stay consistent. Backgrounds add a little bit
extra detail to the pages, all the professional products for artists and bands use backgrounds therefore, I will use
backgrounds. The background I use need to fit the colour scheme so that nothing looks out of place, I also need to be
careful that the images and text I use are still clear to see even with a background, therefore the colour of the
background cannot be the same colour as the text or they will clash. I think it would look good if I lowered the
opacity to the background image to make it slightly lighter than the other features on each page.
Charley Longden

Moving Images – Another feature I could add is moving images, this is the opposite of still images, an example of
moving images are GIFs. GIFs are like rollovers in a way, however they just constantly repeat, instead of rollovers
where you must hover your mouse over the image. These GIFs can be exciting, and it’s always good to add extra
features, however I feel like adding a GIF might make the product look unprofessional and could be distracting. The
only idea I have for using a GIF is using a small 3 second looped video of the band playing one of their most famous
songs, which could be a smart idea that if used right could add even more personality to the project, and I think it is
important that the DVD Menu stands out and is creative.

Technology –

Hardware – Hardware is the parts or components in the computer, like the data storage, monitor, keyboard and
motherboard. When creating a multimedia project, hardware needs to be considered, I need to make sure I don’t
add anything which affects the running time or performance of a certain software. The two types of components
required for a computer; Internal Hardware and External Hardware. Internal Hardware is things like motherboards,
CPU, RAM, Power supply, video card, HDD and SSD. External Hardware are things like monitors, keyboards, mouse
and speakers. These are the main hardware features for the computer to both run itself and function. Without the
external hardware features, creating a multimedia project would be impossible because you wouldn’t be able to
control the computer.

Software – Certain software is needed to produce a DVD Menu. To create the menu, we will be using Macromedia
Director, this software is simple to learn and basic to use, however because of how old it is you can quite often have
problems with saving and loading if you import a dodgy file. It also has problems running videos, and you must keep
the video length and quality short and low because if they are long or high quality they don’t run. Another software I
will use is Photoshop. I will use photoshop to edit the images and create any graphics I want to use. I need to be
careful that the software is compatible with the computer and the computer has the updated version of the
software that I use.

Image Manipulation – Image manipulation involved changing an image in one way or another. You can use a
software to do this, the software’s which are capable of manipulating images are: Adobe Photoshop, Corel Paint
Shop Pro, GIMP and Paint.Net. The one I am most likely to use is Adobe Photoshop, as I am the most familiar with
this software. Things you can do with images on Photoshop are, applying filters, changing contrast, cutting parts out
of an image, adding text and layering images and changing the opacity. I will use most of these techniques to make
the images I will use as aesthetically pleasing as possible, I also want all the images I use to be similar so that they all
fit the colour scheme.

Compression – Data compression is a reduction in the amount of bits needed to present data. Compressing data can
speed up file transfer, save storage capacity, and decrease costs for storage hardware and network bandwidth.
Compression is used to reduce file sizes and change various attributes of an image file, these attributes include; file
type, dimensions, resolution and bit depth. Compressing data can be useful because sometimes you might have a
large file that makes the whole project slow down or even not run on certain computers, and then if you compress
the file it will run much faster. Another form of this would be in videos, if you have a video that is too long or too
high quality then it won’t run on director, so if you compress the video and keep it low quality, it will run on all
computers.

Digitization – Digitization is the process of converting information into a digital format. In this format, information is
organized into discrete units of data that can be separately addressed. The digitization process involves reading of an
analog signal at periodic intervals which is known as sampling. It is also possible to convert these series of integers
Charley Longden

back into the original analog signal. The advantages of digitization are; No physical limits for storage, it can be
accessed via the internet, 24/7 availability of access, great saving of space, easy retrieval of information, linking and
networking possibilities, many can access a digital file at the same time. This means that the use of digitization is
useful for the DVD Menu I will be creating for multiple reasons.

Planning -

Ideas Development – To create my DVD Menu, I first needed to plan the project. This included a mind map
containing ideas of bands I would like to do my DVD Menu about, I brainstormed about 20 different bands and in the
end, chose the Red-Hot Chili Peppers. Another way we planned our DVD Menu was by looking at past DVD Menu’s
that students have made, this gave us an insight to how the good DVD Menus worked and what features they used. I
then went on to storyboard my ideas of how my opening scree, contents page, sub contents page and music page
should look. When doing these storyboards, I took into consideration the colours I would like to use, I also chose the
layout of each page. When doing this I needed to remember to keep the layout the same because the client
requirements stated that the layout needed to be consistent, this includes keeping the image size and placement as
similar as possible, to make the project look good. I also needed to consider the amount of images I was going to use
and where they were going to be placed on my pages. Finally, I made a navigation flow chart to make a note of how
the DVD Menu was going to jump from page to page so that the user can explore the DVD Menu, for example, if the
user was to press the button which says enter on the home page, it would then take them to the contents page.

ILP - The next stage of planning we did was created an ILP, this ILP followed our timetable, giving us targets for each
lesson, we had this ILP to stay on target in each of our lessons, if we stuck to these targets it meant we would
complete our work before the deadline. The ILP is a good thing because it keeps me focused on the work and it
makes me motivated to finish my work on time. It is also a reminder of how long we must complete the work until
we must hand it in.
Charley Longden

Resources - To create my DVD Menu I will need to use primary and secondary resources. Primary resources are
things I have created for example, buttons and my DVD Menu layout, also I will be editing images of the band on
photoshop, I will be editing the image opacity to make all the images fit in better, these images can be classed as
primary resources. Primary resources are a good way to show off creative flare and really make the DVD Menu look
good. Secondary resources are things that I will be downloading from the internet. These are things like the music
videos from YouTube, and the raw images I will be using before I edit them on photoshop are secondary. I will need
to use secondary resources for the DVD Menu to promote the band, also I need to use five of the band’s music
videos because that is one of the features that the client wanted us to use before we started the project. I also want
to use images of the band because I want the user to learn a lot about the band, and one of the main things is what
the band look like.

Another resource which I will be using when creating my DVD Menu is software’s. To do this project I will need to
use a range of software’s including, Photoshop, Director, Premier. I will use photoshop to edit any images or buttons
I use, I will be using the magic wand tool to remove the background from the images of the buttons, I will also use
photoshop to change any images. I will be using director to create the whole DVD Menu. As I have already done a
project on director, I remember how to use the software, this will save the time I spent on the last project learning
and developing my software skills, I believe that Director can be a good, simple software to use, however I also find
that you can sometimes run into problems with director, and therefore it is crucial that I repeatedly save my work so
I don’t run the risk of losing any. I will also be using Premier to edit the music videos I will be using for my project, I
need to edit these videos to get them to be as close to 30 seconds as possible. I will do this because the client stated
the videos must be no longer than 30 seconds. I will be using the chorus of each of the songs because these are
usually the best parts of songs, which is good advertisement for the band because the user is more likely to enjoy it.