Krakatoa

Cover ideas have taken up a good part of my harddrive for about 5 years, and I wanna bounce some ideas I've had.

LOGOS

(I had an account before where I showed off some logo designs, but password recovery was being obnoxious).

The original logos, that I put the most work into, were these bold-styled ones based on the video boxes from the 90s, with bevels and weathering based on the 08 Clone Wars logo.

Well, that was back when I had a copy of CS2. Elements 3 doesn't give me as many options. I can make basic bevels, but not with the reflective quality this sample has. I've still got ideas to improve on it, though, namely giving the face more of a brushed metal look.

In the meantime, I've created some simpler logos, based on a combination of the logo used to promote Jedi in 83 and a version of the Phantom logo used on some merchandise, like the playstation game. I plan to use these in one version of the covers I'm designing.

COVERS

I've never quite been able to decide on a good layout for these movies, I just know the official covers don't do anything for me. But I figured I'd let DVD take a rest for a while, seeing as the movies in HD can't be far off. Here are a few low-res concepts for Bluray covers:

A. I like Struzan's posters fine, but the hassle is always scaling the composition vs. the movie's logo. This version keeps the composition at a good scale, but I feel like the logo will look too small and out of place, especially with the top of a bluray case above it. Also look at my comments for E.

B&C. These two are possibilities for using the 70s/80s poster art, which isn't "framed" the way Struzan's is, and gives me some leeway. I like how the logo stands out in B, but also think that C uses it effectively.

D. This one's really rough, but a possibility for using the classic art with the bold logo. The framing is there so if I find posters with different proportions, I can "cheat" and crop some space off (which is also how I positioned the logo). I'm thinking now, though, that I could scale the art to take up the entire case, then add a beveled border, outside which the composition darkens and fades.

E. Struzan's art + bold logo: I think the logo stands out just enough in this version and the composition still gets a lot of space. It's a matter of having the bold logos work the same way in the prequel posters.

F. Surprisingly, I like how this turned out. I just re-proportioned the 2001 vhs release, with faux-Struzan art (works a lot better than the bright-colored DVD montages). It looks very clean-cut and modern, with every other movie using a white or black background, and the back of the cover split into black and white (which could also allow me to use some ghosted images in the layout). And there's the possibility of different color schemes, like the "face" releases in 95.

G. Again using the faux-Struzan art, but this time without the frame, as in the 2001 VCD(and LD?) releases. The big obstacle in these designs in F&G is finding the artwork in high enough resolution - the highest I can get is a scan of the VHS from CDCovers.

OTHER NOTES

http://theswca.com/images-art/05.11-alvin.jpg

This old John Alvin poster has given me another idea for direction, with its earthy border and choice of colors in the composition and text. Maybe the box cover--?

There's not much to do after Jedi. From what I've read, the only reason Lucas ever planned to make the third trilogy was so Luke could find his sister and confront the Emperor. Then that became the last half of Jedi. The Emperor was the mastermind behind all the evil in the universe, now he's dead. Who are they gonna fight against? Opportunistic despots--ooh!--scary!

The period most ripe for stories is between Revenge of the SIth and Empire Strikes Back.

Ask me 5 years ago and I'd say Phantom Menace was garbage. Ask me today, after it's been out over 10 years, and I'll say it's pretty good.

They're the type of movies that kind of bring you back to your youth, when you just went to see good conquer evil...with lasers. The stories in these movies have never been really solid, but they have a lot of nostalgia tied to them, and that's what brings people back.

The comic strips haven't been reprinted lately, have they? When I was a kid I got "Classic Star Wars #4" and always wanted to read the rest of the story. Looks like they havent been reprinted since the mid-90s.

Glad to hear they're rereleasing the Marvel comics again. I wanted to check them out, but the price on the TPBs from less than 10 years ago were getting steep.

Tales/Infinities have been the highest-quality stories in recent years, I think. When there's no "canon" to weigh the stories down, the writers seem to have more fun.

Normally the heroes/villains authors come up with just aren't strong enough to stand up on their own for a full-length story (actually a reason why I like the cartoons usually - they can make cool-looking characters while focusing on a short, self-contained story).

Not a fan, honestly. The color changes take away the original's snapshot of the 80s look and make it look like everything's sharp and covered in saran wrap.

As for the backgrounds, does it really enhance the flow of the scene if the stars fly by faster past the Winnebago windshield?

I'd even be willing to overlook the garbage mattes in this movie, because there are garbage mattes even in the material Brooks made fun of.

It's a comedy so unless you can sharpen the jokes, I don't see the point in all the revisionism.

I was thinking about the Jabba scene in HOPE, and complaints about the lousy CGI, repeated exposition from the Greedo scene, and the early intro to the Falcon.

My idea was that the scene COULD potentially be reworked - it'd involve drastic editing and effects, but it could solve some of those problems problems.

Pretty much the only original footage used in the scene would be that of Han and Chewie. It's not in the hangar anymore, it's just the backroom someplace Jabba uses as a front. Jabba's mostly stationary in a dark room like in JEDI - the original stand-in is can be replaced by a pig guard or some other goon he keeps around. It's cut so that it's like Han is talking to him across the room while walking up to him. The subtitles can be edited however to make the scene work.

Think it'd work? I know the logistics are a pain in the ass, but it's a start.

STAR WARS - The new Falcon liftoff from Mos Eisley. I hate seeing three consecutive shots of a ship flying/landing/whatever in one direction, but they didn't chop up the scene to fit the new shot in, so it worked.

EMPIRE - The original score got cut up and butchered - every shot of the Empire's fleet used the same audio clip and the scene where Leia and Lando chased down Boba Fett cut out in the middle of the climax. The Special Editions edited those scenes to use the music John Williams wrote.

JEDI - I thought the new clips in the end were fun. Minus the gungans. Naboo got its finale in Sith. Also didnt mind the new shots of Boba Fett.