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DVD Cover Project

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Alright. While there are already several threads out there about DVD covers, most are basically dead now, and I've been working on a somewhat different one lately that I'd like to share and get opinioins on. Note the following:

A) This is not complete
B) I gladly welcome any suggestions
C) I will make these available when I'm done, as I now have a way to
D) The image here is *not* full resolution, but it's large enough to make out details - and unfortunately horridly compressed...

Here is my cover for Star Wars, the EditDroid version. I've decided for this project to go with the most official studio look possible, hence the barcode, widescreen banner, legal text, et cetera. Another thing I've wanted to try for a long time but never got the chance - I now have Photoshop CS, so I can do this: look at the spine logo. I opted to use the older logo and perspective-shift it similar to the way the Dawn of the Dead logo is for the DVDs (I mean the old DotD, not the remake).

So, there are things I like, and things I'm not sure of. There was one thing I was kicking aroudn with the 35mm strip at the top, but decided against - if you've ever seen an actual 35mm movie strip, it's anamorphically squished, and I mean a lot. So I tried making mine anamorphically squished the same way, and it looked quite bad. All the caps on that strip, also, are directly from the EditDroid disc.

I'd really like opinions and suggestions on this; I'm liking the concept, but I think the execution may be lacking. Also, I need high-res alternative artwork for Empire for the back (for Jedi I'll be using the Revenge poster) if it can be provided.
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I like it. It looks like you've put a lot of good effort into this!
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STUNNED!!!!!!!!

“My skill are no longer as Mad as the once were” RiK

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Glad you guys liked it! I've made one or two slight revisions, ones that don't warrant a new preview IMO, just a spine-title size change and one or two other small modifications to match Jedi better. I'm 90% done with Jedi, and I haven't started Empire yet because I can't find a high-res poster for the back and the front poster I want to use, I don't have in incrediby high resolution either. After sleeping on it, I decided the things I didn't like about the SW cover no longer bother me, but God do I need help writing the synopsis for Jedi. As you can see, the screencaps are still from SW; I haven't popped the EditDroid Jedi in yet to do some screenshots.

So I need a good, high-res alternate art for Empire (as in, not the "Gone with the Wind" one), it would be nice if I had a higher-res GWTW-style poster but that's not a priority, and I need help with the ROTJ synopsis. Suggestions are appreciated .
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Hey, ChainsawAsh - these are some of the best OT covers I've seen - and I've seen a lot. I am working on a set of covers right now, which I'll post here when they're done. My original plan was to use 2 alternate posters for front and back covers, like you've done. Maybe I should have stuck with that - these look great! You can usually get hi-res scans just by google image searching e.g. "Empire Strikes Back Poster" and setting the advanced search option to high or medium file size. Watch out for color balance, contrast, brightness & saturation on downloaded stuff though, you'll want to compare it to a known source and will probably have to tweak it. I think you're right that the GWTW poster is best for front, but there are a few to choose from for the back. BTW, have you noticed that there are two slightly different versions of the RotJ "B" poster (the one on your front cover). In one, Lando is bigger and there are slight changes to the faces on Luke, Han & Leia. Anyone know the story here?
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I know, I discovered that in this project - because my poster was half-high-res, half-low-res, I had to combine here.

Let me back up: I got the poster (the version I had) from Scaramanga at Dagon's Den a while ago. On it, he'd superimposed a green saber onto it. I wanted the original blue. So what I did before was take the highest-res one I knew of and stuck that on top. It looked like crap.

Now, I have the EditDroid covers after downloading Jedi. So I took the Jedi poster which, although the color balance was of, is much higher-res than the one I used for the blue saber. Since in color-timing it I did a better job than with my old one, I decided that, since about a quarter inch was missing on the sides, I'd stick it on top of my old one. When I did, Lando didn't match up. I liked the one where he was farther away, so I used that from my old one. So this is technically a hybrid of two different versions of the ROTJ poster.
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Very nice Ash, I know the feeling about trying to find the right synopsis for the back, I've read summaries from novels, the backs of all the Trilogy releases, LD sets and DVD and none of them capture the desciption I'm looking for, I never thought it would be that difficult but I've tried myself and can never seem to get it the way I want it.

Another thing is, I know it's tampering with the original art but I remember someone had changed Lukes saber to green in the poster, sounds strange but I thought the look was actually an improvement..

I like the idea of using an alternative poster art as the backdrop on the rear cover, but personally I agree and wouldn't use the filmstrip, sometimes the less added, the better the results are, but that's just my taste, another small pick is the gray strip, have you tried other colors to see what you like best? ever considered putting one across the top on the front, in simlar fation to the official DVD's? (sometimes small things like that add to the overall appeal.)

I might have a HR image of that Revenge poster, I'll do some digging.

Like what you've done, I'd like to see the others!.


EDIT: I missed where you mentioned not wanting to keep the green saber above.

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The Revenge poster I used is high-res, I don't have a problem there; what I may need is a higher-res-than-I-have Empire poster.

So, are you thinking I should drop the filmstrip entirely and not use any images whatsoever? I hadn't thought of that because, to be honest, the filmstrip idea was what sparked this project. The banner on the back is only there because I was trying to create a studio-faithful look, and that's what the newer Fox DVDs are like; plus, I hate banners on the front of covers.

Bit of useless trivia: the UPC on the back is from the Faces version of the Star Wars LD. I haven't gotten round to making the UPC for the Jedi one, so I used the Star Wars UPC. Once again, the UPC is only present because I was going for a studio look.

I'm going with the blue saber Jedi poster because the EditDroid menu's is blue.

I haven't yet started on Empire, so wish me luck on that one. I may also consider doing a cover like this for Deleted Magic after I've seen the "official" one.
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Sorry for a double post, but where I am right now it's unavoidable - I'd just like to add that nobody's commented on my treatment of the Star Wars spine logo. I take it you like it then? =P
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Now see if you wanted to make the covers look like studio ones then you'd just have an oversized photo of Harrison Ford's head (maybe even from an unrelated film) badly Photoshopped onto a bland background and surrounded by quotes from critics you've never heard of. Then you'd list chapter stops as a "mind-blowing special added feature!"
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Well, I'm already listing Remastered Dolby Surround as a mind-blowingly special added feature, so I'm nearly there.

My point is that nearly all the customs I've seen are just that - customs. Most don't even have legal copyright text at the bottom, and I can't recall any that had UPC codes or the like (though I can't really blame them). Besides, not all studio covers are bad . . . hold on, I'm thinking . . . ah! Aside from the "promo title" used, X2 was a decent cover, and that is actually sort of what this is modeled after. I'm just trying to make this look more "professional," as the cover I was using was seen by a friend of mine and said, even before she opened it up and saw the DVD-R (note: this person has never seen Star Wars, and indeed had no idea that it was released in a "Special Edition" or that it was out on DVD), she looked at the back cover and said, "Oh, this is a bootleg. . . ."
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ChainsawAsh - any plans for a 3-disc box set version cover for the EditDroid set?

A little patience goes a long way on this old-school Rebel base. If you are having issues finding what you are looking for, these will be of some help…

Welcome to the OriginalTrilogy.com | Introduce yourself in here | Useful info within : About : Help : Site Rules : Fan Project Rules : Announcements
How do I do this?’ on the OriginalTrilogy.com; some info & answers + FAQs - includes info on how to search for projects and threads on the OT•com

A Project Index for Star Wars Preservations (Harmy’s Despecialized & 4K77/80/83 etc) : A Project Index for Star Wars Fan Edits (adywan & Hal 9000 etc)

… and take your time to look around this site before posting - to get a feel for this place. Don’t just lazily make yet another thread asking for projects.

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That's an interesting idea; I'll think about it, but what I really need now is to get the damn Empire cover ready...
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Ash, Thanks a lot, punk. Now I've got cover envy. Stop making the rest of us look bad.

Seriously, it is brilliant. I am tempted to replace my EditDroid cover with yours.