Conventions

 A convention is something which is expected to be there for example on a DVD menu, you would expect to see a start menu or a special features page.

DVD stands for Digital Versatile Disc. It has become the standard format that we now all play movies on. This is because of break through in technology which has made its way to the media sector offering up the opportunity to produce better quality sound and image. DVD's also provide another addition that tape didnt have other than better quality. The ability to interact and navagate through a DVD menu. Many features offer "extras" in the form of "be-hind the scenes" and interviews with cast that fans look for. They also offer the opportunity to change language or add subtitles.

+R; +RW -R; -RW

 +R Short for Short for DVD-Recordable, a recordable DVD format similar to CD-R. A DVD-R can only record data once and then the data becomes permanent on the disc. The disc can not be recorded onto a second time. There also are two additional standards for DVD-R disks: DVD-RG for general use, and DVD-RA for authoring, which is used for mastering DVD video or data and is not typically available to the general public. DVD-R, DVD-RW and DVD-RAM are supported by Panasonic, Toshiba, Apple Computer, Hitachi, NEC, Pioneer, Samsung and Sharp. These formats are also supported by the DVD Forum.

+RW Short for DVD+ReWritable, a re-recordable DVD format similar to CD-RW. The data on a DVD+RW disc can be erased and recorded over numerous times without damaging the medium. DVD+RW and DVD+R formats are supported by Philips, Sony, Hewlett-Packard, Dell, Ricoh, Yamaha and others.

It basically tells the purchaser what kind of media is burnable to the disk and how the data is stored and how long they are expected to last for. All except RW are meant to last for years whereas RW are only meant to last as long as 6months.

 

Dual Layer

 

A Dual Layer DVD is basically is a DVD which has two separate layers to create more space compared to regular DVD's.

If you notice when watching most movies or playing games, as those are usually burned onto dual layer DVD's there is a small pause. This is because the laser reader on the game console or the DVD player is switching between layers resulting in this pause.

Here is a video explaining just what dual layer is.
A website also which gives a lot of information about it.
http://www.supermediastore.com/article/u/dvdr-dl-double-layer-media-general-information
 

Writing Speed

This means how long it will take to burn something to a disk, on most DVD’s there will be a writing speed of say x52, which will tell the user that it will take an hour for a full HD MOVIE to download. Although burning thing to a disk at such a speed can have an impact at how long the DVD will be readable for, as for recording something at a speed of 16x may take longer but it will be more likely to last longer than that of 52x.

 

Audio

 

Audio is important, it accompanies the movie or television series you DVD contains. It is particularly important for people who cannot see visuals making them reliant on the audio alone. Some DVD's support Audio description for the blind. Audio also provides a huge impact on a movie, allowing background noises, sound tracks which give a feel of realism to the movie. It is also particularly helpful when supported by 5.1 surround sound.

There are also DVD-A(udio) which is purely for listening purposes. Its supported by most formats up till it reaches 176.4kHz.

It allows for larger music storage and much better sound quality.

 

Video

This is something visual, for the human eye to recognise, and often inspires the human mind. Video can also be categorised as a PowerPoint or presentation, or to re capture a memory of the past.

Menus

There are two types of menu’s one called ‘Overlay Menu’, and the other ‘Layered Menu’. I feel that the Layered Menu is a more complicated type however it does give you more creative input and will allow you to customise everything to your own personal taste or target audience.

 

1. Overlay Menu

 ■ Button graphics overlayed on top of background design.

■ Graphical button element must be solid black

■ Overlay graphics saved as separate file

■ Advantage has over other type of menu, playback is faster (authoring files don’t take up much space on DVD)

 

2. Layered Menu

 ■ Specific layer in PSD file shows up during button various button state (normal, hovered, selected)

■ Enables more creativity in menu design

■ Takes up more space on DVD, playback can be delayed

■ All background and button graphics should be saved on separate layers in Photoshop 

 

Menu is something that you will see on ALL professional DVD’s, these give you the chance to play your movie, select a specific scene, see special features, change the language and many more. This makes the DVD home experience interactive for the audience and saves a lot of time.

There are also Main Menu’s, secondary Menus, Chapter Selected Menus, Features Menus, slide show menus etc it never ends, and that is why no DVD menu is ever the same.

Additional Features

Such as Subtitles - is for people who either cant hear well but who can still see the visual fine and need extra help to keep up with dialog or it is used for foreign films when the actors are speaking in a different language that you cannot understand.

Different Languages - is a setting available which can implement a dubbed over version of the film where the film is the same, actors the same but different vocal artists are used to voice the original cast to whichever languages are available. For example a lot of Jackie Chan's earlier movies where dubbed English for English audiences because he couldn't speak English as and the films where not filmed in English. It is also available to change the language of subtitles.

Text based material – This was when people had to use the keyboard in order to compute. In detail, the monitor, tower, and keyboard where all created before the invention of the mouse making computing as a whole a struggle especially for those using a computer on a daily basis. In order to use ‘Text Based Material’ the user would already have to have had an in depth understanding of how the computer’s basic elements would work, making this especially hard for someone who was not computer literate to work a computer without help from a more experienced user.

Easter Eggs - Are exactly what they are called. Hidden treats. The same as the chocolate ones hidden around the garden for children to find, Easter eggs are hidden pages on the DVD menu which can lead to hidden extra features or additional content such as more footage or interviews. For example Alien versus Predator offer an Easter egg which the actor who plays the alien talks about his experience.

 Heres an example of Easter eggs from the Finding Nemo DVD.





Animation - Or Motion Graphics. Not all DVD menus have these, it sometimes can be background footage of the film playing or a still image. But usually the first thing you see is the motion graphic I-dent and then the DVD menu will come up. The animation or title screen gives you the genre of the movie you are about to watch and some idea what it's key plot elements are or main characters.

You can see this in an example of the opening to Shrek's DVD menu.

DTS (Digital Theatre Systems); also known as The Digital Experience until 1995. The first commercial use of digital sound on a large scale, this was first used during the release of Jurassic Park. It’s a digital surround system that offers up to six channels HD audio. DTS is available in DVD, SAT/ CAB, TV and CD mode. (When digital cable is connected).

Dolby – This is the sound used to bring a DVD menu to life. This is a sound system that makes the sound quality much better, reducing unwanted noise or ‘hiss’.

Printable disks; this is a disk where you personalise the front of the disk – any movie that you buy from the store will more than likely have a print already of them showing the poster of the DVD itself. But for those people like me that like to save there work onto a disk you can put something special on the front. Example below:

 

Regional Codes - This was designed for Film Distributors to protect content, release dates, and change price’s according to a certain region. A regional code is a code that is given to every country, and those of a same code can watch the same disks, but those of a different regional code will not be recognised in the different countries due to the codes. So for example if you buy a DVD on the Internet and its regional code is for USA and your computer or DVD player is set up to watch DVDs for the UK then it either will not work or you will be given the choice to change it but you can only do this a couple of times until you run out and are stuck with which ever region you have set it to.

Copyright Protection - copyright is put in place for anything whether it be Films, adverts, books, anything that belongs to someone and they don’t want other people to use it without there permission or paying them to use it.


Parent Controls - Now a days parents have a lot more control over what there children see. Now there is even a special DVD player specifically designed to stop anything you don’t want your child to see, just by changing a few settings on the DVD player


Functions and Elements


Buttons - are used to navigate through the DVD menu from title menu to chapter selection to special feature etc. They are usually made interactive so if you are using a computer and move your mouse over them they will indent or highlight in some way and be click able as well as pressing the play button. Also when using the left, right, up and down buttons they should also shown which is selected.

Still images - This can be photographs, slide shows, and sometimes even text.  Having graphics and or photographs make the menu design more intriguing and will tell the audience a little more about the film, before they have even started watching it. It’s great to include still images because it ‘captures’ a moment. Although personally for a professional movie menu I would prefer moving image and I feel that this is more enticing and interesting at a faster rate.

 

Moving images - This is where the DVD menu comes to life, and shows you some of the most exciting parts of the film (just like a trailer would). Often the moving images are repeated on a loop, which can get rather annoying when you’re waiting for someone to come and watch a film with you! The aim of the moving image is to excite the audience and clue them up about the film they are going to watch. Often both before and after the start menu appears, you will go through a wide range of moving image trailers or short videos advertising various other movies, or educating you on latest updates such as “20TH Century Fox 20 year anniversary”, or about illegal DVD trades and stealing etc.

 

Uses and Applications

 

In practice I have created a DVD menu and a motion graphic which implements most of these elements.

In my DVD menu I used still images. I used motion to create my DVD menu, by collecting still pictures of a rose and a piece of negative from a film reel I managed to give them the illusion of movement by adding in "bad quality" filters which Jared the screen and created an old style of film.

It had navigation from the title screen to a show reel which had a piece of work attached to it. Through the use of buttons which I layered under text to make it look invisible I was able to navigate through my menu to various screens. I used audio also which was a collaboration from sound track pro to create the noise an old movie reel projector might sound like.

 

With my Motion graphics I used After Effects to create a Production company Ident called SteamWork Productions.

I used the still image of a steam engine no longer then the middle three wheels of the actual engine. Through the use of after effects I cut the wheels out and animated a still image to a moving image.

I added smoke from action essentials which was to mimic the same as a steam engine locomotive. Which when pulling into or out of a station would have filled with smoke and steam. So I used the smoke effects to mask the fact I had only a square part of a train. On it's own you can see the ends cut off but with the addition of smoke it hides the ends and makes it looks as though a train is moving behind the foggy smoke.

I used text also once the train has past the text comes down to say steamwork productions.

It also had sound which was downloaded from a free stock music site that gave me sounds of steam, trains and everything else I needed. I had to layer them together and use fade effects to finish the project.