A production diary for the process of the making of a prop

1. Insert Production (prop)
Monday, 4th
April,2022
UsingPhotoshop,aslipcoverwill be createdtofitinside the slipof aDVD case.Reasonbeing,this
will be a propuseful tothe openingsequence of mydocumentary.Alreadyhavingmyflatplans,this
isthe designIwill be movingforwardwith:
A computerscreenwiththe title placedwithinthe screen,placedonatable withthe plainwall
behind.Andabove,‘The BBCpresents…’.Thenonthe backof the case,itwill be an image from
behindthe computerwiththe topof one’sheadfacingthe computerscreen. Anyadditionswill be
figuredoutonthe way.
Tuesday, 5th
April 2022
Making a start, an image will needtohave beentakenof the computerscreenthenagainof behind
it.Gettingthisdone,Iwill needtoarrange the set and findanactor or actressto take part. Lucky for
them,notmuch will be shownof them.Nottakingme longto finda model,JenniferFinniganhas
takenup that role.
Before headingoff,Iwantedtofindthe rightlayoutforthisdesign.Usingthe landscape option,I
searchedforwhat the accurate size of the paperwouldneedtobe to fitinside the slipcase of aDVD.
What came to myresult,wasan A4, 297mm wide x 210mm deep.

2. Needingtofindthe middle,Ihadusedthe ‘rectangle marquee tool’tohelpme determine wherethe
middle wouldland.Drawingapatternto mark it,I had thenfilleditoutwitharandomcolour (red)
allowingme tokeepthisshape soitis there readyforwhenI needit.

3. Havingthe photoshootdone now,outof the selectionthese are the twoIhave decidedtomove
forwardwithas theyhave resultedclosestasto whatI am after...

4. The firstimage has beenplacedonrightside of the page,so itlandsas the cover.Realisingnow
though,the paperis quite noticeable.Especiallyatthe bottomleftseenbelow the computerscreen.
It has beensuggestedtome thoughtocolourthat area inso it blendsinwiththe backdropaimingto
make it unnoticeable.

5. Before adjusting,Iplacedthe secondimage in.Straightaway,Iwasn’ta fanof the size difference,so
managedto crop the frontcover allowingthe computerscreentoresultbigger.Thatwayas well,
there ismore room for the title tobe fitted.
Usingthe ‘clone stamptool’now,Ihave attemptedblendingthe topof the paperinwiththe wall.
WorkingI guess,butthe image isjusta messnow.I can’tmove forwardwiththis.

6. Restarting,Iam happierwiththe newresult.Youcanstill tell thatsomethingisoff withthe tophalf,
but it’sall I can do.Nowonto the bottomhalf.
Reallydon’tlike thisturnout,butitwill have todofornow.If I have time,Iwill tryfix this,but
there’sonlysomuchtime whichI don’tbelieve Ihave.
Thursday, 7th
April 2022

7. Notwantingto leave the picturesasis, beginningwiththe frontcoverIhad gone throughthe
processof adjustingthe shadowsandhighlightsfoundwithinthe image,the brightnessthen
contrasts.Andbefore movingontothe backcover,I had changedthe hue slightlymakingthe picture
bluishwiththe saturationbeingtoneddownallowingthe computerscreentoresultdarker
comparedto before butstill givinganaturalistsetting.

8. Doingthe same adjustmentforuneditedsidenow,the shadowsandhighlightshadbeenchanged
allowingthe setupto standout witha more settledcolourscheme.
Headinginanotherdirectionwiththis,the posterize optionhadcome touse as I had the ideato
create more of an illustratedbackdrop.Notwantingittoappeartoo animatedthough,ithadtaken

9. me a fewadjustmentstofigure outthe rightnumbertomove forwardwith.Thatfinallybeing36 as
it wasstill realisticwithahintof illustration.
Findingthe image abittoo dark, the brightnesshadbeenliftedaswell asthe contrastbeingchanged
hopingtocreate a clearerfocus.Once that wasdone,itwas ontothe colourbalance.Testingoutthe
colouroptions,Iquite likedhowthe blue settledstill resultinganideal posterwithoutchangingthe
colourentirely.
Finishededitingthe photographsalone,it wasnow ontothe details.The firstaddition,the client's
logo.Whenitcomesto the designsof real,more officialslipcoversforDVDS,youusuallyfindalogo
placedto showthe companybehindthe release.Like WarnerBrothersandFox,eventhe client I
have for thisproject,theyall have it.So,aftera few searches,Ihad come across ‘Pinpng’whohad
whatI was lookingforandright awayit wasdownloaded.

10. Knowingwhere Iwantedittobe placed,the left-handcornerof the frontcoveriswhere it had been
setonce downloaded.
Before findingthe rightplacementforthe logo,itseemedbesttoaddthe textaswell.Thatway,I
can get a betterideaof where tositthe heading.Otherwise,if Ihadsettledthe brandname where
the ‘presents’wouldn’t fit,Iwouldonlyhave torearrange the text.

11. Leavingthe logoas is,the piece of texthadbeenrelocatedfurtherbeneathyetnotexactly.Addinga
slightangle andavoidingthere beingtoomuchblankspace.
Choosingthe font,athoughthad come to mind.Doesthe BBC have a particularwordingstyle?Turns
out,theyhave theirownsetsof fonts.Withthis,Icouldgo more professional withthe ‘presents’
part linkingittothe clientbetter.Withthisthough,rulescome intoplace whenitcomestogranting
access to thisfont.Readingthrough,Ihadanotherread throughwhobelievesitshouldn’tcome of
issue if Iwere to downloadthe font.AndthatI did.
Receivingawhole fileof options,personallyIhadfoundthattheyall more or lesslookedthe same.
OnlygettingthinnerasIscrolledthrough.The one inthe clippedimage isthe one Imovedforward
withgoingreadable,andstraightforward.
Thisis the turnoutonce the fonthad beenadded.

12. Addingmore text,the title hasbeenstarted.Asimagined,straightawaythe title hasbeensetinside
the computerscreencreatingthe visual thatthe documentaryisplayingonthe computerasshown.
To showthe importance,the mainwordshadbeencapitalisedhighlightingwhatthe documentaryis.
As forthe font,I can’t thinkwhyor howbut the structure to me fitswiththe wording.Thin,readable
and nottoo strict withthe funkyishedges.
Browsingthroughthe filteroptions,Iwantedtomake the title lookmore as if itwas a part of the
computerscreen.NotgettingwhatIwas after,the onlywayI got to blenditcausedthe title to

13. actuallyblendinwiththe colourscheme.Leadingtoitbeingbarelyseeable.Fixingthisthe onlywayI
could,the optionhadbeenremoved.
Rearrangingitslightly,the texthadbeenmade toaligninthe middle ratherthansittingatthe left
like itwas.Once that was done,the texthadbeenresizedsoitwouldfitthe computerscreenbetter.
Anotherthingdone thattooka fewtries,wasliningthe textupwiththe computerscreenasfrom
the image takenthe productdoesn’treallysitstraightly.Soof course,the texthadto lookmore
fitting,evenif thatmeanthavingitdippedtothe left.
Gettingontothe middle now,the same pngfile hadbeenreusedbutthistime fittingatthe middle-
bottomof the coverto add emphasise onwhoisbehindthe product.The same asmost slipcover
designsdo.
Touchingup the title some more,the highlightsassuchandbeenplayedaroundwithinattemptto
have the textlookapart of the computerscreenaswanted.Isomewhatgotthere inthe endhaving

14. the edgesdarkenslightlywiththere beinghighlightsandshadowsfoundratherthanhavinga flat
white title.
Notstoppingthere,the toningonthe ‘presents’parthadalsobeen changedasI foundthe plain
blackhad startedto lookto plainandforced.Usingthe colour overlayedit,the titlehadbeen
switchedtoa greycolour butmore of a fadedgreywiththe blackif thatmakessense asagain,I
wasn’tmuch forthe flat colour. Evenif thisisgoingto be on filmfortwo seconds.
Havingto finishthere asI wantedtogetthe filmingdone the same day,Ihadto printthe image out
twice.Neithergoingthe wayitshouldhave withthe firstpicture beingblackandwhite thenthe
secondbeingcolourthistime butdarkened.

15. But beingina rush as I hadfilming(foranotherproject) togetdone,Iwasup for movingforward
withthe darkenedprint.

16. Notbeingthe rightsize,I foundmyself alrightwithtrimmingthe posterdownto fituntil itgotto the
pointof beingtoomuch where Iwouldhave hadto remove whatmade the slipcover,aslipcover.
Notwantingto go aheadwiththis,Ihad decidedtocontinue the editingprocesstomorrow anddo
whatI could withrearrangingthe pieces.Withthisthough,Icango furtherwithaddingmore detail
ontothe designsowiththat,I don’treallymind.Onlythingis,withmovinghousestomorrow also,
the shot will have tobe done differently.
Friday, 8th
April 2022

17. Firstthingsfirst,those placedatthe top of the coverhad beenmovedfurtherdowngivingme more
space I can willinglycutoff once printed.
The textpresentingthe title hadbeenchangedupsome more havinga3D lookto it whichI have
come to findworksinhighlightingthe textaswell asmakingitfitintothe screenbetterimproving
the visual.

18. Dislikingthe layout,there wasanattemptto locate a betterplacementof the ‘presents’textasto
me it didn’treallyseemtofitwell intothe poster.Aftertryingunderneaththe BBCpng,Ithenwent
ontotryingto line itup withthe topof the computer.Havingto have iton an angle though,there
seemedtobe to muchunneededroombetweenthe twofiles.
Anotherideathatcame to mindwas to add the word‘The’as inthe BBC present,butthatjust
lookedoutof place as well.

19. Movingon, whatonce was red,had beenturnedblue.Butmore of a greyish,greeny-blue type
colourfor the middle asitblendedinwell withthe colourscheme asyoucan see above.Withthe
red,it didn’tmatchwithanythingasotherthan the middle there wasnootherredsectionstobe
found,butthere wasplentyof blue tobe found.
Usingthe website PNGAAA,anotherfilehadbeendownloaded.Youknow how DVDswill have their
ownsymbol toshowthe discisa DVD,same as Blu-raysand videogames,well thatiswhatI did.
Foundthe DVD videosymbol,andhadthatplacedinthe middle toagainshow thispropisfor a DVD.

20. Againwiththe PNGS,a barcode was evenaddedtothe back covergettingon furtherwiththe
designs.
Addingontothe title,Ibelieveditwouldbe besttoinclude mytitleforwhatthe documentary
focuseson.‘Howour generationimpactsthe filmindustry’.Inthe same place withinthe computer
screen,same as before tohighlightwhatis beingplayed.
Goingin anotherdirectionwiththis,Ilikedthe ideaof havingthe secondpiece of textbeing
differenttothe one above to showthe firstismore of a finalized,presentingwaywhilstthe nextis
the focus.Kindof like howa trilogywill work,youwill have the maintitletoshow whatthe filmisa
part of,thenwiththe sequel ithasan additional piece of text,sopeople don’tgetconfused.
Onlywiththisfonttriedinthe snip,definitelydidn’tfit.

21. Findingafontto use,it resultedtolookmore like general textusedwhilsttyping,simplebutworks.
Anotherthingyouwill notice done,the ‘presents’isnowhere tobe seen.Ihaddecidedtoremove
that as it came across unnecessaryandunneeded.Toooutof place even.
Messingagainwiththe title,furtherattemptwasputinto blenditinwiththe computerscreen.This
ledto the textturningscreenwhichdidwhatI wasafter,justnot the way itwas supposedto.Giving
up,the attemptwasscrapped.

22. Couldn’tgowithoutacertificate nowcouldwe.Due toconversationsthatgoon throughoutthe
documentary,Ibelievedmaybe aPGwouldbe the bestoptiontorate the product.A U didn’treally
seemlike the bestidea,thenthe 12A ratingseemedunnecessarysointhe middle iswhere this
landed.
To add some colour,more of the greyishblue hadbeentonedintothe image placedonthe rightso
it wouldblendinbetterwiththe restof the colourscheme.Avoidinggoingtoofarwiththis,the
small hintof the colour addsquite a bit to the designasa whole.
I didn’tinserthere animage of the blurbI had puttogetherto ad ontothe design,butforsome
reasonthe screencapture wentdodgyand wouldn’tappearhere onthisdocument.Inthe result
belowthoughyouwill be able tosee justoverhalf of the text.

23. Almostdone now,the exposure hadbeenadjustedallowingthe colourtohighlightthe picture
better.
Andto finishoff,the title hadbeenonce againwrittenout,onlythistime downthe sideof the
middle asanyotherslipcoverwouldbe designed.Lookingatitnow it doesn’tlookthe straightest,
but withnothavinganymore time tocarry on,I couldonlydo whatwas done.
The colour andfont hadbeenchangedas the blackappearedtostand out betterthanthe white,as
well asthe choice of fontworkedinstructuringthe textbetter.
All finishednow,the designisreadytoprintand be placedreadyfor filmingthe storyboardedscene.