If you’re just starting out as an independent filmmaker, audiences likely won’t have read about your film in industry publications or national newspapers. Similarly, since virtually no independent films get wide theatrical releases you’ll need to work hard to get your film exposure. One way to do this is to  try and stop your potential audience in their tracks with great DVD cover artwork and design. This will increase your chances that they will pick up your film to read the synopsis on the back.

This blog post explores the topic of DVD cover design. We will discuss the design principles of DVD cover artwork and then we’ll provide examples from leading films and documentaries.

________________________________________________________________________

IF YOU’RE LOOKING FOR EXPOSURE, RECOGNITION & EVALUATION THEN CONSIDER IMPROVING YOUR FILMMAKING SKILLS BY SIGNING UP FOR OUR INTENSIVE 4 MONTH ONLINE FILMMAKING COURSE HERE.

Message by:  Lights Film School
________________________________________________________________________

How to design DVD cover

If you haven’t already you can download our free DVD cover template. Once you’ve downloaded the template, you’ll need to design the front, back and side of your DVD cover. This blog post will focus exclusively on the design of the front of the DVD.

1. Set the tone & know your demographic
Is your film a sexy film? Artistic film? Unusual film? Celebrity driven? Comedy? Tragedy?

Identifying what your film is about will help you narrow down your design choices. You want there to be a strong correlation between the tonal qualities of the DVD cover design the film itself.

2. Decide on a color palette
Notice that the DVD covers below consist of gradients of 2-3 colors. By simplifying your color palette you’re simplifying your message. We’ve written a blog post about color theory and color simplicity here.

3. Decide on an image
Your image needs to represent what your film is about. It is often a character (usually the protagonist), but it can also be the film’s antagonist, an event, a location, a prop or an illustration to name only a few examples.

4. Decide on a font
Your DVD cover font is one of the most important design decisions you’ll make. Its size, style and placement needs to both complement your film and the other design components of the DVD cover.

5. Pick a design element and exaggerate it
Some DVD cover designers use pattern (see Sweetie below) or color (see Taste of Cherry below) , others use line (see Fallen Idol below), others use negative space (see The Last Emperor below). The point is to pick a primary design element (ie. shape, pattern, leading lines, texture, reflection, color etc)  to help make the DVD cover stand out not just due to content, but also due to style.

6. Stay focused and simple
Look at the examples below. You’ll notice the designer often only uses 1 image, no more than 2-3 colors and1-2 fonts in a simplified, well organized and easy to navigate DVD cover design.

Below are DVD covers from the Criterion Collection. The DVD artwork is for both films and documentaries.

There are certain fonts that lend themselves well to web design, others that work better in print and others that are optimal for use against dynamic content such as moving images.

While web fonts such as Tahoma, Verdana and Georgia are great for use in web media, they were designed to work well in static design environments where the background doesn’t change.

There are three fonts that are widely used for subtitles in films and documentaries. They are:

Univers 45
Antique Olive
Tiresias

These three fonts work well as subtitles over dynamic content and will allow you to communicate most effectively with your audience.

When you design your subtitles, you will need to keep in mind that moving images interact with your top layer subtitles. For example, if your subtitles are white and they rest on top of a similar white tone in your image, the text will be difficult, if not impossible to read.

To ensure this doesn’t happen you should use a black outline around your text. This helps ensure your text will be viewable even against common black and white backgrounds.

Alternatively, some filmmakers use a yellow font for their subtitles. However, even if you decide to use yellow subtitles you should nevertheless use a black outline (and possibly even a soft shadow) around the text to ensure its readability.

If you experiment with fonts for your subtitles ensure you experiment with Sans Sheriff fonts. They are much more readable than their sheriff cousins.

Below is an example using the free Tiresias font mentioned above.

Example 1: Using no shadows or outlines

Example 2: Using a soft shadow and no outline

Example 3: Using a soft shadow and a subtle outline. Notice how the font stands out much better against the lighter tones in the image?

You’ve probably seen something similar to the font below on thte back of a DVD box or at the end of a trailer.

Using this font, can help you style your posters, DVD boxes and trailers using Hollywood’s typography preferences which will help increase the perceived production value of your film of documentary. Of course, common film fonts are no replacement for a strong story, great cinematography and stellar acting, but these small details count as well. Even if it’s on a subconscious level, audience are accustomed to style conventions set by Hollywood, and specific fonts are part of that design standard.

The font style that is most commonly used (seen above) is called Steel Tong.

Everybody’s style, of course, is different and part of the joy of filmmaking is putting your stamp on your projects. That being said, there are certain conventions that many documentary and narrative film trailers abide by. This blog post will help you organize your thoughts so you can storyboard for your documentary or film trailer knowing what rules you want to keep and what rules you want to break.

Your film trailer will often start out with the audience approval notification from the Motion Picture Association of America. If you haven’t put your film through the approval process, there is no need to worry. Most independent films and documentaries don’t get their film reviewed by this organization and it is by no means necessary, nor is it testament to a good film or documentary.

There is a trend amongst independent filmmakers to use similarly colored title cards, fonts and wording while leaving out the “Motion Picture Association of America” reference. You’ll sometimes see title cards that read “This preview has been approved for all audiences”. However, it doesn’t say by whom. Avoid this tactic as it serves only to try to instill a false sense of professionalism.

Next, include the name of the production company and / or distribution company. Feel free to experiment with this segment of the trailer. Some filmmakers like to use logos and creative fonts over black title cards. Others like to include the text information over the footage of the documentary or film. Some like to animate their text, others prefer static text. Your design approach to your opening sequence is only limited by your own imagination.

Next, you may want to include the title of your film. However, it should be noted that it’s not uncommon for filmmakers to choose not to include the title of the film or documentary at the beginning of the trailer, but instead include the title only at the end of the trailer.

After this point you’ll want to start introducing your footage. You should limit the length of your film trailer to less than two and a half minutes in length. This is the time cut off length in theaters and the standard length that audiences are accustomed to. You’ll notice most trailers fall within this time range.

Within this short period of time your trailer needs to accomplish a lot. It needs to immediately grab your audience’s attention, get them acquainted with the production value of your film and introduce your story.

Film trailers have structural arcs just as full length feature films and documentaries do. When you’re creating your trailer you should try to incorporate the following elements:

1: Establish what your documentary is about. Introduce your theme.
2: Introduce the conflict.
- You should give a general overview and provide at least 1 specific example
3: Introduce your protagonist.
4: Introduce your antagonist.
5: You need to provide your audience with a sense of your documentary’s tonal qualities. Audiences will look at your cinematography (movement, lighting, composition) and listen to your music to see if the artistry of the film is something they would be interested in seeing.
6: You should change your trailers music 3-5 times.

At the end of your trailer   you will want to include your film or documentary’s title (Even if you’ve already used it at the beginning) and then you’ll want to include an ending title card with the above the fold cast and crew as well as any website / contact information you want to include.

We’ve all seen the ending title cards at the end of films with the barely recognizable names of the director, producer, production designer, Director of Photography and so on. There are numerous fonts you can use to achieve this look but one of the most common is called “Steel Tong”.

Once you’ve completed your trailer you can upload it to online video sharing sites such as Youtube, DailyMotion, Vimeo. These sites assist independent filmmakers who may not be able to get their trailers shown in theaters on or on Apple’s movie trailer website.

Lights Film School Wishes you the best of luck creating your film and documentary trailers!