down by law
DESCRIPTION
Process Book - DVDTRANSCRIPT
DECEMBER 2012
Elisa Martin
principles of visual communicatioN
In our final project of the semester, we were to design a DVD package for the Criterion collection’s new eclipse line that focused on producing budget- prices, high quality editions of hard to find films for young audiences. We were able to chose from seven different films: My Own Private Idaho, Slacker, The Man who fell to Earth, Seven Samurai, Down by Law, Breathless, and 3 Women. I choose Down by Law, a film by Jim Jarmusch, from there I brainstormed possible ways I could design a cohesive package with the use of limited photography. I watched the movie and took notes of reoccurring icons and symbols that played a major role in the movie.
PROJECT THREEDESCRIPTION
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BRAINSTORMING
Sketches
ROUND ONECONCEPTS
ROUND TWOTHREE PACKAGES
When fate lands three hapless men – an
unemployed disc
jockey (Tom Wait
s), a small-time pimp (John Lurie), a a strong-
willed Italian
tourist (Roberto Beningi) – in
a Lousian
a prison, their
singular adventure begins. Described by director Jim Jarmusch as a
“neo-beat-noir-comedy.” Down by Law
is part nightmare and part
fair
ytale, featuring fine performances and crisp black-and-white
photography by esteemed director of photography Robby Muller. The
Criterion Collection is proud to present Jim Jarmusch’s Down by Law
.
When fate lands three hapless men – an
unemployed disc
jockey (Tom Wait
s), a small-time pimp (John Lurie), a a strong-
willed Italian
tourist (Roberto Beningi) – in
a Lousian
a prison, their
singular adventure begins. Described by director Jim Jarmusch as a
“neo-beat-noir-comedy.” Down by Law
is part nightmare and part
fair
ytale, featuring fine performances and crisp black-and-white
photography by esteemed director of photography Robby Muller. The
Criterion Collection is proud to present Jim Jarmusch’s Down by Law
.
When fate lands three hapless men – an unem
ployed disc jockey (Tom Waits),
a small-tim
e pimp (John Lurie), a a strong-willed Italian tourist (Roberto
Beningi) – in a Lousiana prison, their singular adventure begins. Described by director Jim
Jarmusch as a “neo-beat-noir-com
edy.” Down by Law is part nightm
are and part fairytale, featuring fine performances and crisp black-and-
white photography by esteemed director of photography Robby M
uller. The Criterion Collection is proud to present Jim
Jarmusch’s Down by Law.
When fate lands three hapless men – an unem
ployed disc jockey (Tom Waits),
a small-tim
e pimp (John Lurie), a a strong-willed Italian tourist (Roberto
Beningi) – in a Lousiana prison, their singular adventure begins. Described by director Jim
Jarmusch as a “neo-beat-noir-com
edy.” Down by Law is part nightm
are and part fairytale, featuring fine performances and crisp black-and-
white photography by esteemed director of photography Robby M
uller. The Criterion Collection is proud to present Jim
Jarmusch’s Down by Law.
When fate lands three hapless men – an unemployed disc
jockey (Tom Waits), a small-time pimp (John Lurie), a a strong-
willed Italian tourist (Roberto Beningi) – in a Lousiana prison, their
singular adventure begins. Described by director Jim Jarmusch as a
“neo-beat-noir-comedy.” Down by Law is part nightmare and part
fairytale, featuring fine performances and crisp black-and-white
photography by esteemed director of photography Robby Muller. The
Criterion Collection is proud to present Jim Jarmusch’s Down by Law.
When fate lands three hapless men – an unemployed disc
jockey (Tom Waits), a small-time pimp (John Lurie), a a strong-
willed Italian tourist (Roberto Beningi) – in a Lousiana prison, their
singular adventure begins. Described by director Jim Jarmusch as a
“neo-beat-noir-comedy.” Down by Law is part nightmare and part
fairytale, featuring fine performances and crisp black-and-white
photography by esteemed director of photography Robby Muller. The
Criterion Collection is proud to present Jim Jarmusch’s Down by Law.
ROUND THREEREFINEMENTS
When fate lands three hapless men – an unemployed disc jockey (Tom Waits), a small-time pimp (John Lurie), a a strong-
willed Italian tourist (Roberto Beningi) – in a Lousiana prison, their singular adventure begins. Described by director Jim Jarmusch as a
“neo-beat-noir-comedy.” Down by Law is part nightmare and part
fairytale, featuring fine performances and crisp black-and-white
photography by esteemed director of photography Robby Muller. The
Criterion Collection is proud to present Jim Jarmusch’s Down by Law.
When fate lands three hapless men – an unemployed disc
jockey (Tom Waits), a small-time pimp (John Lurie), a a
strong-willed Italian tourist (Roberto Beningi) – in a
Lousiana prison, their singular adventure begins. Described by
director Jim Jarmusch as a “neo-beat-noir-comedy.” Down by
Law is part nightmare and part fairytale, featuring fine
performances and crisp black-and-white photography by
esteemed director of photography Robby Muller. The Criterion
Collection is proud to present Jim Jarmusch’s Down by Law.
Insert EXPLORATION
Tom Wait
s as zack, is an
out-of-work DJ who is
accused of murder when a
body is found in the trunk
of a stolen car he was
hired to drive across town.
JOhn Lurie as Jack, is a
pimp set up for a fall by
a competitor.
Roberto Beningni as roberto,
is a cheerful Italian
immigrant who happens to
have killed a man.
ROUND FOURRefine One
At this of the project I wasn’t really happy with anything I designed. I stepped back from everything and I was quite disappointed in what I had produced. My research and brainstorming from the beginning of the project had given great support to move forward from were I had started and were I had moved from. I didn’t start over completely but I used icons I had already designed and tried to make a more cohesive design. One of the major things all my DVD packages lacked was a cohesive element that linked all panels together. So after this realization during class I decided to go back to the drawing board and not start completely over but pretty close.
[
Tom Wait
s as zack, is an
out-of-work DJ who is
accused of murder when a
body is found in the trunk
of a stolen car he was
hired to drive across town.
JOhn Lurie as Jack, is a
pimp set up for a fall by
a competitor.
Roberto Beningni as roberto,
is a cheerful Italian
immigrant who happens to
have killed a man.
FINal DEliverables
Tom Waits as zack, is an
out-of-work DJ who is
accused of murder when a
body is found in the trunk
of a stolen car he was
hired to drive across town.
JOhn Lurie as Jack, is a
pimp set up for a fall by
a competitor.
Roberto Beningni as roberto,
is a cheerful Italian
immigrant who happens to
have killed a man.
“But it's a good movie, and the more you
know about movies, the more you're
likely to like it.”
PROJECTOVERVIEW
Overall, I enjoyed this project and really learned a lot about myself as a designer. At the beginning, I thought that this project would be a very different project from what we had done this semester. Probably out of the three projects we have done this semester I struggled the most with this project. Towards the end of the project, I believe I grasped the essence of the movie more and more. My problem was I don’t think I convinced myself that I had picked the correct movie. This project definitely strengthened my skills in illustrator and Photoshop which is worth the work. In the end, I believe my process shows how much work I put in to this project.
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