Below is a mood board made up of numerous different sites containing different designs which I may consider taking reference from when approaching the creation of my own site.

I especially enjoy the appearance of Eddie Hamilton’s website as there is a streak of simplicity however it is still effective and of a professional standard.

portfolio-moodboard

Font Ideas:

Here are some of the font types used on the websites from the mood board above. All are easy to read and understandable whilst maintaining a unique and professional approach to a title banner.

Colour Schemes (House style):

Here is a brief colour palette I created using ‘colourlovers.com’.

Logo Designs:

Keeping in-fitting with the colour palette above here are some logo designs for my website.

Hosting the Website:

When hosting the website I would have to consider a number of things including:

Features on the site:

First of all I would have the homepage which will consist of a welcome message in the centre of the screen. Below this welcome message there will be a mood board, of sorts, made up of shots from the different media products I had made prior to the creation of the website.

I would then have another page titled, ‘Film Projects’ which, being self-explanatory, would include a collection of short films I have made and a brief synopsis below. I may even choose to involve the genre(s) of each film to try and determine which audiences will feel more encouraged to preview films of a certain genre.

I would also have a page titled, ‘Commercial Projects’ which would feature such films as promotional videos for different locations and attractions including the Kelham Island Museum promotional video. Below each video I would include a brief description of the product being promoted and perhaps costs and, if location-based, opening times.

Another page would be titled, ‘About’ much like countless other websites and would contain a small amount of paragraphs describing my journey in the film making industry from educational progression to independent project developments.

Email(s) on the Website:

I would involve my own, professional, email in place only for collecting and contacting people for business purposes. I would also involve the emails of friends who work in the industry who I have worked with and who I believe would be enthusiastic if confronted by someone who wanted to put one of their projects into development or assist on one of our’s.

Cost of Website:

Ideally, I would not aim to make it expensive; I would consider that having my own domain name would cost money and so I would try to priorities and dedicate most of the currency matters to projects which would then be referenced on my website.

I understand that the expenses of owning and hosting your own website can change from time to time and, depending on how you use the website, can ask for more investment however I would aim to keep the website at a reasonable price so as to dedicate more time to my projects otherwise there would be no reason to have a website if there is no work to promote and/or showcase.

Domain:

In terms of the domain, I would use the standard ‘.co.uk’ as I am creating the website with the intention of advertising my work and projects. In using this domain I am maintaining a simple address which people can follow and use to locate my site. In terms of making the site personal to me I would dedicate this more to the features found on the site rather than in the URL; ‘.me’.

For the domain name I would probably call it, ‘WorldofFilm&TV’ as several of my projects would most likely fall into these two types of media products. Also, it has hints of melodrama which is largely relatable to my work; My style sometimes involves finding regular settings and story lines and making them melodramatic, more three dimensional and unique to my ideas.

Associated email names:

As mentioned above, any emails of people associated to my site would be located on the contacts page so as to give people a choice of who they think they should contact with regards to a project. I would, perhaps, set up my own email associated with the website so that all inquiries and comments would be accounted for elsewhere and not in my personal email.

Catchall Accounts:

In terms of catchall accounts I would dedicate a page entirely to catching all emails and messages. Therefore, I have no need to navigate to exterior sites simply to read questions and inquiries about the main site. It also allows audiences to feel at ease with the site and gain confidence in using it to contact me.

Spam Filtering:

For spam filtering I would ensure that the catchall emails page contained it; I would not imagine that everyone visiting the site was there with the intention of getting in touch with me to discuss business matters. Sometimes, irrelevant material is posted and in having spam filtering I would be able to avoid this so I would definitely consider using spam filtering to host my website. It not only promises sensibility and the maintenance of professionalism but it allows others who are first-time visitors to the site to feel it is a place of work and requires a more mature approach.

Copyright Issues:

In creating this website there will always be the risk of copyright issues such as images and sounds or even videos which do not belong to you. This may affect my site as there would be references to other projects by other people in the film industry who, perhaps, are inspirations of my own. However, to avoid the risk of copyright I would ensure all material not belonging to me was referenced thoroughly; I would add a brief explanation of who it belongs to and then a URL/Web Address navigating anyone to the site from which I found and used the material.

In terms of how I could protect my works from copyright, I would make sure that each image, video or personalized sound-based files were labelled with my domain name. More specifically, the text would read, ‘Property of-‘ and then the official domain name for my site. I would also make sure that there was text at the very bottom of each page stating that the site and all material on it was copyright protected. I would even dedicate a page to the copyright law and give caution to anyone considering using any of my material without consulting me and seeking permission first-hand.

Available Learning Resources:

Of course, in terms of the available learning resources there is the Internet and, more specifically, YouTube. There are countless numbers of tutorials regarding Adobe Muse ranging from beginner’s level to advanced.

There is also Lynda.com which offers many in-depth tutorials and walk-throughs about Adobe software and would prove useful to students as it keeps you updated on your learning progress.

There are often books and magazines which can be bought online, in stores or from the college which hold all the available knowledge regarding the use of software and web design. Often, these tutorials are simplified and leave their audience feeling confident in going forward with their ideas. However, sometimes they can prove a little difficult to understand therefore leaving opportunities for other learning resources to become useful.

Below are some YouTube tutorials regarding how you would go about making a website in Adobe Muse. Several are extremely detailed and given step by step.

My plan for developing my understanding is to begin using the software and keep each of these videos, and perhaps a few others, on side in case I am unsure of certain tools and settings.

I will observe my development by adding progression screenshots of my website as it develops. When looking back on this I will see how I have followed instructions on videos combined with my own exploration of the software.

Widgets:

Widgets are small add-ons in designing software which allow you to use a certain function which may have not been achievable any other way. For example, you would be able to add moving videos to your website or even snow for the festive season. Widgets can be very useful when trying to reach out to your target audience. They can also be extremely useful in terms of promoting films and other media products.

Often, if people visit official websites set up for new releases they may notice the widgets and find themselves attracted to the website and its unique design. They may then encourage others to visit and discover all kinds of offers they did not know about beforehand.

After viewing the website ‘http://resources.muse.adobe.com’ I believe I would probably use the ‘Text Animation’ widget which allows you to animate text directly from Muse rather than having to use After Effects or any separate animation software packages. Also, the ‘LightBox’ widget sounds rather interesting as it allows you to add videos to shapes and graphics you have created in Muse and allows the video to play just as it would on its original site.

Here is a screenshot of the website:

Below are a few examples of website that contain, ‘widgets’. Many of these widgets involve moving images on, otherwise, still pages. This simply creates a more professional yet quirky environment around those visiting the websites. It almost tells people that film making does not have to be a serious and/or dark method of storytelling; it can be up-beat and friendly. It is a way of saying that sometimes it is what you make it.