Everybody (I hope) remembers the excellent booklets included in the LOTR SEE DVDs. Printed on quality paper, they were just the cherry on top of the superb packaging design.
And even though Warner was more or less trying to copy the LOTR SEE packaging (more in case of the UK DVD, less in case of every other country), the booklet was the first thing to be omitted. A pity, as it offers a great overview over the bonus features as well as over the chapter list.
So I decided to make it right and provide a replacement booklet for everybody to print at home, in a copy shop or a printing facility of your choice.
I will be making both a DVD and a BluRay dimensioned booklet. The downloadable version will be online as soon as it's finished. So far, however, here is what is done.
For illustrations, I used some of the John Howe / Alan Lee sketches from The Hobbit Chronicles Artbook.
Front/Back page
For the front page, I decided to use the Hobbit logo as opposed to LOTR logos which focused on the single titles ("The Fellowship of the Ring" etc.). The reason is that the LOTR titles are real book titles; the Hobbit titles are not. They are just artificial inventions of the script writers.
At the back, all LOTR booklets feature a high structure: the Throne of Othanc at FOTR, part of Meduseld at TTT, a tower in Minas Tirith in ROTK. For AUJ, I chose the Carrock.
The US booklets contain additional text for DVD-ROM materials at the back; the European ones (I have German) are just blank. Frankly, I like it more that way.
Introduction (Pages 1+2)
That was a tricky one, as the Hobbit does not feature that much textual content. I used text material from the AUJ SEE DVD, the WB press release as well as the existing LOTR booklets.
Chapter List (Pages 3+4)
As The Hobbit: AUJ features rather few chapters (35 as opposed to 48 in FOTR, 68 in TTT and 78 in ROTK), it was rather a work of typing off the DVD screens.
As for the appendices lists (which will be on pages 4+5 and 6+7). All of them are designed differently for the LOTR discs. I am yet not quite sure which design to go for: either a Dwarvish design, or a floral Hobbity design, or neither. I'd rather hold off the Dwarvish design for the future parts.
Any questions, ideas, contributions, thoughts?
To be continued...