What do you think of my web site?

Chris Messineo

Chris Messineo

Veteran
I have spent the week-end tweaking my production company web site and I think it is finally ready for public consumption.

Off Stage Films

I would love to know what you think of it.

Any suggestions for improvement are most welcome.

Thanks a lot,

Chris

p.s. All images on the site were captured with the DVX.
 
pretty darn good. but it just shows the films you have already done. if this is a production company, maybe add some info on the services you provide, company bio,......stuff like that. so far it looks like personal website.
 
Nitpicks: the blue hyperlinks on black background aren't all that easy to read. The color scheme of the text doesn't mesh well -- purple, blue, and green/yellow. Especially the green/yellow (text color of the dates).

The posters at the bottom -- could they be moved to the top? Maybe right-justify them opposite the Off Stage Films logo? This would free up the bottom of the page and put the posters in a more prominent spot.

It's simple and clean, which is nice. It would be nifty if there was a spot with info on the production company. I gleaned a bit reading through the news, but a dedicated paragraph or something might help. I also see no way of contacting you, which is understandable. But if you do accept head shots / resumes then a simple e-mail link or something could help.
 
I'd have the 'menu of news' come over more to the left where it takes up a third of the action.

I'd have the montage imagery fade into a new one instead of the sudeen change

I'd use a light grey instead of white (too contrasty with black)

I'd use another color other than blue (too dark as it is)

The yellow dates dont work for me
 
yeah industry standard really has links on the either the right or left side or te page but hey, we're artists right?
 
Thanks everyone, great feedback so far.

maybe add some info on the services you provide, company bio
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I need to add an "About Us/Contact Us" section, I just need to find a good place to put the link.

The color scheme of the text doesn't mesh well -- purple, blue, and green/yellow. Especially the green/yellow (text color of the dates).
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It seems like a few people are having issues with the colors. I will try and play with the them a little more and see if I can come up with something better.

The posters at the bottom -- could they be moved to the top?
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I kind of liked the way the posters in the lower right offset the logo in the upper left. It also felt a little unique without being confusing (I hope). Anyway, I'm curious what more people think of it.

I'd have the 'menu of news' come over more to the left where it takes up a third of the action.
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I put the news on the right, because I was trying to subltly say, that the images are more important than the news. Once you go to the sub pages the menu moves to the left to ease navigation. Perhaps that is just another unique/strange thing that needs to change.

I'd have the montage imagery fade into a new one instead of the sudeen change
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Great suggestion, now I have to teach myself how to code that. :)

yeah industry standard really has links on the either the right or left side or te page but hey, we're artists right?
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Exactly, I was trying to make the page a little more artistic without getting so odd that the navigation is confusing.

Thanks again everyone, l learn so much from everyone here, please keep the suggestions coming.

Chris
 
Here's the only reason I mentioned moving the posters to the top:

It looks like this page is optimized for 1024x768. At this resolution the horizontal fit is perfect, but the posters on the bottom make it so that a vertical scroll bar has to be used in order to scroll down to see them completely (at least on my system). This isn't so bad, except that the image/news box ALSO has a vertical scroll bar. Since I (and I assume a lot of other folks) tend to scroll with the wheel on the mouse I kept getting the inner window to scroll when I meant to be scrolling the entire page in order to access the poster links... so for me it was more of a functionality issue rather than aesthetics.

Not that I'm one to be saying anything... I'm guilty of this same issue on several pages on the site in my sig. Heh.
 
Owen,

First, I had a chance to check out your site. Very nice! I really like the colors and the header bar (the logo is fantastic and the firefly's are cool). Meanwhile, the DVD's look great, just like the kind of thing my 7 year old daughter would LOVE to watch.

As for my site, I did try to optimize for 1024 x 768. When I look at it on my screen (pc) and my wife's mac it fit's perfectly on both. I don't know why it doesn't fit yours, oh well, I guess there is no perfect size for everyone.

I will have to tweak the site and see if I can get the posters a little higher (i really don't want people to have to scroll to see them).

Thanks for the info,

Chris
 
Yeah that's always the way... I perfect my site to my screen and then see it on someone else's and everything is out of whack -- especially with DHTML layers.

My browser currently has a toolbar installed, so that probably reduces my web real estate a bit.

Here's a javascript for image dissolves if you decide to implement that:
http://ultimatephp.com/Mega-Javascript File/slide show 006.htm
 
Oh, and might I add that I would love to see "The Aggie" and also know more about "Amongst the Savages" (budget, format, shooting locale, you know... everything!)
 
Here's a javascript for image dissolves if you decide to implement that:
http://ultimatephp.com/Mega-Javascr...0show 006.htm
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Owen, Thanks a lot. Unfortunately it doesn't work on my Mac, but it looks great on my PC. I will play with it and see if I can get it to work on both.

check mine out. www.superproduca.blogspot.com
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Aaron, very nice Blog site. It looks very clean, crisp, and professional. BTW, I am also a big One Hour Photo fan. I think it is some of Robin Williams best work.

I would love to see "The Aggie" and also know more about "Amongst the Savages" (budget, format, shooting locale, you know... everything!)
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Owen, I hope to have "The Aggie", "The Bad Cat", and "The Hunter" available for online viewing in the near future. Right now though, I am still sending these out to festivals and many of them won't accept your film if it is available online.

As for "Amongst the Savages" this is the project I have dreamed about for years. We recently acquired an amazing Executive Producer and he has begun to raise funds. We expect to have between $150,000 and $250,000 for production. We are planning on shooting with the HVX200 (since production will be in 2006). We have most of our crew in place. We are shooting in New Jersey and are pretty well connected to the Actor scene in NYC so hopefully we will have some really talent up on the screen.

Chris
 
Totally understand about the festivals thing. Best of luck there. Your "Savages" figures are in the same ballpark I've been toying with for an HVX project, so that's very reassuring. It looks like a big undertaking... can't wait to hear more as things progress!
 
I Like the site overall. I think the color issue has already been covered so no need to get into it other than to stress the blue text readability. My only other suggestion is that you find a better way to navigate the stills section so one could click backwards and forwards through the collection. I'm thinking some previouse, next buttons. Not that it's that hard to magnify a still and then go back to the stills menu to see them all again but it caused me to stop and wonder what I should click on to get back. If you could make that whole experience more intuitive it would be great.
 
Mino,

Thanks for the suggestion. I will try to add some previous and forward buttons to make the navigation of the stills a little more intuitive.

Chris
 
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