“The Dig” by Michael Land

One of my earliest game memories – and still one of the best – was Lucas Arts’ The Dig. I remember getting this for my 15th birthday. Just unpacking that box with its polychromatic finish shimmering in all colours was downright amazing. I had a friend staying over that night and we played through the whole game until 3 or 4 in the morning. Not without help in form of a printed walkthrough of course (no internet back then, kiddies!), but it was totally worth it. A film-like experience I still have fond memories of… even now, twenty years later. I…

“Before the Flood” by Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross, Gustavo Santaolalla, Mogwai

Think what you like about Leonardo DiCaprio, but his personal commitment when it comes to environmental issues such as global warming deserves respect. Even more so now that he and his producing team decided to release their latest project Before the Flood publicly for free, thus making it available for anybody to see without the need to go to the movies or spend money on it. It’s a bold statement, to encourage people go watch this documentary and raise the awareness, because frankly, it affects us all, whether we like it or not. To help spreading the word, Before the Flood comes backed with a…

“Silicon Valley” by Jeff Cardoni, Various Artists

People often ask me “Heidl, you bloody thief!” I guess what they really mean is “Heidl, you bloody genius! I do not entirely agree on your liberal interpretation of the copyright policy. But I still frequent your blog on a daily basis. Cannot get enough of those beauties. You ROCK!” Well, thanks. I’m aware of the legal grey area I’m operating in. Yes I take and alter images from others. And yes I’m taking credit for others’ achievements, sort of. That’s why I’ve set myself some personal guidelines: Always try to contact the creator for permission. Always link to the original artwork…

“Side Effects” by Thomas Newman

There are some directors out there that put special emphasis on design, and especially in this case, font design. Marc Foster for example, whose visual gimmickry made a so-so James Bond film kinda watchable. Or David Fincher, who’s still one of my favourite directors and a sure bet for the most elaborate title sequences in modern cinema. Steven Soderbergh is another director who I consider to be part of that small elitist group. There are some films in his body of work that downright ooze stylistic eye candy (sadly, sometimes over substance). Side Effects isn’t one of those films though. It’s a…

“Stranger Things” by Kyle Dixon, Michael Stein, Various Artists

Netflix’s Stranger Things is without a doubt this summer’s biggest TV sensation. No wonder the clamour for its original score was loud among fans. And the producers did answer in form of a massive 75-tracks-set, divided into two separate albums. Show ’em all you’ve got instead of setting a few specific marks, that probably was the motto behind those two releases. And while I do appreciate complete and expanded scores a lot, I’m a bit overwhelmed by that huge amount of music. But who am I to judge? I actually started working on this custom covers series before the official…