Alejandro González Iñárritu’s survival tale The Revenant is a real piece of art, rightfully racing for a couple of Oscars at this years Academy Awards ceremony. But it’s not necessarily the end product that left me absolutely astonished. The films making-of is easily as fascinating (if not more!) as the supposedly real-life story they are telling. Shot in the arctic cold of the Canadian and Argentinian outback, using only natural light in locations with minimal daylight hours, and pushing everyone involved to their painful limits, The Revenant is an outstanding achievement. Last december Emmanuel Lubezki published a series of photographs from the wilderness shoot and they’re breathtakingly beautiful. They also ignited my final spark of inspiration to come…
“Complete Songs & Poems” by The Tolkien Ensemble
In April of last year I was contemplating the future of HQCovers. I’ve stated some ideas about redesigning and restructuring this blog. Or the possibility of offering custom covers beside my professional passion for soundtracks and scores. However my most wanted addition would be guest entries. I’ve come to know a lot of talented people over the past years, who deserve to be spotlighted. And it’s my pleasure to take a backseat for once and leave the stage for one of my favourite artists. He’s a fellow Austrian, he goes by the name rotane and he’s an absolute whiz with font design. When heidl asked me to appear as…
“You and the Night” by M83
Have you ever heard about You and the Night? An independently produced “sex comedy” from French filmmaker Yann Gonzalez, brother and ex-bandmate of M83 mastermind Anthony Gonzalez. Chances are good, that you haven’t. And no-one is to blame you, for this is really an obscure, little film. But – let me tell you that: its score is absolutely beautiful! Anthony Gonzalez paints a warm and retroesque, almost dreamlike soundscape. But it’s not the music that initially drew me towards this record. It was the amazing cover artwork designed by Mondo-regular Kilian Eng (#1). More than once I have bought music solely because of…
“War of the Worlds” by John Williams
The John Williams of the new century is a notably different affair than the one we’ve come to love and admire during the 70’s and 80’s. His musical palette was enriched by a darker and more mature sound, often times omitting the hummable themes he’s become famous for. Maybe it’s especially that new quality, that required (and ultimately rewarded) repeated listenings, that turned War of the Worlds into one of my favourite John Williams scores. Much to my delight I was able to incorporate all official logo treatments into this custom cover series (#1 to #4), even though the perspective is slightly…
“A Nightmare on Elm Street” by Charles Bernstein
Sleep. Those little slices of death. How I loathe them. Edgar Allan Poe In the fall of last year someone at the Final Fantasy Shrine forums requested a Nightmare on Elm Street 30th Anniversary cover artwork. And because I like those old 80’s horror films – and especially the creativity of this particular one – I took the opportunity to work a little bit within this genre. Movie posters were sometimes pretty weird back then and Matthew Joseph Peak‘s hand-drawn design is no exception (#1, #2). It’s really great to see the current retro wave slowly splashing over into the 80’s, bringing…





