“In Bruges” by Carter Burwell, Various Artists

The chamber-music-like score to In Bruges grew on me over time until now, where it sits on top of my 2008 soundtrack list with a definite 10 out of 10. Composer Carter Burwell will forever have a page in my book, despite his recent compositions which I’m not entirely keen at. But with scores like this one he hits just the right note. In combination with the film’s photography, Burwell created a dense athmosphere filled with melancholy, loneliness and atonement. Three key attributes the original artwork (#1) didn’t transport all too well. So I sat down and started altering it’s…

“BioShock Infinite” by Garry Schyman, Various Artists

Back in March when the game was released, I had already published this post, but with only two covers (#1, #2) online. Yet once again the world wide web gained such a wealth of fine promotion material, it would have been a sin not using it. So without further words, here’s BioShock Infinite. To create a remake of the original cover (#1) was a quick decision. I didn’t like that strange frame they’ve put around the original and the fact, that it wasn’t square just encouraged my decision. My first custom cover (#2) was a sort of byproduct of the remake….

“Star Trek” & “Star Trek Into Darkness” by Michael Giacchino

To boldly go… where no-one has gone before… design-wise BLT Communications, LLC – one of todays leading advertising agencies – ventured into unexplored territory (sorry!) by creating the arguably most controversial movie poster of 2009. It’s a clear winner in my eyes and I was glad to see that Varèse Sarabande also used this iconic image for the official soundtrack album (#1). When they released the Deluxe Limited Edition one year later, they went with a more traditional design (#2), but the bound case with a 28-page illustrated booklet more or less makes up for that. My custom covers also start…

“Poltergeist” by Jerry Goldsmith

I‘m always working on several custom covers to multiple soundtracks simultaneously. That way I can keep myself busy without the risk of getting bored (and subsequentially artifically dull) within one film’s design scheme. In addition to this, I every once in a while throw in some random work in between too. For example, some soundtrack I stumble upon shuffling through my iTunes library or a new film poster I come along in the web. Poltergeist by Jerry Goldsmith was one of those throw-in’s. I’ve made custom covers for it a while back, but never was really satisfied with them. And…

“Mafia II” by Matus Siroky, Adam Kuruc, Various Artists

Mafia II benefited immensely from it’s highly atmospheric soundtrack. A well crafted score by composer Matus Siroky and the Prague FILMharmonica Orchestra, who did an excellent job in capturing the sounds and athmosphere of that ruthless and violent era. The somewhat unexciting official artwork for the soundtrack (#1) was accompanied by a variety of wallpapers, posters and promotional key art for the game. I was fortunate to be able to selectively choose my templates, a rare luxury. I tried out various fonts for the album credits, but ultimately decided on Freestyle Script as it made a good balance with the…