Criterion & Eclipse Cover Art & Packaging Babble-on Vol.3

[CSM126]

I quite like the Ace in the Hole cover. It looks like it could be the cover of an old ten-cent pulp novel (and it would be even better if they "aged" it so it looked older), which seems appropriate.

[jon]

Ivan's Childhood is gorgeous. I wonder if they were a little inspired by the Tideland cover.

the les Enfants Terribles cover is also another highpoint within the past few months. Love both of these covers.

I am not really liking the box set, and especially not Ace, though I think the title and Billy Wilder's name look pretty neat. Just not executed as that other newspaper cover (honeymoon killers). I think it is the white Criterion logos that are bothering me so much. I would have liked to have seen them in a different color.

[cgray]

I seem to be with the majority. I find all the covers, except Ace, to be quite nice. Ivan's is just excellent.

Ace in the Hole... yes, feels very pasted. Ugh... I was really looking forward to seeing what they would choose for a cover.

[justeleblanc]

I think you're all f-ed in the head. The ACE cover is terrific.

[ranaing83]

I don't know. The Ace cover, as I said before, doesn't feel like a dvd cover, but at the same time, it doesn't feel like you're looking at a newspaper front page either. There's a lack of artistry in it that is evident in the other covers.

[patrick]

Criterion sure likes their black and white on the July covers.

I certainly understand wanting to give black and white films appropriate packaging, but we got in La Haine, Overlord and Brute Force at the store over the weekend and it was a bit of B&W overload.

[Narshty]

Ivan's Childhood is truly ugly.

Ace in the Hole looks a sorry second next to the astonishingly detailed and meticulous (and totally convincing) newspaper/magazine recreation done for The Honeymoon Killers. If you're going to do this sort of pastiche, you've got to go all the way (ie. not putting "Billy Wilder's" as the newspaper headline). Altogether too slick and pristine.

[Scharphedin2]

For anyone interested in the genesis of Criterion covers, there is an interesting parallel discussion going on in the "On Five" thread.

As to how anyone could feel that the Ivan cover (or any of the other covers this month) is down right ugly, I am simply flummoxed.

[Narshty]

I think it's the abysmal wibbly lettering they've used that ruins it. I'm not much of a fan of the whole image anyway. It's not a pleasurable composition and it doesn't really evoke or imply much. It's desperately empty.

[Greathinker]

I think it's the abysmal wibbly lettering they've used that ruins it. I'm not much of a fan of the whole image anyway. It's not a pleasurable composition and it doesn't really evoke or imply much. It's desperately empty.

From the point of view of someone who hasn't seen the film I think it's a striking composition-- with the boy not only juxtaposed with the small shattered tree but held in a sort of equilibrium, the sky is upside down like a pit, and the right side up sky is a mess of stabbing wood shapes from some man-made structure. And everything is underexposed and grey.

But granted I might agree with you on the lettering-- it seems like it should be appropriate but it reminds me, maybe too much, of that Seven Samurai font.

[Scharphedin2]

I think it's the abysmal wibbly lettering they've used that ruins it. I'm not much of a fan of the whole image anyway. It's not a pleasurable composition and it doesn't really evoke or imply much. It's desperately empty.

OK, I suppose I can see the cover through your eyes, and these things are of course always about personal preference... I really took an immediate liking to this cover. I enjoy vintage cover art, but I also like, when labels make a serious effort to capture the spirit of a film in marketing it to a comtemporary audience, which I think is what Criterion does very well (more and more to my personal taste anyway).

In this specific case, the lettering would probably have worked even better for me, if Criterion had used the alternate title of "My Name is Ivan." The imagery, on the other hand, reminds me first of the scene with the well, and how it transforms into a mirror of Ivan's memories/dreams. Criterion then used this idea, and reflected that essential image of Ivan framed by those splintered beams, which is one of the most common stills taken from the film, into the lower half of the cover, which is emptiness pierced by a single crippled tree (as a representation of Ivan and what the war has done to his childhood). To me it is a really good rendering of what the film is about, and I find the general composition pleasing enough.

Possibly, I am even more enamored of this cover, because the covers on the Image laserdisc and mk2 DVD that I own are so very lackluster. The former is simply a blow-up of an image from the same sequence used for the upper part of the Criterion cover. The latter is a shot of Ivan's commander as he carries the sleeping Ivan in his arms with the title super-imposed over it. Both covers are more or less just a screengrab lazily pasted on the front of the packaging.

[a.khan]

...into the lower half of the cover, which is emptiness pierced by a single crippled tree (as a representation of Ivan and what the war has done to his childhood).

The single tree is a recurring motif in Tarkovsky films. I can't tell if this was a factor in designing the "Ivan's Childhood" cover, but it works for me.

[TheGodfather]

I love the Les Enfants Terribles and Ivan`s Childhood covers. They`re simply beautiful. Kinda like the Ace In The Hole as well.
Don`t like Teshigahara covers that much though. Also a dissapointment that I already own 2 out of the 3 titles in MoC versions...

[Pinakotheca]

The design is okay. Good, not more. The transitional pictures (between light and dark) doesn't work as well as it does on Ivan's Childhood, but it's alright. However, the text 'Directed by Jean-Pierre Melville' is bloody awful. I can't understand how any designer could pick those fonts. That and keeping Jean Cocteau in the same as the title font, sheesh.

Ace In The Hole makes me think of the Dassin releases. I assume it's the same designer. I don't know if you guys saw the early draft of Night And The City, that stuff. It's hard, but I still think the cover is over average. Though I keep thinking some of the original posters could have been retouched and worked into a nice design. Like...

[souvenir]

Ace In The Hole makes me think of the Dassin releases. I assume it's the same designer. I don't know if you guys saw the early draft of Night And The City, that stuff. It's hard, but I still think the cover is over average. Though I keep thinking some of the original posters could have been retouched and worked into a nice design. Like...

That could make a great cover. Criterion don't seem to like the vintage poster look that Warner Bros. DVDs tend to use. The current cover looks like an early draft of something, not polished to the normal Criterion standards. One specific thing I realized I don't like is the overlap on the left side of the Ace cover, obscuring part of the news story.

[jbeall]

I like the July covers, although taken collectively, they do seem a bit redundant, but that's as much because they're all coming out in the same month as anything else. If I consider them individually, I find that I like them all, although the splash of color on Les Enfants Terribles makes it stand out from the rest.

I do wish, however, that there had been more font consistency on the Enfants cover. Pinakotheca's right about that one.

Regarding the cover for Ace in the Hole, I think it works. I prefer criterion's faux newspaper/poster covers to the 'vintage' poster Warner covers. The overlap is annoying, though.

But really, I want more variety and colors in these covers. Army of Shadows has color, but it's predominantly one color, while it seems that every black-and-white film has to have a corresponding dvd cover. Even if it's just that little splash of red on Enfants..., they could brighten up those covers a bit.

[Pinakotheca]

That could make a great cover. Criterion don't seem to like the vintage poster look that Warner Bros. DVDs tend to use. The current cover looks like an early draft of something, not polished to the normal Criterion standards. One specific thing I realized I don't like is the overlap on the left side of the Ace cover, obscuring part of the news story.

Yeah for odd reasons Criterion usually don't seem to find the posters to be stylish enough or something. While a simple retouch can bring out really nice covers. Masters Of Cinema's "Prisoner Of Shark Island" comes to mind.

[CSM126]

That could make a great cover. Criterion don't seem to like the vintage poster look that Warner Bros. DVDs tend to use. The current cover looks like an early draft of something, not polished to the normal Criterion standards. One specific thing I realized I don't like is the overlap on the left side of the Ace cover, obscuring part of the news story.

Yeah for odd reasons Criterion usually don't seem to find the posters to be stylish enough or something. While a simple retouch can bring out really nice covers. Masters Of Cinema's "Prisoner Of Shark Island" comes to mind.

Criterion's own "Tunes of Glory" is another fine example.

[Matt]

Yeah for odd reasons Criterion usually don't seem to find the posters to be stylish enough or something.

I don't think it's that they don't find the posters stylish enough, it's just that they are very concerned with branding, and if they can create art that is unique to the Criterion edition, they will. They will often use elements from original posters, just not the whole design and layout.

[Derek Estes]

Yeah for odd reasons Criterion usually don't seem to find the posters to be stylish enough or something.

I don't think it's that they don't find the posters stylish enough, it's just that they are very concerned with branding, and if they can create art that is unique to the Criterion edition, they will. They will often use elements from original posters, just not the whole design and layout.

Which, IMO makes for the most interesting covers out there. As much as people complain about Criterion covers, I can't think of any other company whos packaging looks anywhere as beautiful or interesting on a regular basis.

[Cinesimilitude]

the security stickers now have the wacky C on them. hilarious.

[souvenir]

The Bernard art is on Criterion's Eclipse site (though sorta hidden at the moment):

[skuhn8]

Yeah for odd reasons Criterion usually don't seem to find the posters to be stylish enough or something.

I don't think it's that they don't find the posters stylish enough, it's just that they are very concerned with branding, and if they can create art that is unique to the Criterion edition, they will. They will often use elements from original posters, just not the whole design and layout.

Which, IMO makes for the most interesting covers out there. As much as people complain about Criterion covers, I can't think of any other company whos packaging looks anywhere as beautiful or interesting on a regular basis.

MOC--virtually no lemons in that bunch

[GringoTex]

MOC--virtually no lemons in that bunch

I think Criterion covers are held to a much higher standard than MOC covers in this forum. Probably has something to do with the fact that the great peerpee designs many himself.

[J M Powell]

The accent's on the wrong "e" in "Misérables"! Here's hoping somebody catches that goof . . .

Edit: I just noticed they've fixed it. Go Criterión!