Criterion & Eclipse Cover Art & Packaging Babble-on Vol.4

[Cinephrenic]

Probably just an inspiration. He has done it before.

[Napier]

Are you familiar with the Seinfeld episode where Elaine, inadvertently steals a "Ziggy"? Maybe it went down like that?

Maybe Skillman has Hall & Oates bed sheets.

It's like e=mc2

[Steven H]

any Skillman fan should cease being a Skillman fan, immediately.

just kidding

[HistoryProf]

Tark is gonna have an embolism over this one. He's gonna have to boycott all the Skillman covered releases now...bummer.

[oldsheperd]

Ah Geez! I actually have that Hall and Oates cd in my car(was listening to it yesterday) and I got Secret of the Grain Last week. I never thought about the similarity of covers. And yes, I like Hall and Oates, waht? You gotta problem wit that!?!!

[Cinephrenic]

He's such a maneater.

[Matt]

Originally, I was sort of a defender of the cover art for The Red Shoes and Black Narcissus, but now that I have them in hand, I have to admit that they are among Criterion's worst covers. Apart from the obviousness of the type treatment, all of the images on the covers and in the booklets are clearly HD frame grabs and, as such, lack any clarity or sharpness. I understand that there was probably a dearth of good color stills from which to draw, but Criterion have recently relied on illustrators to such good effect (and on many minor releases, too), I can't imagine why they didn't go that route this time around.

[dustysomers]

Now that I have them in hand, I have to admit that they are among Criterion's worst covers. Apart from the obviousness of the type treatment, all of the images on the covers and in the booklets are clearly HD frame grabs and, as such, lack any clarity or sharpness.

I thought the same thing. Initially, I thought both cover images were rather stunning, but when I got them in hand, I was surprised by how off-putting the lack of sharpness was. The Black Narcissus cover especially — it's a striking image that looks like it was printed on a cheap laser printer.

[Svevan]

and the worst bit is that The Red Shoes has multiple lovely illustrations - one of which is on Criterion's original release (another is on the back). Why skip over grade-A material just because it's been used before?

[Alphonse Doinel]

Yeah, these definitely caught my eye as being far below the usual Criterion standards. I've never liked the designs, but expected them to at least look better printed.

I forgot to check the booklet when I rented them. Who designed them?

[godardslave]

Yeah, these definitely caught my eye as being far below the usual Criterion standards. I've never liked the designs, but expected them to at least look better printed.

I forgot to check the booklet when I rented them. Who designed them?

Hall and Oates. :-s

[cdnchris]

3 Silent Classics by Josef von Sternberg
L'enfance nue

[knives]

The cover to that booklet is insane. Is that from The Last Command? Visually they couldn't have serviced von Sternberg any better.

[Feego]

Originally, I was sort of a defender of the cover art for The Red Shoes and Black Narcissus, but now that I have them in hand, I have to admit that they are among Criterion's worst covers. Apart from the obviousness of the type treatment, all of the images on the covers and in the booklets are clearly HD frame grabs and, as such, lack any clarity or sharpness. I understand that there was probably a dearth of good color stills from which to draw, but Criterion have recently relied on illustrators to such good effect (and on many minor releases, too), I can't imagine why they didn't go that route this time around.

Yep, they're bad. I didn't like the Black Narcissus cover online, but it's FAR worse right here in front of me. The colors are dark and murky, and the whole thing is just an ugly, brownish-grayish mess. Truly a poor representation of one of the most breathtakingly beautiful movies ever made. If anyone unfamiliar with the movie passed this in a store, I doubt they'd give it a second look. Criterion should have just slapped a picture of Deborah Kerr on the front and called it a day.

I actually don't mind the booklets (although whoever designed all of this clearly has a fetish for wild-eyed women sweating), but the original Criterion covers were superior.

NOTE: It is funny, though, that no one ever seemed to complain that the original Black Narcissus cover also featured the word "Black" in black font and "Narcissus" in white font.

[Matt]

Who designed them?

F. Ron Miller, who has done some of the better Criterion packages (Golden Age of Television, though maybe he didn't do the illustrations) and some of the worst (Masculin Feminin).

[Alphonse Doinel]

F. Ron Miller, who has done some of the better Criterion packages (Golden Age of Television, though maybe he didn't do the illustrations) and some of the worst (Masculin Feminin).

I remember looking him up after loving the Magnificent Obsession menus. Hard to believe the same person that did these also did Ace in the Hole.

[CSM126]

I still like The Red Shoes cover, but yeah...Black Narcissus looks bad in person. It's so muddy I thought it was some sort of Magic Eye puzzle or something (cross your eyes and see a 3D picture of the castle?) The booklet cover would have been better for the box art (and would have made a nice couple with TRS as far as portraits of wild-eyed women go).

[Matt]

That Ace in the Hole cover was very good in its day, but I can't help but feel that it's been bested at its own game by Flicker Alley's Chicago cover:

[zitherstrings]

They're both great work.

[kaujot]

I always thought Ace in the Hole to be inferior to Honeymoon Killers.

[Zot!]

I still like The Red Shoes cover, but yeah...Black Narcissus looks bad in person. It's so muddy I thought it was some sort of Magic Eye puzzle or something (cross your eyes and see a 3D picture of the castle?) The booklet cover would have been better for the box art (and would have made a nice couple with TRS as far as portraits of wild-eyed women go).

The Leopard also suffers from the cheapo frame-grab "look", though to a lesser degree. Black Narcissus looks just horrible. Why is the resolution such an issue with these? I thought 4k was a fair approximation of 35mm.

[Brian C]

Really? I think The Leopard looks fantastic. Besides, I don't think that still is from the film itself - I thought it was derived from an actual still shot on set. It's in the stills gallery on the disc.

[aox]

It must be, because I kept my eye out for it specifically, and there was nothing close to that angle for that shot in the film which I could detect.

[Zot!]

Hmmm, okay I stand corrected. I don't know enough about print, but I feel like these are not optimized for paper, but rather computer screens.

[Alphonse Doinel]

I always thought Ace in the Hole to be inferior to Honeymoon Killers.

Honeymoon Killers is indeed a better cover, but I think as a package. Ace in the Hole blows it out of the water. The fold out booklet is magnificent.

As for the HD stills debate, digital resolution is roughly 1/4 the size of print resolution so 4K equates to about 1.5 X 3.5 inches. A little larger than a 35mm neg. So yeah, there should be no issues with resolution at a dvd size.