Epilogue – Painted Movie Poster Art Series – Feature #11: “The Crow” 25th Anniversary

Series Overview:
– Epilogue Art Series is a mixed-media series by artist Damon Kardon honouring classic horror/sci-fi films and the creative promotional art that was presented to the public at the time of their premiere dates. All films represented in this art series celebrate a milestone anniversary of the films’ release and the impact they have made on pop culture history.

Kardon has chosen specific films that influenced him over the years through their distinct tone, cinematography, and direction. He is expressing his emotions felt from viewing each film through his art process, painting key images and colors that also represent the story of each film. Each poster design starts as a painting and then is manipulated in Photoshop.

As a kid who loved going to the movies (and also enjoyed the classic painted poster designs of Drew Struzan), Damon has dreamed of bringing his art style into the world of interpretive movie posters. The term “Epilogue”, in film, represents the final scenes in which a recap or narrative of what happens to the characters is given. It can be represented in a montage, which is how Damon interprets these works he is creating.

Sneak Preview:
– Be sure to enhance your viewing/reading experience by watching the original movie trailer for The Crow, released on May 13th, 1994, via Miramax Films.

About the Painting:
– The Crow is one of my favorite movies of the 1990s and it was directed by one of my favorite directors of that era, Alex Proyas, who is also known for directing 1998’s Dark City. I was in high school when this movie was released and it had a profound impact on my art and my musical tastes. Go stream the soundtrack now (or play the CD if you still have it) and I promise you will be blown away. There are so many classic bands who contributed some of their best songs to this movie (The Cure, Nine Inch Nails, Rage Against The Machine, Stone Temple Pilots).

It also reminds me of a time when soundtracks were so integral to a movie and really shaped the mood and story. These songs are weaved throughout the film, and you can also hear sounds from the actual film in the soundtrack. It’s not like today, where we get maybe a mix-tape correlated to a release of a new movie and none of the songs are actually in the movie.

What can I say about Brandon Lee’s performance (and tragic death on set) that hasn’t already been said? He left us with a masterful performance that fills us with heartbreak as well as creative inspiration and influence over countless adaptations of comic and fantasy movies to come. I believe without Lee’s portrayal of Eric Draven/The Crow, we wouldn’t have ever seen the brilliance of Heath Ledger’s depiction of The Joker in 2008’s The Dark Knight.

Check out Damon’s creative process by scrolling through the photos below.

I can’t express enough how the music in this movie is tied to my memories of viewing it over and over in the ‘90s. I revisited the music of The Crow again as I painted this movie poster. It helped me to connect again to the themes of loss and salvation; revenge and redemption. I wanted to use a simple palette of a few colors because I wanted the focus to be on the faces of these characters and some of the iconic imagery of the movie (like him standing in front of that circular, broken window with the crow on his shoulder). I remember the landscape of this movie. I loved how Proyas chose to give us “crow’s-view” swoops of the city as we flew through a burned-out, desolate environment on Devil’s Night.

I definitely had an affinity for the darker-themed movies when I was growing up and was also attracted to the unique, artistic styles of directors like Proyas and Tim Burton. Outside of The Crow, some of my favorite movies of the ‘90s were the aforementioned Dark City, Edward Scissorhands and Ed Wood. This masterwork by Proyas stands the test of time and I encourage you to revisit The Crow and witness its greatness, 25 years later.

“The Crow” – Original Poster Art from 1994:

The Series & Future Artwork:

– Coming up in Feature #12… The Terminator.

– Feature #10… “Jurassic Park” 25th Anniversary
– Feature #9… “Blade” 20th Anniversary
– Feature #8… “Halloween” 40th Anniversary
– Feature #7… “They Live” 30th Anniversary
– Feature #6… “Return of the Jedi” 35th Anniversary
– Feature #5… “Vertigo” 60th Anniversary
– Feature #4… “The Dark Knight” 10th Anniversary
– Feature #3… “2001: A Space Odyssey” 50th Anniversary
– Feature #2… “Rosemary’s Baby” 50th Anniversary
– Feature #1… “Christine” 35th Anniversary