Cover Tracks

In the opening scene of Lord of War (2005), Yuri Orlov, played by Nicholas Cage, is seen standing on a street covered with bullet casings. As he explains the economics of firearms in circulation, deep black smoke rises from behind. The scene then cuts to the journey of a bullet—from its manufacture to its travel across countries and finally splattering the brains of a child soldier in some unnamed war-torn African nation. This opening scene gives the teaser of what the movie is going to be about—globalisation of violence and moral ambiguity among others.

The album cover of the film, too like its opening scene, is iconic and echoes the movie. A mugshot of Cage made up entirely of bullets, his eyes cold and staring into the void. The design of album covers has now become a lost art but artist Arunabha Ghosh doesn’t want it to fade out of memory. Ghosh recently held an exhibition titled Vinyl Visions: Exploring the Dynamic Art of Film Soundtrack Album Covers at the India International Centre, New Delhi, showcasing his personal collection of 52 vinyl covers.

“What I started dealing with was the feeling of synaesthesia, like multiple sensations combined into one,” says Munjarita Mondal, the curator of the exhibition, “When looking at these covers, we think what the colour of the movie would be. If we picture a bright sunny day, we wouldn’t associate deep bass sounds with the soundtrack. Similarly, if we see the picture of a dark lake, we wouldn’t think it would go with very happy, chirpy music.”

As one partakes of the exhibition, noting and grasping the style and design of these covers, it would be hard to not notice how well the covers explain the themes and motifs of the films concerned. The album cover of The Godfather (1972) shows the silhouette of a hand manipulating puppet strings, drawing attention to one of the major themes of Francis Ford Coppolla’s magnum opus—manipulation. While the movie features a star in the form of Marlon Brando, it doesn’t need him to don the covers.

On the other hand, in Staying Alive (1983), which features John Travolta reprising his role as Tony Moreno, the album has a close-up of the actor on its cover, glistening with sweat and wearing a headband, surrounded by yellow floodlights, evoking the style and energy of 1980s disco culture. The font used to spell the name of the movie seems futuristic and is vibrant in colour symbolising the electro-pop aesthetic of the era.

But not all movie album covers need to be exploratory and can remain minimalistic without being random. The soundtrack cover of Manhattan (1989), directed by Woody Allen, has the name of the movie written on a white background. The letters, however, arch into tall buildings and skyscrapers, forming the skyline of the city. This design emphasises one of the ideas of the film—the search for meaning in a sophisticated, urban city.

“It [Manhattan] has a simple white cover, nothing else,” says Ghosh. “But you can see the lettering is an array of skyscrapers in the city. It’s catchy—no colours, no photographs. If the artist is creative, he can do anything. They won’t need technology or photographs.”

Ghosh, who has been collecting these covers since 1990, also finds the design of Ben-Hur (1979) fascinating and describes how the font and size used make the cover look grand and epic. This, Mondal explains, is because period dramas like Ben-Hur or Meera (1979) try to incorporate the style and aesthetics of that era.

In William Wyler’s masterpiece, the album cover’s centre of focus is “BEN-HUR” written in a colossal, architectural font, evoking for viewers the Roman era. In terms of visuals, the cover features the famous 90-minute-long chariot sequence from the film.

“Ben-Hur is known for its monolithic block-like lettering,” she says. “You don’t see the actor’s name or the music director’s name on the cover. It works on iconicity.”

Mondal also talks about how glitz and glamour play an important role in the design of the covers. Diamonds Are Forever (1971), one of the many James Bond films starring Sean Connery as Agent 007, is all about extravagance with a touch of pulp fiction. The cover incorporates myriad Bond tropes: Bond girls, the spymaster, explosions, luxury and indulgence. Bond is the central element on the cover, sandwiched by two girls who are perched high in the air as the background features diamonds and helicopters and tropes from action movies.

“It’s all pop, it’s like all sorts of soft erotica, and so much colour. You get the feeling of pop-detective fictions,” Mondal says.

OF THESE  52 covers on display, four movies, namely Shatranj ke Khiladi (1977), Joi Baba Felunath (1979), Ghore Baire (1984) and the Apu Trilogy, are from Satyajit Ray. Ray, who studied under the pioneers of the Bengal School of Art, believed in transcending the rules of art while ensuring that he preserves and propagates Indian culture and heritage.

The Joi Baba Felunath and Ghore Baire covers were designed by Satyajit Ray’s son Sandip Ray, but it is not easy to discern as he uses the typefaces and elements like floating heads, which were used by his father.

“The album cover featuring Ravi Shankar’s compositions for Satyajit Ray’s seminal Apu Trilogy (Panther Panchali, 1955; Aparajito, 1956; and Apur Sansar, 1959) offers a more tender and reflective visual experience compared to the other three,” says Mondal. “The bright yellow background evokes a sense of warmth. The typography of the main text has a generic elegant quality but it allows the names ‘Ravishankar’ and ‘Apu Trilogy’ to stand out in magenta and turquoise, colours that pop against the yellow, giving the composer and the film series due prominence.”

The exhibition offers a unique look at movies that begins with the art of album covers. But the album covers need the auditory medium of soundtracks to resonate intimately and completely with the audience.

“For me these records trigger revelations of kinship among other events of my life. I connect to the music, the age and the conductors as privileged experiences of my life and of things that it reminds me of,” adds Ghosh.

Album CoversBen-HurDiamonds Are ForeverDynamic Art Film SoundtrackIndia International CentreShatranj ke Khiladi