Under the Banner of Heaven is an unfiltered look into the lives of a family of Mormon fundamentalists. Based on the novel by Jon Krakauer, this show is about real murders in the 1980s that highlighted the violent history of the Church of LDS dating back to the 1800s. In this show, faith is tested, idols are humanized, and audience members are forced to reevaluate their understanding of saints and sinners. This show is a true story about how and why these murders could’ve happened, not who did it. The client asked us to create art that sold the show’s suspense, tension, and drama. They wanted art that captured the dichotomy of the show as a beautiful epic that is filled with violence. We were asked to create something that had scope while being rooted in reality.

Our goal was to visually allude to the darkness and evil in this story and capture a moment that felt sinister without being too heavy-handed or actually revealing anything. To do this, we focused on creating beautifully composed images that juxtaposed the crisis of faith one of the main characters went through, with the epic majesty of the land their religion was born in. By bringing together the LDS church and the murder investigation in one image and placing this chaos against the background of the peaceful Utah landscape, we created the subtle tension the showrunners were looking for.

The client loved our art and felt it perfectly captured how visually stunning the show is without losing its connection to reality. We were able to achieve the scope they wanted and delivered a piece filled with suspense and tension. The client is enthusiastic about our art’s potential to generate excitement for their epic new series and is looking forward to putting this campaign out into the world.