Saul Bass

SAUL BASS

Saul Bass was an american graphic designer and filmmaker who became famous for the logos he created. Whilst being well known for his work on film posters Bass was also very successful for his work on motion picture title sequences. Some of his most famous title sequences include: West side story, The man with the golden arm, Psycho, North by Northwest, Catch me if you can and The Shining. Saul bass' title sequences were very distinctive, one of his main trademarks were his use of lines and geometric shapes. In his title sequences, Bass used these different shapes to create a kind of symbolism rather than a narrative. Most of his work was hand drawn to give a casual appearance. Saul bass revolutionized the way people viewed title sequences. Bass' Film posters were emblematic and they transformed the visuals of film advertising. Before his first film poster for the man with the golden arm, film advertising tended to consist of a photo of the movie star or a depiction of a key scene along with the film title. For this poster bass has suggested the protagonists heroin addiction by drawing a jagged arm and using box like wild typography. Bass has worked with some of Hollywood's top film makers such as; Martin Scorsese, Stanley Kubrick, Alfred Hitchcock, Billy Wilder and Otto Preminger. Bass designed title sequences for over 40 years. The first title sequence he made was for Otto Preminger's 'The man with a golden arm'(1955). Due to this Saul Bass became widely known in the film industry. This film expressed a taboo subject in the 50s, a heroin addiction of a jazz musician. Because of this very controversial subject Bass decided to make his title sequence very much the same. He chose a jagged arm as one of the main images used, this strongly related to a drug addiction of this kind. He created this image by cutting out the shape of the heroin addicts arm and placing it on a black background. The title sequence has a white on black theme throughout along with a jazzy score. This creates close synchronization with the audio and visuals following the same pace, rhythm and detail. Slim white bars on a black background along with the opening titles of the actors names, also in white appeared before twisting into the German expressionist style arm. This arm symbolized a powerful message and condensed the story into one concept of a schizophrenic mind of the musician desperately struggling with an overwhelming addiction.