Saul Bass :: Motion, Lines, Movies
Saul Bass was a successful graphic designer who essentially turned opening film titles into an art form. He was a master of film title design, working on over fifty films throughout his lifetime. He worked with some of the greatest directors of all time, most notably Alfred Hitchcock, Stanley Kubrick, and Martin Scorsese. In addition to working on opening and closing graphics for films, he designed some of the most recognized logos of his time, including the sixth AT&T logo and Continental Airlines “jetstream” logo. Always well respected, Bass contributed to many areas of graphic design.
Growing up in New York and constantly drawing as a child, Bass always had a wild imagination. He attended the Art Students League in Manhattan and then went on to study with Gyorgy Kepes at Brooklyn College. He worked as a graphic designer in NYC studios, but in the mid 1940s decided to move out to California. After designing a movie poster for Otto Preminger, he was so impressed he was commissioned to create the title sequence for Carmen Jones. He continued to create a few more title sequences, but it was The Man with the Golden Arm that created a sensation.
Bass’s most notable film title animation was for The Man with the Golden Arm in 1955. Before this movie, when films were played at theaters the curtain did not open for the title credits because they were so boring. Never before had the itle credits been so symbolic of the film that followed. Yet, when The Man with the Golden Arm played in theaters the projectionists were given specific instructions to open the curtain for the credits, as Bass started a new trend of interesting and artful title credit animation. The Man with the Golden arm used jarring lines once again. It is in this movie that there is the most literal foreshadowing to elements of the movie. The arm represents addition, and the staggered jagged piecing together of the graphic symbol foreshadows the character’s plunge into misery.
Some of Bass’s most successful credit sequences were accompanied by the music of Bernard Herrmann, a renowned score writer. They worked together in Vertigo, Psycho, and Cape Fear. It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World was his longest film credit, reaching four minutes. The color scheme is simple, but the animation is anything but. While he was used to working on serious films with Alfred Hitchcock, It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World gave Bass a chance to make humorous credits, as the movie was filled with just about every famous comedian of the era. Bass created the opening credits and movie poster for West Side Story. Once again Bass uses lines to prelude to a scene of buildings. More so than other films, this credit reel focuses on color, as the lines stay stagnant until the end when they reveal they are based on the island of Manhattan. Around the World in 80 Days had the audience wondering when they'd be seeing anything by Bass, as there was no animated opening credits To the crowds surprise, in this piece he created the ending titles. He uses a myriad of illustrations that are basically a summary of the movie.
Moving beyond just opening and closing credits, Bass also directed short films from the 1960s through the 1990s and won Academy Awards and nominations for these shorts. His success in the area led him to become a desired consultant for filmmakers, especially for movie climaxes. His most notable scenes include the shower scene in Alfred Hitchcock’s Pycho, the final battle scene in Stanley Kubricks’sSpartacus, and the racing scenes in John Frankenheimer’s Grand Prix.
He had a dream of being a feature film director himself, and that dream came true in 1974, the movie was entitled, Phase IV. Unfortunately, the feature had little to no success and he soon returned to his roots of commercial graphic design. It was at this time that he created the famous corporate identities of United Airlines, AT&T, Minolta, Bell Telephone System, and Warner Communications.
He was coerced into returning to film credits in 1987 and 1988 to work on James Brooks’ Broadcast News and Penny Marshall’s Big. Soon after, Martin Scorsese became a long-term partner. He created credits for Goodfellas and Cape Fear, along with graphics for The Age of Innocence and Casino. Casino was Bass’s final movie credit animation before his death.
Bass was honored by being commissioned to design the posters for the Oscar Awards ceremonies between 1991 and 1996, as well as the poster designs for the 1984 Olympic Games in Los Angeles. His awards include Honorary Royal Designer for Industry from the Royal Society of Arts of London in 1964, honorary doctorate degrees from the Philadelphia College of Art and the Los Angeles Art Center College of Design, and membership in the Sundance Film Institute in Utah. He also has and has had exhibitions of his work at the Cinematheque Francaise in Paris, the Museum of Modern Art in New York City, the U.S. Library of Congress in Washington, D.C., in Amsterdam at the Stedlijk Museum, and in Czechoslovakia at the Prague Museum.
On April 25, 1996 Bass died of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma and was survived by his wife and creative partner, Elain Makatura, and two children, Jennifer and Jeffrey. His work will always be looked at as revolutionary, and has and will continue to survive as respected pieces of artwork.
Sources:
http://designmuseum.org/design/saul-bass
http://www.aiga.org/content.cfm/medalist-saulbass
http://www.answers.com/topic/saul-bass
posters by Saul Bassmovie posters by Saul Bass
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