Saul Bass

Saul Bass (May 8th, 1920- April 25th, 1996) was born in the bronx, New york to Eastern European Jewish immigrant parents, and was said to have been very creative as a child and drew constantly, he went to James Monroe High school in the bronx where he also graduated, before being awarded a scholarship in 1936 to study part time in Manhattan at the Art Students League, but then began taking night classes at Brooklyn college with Gyorgy Kepes who was a painter, designer and art theorist and introduced Saul to Moholy's Bauhaus style and to Russian Constructivism, which may have influenced his later work with title sequences and posters as there is great use of lines and geometric shapes, also his use of composition he does not arrange everything neatly in his work, they usually have a jagged or angled look.

Bass is an American Graphic designer and award winning film maker and is mostly known for his film posters, title sequences and corporate logos, during his career he has worked with some of hollywoods important film makers such as Alfred Hitchcock, Otto Preminger and Billy Wilder, One of his most famous title sequences is the animated is for 'The man with the golden arm' where the whole sequence is an animated paper cut out of a heroin addicts arm.
He also designed some of the biggest corporate logos in America such as, the Bell system logo (1969), AT&T's globe logo (1983), and Continental Airlines and United Airlines with both become some of the most known airline logos of that era.

Before 'The Man with the Golden Arm' was released, projectionists at cinemas would usually not open the curtains to show the screen until after the title sequence had finished due to them being so dull, however when 'The Man with the Golden Arm' arrivied at movie theaters in 1955 there was a note on the cans telling the projectionist to keep the curtains open during the titles as the director and producer, Otto Preminger wanted the audience to see the titles as a necessary part of the film.

His time in Hollywood took off in the 1940's where he was designing print advertisements for films such as, Champion, Death of a salesman and The Moon is blue, however in 1954 he made his first collaboration with Otto Preminger whilst designing a film poster for 'Carmen Jones', Preminger was so happy with the outcome he asked Bass to produce the title sequence as well, this was when he realised he could create a title sequence that could be entertaining for an audience and contribute to the mood and the theme of the movie within the opening moments, he was one of the first to realise the creative potential of the opening and closing credits of a film, although it was in 1955 after the realease of 'The Man with the Golden arm' that Saul Bass became widely known in the film industry.

He work as a freelance graphic designer/commericial artist after apprenticeships with Manhattan design firms, he moved to from New York to Los Angeles in 1946, and by 1950 had opened his own studio, mainly concerntrating on advertising until Preminger asked him to design the poster for his film, Carmen jones

Bass also created a new type of moving typography for the title sequence for the film 'North By Northwest, Vertigo and Psycho, before his title sequences in the 1950's title sequences were usually very still and there was usually no link between the sequence and the film, but Saul was able to change this, it was this kind of work that made him a respected as a graphic designer.

He had once said his main goal for his title sequences was to "try to reach for a simple, visual phrase that tells you what the picture is all about and evokes the essence of the story"

He designed title sequences for over 40 years and created a variety of film making techniques, from cut out animation to fully animated mini films and live action sequences, which usually were used as prologues to the films as they easily transitioned into the first scene, for example in the film 'The Victors' the opening sequence is used to show the 27 years between World War I and the middle of World War II, where the film begins.

Accompanied by his second wife Elaine he created other amazing title squences for other directors,in 1968 he then directed a series of shots in an Oscar-winning short documentary film, 'Why Man Creates' where he finally realised his desire to direct a feature, in which he went on to direct a feature length American Sci-fi film called Phase IV in 1974.

Nearing to the end of his career he created title sequences for Martin Scorsese who had grown up respecting his film work, while collaborating also with his wife they created the title sequences for the films Goodfellas, Cape Fear, The Age of Innocence and Casino, his late work with Scorsese abled him to explore with the use of computerized effects instead his original optical techniques.