Research of Saul and Elaine Bass

 

Who are they?

Saul Bass was a graphic designer and film maker who introduced a new art form with his creative film title sequences. He revolutionised the film industry in terms of motion pictures, film posters and corporate logos. His wife was Elaine Bass, who also worked in the film industry, they developed many projects together. He won multiple awards for projects he took on such as Psycho and North by Northwest. 

His work was mainly based around designing titles and posters but with an original and creative effect while also trying to share his passion for this - he did this effectively by playing on emotions when nessacery.

Some of his most well known work regarding logos include Vertigo (1958), Kleenex (1980's), The man with the golden arm (1955) and the anatomy of a murder title sequence (1959).

In one of Saul Bass' most famous works, he designed an opening title sequence for North by Northwest, directed by Alfred Hitchcock in 1959. The graphics immediately engage the audience with a bright green screen and mesmerising transitions of the text. Bass uses the dissolve filter effectively and early on in to differentiate but also link to the plot, for example you can see the outline of the green grid move into a barrier for an abstract car scene.

Visually and musically it captures the audiences attention combined with a symmetry and geometric shapes - the main aim for an opening title sequence is to not make it boring, and Bass certainly did a good job on this one.

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