Saul Bass – Title sequence designer

Maddie H and Niamh

Career SummarySaul Bass studied part-time at the Art Students League within Manhattan, and then transferred to night classes at Brooklyn College.

Saul had a 40 year career, creating title sequences from 50s to 90s.

Bass worked with: Alfred Hitchcock, Otto Preminger, Billy Wilder, Stanley Kubrick and Martin Scorsese. Some of his most famous title sequences include: The Man with the Golden Arm (1995), North by Northwest (1958) and Psycho (1960).

StyleBass’s style is very cartoonish, and focuses on the movement of shapes and text rather than actual people or events. His usage of colour can either be very similar with the use of greys and blacks in Psycho, or using a lot of contrast, with the reds and greens on a black background within Psycho.

Stylized fonts are used also to keep the genre tied together, some of his fonts connoting a serious tone (The Man with the Golden Arm straight and bold, connoting serious tones). However in It’s a Mad Mad Mad Mad World (1963) Lots of the text is fun and adds personality.

Most notable worksHis most famous works are: The Man with the Golden Arm (1955), North to Northwest (1958) and Psycho (1960).

The Man with the Golden Arm (1955)The Man with the Golden Arm was Bass’s big breakthrough. The title sequence has a greyscale colour scheme, making everything transition and look sleek and organised. The straight-edge font gives the film a serious tone, and can set the genre of drama as it is cutting edge and exciting for the audience.

The swift movement of the shapes could connote how heroin use is only for a short (2 hour) period of time, and the slim rectangles could connote the needle used for injecting heroin.

North by Northwest (1959)This films title sequence focuses on the layout of New York, with all its tall skyscrapers and incorporating it into the film’s layout. With the film having a contrast with the green background and the white text, it makes it easy to read and easy to look at. The transition into New York’s skyscrapers also sets the scene of the film.

Psycho (1960)The Psycho title sequence is also simplistic, with only having two colours – black and white. This makes it easy to read and catches the audience attention towards the text. The movement also of the text being sliced almost shows it being killed, hinting that the genre of this film will be crime/horror.

Black also has connotations with death, hence why it would be used. The white text is being sliced, suggesting that the innocence within the film will die.

InfluencedCatch me if you can (2002) was a title sequence heavily influenced by Saul Bass’s use of typography within the narrative, and bold but simple colour schemes feature within this title sequence. Simple silhouettes outline characters and the text all follows the same simple style.

Dexter (2006 – 2013) also follows the simplistic silhouette style within the title sequence, with blood being bright and the high amount of focus. It is also simplified, with there not being lot of splatters but one single dot signifying the blood.

The contrast between white and black that is seen within Dexter’s title sequence is also reminiscent to Psycho’s simple black and white title sequence.

QuestionnaireHow did this title sequence make you feel?Many people answered to feeling confused and curious.

Does this title sequence make you want to watch the rest of the film?Most people answered yes to this.

Have you heard of Saul Bass before?Most people answered no.

Have you watched any of Saul Bass’s film before?There was a 50/50 split of how many people had watched Saul Bass’s films.

What genre do you think this film is?Most people said horror and thriller.

Is there anything you think this title sequence is lacking?The answered for this were varied, and included different imagery, more text and a different range of colours.