Research of Saul and Elaine Bass

Saul Bass was a prominent American graphic designer of the twentieth-century, his role largely focused on creating motion picture title sequences as well as corporate logos and movie posters. In the modern movie world Saul Bass is seen as the pioneer of title sequence designing. Elaine Bass was Sauls wife, she was also an American title designer and a filmmaker. She worked alongside Saul Bass for 40 years who she ended up marrying in 1961, together the two developed many projects for directors such as Martin Scorsesse and Danny DeVito.

These two were graphic title sequence designers and they are so well known because Saul introduced a new art form with his imaginative film title sequences which had the effect of conveying the essence of the movie, which prepared audiences for what they are about to see. Furthermore, this married couple was known because of the Elaines book Saul Bass a life in film and design.

Saul Bass worked with some of the Hollywood's greatest filmmakers which include, Alfred Hitchcock, Stanley Kubrick, Otto Preminger, Billy Wilder and Martin Scorsesse, Furthermore he worked with his wife Elaine Bass. 

The title sequence of psycho is one of Saul Bass's most popular sequence, this was made in 1960 and it is revolutionary for this time. This is because it relates genre, theme and mood, all at once. 

This title sequence relates to genre by the lack of colour and the fast paced transitions between each title, this fast pace movement on the titles creates a sense of tension and uncertainty. Furthermore, this along side the line movement, which splits the titles in half relates to the theme of a slasher, this along side the tension that is created from the sequence being so fast paced shows the genre as a horror. Overall this tells the audience that there is a mood of uncertainty alongside a genre and theme of a horror slasher. 

Looking at the title sequence the narrative is hard to tell as the sequence has no pictures, or drawings of people, but this doesn't matter because of the conventions that are used. Due to the fast paced nature of this opening scene and the fact I can see that his could be a slasher horror, I can tell that this film will be focused on a killer who kills people for the fun of it.

I think this opening title sequence works so well due to the music that is played in the background, this mix with the music and the fast paced titles, it creates a big embodiment of what it is going to feel like watching the actual movie. 

One big film that I can see has been influenced by this style of title sequence is James Bond, this is due to the blank nature of Saul Bass's title sequences, which don't give much away about the movie but also tell us enough for us to tell what he theme and genre of the movie is going to be.