Tuesday, 6 November 2012

3 Saul Bass Beginning Titles with Explanations

We used the website artofthetitle.com to find 3 opening credits from movies created by Saul Bass.

Biography:

According to wikipedia Saul Bass was born May 8th 1920 and died April 25th 1996. He was a Graphic Designer and Film-maker. He worked for famous Directors such as:
  • Alred Hitchcock-Psycho
  • Otto Preminger-Anatomy of a Murder
  • Billy Wilder-Some Like it Hot
  • Stanley Kubrick-Sparticus
  • Martin Scorcese-Mean Streets
I have looked at the following opening credits and analysed how these grip the audience in wanting to watch further:

1. The Man with the Golden Arm. Directed by Otto Preminger, as seen in the Video below:




The opening sequance starts off with a really jazzy and classy score (played by Shorty Rogers and his Giants with Shelly Manne). Then later in the title sequance the score quickens and finalizes with a picture of an arm pulling up the director's name.
The white rectangular blocks are supposedly paper cut out of a heroin addicts arm. Which abides with the title "The Man with the Golden Arm".
The movie was created in 1955 and I believe for a 50's film the credits are very graphic and Saul Bass liked to create things that are out of their time.

2. Vertigo. Directed by Alfred Hitchcock, as seen in the Video below:
The score (by Bernard Herrmann, conducted by Muir Mathieson) starts the opening credits off with a fast and edgy pace even throughout the movie production names (when the opening credits hadn't even started) as if the movie is undermining the movie producers and making the movie sound more important even though the credits have not yet begun.
The writing is quite bland as if to not take the interest away frrom the ladys facial, like all the moves and flinches the actor makes is so important. Every time a credit appears the score is menacing then when the credit fades away the music fades to be quieter but sinister. There is an ECU bridge shot being used of the eye to show the title VERTIGO fastly coming closer to the audiences view.
Then the music becomes hypnotic just like the swirls in the sequence. The opening of the title sequence is exactly the same as the ending of the title sequence. The whole sequence lasts for about 3 minutes but because of the length, especially with the swirls, the whole opening sequence is slightly boring although I would want to watch it just because of the score is so thrilling it draws you into the movie, ironically like hypnosis.
To finalize the film we come out of the lady's eye in yet another bridging shot, as if she is the person that's deluded or hypnotized. There is an ironic use of connection to the title: VERTIGO as 'Vertigo' is a type of illness that can cause dizziness and loss of sense of motion. The eye and the swirls are starting off the mise-en-scene in the movie.

3. Cape Fear. Directed by Martin Scorcese, as seen in the Video below:
The Universal Studios logo comes up and stays there for about 3 seconds then becomes disorientated to look like lake water.
We come to see the top of the water of a lake. The score (by Elmer Bernstein) is very intimidating then makes you jump with a quick violin screech and then an Eagle's reflection coming closer to the water's surface (in which the camera is focused on) the audience expects the Eagle to land in the water but we get and flash of wing and then it flies off screen.
The camera gets closer to the water's surface and a big chorus of the score makes everyone jump when the title 'Cape Fear' comes up. Then we have a searching eye which is reflected in the water, which the camera is always focused on.
The Screen is always disorientated by water even when there is reflections of body and facial parts. Finally we see a water drop and as it falls (still disorientated by the water's surface) the screen turns blood red this type of mise-en-scene could infuse some kind of murder or burden in the film.
The title CAPE FEAR could be a summer camp for children/ families to go to thats why the camera is focused on the lake and that's why there was a blood red stained onto the disorientated screen because it could perhaps happen in the lake.

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