Saul and Elaine Bass research task

Saul Bass was an American graphic designer and film maker. He was born in 1920 and died in 1996, his career laster for 40 years. He is very well known for his design of title sequences, film posters and corporate logos. He is very important  in the development of the opening title sequence of Hollywood films, and his work had had an influence on many filmmakers, which we can still see evidence in films, advertisement campaigns etc. today. He has worked with some highly influential Hollywood directors and is credited as 'Pictorial Consultant' for his input on the film 'Psycho'. He has designed a lot of well known company logos, including the Bell system logo in and AT&T's logo, both in 1983. In 1974 he designed the logo of United airlines, which became one of the most recognised airline logos. 

Saul became well known in the film industry after he made the title sequence for the film 'The man with the Golden arm'. The opening sequence focused on an animated arm, because the film was focused on a heroin addict so therefore it matched the subject of the film. 

In 1955, Elaine Makatura started working with Saul Bass in Los Angeles in his office. Elaine directed and produced the title sequences to Spartacus. Bass and Makatua then married in 1961 and worked for 30 years together on graphic design and film making. 

An Opening scene I have decided to look into further is 'The Anatomy of Murder (1957)' 

The opening sequence of this film has inspired many filmmakers, and still continues to. 

Saul Bass presented the film title in a literal way by showing each name of the members of the crew next to different body parts detached from the body. The sequence has a very simple look to it, using a grey background and black paper cut outs. The body parts get more detached from the body and separate as the scene goes on. It stats with the whole body and then it seems to get more deformed. This showing the title of the film very literally as is showing the anatomy of the body. The cut out of the body looks a bit like when police put tape on the floor when there is a dead body, so it is reinforcing the crime side of the film. The scene doesnt give too much away at all as it is just setting the mood and tone of the film without exposing the narrative.