Saul Bass Anatomy of A Murder
Saul Bass was an American Graphic Designer and Academy award winning film maker, best known for his design of motion picture title sequences, film posters and corporate logos. Saul Bass produced much of his best work in film promotion and motion graphics when designing freelance for Hollywood’s most prestigious directors such as Otto Preminger, Alfred Hitchcock and Martin Scorsese.
Saul Bass became widely recognised in the film industry after creating the title sequence for Otto Preminger’s ‘The Man with the Golden Arm’ Saul Bass created an innovative title sequence to mach the film’s controversial subject. Saul Bass was known for creating effective and memorable title sequences, inventing a new type of kinetic typography. It was this revolutionary work that made Saul Bass a influential and well respected graphic designer.
The opening sequence of the film reflects that of a crime scene, with an outlined body and disassembled body parts. The films title is spread across three different body parts, in an almost puzzle like fashion that alludes to the mystery of the story. The main image of the full body is a literal meaning of the Films title, and the pun on anatomy is shown here by the dissection of a human body. Each member of the production crew are being presented next to the various black abstract body parts which include hands, feet, limbs and a torso. Saul Bass uses simple elements like cut outs of paper on a grey background, this intro sequence has traversed decades by keeping its cutting edge quality. No high technology was needed, only a playground in which a graphic designer could think of a simple idea to introduce the film.
For the opening sequence, Bass combined the same broken figure with Duke Ellington sound-track, paving the way for other Jazz musicians to include their music in moving pictures, as an alternative to sounds of rock and roll that dominated the music industry at that time. The logos appearance and disappearance during those opening credits, with the slow to rapid pacing, builds up tension and suspense prior to the start of the film.
Before the advent of Bass’s title sequences in the 1950s, titles were generally static and separate from the movie, it was common in Hollywood for titles to be projected onto the cinema curtains, the curtains only being raised right before the first scene of the movie. Bass used the opening sequence as a teaser for the story rather than simply announcing the title and credits.
Continuing the approach he had used for Otto Preminger’s ‘The Man with the Golden Arm’ Saul Bass applied a similar method to the opening sequence and print campaign for Anatomy of a Murder. As with the earlier production, Bass captured the film’s theme, iconography and mood in a single motif that could be spread across all the campaign components and media, from posters to advertisements.
Saul Bass was known for creating identities for movies. He was a single designer who was responsible for the entire look of the marketing campaign of a film. Today various companies use marketing campaign groups for the design of posters, trailers and commercials. Various groups of people are working on the different media platforms. Having multiple designers working on the campaign can effect the entire look and feel for a movie, there isn't any consistency as each designer will have their own unique style and process. Any film can look really good or really bad depending on how it is marketed. If the marketing is executed correctly and captures the true essence of the film it will attract audiences however if it is very poor it will push viewers away. Having multiple designers can also be a good thing, as it will allow for more ideas to be generated and developed in a joint effort. It also depends on how much control and influence the director has on the marketing as it is their guidance that will keep the work consistent.
The advantage of having one designer shows a constancy in all their work, viewers and audiences can get a true taste of the film before it is even released. They will see the same idea, mood and design on every media platform. It also allows the director to embed his vision and style with the one designer.
