Saul Bass
(born May 8, 1920,
Bronx
,
New York
, U.S.?died April 25, 1996, Los Angeles, California) was an American
graphic designer
and filmmaker who introduced a new art form with his imaginative
film
title sequences that
conveyed
the essence of a movie and prepared audiences for what they were about to see.
Bass was a creative child who enjoyed drawing. After completing
high school
, he studied at the
Art Students League
in
New York City
and later attended Brooklyn College, where he was taught by the notable designer
Gyorgy Kepes
. He worked as an advertising designer before moving to
Los Angeles
in 1946.
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Bass continued to do
graphic design
for
advertising
and by 1952 was able to set up his own practice. He began his association with Hollywood by designing advertising posters for movies. His poster for
Carmen Jones
(1954) so impressed its director,
Otto Preminger
, that he asked Bass to also create the movie’s opening credits. It was the animated opening sequence that he created for Preminger’s
The Man with the Golden Arm
(1955) that made Bass’s reputation. His other well-known title sequences included those for
Around the World in 80 Days
(1956); Preminger’s
Bonjour Tristesse
(1958),
Anatomy of a Murder
(1959), and
Exodus
(1960); the
Alfred Hitchcock
films
Vertigo
(1958),
North by Northwest
(1959), and
Psycho
(1960);
Spartacus
(1960);
West Side Story
(1961); and
Martin Scorsese
’s
Goodfellas
(1990),
Cape Fear
(1991), and
Casino
(1995).
Bass also created
iconic
logos for the American Bell Telephone Company,
AT&T
,
Continental Airlines
, Girl Scouts of America, and
Quaker Oats
, among others. In addition to his design work, Bass directed the
sci-fi
thriller feature film
Phase IV
(1974) and wrote, produced, and directed several short films. His
Why Man Creates
(1968) won the
Academy Award
for best short-subject documentary.