The great Saul Bass—to my mind the greatest graphic designer of the 20th century—was born 100 years ago today, on May 8, 1920. In over a decade of writing about movie posters I’ve only really written about Bass once—in an article about the evolution of designs for Vertigo—which is surprising because he was undoubtedly the first poster designer I ever knew the name of, and of the six movie posters hanging in my apartment two are by Bass: those for Seconds and The Man With the Golden Arm. Saul Bass is just too well known, and has been written about so widely, that I never felt I had much to add to the discussion. And when Jennifer Bass and Pat Kirkham’s extraordinary Saul Bass: A Life in Film & Design was published in 2011 there seemed little more left to say.But I can’t let this centenary pass unremarked.
- 5/21/2020
- MUBI
Was any film ever as associated with its poster as the film that this week was voted the greatest film of all time in that bellwether of cinephilic pantheon-building, the ten-yearly Sight & Sound poll? Of course, Saul Bass, the master behind the Vertigo campaign, was an early exponent of cinematic branding, dedicated to creating a clear through-line from title treatment to credit sequence to poster to advertising.
But Bass’s Vertigo designs are so firmly associated with the film and with its director Alfred Hitchcock that it comes as a surprise to realize that Vertigo was the only poster that Bass designed for the director. (He worked on only two other films for Hitchcock, designing the title sequence for North by Northwest [1959] and both the titles and the shower sequence for Psycho [1960]).
The poster above is not the more famous one-sheet, which you can see just below, but the enormous...
But Bass’s Vertigo designs are so firmly associated with the film and with its director Alfred Hitchcock that it comes as a surprise to realize that Vertigo was the only poster that Bass designed for the director. (He worked on only two other films for Hitchcock, designing the title sequence for North by Northwest [1959] and both the titles and the shower sequence for Psycho [1960]).
The poster above is not the more famous one-sheet, which you can see just below, but the enormous...
- 8/3/2012
- MUBI
Welcome to the 2011 Holiday Movie Geek Gift Guide! What is this? No, it’s not my personal gift wish list made public in hopes that readers will bury me in their affection — although, I wouldn’t be disgusted if you did — no, this is guide to finding that perfect, special gift for the Movie Geek in your life. You know who I mean. We all have at least one friend who obsesses about movies, someone who spouts a movie quote or a director factoid every other breath. What does one buy a person so firmly entrenched in the culture of movies? I hope this guide helps you with your shopping ideas, but don’t expect to find the typical, no brainer ideas — such as gift cards — on this list.
10. Postage Stamps
Yes, this is perhaps the only place you’ll find someone recommending postage stamps as a holiday gift. Whether...
10. Postage Stamps
Yes, this is perhaps the only place you’ll find someone recommending postage stamps as a holiday gift. Whether...
- 11/29/2011
- by Travis Keune
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
Pictured: Saul Bass, winner of the 1968 (41st) Academy Award for Documentary Short Subject winner Why Man Creates. Courtesy of ©AMPAS
Beverly Hills, CA . The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) will present “Saul Bass: A Life in Film & Design,” celebrating one of the 20th century’s most acclaimed designers, on Monday, November 14, at 7 p.m. at MoMA in New York City. The evening’s special guests will include design historian Pat Kirkham; designer and writer Chip Kidd; and graphic designer Kyle Cooper, who has created title sequences for “Seven” (1995), “X-Men: First Class” (2011), the “Spider-Man” trilogy and others. The event is part of To Save and Project: The Ninth MoMA International Festival of Film Preservation, and will also feature the premiere of the Academy Film Archive’s new restoration of Bass’s Oscar®-winning short “Why Man Creates” (1968).
Bass, who created some...
Beverly Hills, CA . The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) will present “Saul Bass: A Life in Film & Design,” celebrating one of the 20th century’s most acclaimed designers, on Monday, November 14, at 7 p.m. at MoMA in New York City. The evening’s special guests will include design historian Pat Kirkham; designer and writer Chip Kidd; and graphic designer Kyle Cooper, who has created title sequences for “Seven” (1995), “X-Men: First Class” (2011), the “Spider-Man” trilogy and others. The event is part of To Save and Project: The Ninth MoMA International Festival of Film Preservation, and will also feature the premiere of the Academy Film Archive’s new restoration of Bass’s Oscar®-winning short “Why Man Creates” (1968).
Bass, who created some...
- 11/8/2011
- by Michelle McCue
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
"If everything moves along and there's no major catastrophes, we're basically headed towards holograms. Why can't you have Hamlet in 3D who comes out to the audience and does 'To be or not to be?' I mean, they do in the theater. You have to think that way. Don't let the economics, and fashion, inhibit you if you're being creative."
That's Martin Scorsese, as quoted by Todd Gilchrist at the Playlist. As Steven Zeitchik also reports for the Los Angeles Times, the comments followed an enthusiastic endorsement of 3D, which in turn followed this weekend's Los Angeles premiere of Hugo, Scorsese's adaptation of Brian Selznick's novel The Invention of Hugo Cabret. We saw a few early reviews last month when Hugo was still a work-in-progress. Zeitchik: "Set in the late 1920s, Hugo tells of the titular orphan (Asa Butterfield) who lives in a train station, his relationship...
That's Martin Scorsese, as quoted by Todd Gilchrist at the Playlist. As Steven Zeitchik also reports for the Los Angeles Times, the comments followed an enthusiastic endorsement of 3D, which in turn followed this weekend's Los Angeles premiere of Hugo, Scorsese's adaptation of Brian Selznick's novel The Invention of Hugo Cabret. We saw a few early reviews last month when Hugo was still a work-in-progress. Zeitchik: "Set in the late 1920s, Hugo tells of the titular orphan (Asa Butterfield) who lives in a train station, his relationship...
- 11/7/2011
- MUBI
The weekend's must-read is Michael Idov's report in GQ from the set of Ilya Khrzhanovsky's (4) latest project, Dau, which "has been in production since 2006 and won't wrap until 2012, if ever." I first came across it via a tweet from Vince Keenan: "It's Synecdoche, New York. Only it's real. And Russian." Very. Ostensibly a biopic based on the life of Nobel Prize-winning physicist Lev Landau, Dau has become "an entire city, built to scale" in eastern Ukraine and populated by 300 cast and crew members who literally live, day in and day out, inside a simulacrum of Moscow, circa 1952. It is also an Institute, of which Khrzhanovsky is the Head "or simply the Boss." There's a narrative arc to Idov's piece: "A day into my stay at the Institute, I begin to feel its pull." By the third day, "I have been reduced… to a sniveling Soviet stukach, a snitch." By the way,...
- 10/30/2011
- MUBI
Saul Bass: A Life in Film & Design will be published in November 2011. The book was compiled by Bass's daughter Jennifer Bass and design historian Pat Kirkham, and even comes with a forward by Martin Scorsese. The 440 page hardcover book has a hefty cover price of $75, but Amazon [1] is offering a preorder discount of 39% off -- $45.84. Hit the jump to see some of the pagespreads from the book, showcasing the art of Bass over his career. Gallery of pages from the book: [gallery columns="2"] Official Information on the book: This is the first book to be published on one of the greatest American designers of the 20th century, who was as famous for his work in film as for his corporate identity and graphic work. Saul Bass (1920-1996) created some of the most compelling images of American postwar visual culture. Having extended the remit of graphic design to include film titles, he...
- 9/5/2011
- by Peter Sciretta
- Slash Film
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