Saul Bass and my first love

My first love has always been film.  Which is why I am interested in all things related to film in graphic design.  From Edward Muybridge's Horse in Motion to Saul Bass and his movie poster designs.  Saul Bass' Commercial Art opened a new door for "unifying both print and media graphices" this can be seen with the synchronization of Bass' poster and the title sequence in The Man With the Golden Arm.

The film sequence involving Bass' image had great symmetry.  Bass used a lot of basic shapes and asymmetric balance in his designs.  He liked to get to the point simply and directly.  I can't help but be reminded of the first film festival I entered when I see his designs.  The logo reminds me of the logo used at the festival.  The arm and shapes are similar as well as the overall feel.  The logo used also had a dominate image meant as a metaphor for portraying a simple idea; the filmmaker. 

The image shows hands not unlike the one Bass shows in the above poster.  It is a powerful image meant as a metaphor for capturing an idea.  It shows a very basic idea many people associate with a camera.  Taking a picture.  Seeing through a lens. It is hard to see this picture as anything else.  The one main difference I see between the images is that Bass' image is more ambiguous than that of Santa Cruz Film Festival. 

While looking through Bass' other poster designs I came across Hitchcock.  The "Master of Suspense." When it comes to loving film I one can't help but love Hitchcock.  My first film class was all about Hitchcock.  Bass captures Hitchcock in his poster of Vertigo.

The image captures the suspense of Hitchcock without giving up too much about the film.  It has an attention grabbing image and has great use of shapes.  Vertigo and spirals go hand in hand.  The uses of red signifies intensity and I can't help getting a Hitchcockian feel while looking at it. 

I can't help but love this style.  And I can't help but associate it with film.  Maybe that is why it inspires me.  I hope to see more about the influence of graphing design in film as I read more.