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Saul Bass is responsible for reinventing the opening credit sequence. His titles became an art form. They were unique, controversial and often worth the price of admission.

Before Bass shocked audiences with the opening title sequence to The Man With The Golden Arm, curtains remained closed for a movie’s opening titles. According to Design Museum the instructions on the film cans read “projectionists – pull curtain before titles.”

This title sequence shocked audiences because of its graphic depiction of a heroine addict’s arm. The central theme to Preminger’s 1955 film.

Saul Bass’s background is in graphic design but for Michael Todd’s Around the World In Eighty Days, Bass created a short animated film.

Psycho was Bass’s third collaboration with Hitchcock. Combined with a brilliant score by Bernard Herrmann, Bass foreshadows Norman Bates’ split personality.

For John Frankenheimer’s 1966 film Seconds, Bass distorts a man’s face. Distortion being a central theme to the film.

The opening credit sequence to Alien happens to be one of my favorites. The simplicity, elegance and suspense that Bass creates with the measured appearance of thirteen straight lines is remarkable. Like the creature, the title reveals itself slowly and methodically.

Bass began a long term collaboration with Scorsese in the early 90’s. Scorsese has said the Bass was able to create “an emblematic image, instantly recognisable and immediately tied to the film.” A great example of their work together can be seen in Cape Fear. Look closely at some of the images used in the background. Look familiar?

Images from the opening sequence to Seconds can be seen layered under the water. Scorsese is also using a score by Bernard Herrmann. Scorsese wanted to unite Bass and Herrmann once again - to recreate the notorious team that was responsible for Hitchcocks’ masterpieces.

Bass’s credits were an integral part of a film because they “identified the one image which symbolized the movie.” He designed credits worth looking at and essentially changed the way movies were seen and made from then on.

Other credit sequences by Saul Bass worth checking out:
Anatomy of a Murder;
North by Northwest;
Walk on the Wild Side;
It’s a Mad Mad Mad Mad World;
Casino

There’s an excellent book by Philip Meggs called Six Chapters in Graphic Design: Saul Bass, Ivan Chermayeff, Milton Glaser, Paul Rand, Ikko Tanaka, Henryk Tomaszewski if you want to learn more about Saul Bass and his body of work.