Saul Bass Analysis of film opening sequence

Saul bass

Saul bass is best known for his design on animated title sequences. They are normally easily recognisable as they tend to feature rough strips of torn up paper, or paper cut arms of what has been described as heroin addicts arms. Saul Bass saw the title opening sequence as a chance to condition the audience so that when the film actually started they already have some sort of emotional connection to it.

The man with the golden arm

The music used is rather fast paced and uplifting but there seems to be no continuity of the notes in this piece of music which suggests come concept of misguidance or false leading paths. As part of an audience member I wouldn’t know what to expect next. Because the tempo of the music speeds up quite quickly I noticed I found myself constantly waiting for some sort of loud, sharp, or dangerous noise to arrive, but it never did. This is good as it keeps the audience engaged/on the edge of their seats. The background music is somewhat similar to a spy movie such as the well known James Bond.

The colours used throughout the opening title sequence do not reflect what the music tells us. Throughout the whole sequence there is a black wash. The images on top of the black canvas change, however they are all white. There is a consistent slide of white straight lines tilted at different angles to create different still images. There seems to be no specific placement of these lines as they seem to have been placed their without much thought. The only other image we see is at the end where there is a hand displayed. The hand appears to be made from the tearing out of a white piece of paper.
Black and white are contrasting colours but can become boring when that is all the audience is presented with. Unlike the music it creates a dull laid back mood.

There is no live action just still images. Sometimes the images adjust their position on the screen with a ‘crawl’ type transition. The credits tend to feed themselves between these images.

The tone and the mood of the sequence seems to me like the film would consist of a mixture of different emotions. The inconsistency of the music mixed with the images could represent an emotional roller coaster ‘never knowing what to expect after each bend’. As an audience member I would believe that there will be some light hearted elements such as humorous jokes or reflections of life’s positive aspects but also some not so nice moments such as death of a loved one or heartbreak.

Themes that can be withdrawn from the title sequence would be clues, murder, betrayal, and secrets.

It appears odd that in this opening title sequence we are not introduced to any of the main characters. Previous research has told me that a good functioning opening title sequence should do this, but this ommitance could have been a deliberate decision. However this could also have been due to the lack of technology available  many years ago compared to the fortunate amount we have now.