SAUL BASS FILM POSTERS
CONTENTS
SCHINDLER’S LIST
3-8
ROCKY
11 - 16
BIBLIOGRAPHY
22-23
“Where do ideas come from? From looking at one thing and seeing another. From fooling around, from playing with possibilities, from speculating, from changing, pushing, pulling, transforming, and if you’re lucky, you come up with something worth saving, using, and building on. That’s where the game stops and the work begins.”
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- Saul Bass
Film posters are a strong and effective method of marketing films. While not showing too much of the main plot, they need to demonstrate the full atmosphere of the f ilm. However, f ilm post ers do not alwa ys come directly from the films marketing. There is an increasing number in unofficial film posters that are being produced by unpaid designers, creating a new meaning for them that differs from their original purpose. Mondo is an American company well known for releasing limited-edition screen-printed posters. The people behind Mondo go out searching for talented artists to produce illustrated film posters for a chosen film. These posters have different ar t styles and express deeper meanings. The designers are commonly fans of the films, having a greater passion for the design. Mondo is great for the illustration side to film posters as more modern companies have switched from using illustrations to using real photographs. This is due to illustrations being seen as either representing older films or animations.
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Saul Bass is a huge influence on companies like Mondo. I will look closely at his work with film posters and how effective his designs are in expressing the true atmosphere of the film. I will consider what hidden meanings could be embedded into the posters and how it is presented. I will also look at why his posters can be more effective than the official designs.
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Saul Bass is well known for his contribution to film poster design. His designs consist of simple geometric shapes and bold contrasting colours. The shapes show certain symbolisms from the films t h ey p o r t ra y. T h e t y p o g ra p hy o n S a u l Bass’ designs never distracts the viewer away from the main focus point of the piece. One of Bass’ posters particular interests me. It was made for t h e f i l m ‘ S c h i n d l e r s L i s t ’ i n 19 9 3 . I t i s a film about a man named Oskar Schindler who gradually becomes concerned for his Jewish workforce after witnessing their persecution by the Nazis. Without looking intricate or interesting, this design has important hidden meanings.
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The poster is arranged in the rule of thirds with the two parts of the background on either side of the main design. This is done to achieve a more pleasing arrangement while also making the design feel more organised. It makes the piece feel well structured. The colours for this design are different to Bass’ usual palette. They consist of a dark and dreary tone with the solid black and the brown gradient. The background gradient makes the piece look aged as it starts off at the top being a light colour and slowly becomes darker as it reaches the bottom. These colours directly relate to the tone of the film. They represent the depressing nature that is apparent throughout the film. The colours are almost harmonious as they are very similar to one another helping the design t o f l ow m o re s m o o t h l y. T h e black colour of the barbed wire dominates the page. Parts of the colour are taken out to give the barbed wire a weathered look. This adds to the aged effect.
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The shape of the wire is very sharp and twisted. This is the first hidden aspect within the design, implying that the film has a few twists and some harmful scenes. The white border outlines the design and holds it in place, making the design look more professional. This piece is pleasing in areas but not in others. Although the typography fits in perfectly with the theme of war, it does not fit in with the overall design. It looks as though it was a last-minute decision to add it to the top of the design. The colour of the teared piece of paper stands out from the rest of the design with its tea-stained look. The paper has the second hidden aspect that is included in this piece.
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The shape of the paper represents the Star of David which is commonly known for its association with Jewish identit y. T h i s l a b e l s t h e n a m e s o n t h e p a p e r as being a part of the Jewish religion. This is showing us how ‘Schindlers List’ is about that certain topic. Saul Bass’ work is often hand drawn. This shows that he had a deeper understanding to his designs as he drew them by hand without images. The barbed wire stands alone in the centre dominating the page. I think the barbed wire could represent Oskar Schindler as he is standing alone from the Nazis that are around him. The paper stuck to the spike could represent Schindler holding the list. When making this piece, Bass would have drawn out the wire with the paper first with his intention in mind. Then as the design progressed, he would have added the colour and then the background. The title and text would have been the last thing that was implemented into the design before completion. The main aspect of this poster would have not taken Bass long to produce. The actual idea of the piece with the hidden meanings will have taken him the longest time to come up with. Bass shows his skill in page layout and good understanding of colours within this design. It shows how he thinks of all the angles, shapes, colours, and meaning when producing his work.
The moods that are created by this particular design are power and grief. The twisting wire with all its sharp spikes shows the power within the design and the film. It shows how barbed wire is not something t o b e t a ke n l i g h t l y. T h i s i s a l s o ex p re s s e d w i t h t h e paper. The wire is holding t he paper bac k , r ipping it from its original place. This adds the feeling of grief to the piece. The atmosphere of war is captured within this simple design. The colours show that the time of war was dark and not a delightful time to be in. The shapes relate to this with the sharp lines and the rough edges. With all the emotion that is portrayed within, I can imagine Bass didn’t have a cheerful mood when designing this post er. The piece is loud wit h a q uie t bac kground. The wire is bold and stands out in front of everything else while the background sits silently behind.
7
After watching the film, I do not think that the plot is given away too much with this design. The plot is only apparent if the viewer is analysing every millimetre of this design
This poster was ultimately rejected by the company it was made for, Universal Pictures. This could have been due to the hidden meanings in the design or the lack
for context and background for the film. More casual viewers will find it easier to miss the plot from the post er. Af t er viewing the film, it is much easier to analyse the design for all the hidden plot points and themes.
of true images of the film. With the dark intentions included, the film company might not have wanted to have this portrayed as the main poster that they would release. Universal Pictures want people to see their films and if there was a poster that showed all these deeper meaning within its design then people wouldn’t want to see the film. It would also create controversial concerns f o r t h e c o m p a ny. Fo r large companies like Universal it’s better to avoid these situations.
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9 - Saul Bass
“Try to reach for a simple, visual phrase that tells you what the picture is all about and evokes the essence of the story.�
This quote describes this d e s i g n p e r f e c t l y. I t ex p l a i n s how he knows that by having a simple design it can show a wider understanding of the film. It also explains how Bass likes to make a ‘visual phrase’ with the shapes and the colours. Overall, this makes his designs more effective and pleasing to look at.
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Saul Bass makes a lot of different poster designs. Another one that particularly interests me is the one made for t he f ilm ‘Roc ky’. It is a film about a small-time boxer who gets a rare chance to fight a heavy-weight champion. Once again, the design has a hidden meaning but this time with a brighter background to contrast it. This poster has common elements with the uplifting atmosphere of the film, as it is linked to the sport of boxing.
12
In this design, Bass uses the Z format instead of the rule of thirds. This creates a zig zag flow across the page. This makes it so the viewer will see the top part of the design before making it down to the bottom where the date is displayed. The bright orange colour directly contrasts with the black while the white is less recognisable. This is to make viewers see the black elements first. While the background is the brightest part, similar to the poster for ‘Schindlers list ’, the black parts dominate the page. The main subject of this piece is the black stairs that double as a shadow for the main character that is portrayed in solid white. A pattern is created by the reoccurring rectangles. These shapes make up the steps of the staircase for the main c haract er. This im plies t hat t he c haracter has to repeat a lot of steps to achieve his goal. The design has a worn texture to it. This i s t o r e f l e c t t h a t t h e f i l m w a s m a d e i n 19 76 .
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The hidden meaning within this poster is apparent with t he st eps and t he shadow. The shadow represents how the character is following in someone else’s steps. This holds importance for the design as it shows that Bass understands the film that he is designing f or. I t hink t his piece was portrayed very well. I like how the border is not a perfect rectangle and how that can represent that the character in the film also does not have a perfect path. The shadow could have a second meaning. It could represent the main characters opponent as they are air the top of the end of the line. The shadow is deliberately exaggerated in this wa y. I t i s s h ow n a s b e i n g a larger person which could imply that it is the ‘heavyweight c hampion’. By having multiple hidden meanings, the content of this design is not immediately apparent.
Similar to Bass’ other work, this design was hand drawn with simple geometric shapes. Like the poster for ‘Schindlers list’ this would have taken Bass a long amount of time to think of the ideas that are present within the design.
The mood that this design creates is very inspiring. It shows how anyone can reach a goal that is far away from their current status. It also shows how it will take time to get a good result in something. This piece captures the tone of the film. There is a lot of emotion within this simple design. There is the inspiration while there is also a f eeling of despair. It shows how a stretched-out goal can feel so hopeless.
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Without seeing the film, the plot is not given away with the design. It is interesting enough for people to want to see the film without showing anything too plot driven. After seeing the film however, the plot star ts to appear in t he post er. The t heme of t he f ilm is almost made obvious. Viewers are easily able to see the themes within the design with the colours that are presented and the main feature. Similar to the other design, this poster is much easier to analyse after viewing the film.
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“My initial thoughts about what a title can do was to set mood and the prime underlying core of the film’s story, to express the story in some metaphorical way. I saw the title as a way of conditioning the audience, so that when the film actually began, viewers would already have an emotional resonance with it.”
- Saul Bass
This was mentioned in an interview with Bass. It perfectly summarises his intentions when designing the titles on his posters. It shows how he wants viewers to connect with it in a way where it will affect the way they see the film.
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“I want to make beautiful things, even if nobody cares.�
19 - Saul Bass
After analysing the designs of Saul Bass and watching the films that they are based on, I truly believe that unofficial film posters made by designers who are more interested into the content and meanings of the design are really effective. These designers don’t make the posters because they are paid to do so or for advertising the film, they create them because of pure enjoyment. Most Mondo posters have a deep personal response to the films they are based on. This is due to the posters being forms of fan art. The artists can respond in any way they want, without the restrictions of the companies they are often associated with. These restrictions caused a lot of Bass’ work to be rejected. I think that the major film compan i e s s u c h a s Wa r n e r B ro s . o r U n i ve r s a l P i ctures should work with companies like Mondo to create a bond between modern and more traditional film posters. It could hugely impact the film poster design industry by reviving illustrated posters to the mainstream media. This will maybe make film companies consider whether or not their modern film posters are becoming less exciting.
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I believe this is really important as it will keep design in marketing films interesting. Modern film posters can be boring as they follow the same layout as prior films before and do not show different art styles or techniques. Posters should make their films stand out to the world, they shouldn’t just be made purely for marketing purposes.
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BIBLIOGRAPHY BOOKS Saul Bass: A life in film & design Saul Bass: Anatomy of film design Selling the movie: the art of the film poster
FILMS 24x36: A movie bout movie posters Schindler’s List Rocky
OTHER https://www.youtube.com/watc h?v=BEbW2fX SShc https://www.youtube.com/watc h?v=jwWBQMbMpT4 https://www.youtube.com/watc h?v=1ThnxSaExzU
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WEBSITES
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https://99designs.co.uk/blog/famous-design/ saul-bass-graphic-designer-of-a-century/ http://www.saulbasspost erarc hive.com/ https://www.ar t of t he title.com/designer/saulbass/ https://www.bbc.co.uk/bit esize/ar ticles/ zr9s6v4 https://occhimagazine.com/importance-of-a-movie-poster/ https://www.washingt on post.com/graphi c s / 2 019 / e n t e r t a i n m e n t / o s c a r - n o m i n e e s - m o v ie-poster-design/ h t t p s : / / w w w . f l i c k f i l o s o p h e r . c o m / 2 0 11 / 0 7 / q u e s tion-of-the-day-how-much-do-posters-influenceyour-decision-to-see-a-movie-or-not.html http://blog.flametreepublishing.com/fantas y - g o t h i c / b i d / 7 810 9 / T h e - S e c r e t - P o w e r - o f - M o v ie-Posters-Superhero-Movies h t t p s : / / w w w. i m d b . c o m / t i t l e / t t 0 07 514 8 / h t t p s : / / w w w. i m d b . c o m / t i t l e / t t 010 8 0 5 2 / https://www.em pireonline.com/movies/f eatures/best-posters/
“My initial thoughts about what a title can do was to set mood and the prime underlying core of the film’s story, to express the story in some metaphorical way. I saw the title as a way of conditioning the audience, so that when the film actually began, viewers would already have an emotional resonance with it.” - Saul Bass
EWAN BURROW