North By Northwest
Just from the first few seconds of watching the title sequence, I can already feel that the movie will be action-packed and maybe full of mystery/suspense through the use of music and perspective. In the beginning, Saul Bass draws out lines and sets the type against that vertical grid. Later on, he places and moves type up, down, and sideways so that it appears as if it’s an optical illusion, even easing in photos and the actual film footage.
Psycho
The sequence begins with intense, dramatic music followed my quick horizontal/vertical lines that all appear at different times and from different positions on the screen, while simultaneously cutting or forming words with the bars. This creates a strange, distorted world of harshness that fits perfectly with the suspense horror movie’s plot.
Ocean’s Eleven
Bass starts off with just creating small squares that create large forms, counting up to the number eleven and slowly building up colors with each new number. Then, he starts creating more complex and colorful shapes. Eventually, he adds color and graphics. The animation matches well with the movie’s personality.
In all three sequences, Bass focuses giving the audience a sneak peek of the environment of the movie. His animations feel very simple (with the basic shapes) yet fit well with his concepts. I think the title sequence for Ocean’s Eleven is the most complicated because he uses a lot more shapes to create more figures and graphics. It’s also a bit longer than the other two.
The Visual Journey 