Saul Bass (1920 - 1996) was a graphic designer and an Oscar winning filmmaker. I missed his birthday, which was yesterday. If you know old movies, then you have seen his work. Above are just some of his posters. He was also renowned for his movie title graphics. Here's a one hour compilation of them.
It's hard to pick a favorite, but this film that he and his wife created in 1968, "Why Man Creates," was a short movie I saw in public school. You can see the whole film here.
"Why Man Creates" is one movie that was threaded through the Bell and Howell high school AV Department projector over and over again. It's one of those movies that I shown at least once a year
from about fifth grade onward. George Lucas, who was a student at USC
at the time, is the uncredited second unit director.
The nature of creativity is the elusive subject. I
like the movie. There's a lot of animation in it, a lot of funny bits,
and some really great writing.
It won an Oscar and had its TV premiere, in a shortened version, on CBS'
60 Minutes program on September 24, 1968. I have to wonder if that ping
pong ball sequence, which I always thought of as radical and terrific
and big spoof of religion, was cut.
Here's that sequence, which is just over two minutes:
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