Saul Bass- 1960 Psycho title sequence analysis

Saul Bass's title sequence for the original Psycho movie (1960, Alfred Hitchcock) is a good example of the style that he adopted for the majority of his career. The use of straight lines and simple text, accompanied by a dramatic soundtrack encapsulated the genre of the film perfectly.

The genre is horror and the sinister sounding soundtrack conveys this well. The text itself is very simple, something an audience is used to seeing of Saul Bass. The straight lines are used to almost separate each block of text as it appears to almost "push" the text off the screen before disappearing to allow more text to enter the screen. These lines can also be seen to form some of the text itself throughout the sequence. The titles adopt a san-serif style font.

It is also interesting to note how the lines don't all come from the same part of the screen as they appear onto the screen from all angles. It could be argued that the lines are extremely fitting for a horror film as there is no room for flexibility or perhaps even escape. This suits the genre well and perhaps gives the audience an insight into what will happen later on in the film.

The soundtrack is extremely off putting and disturbing which is very effective given the genre of the film. It also suits the way the sequence is designed with all the straight lines as the notes sound very sharp and abrupt, almost like the lines themselves.