“Seconds” titles
Date
1966
Credits
- Elaine Bass 3 Title Designer
- Saul Bass 17 Title Designer
- John Frankenheimer Film Director
- James Wong Howe Cinematographer
- Lewis John Carlino Screenwriter
- Jerry Goldsmith Musician
Format
Type of Work
- Finished work 5482
Publishers
Locations Made
- California 232
"This dark science-fiction film directed by John Frankenheimer concerns a man who is unhappy and bored with middle age. Through plastic surgery and psychiatric intervention, he receives a new, younger identity and a hip Malibu lifestyle. But all does not turn out well, and the Basses’ distorting, disfigured title imagery presages the jarring cinematography of James Wong Howe as well
as the terrifying fate of the film’s protagonist. Elaine first tested this title sequence concept with the game cooperation of longtime collaborator and fellow graphic designer Art Goodman. Reflections of his face were projected onto thin aluminum sheets; these were manipulated to create distortions, which were then photographed. The tests demonstrated for Saul how this 'distorted and reconstituted' face could successfully suggest the psychological terror
that the film evokes."—Louise Sandhaus, Earthquakes, Mudslides, Fires & Riots: California and Graphic Design, 1936-1986, pp 168
Image: Page 1969 from Earthquakes, Mudslides, Fires & Riots: California and Graphic Design, 1936-1986