Book Review Designs on Film: A Century of Hollywood Art Direction
At first you might assume that Cathy Whitlock’s book, Designs on Film: A Century of Hollywood Art Direction is another sumptuous Hollywood-inspired coffee table book, brimming with oodles of stunning movie stills and illustrations of iconic movie scenes. Designs on Film, however, is so much more. A well-researched overview of the profession of film art directoion, the book profiles the top professionals who have worked in the field over the past hundred years.
Ms. Whitlock organized her work into two parts. Part one, “Architect of Dreams,” explains what it is that an art director does and how the profession has evolved over the course of film history. Ms. Whitlock also does a fine job of describing the responsibilities of the production designer and set decorator in relationship to the art director. The second part, the real heart of the book, recognizes the work of major art directors from the silent era through the early 2000s.
Designs on Film finally gives credit to the brilliant talents whose on-screen work is so distinctly memorable, but whose names and faces are barely known. Several photos feature great art directors at work in the studio: Hans Dreier (“Sunset Boulevard”), Edward Carrere (“The Fountainhead”), Carroll Clark (“Top Hat”) and RKO’s supervising art director Van Nest Polglase.
Designs on Film, one gains a greater understanding and appreciation of the work of the innovative designers responsible for Hollywood’s most iconic backdrops, those folks who were part-architect, part-artist, part-military leader and part-dreamer.
Silly Saturday: Mon Oncle
In this scene from Jacques Tati’s 1958 film, “Mon Oncle,” Tati seems a bit perplexed over the function of several products in his relative’s modern kitchen.
How Much Does Your Building Weigh, Mr. Foster?
A documentary about reknowned architect British architect, Norman Foster, ”How Much Does Your Building Weigh, Mr. Foster?,” premiered last year at the Berlin Film Festival. According to the film’s director, Carlos Carcas, “The first reason for making the film was to tell the story of a man whose vision and design can be seen all over the world. To me, his personal story is an inspiring example of someone who has risen from a modest, working-class family to the highest level of success through pure effort, will and risk-taking. The other reason for making the film was to try to communicate to a broad audience why architecture matters.”
Read an interview with Carcas on Architects and Artisans.
Yves Saint Laurent: The “Bad Boy” of Fashion: Part Two
This is second in a two-part series on fashion Twentieth Century fashion icon Yves Saint Laurent. Read Part One.
A Breakdown and a Lasting Relationship
In 1960, designer Yves Saint Laurent was about to enter one of the darkest periods of his life. The designer’s most recent collection had been thoroughly rejected by the French fashion world and then he was drafted into the French military. Unable to cope with army life and the brutal treatment he received there as a homosexual, Saint Laurent suffered a nervous breakdown.1 He spent several months recovering in a French psychiatric hospital. “In 1962, in the wake of his nervous breakdown, Saint Laurent was released from Dior and started his own label, YSL, financed by his companion, Pierre Bergé”2. Bergé handled all of Saint Laurent’s business affairs and attempted to take much of the stress off of his partner. The two would remain together for the next four decades until Saint Laurent’s death.
Designer Yves Saint Laurent and his partner Pierre Bergé. Photo credit: IFC Films.
Source: http://imgs.sfgate.com/c/pictures/2011/05/04/dd-industry15_PH_0503416819.jpg
Fashion’s “Bad Boy” in the Sixties
In the Sixties while the focus of the fashion world shifted from Paris to London, Saint Laurent remained a dominant force, grabbing attention and further revolutionizing the way women dressed. It was during this period that he introduced his ‘Le Smoking’ tuxedo jacket. “Bianca Jagger wore a white Saint Laurent tuxedo open to the waist when she married Mick”1. His collections “also included the sheer blouse and the jumpsuit”4. In 1966, Saint Laurent opened his Rive Gauche ready-to-wear boutiques, becoming the first major designer to do so.2
Yves Saint Laurent, “Le Smoking” jacket, 1966. Photo Copyright Fondation Pierre Bergé–Yves Saint Laurent.
Source: http://girlsguidetoparis.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/10/meet-monsier-laurent-2.jpg
Silly Saturday: Frank Lloyd Wright Goes to the Dogs
Just as I was running out of items to publish for Silly Saturday, this cute post on the Architects and Artisans blog came to my attention by way of Architizer.
In 1956 California paper boy Jim Berger asked architect Frank Lloyd Wright to build a dog house for his black lab, Eddie. Berger’s father was a client of Mr. Wright’s. Not one to turn down a challenging commission, Wright designed a modernist home for Eddie. Berger, however, never got around to building the home Wright designed for his beloved pet. According to Architects and Artisans, “His father and brother took up the project, completing it in 1963.”
Filmmaker Michael Miner obtained permission to rebuild the dog house as part of his documentary film, “Romanza,” about Wright’s work in California.
For more about the Frank Lloyd Wright dog house read the full story at Architects and Artisans.
For details on Michael Miner’s documentary on Wright visit Designed by Wright.
Frank Lloyd Wright, plans for Berger Dog House, 1956. Photo credit: photograher unknown,
Source: http://www.architizer.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/FLWdoghouse-600x402.jpg
Saul Bass: Man with the Golden Titles
Editors note: The video posted here was compiled by Ian Albinson and posted on the blog, The Art of The Title in celebration of the release of the book “Saul Bass: A Life In Film & Design.”
While Saul Bass (1920-1996) was undoubtedly one of the most influential graphic designers of the Twentieth Century, he is best known for revolutionizing the discipline of film title design. Throughout Bass’s career he has worked with many prestigious directors: Otto Preminger, Alfred Hitchcock, Billy Wilder, Robert Altman and Martin Scorsese.1
Born in the Bronx in 1920, Bass was a creative child and eventually went on to study at the Art Students League in New York and Brooklyn College.1 Bass worked as a freelance designer in New York City until 1946 when he moved to Los Angeles in search of greater artistic freedom.1
Bass began his film work in the mid-1950s, first working with Otto Preminger on Carmen Jones.2 In 1955, “Preminger again called on Bass to work on The Man With The Golden Arm, for which Bass created the famous jagged arm design, suggesting the jarring and disjointed existence of a drug addict… Bass, along with a small number of other 1950s designers such as Paul Rand and Erik Nitsche, operated against cluttered imagery and towards geometric designs using angular shapes and primary color schemes.”3
During this time Bass was responsible for designing titles for The Seven Year Itch, Around the World in 80 Days and Bonjour Tristesse. He also created titles for Alfred Hitchcock’s Vertigo and North by Northwest. He partnered with Hitchcock again in 1960, providing not only the title design for Psycho; this time Hitchcock asked Bass to work on the film production as well, including Janet Leigh’s infamous shower scene.1
During “the 1960s, Bass’s genius extended to building corporate identities for some of the biggest companies in the USA.” 3 Among the many organizations that Bass developed logos for were AT&T, Quaker Oats, United Airlines, Minolta and Warner Communications. In 1968 Bass took his turn behind the camera to direct “a series of shorts culminating in 1968’s Oscar-winning Why Man Creates.”1
Bass’s film career enjoyed revitalization in the late 1980s and 1990s, when a new generation of film directors became interested in his work. Bass’s projects from this period include Big, Broadcast News, Goodfellas, Casino and The Age of Innocence.1
Bass died in 1996, but his influence can still be seen in current advertising and in movies and television programs such as American Movie Channel’s Mad Men.
References
- Design Museum, (n.d). Saul Bass, Graphic Designer (1920-1996). http://designmuseum.org/design/saul-bass
- IMDB, (2011). Saul Bass (1920-1996). http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000866/
- Nourmand, T. (2000). Saul Bass. Patek
Philippe, Number 9, Spring / Summer. http://www.saul-bass.com/
Lloyd Wright’s Samuel-Navarro House
Design and Desire has featured the legendary architect Frank Lloyd Wright and his work several times. Today, however, we’re highlighting a Hollywood Hills home designed by his son, California architect Lloyd Wright.
Built in 1928 for Louis Samuel, personal secretary and companion to silent film star Ramon Navarro, the building has served as home for other notable celebrities. According to an article on msnbc.com, “Leonard Bernstein, Jerome Robbins, Betty Comden, and Adolph Green rented the home while they worked on the Broadway musical ‘On the Town.’” Actresses Dianne Keaton and Christina Ricci and record producer John Carter were all former owners of the property.
The house, which prominently features Lloyd Wright’s signature Mayan influences, is currently on the market for $4.195 million. Read more details.
Lloyd Wright, Samuel-Navarro House (1928), Hollywood, CA.
Source: http://m.static.newsvine.com/servista/imagesizer?file=null-nullAEA59085-C8DD-62CD-5712-26FBD50A2AA6.jpg&width=500
Scarface Style: The World is Yours, So Dress Like It.
To coincide with the September 2011 arrival of the Blu-Ray edition of Brian DePalma’s Scarface (1982), Clothes on Film has posted a tribute to designer Patricia Neal’s costumes. “[The] costumes are one of the most memorable elements, combining period accuracy with flamboyant creativity, especially wild Tony’s island shirts and the glitzy, sometimes stunning dresses worn by his equally volatile moll, Elvira (Michelle Pfeiffer).”
Al Pacino as Tony Montana in Scarface (1982) wearing a pin-striped suit influenced by the gangster films of he 1930s.
Source: http://clothesonfilm.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/Scarface_Al-Pacino-pinstripe-gun-mid_image-credit-Universal-Pictures-1-494x348.jpg
Film Making Museum Coming to LA
Design and Desire is very excited to learn from SFGate.com, the San Francisco Chronicle’s Web site, that the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences is collaborating with the Los Angeles County Museum of Art on the development of a museum dedicated to film making. The article states that while there is no definite timeline, it is hoped that the project could be completed within three to five years. A former May Company department store building located on Wilshire Boulevard is slated to become home for the new museum. Read the entire story on SFGate.
Keep following Design and Desire; we’ll post any updates on the museum’s progress as we find them.
Albert C. Martin & S.A. Marx, May Company Department Store Building, Los Angeles (1939). Photo credit: Anne Cusack (AP)
Source: http://imgs.sfgate.com/c/pictures/2011/10/07/dd-MovieMuseum07_0504296407_part6.jpg
Ken Adam Interviews
Earlier this year, Design and Desire ran an article on renowned film art director Sir Ken Adam, whose credits include, Dr. Strangelove, Dr. No, Barry Lyndon and many others. If you enjoyed our post, Web of Stories has several dozen posted video interviews with Sir Adam.
In the clip here, Adam discusses the beginning of his career at Riverside Studios.
