Why Man Creates (1968) - full transcript
Through several amusing live action and animated vignettes, Saul Bass illustrates a fundamental and essential particularity of human nature that keeps us alive and the world turning, ...
The lever.
Harry. do you realize you
just invented the whole wheel?
I know, I know.
Bronze!
Iron!
All was in chaos until
Euklit arose and made order.
What is the good life?
And how do you lead it?
Who shall rule the state?
The philosopher king.
The aristocrats.
The people.
You mean all the people?
What is the nature of the good?
What is the nature of justice?
What is happiness?
Hail Xena!
Roman law is now in session!
I've invented the zero!
What?
Nothing, nothing.
The Earth moves!
The Earth is round!
The blood circulates!
There are worlds smaller than ours!
There are worlds larger than ours!
Hey, what are you doin'?
I'm a paintin' the cielin',
what are you doin'?
I'm paintin' the floor.
Darwin says man is an animal.
Not, man is not an animal.
- Animal!
- Man!
Shall we start from the beginning?
I'm a bug, I'm a germ, I'm a bug, I'm a.
Louis Pasteur!
I'm not a bug, I'm not
a germ, I'm not a bug.
You think it'll work Alfred?
Let's give it a try.
What do ya think?
It worked.
- All men are created-
- Life, liberty
- and the-
- Workers of the world!
Government of the
people by the people.
The world must be made safe for--
I see one third of a nation,
he'll.
One world!
Help!
Good morning ladies and gentlemen.
Today we will discuss the
bone structure of the cranium.
You will note first that
the base of the skull
is divided by two transverse ridges
forming the three basilar fosse.
Over the cerebellum, the
dura separated the occipital
lobes from the cerebellum
by the tentorium cerebelli.
Along the base is-
The code?
Nine, 0, 0, four, six.
Social security number?
Five, two, four, two, two,
three, five, eight, eight.
Telephone?
876-0930.
Seven, seven, two, two, one.
Four, three, two, one, six. eight.
Four, five, seven, two.
Seven, five, three, four, two, one, eight.
Four, two, one, eight, five.
Five, two, eight, seven. one.
Four, four, four, six, nine?
Two, nine, three.
The three, 0, two, one.
Four, four, six.
Seven, 0, four, six, nine.
Man you've got a great cup.
Get the money bag,
but the hang ups.
Freedom man,
that's what it's all about.
Yeah,
Freedom man,
that's what it's all about.
There's not thing in them eyes
but the satisfaction of their own egos.
Oh I'm not complaining and
I know times have changed
but certain things remain constant.
When I was a youngster.
Hello down there!
I knew right from wrong.
We knew the value of a dollar
and we knew the meaning of
hard work and sacrifice.
Where do ideas come from?
I'm looking at one thing
and seeing another.
I'm fooling around.
Playing with possibilities.
Speculating.
Changing-
Pushing, pulling.
Transforming.
And if you're lucky, you
come up with something
maybe worth saving and using.
And building on.
That's where the game
stops and the work begins.
I admitted I had
days of such discouragement
that I ached to give it all up
but something kept me
going. I guess it was faith.
The kind you've when you're very young
and don't know any better.
When the stuff comes
alive and turns crazy on ya,
a writer had better be
in pretty good shape.
With good legs and a
counterpunch and ready to fight
like hell to the blood end.
As one grows older,
one sees the impossibility
of imposing your will on
the chaos with brute force.
But if you're patient,
there may come that moment
when while eating an apple,
the solution presents itself
politely and says, here I am.
Marge!
Works huh?
Harry.
All it needs is an American flag.
Finally that moment
when society makes
its contribution to the creative process.
What a piece of garbage that is.
Ridiculous.
Terrible.
Sick.
And I must say we're getting quite
a reaction from the crowd.
Let's see if we can get some more.
Sir, could you tell us
what you think of it.
It's degrading.
And you sir?
It's gonna hurt us abroad.
And you ma'am.
It's all right if you like modern.
They're going too far you know.
I can't say what I think about it
because I'm an old, old American.
And you know how they
figure, from Nebraska.
That'll never fly Orval.
I think it's kind of a foot on.
Well, I think it's all right.
- You like it?
- Yes I think-
Oh my word!
Sick!
In fact it seems like
a crease in some civil
mechanism in man's mind.
I couldn't tell really,
I don't know.
- Look at that!
- No it's base, and modest.
Look at the form, look
at the bottom there.
It represents the decline of the west.
This guy's a nut!
I think you should be shot,
people that do a thing like that.
You gotta give the
- artist credit!
- No, don't give
anybody credit!
That's where your tax payers money go!
Die!
Sick!
Superficial!
It stinks!
I don't know, I like it.
I'm not an expert but
speaking strictly as a mother,
it seems to me the material alone
must be worth at least $100.
Boing. boing, boing, boing.
Boing, boing, boing, boing.
Boing.
Hey!
Boing, boing.
- Hurry UP!
- Hurry UP!
- Come here!
- Hey that's not bad.
Come on, hurry up.
Harvey, bring your sisters.
Hey, watch out.
- Witch!
- I was here first.
I didn't have a very good roll on.
Look at that!
Wow!
Wee!
Have you ever thought that
radical ideas threaten
institutions then become institutions
and in turn reject radical ideas
which threaten institutions?
No.
Gee, for a minute
I thought I had something.
Doctor Delbecko, we've heard
some news of a breakthrough.
Well yes.
I think we're on to something important.
We have been working with small a virus
which we know induces cancer.
A small virus,
means it does a few things
when it enters the cell.
We've been trying to find out which ones
who disfunctions, changes the normal
cell into a cancer cell.
We already have ruled out
several of these functions.
And we know enough about the others,
so that we can now make a
really conclusive experiment.
We are very optimistic and we
hope to have positive results
within say, five years.
Doctor Delbecko has been working
on cancer research for 20 years.
When I began working on
the world food problem,
only one person out of
three across the world
went to bed hungry.
Today, in spite of all our progress,
two out of three people go to bed hungry.
More than two billion people
in the world as a whole.
This is because the greatest increase
and world population has
occurred in those areas
and have the lowest productivity of food.
The problem just continues
to expand as we work on it.
What specific progress
have you made doctor?
We have just
developed strains of tomatoes
and of peas that can grow
in areas where these crops
couldn't be grown previously.
We have also now produced
strains of cereals
and have all of the nutritive
value of a piece of meat.
I think that we'll be able
to get the whole problem
under control soon,
say, 15 or 20 years.
Doctor Bonner has been working
on this problem for 12 years now.
Actually this makes for a
very interesting dilemma.
You see the Big Bang Theory says
that 15 billion years
ago, a gigantic explosion
blew all the matter in the universe apart
- and it's still blowing-
- Doctor Greenstein
is working on the origin of the universe.
We should find 30% helium.
Okay.
I now have the technology to
observe very much fainter,
old stars and I find
they have no helium.
And my colleagues agree.
If this apparent discovery is true,
the Big Bang Theory is false
and we'll have to develop
an entirely new theory
to account for the origin of the universe.
But the other possibility
is equally provocative.
And I'm wrong.
At what you observe at
the surface of a star,
doesn't have to be what's really there.
Doctor Greenstein has been working
on the origin of the
universe for over 20 years.
Well we've hit a blank wall for now.
The line of investigation
we have been pursuing
seems to have lead nowhere.
But that's the nature of the process.
You get what you think
is a marvelous idea,
and it just doesn't pan out.
How long have you been working
on this problem doctor Weiler?
Seven years.
What do you aim to do now?
I don't know.
Why does man create?
Men have struggled against time,
against decay,
against destruction,
against death.
Some have cried out in torment and agony.
Some have fought with
arrogance and fierce pride.
Some challenge the Gods,
matching power with power.
Some have celebrated life.
Some have burned with faith.
Some have spoken in voices
we no longer understand.
Some have spoken eloquently.
Some have spoken inarticulately.
Some haltingly.
Some have been almost mute.
Yet among all the variety
of human expression,
a thread of connection, a
common mark can be seen,
that urge to look into ones self
and out of the world and say,
this is what I am.
I am unique,
I am here,
lam.
Harry. do you realize you
just invented the whole wheel?
I know, I know.
Bronze!
Iron!
All was in chaos until
Euklit arose and made order.
What is the good life?
And how do you lead it?
Who shall rule the state?
The philosopher king.
The aristocrats.
The people.
You mean all the people?
What is the nature of the good?
What is the nature of justice?
What is happiness?
Hail Xena!
Roman law is now in session!
I've invented the zero!
What?
Nothing, nothing.
The Earth moves!
The Earth is round!
The blood circulates!
There are worlds smaller than ours!
There are worlds larger than ours!
Hey, what are you doin'?
I'm a paintin' the cielin',
what are you doin'?
I'm paintin' the floor.
Darwin says man is an animal.
Not, man is not an animal.
- Animal!
- Man!
Shall we start from the beginning?
I'm a bug, I'm a germ, I'm a bug, I'm a.
Louis Pasteur!
I'm not a bug, I'm not
a germ, I'm not a bug.
You think it'll work Alfred?
Let's give it a try.
What do ya think?
It worked.
- All men are created-
- Life, liberty
- and the-
- Workers of the world!
Government of the
people by the people.
The world must be made safe for--
I see one third of a nation,
he'll.
One world!
Help!
Good morning ladies and gentlemen.
Today we will discuss the
bone structure of the cranium.
You will note first that
the base of the skull
is divided by two transverse ridges
forming the three basilar fosse.
Over the cerebellum, the
dura separated the occipital
lobes from the cerebellum
by the tentorium cerebelli.
Along the base is-
The code?
Nine, 0, 0, four, six.
Social security number?
Five, two, four, two, two,
three, five, eight, eight.
Telephone?
876-0930.
Seven, seven, two, two, one.
Four, three, two, one, six. eight.
Four, five, seven, two.
Seven, five, three, four, two, one, eight.
Four, two, one, eight, five.
Five, two, eight, seven. one.
Four, four, four, six, nine?
Two, nine, three.
The three, 0, two, one.
Four, four, six.
Seven, 0, four, six, nine.
Man you've got a great cup.
Get the money bag,
but the hang ups.
Freedom man,
that's what it's all about.
Yeah,
Freedom man,
that's what it's all about.
There's not thing in them eyes
but the satisfaction of their own egos.
Oh I'm not complaining and
I know times have changed
but certain things remain constant.
When I was a youngster.
Hello down there!
I knew right from wrong.
We knew the value of a dollar
and we knew the meaning of
hard work and sacrifice.
Where do ideas come from?
I'm looking at one thing
and seeing another.
I'm fooling around.
Playing with possibilities.
Speculating.
Changing-
Pushing, pulling.
Transforming.
And if you're lucky, you
come up with something
maybe worth saving and using.
And building on.
That's where the game
stops and the work begins.
I admitted I had
days of such discouragement
that I ached to give it all up
but something kept me
going. I guess it was faith.
The kind you've when you're very young
and don't know any better.
When the stuff comes
alive and turns crazy on ya,
a writer had better be
in pretty good shape.
With good legs and a
counterpunch and ready to fight
like hell to the blood end.
As one grows older,
one sees the impossibility
of imposing your will on
the chaos with brute force.
But if you're patient,
there may come that moment
when while eating an apple,
the solution presents itself
politely and says, here I am.
Marge!
Works huh?
Harry.
All it needs is an American flag.
Finally that moment
when society makes
its contribution to the creative process.
What a piece of garbage that is.
Ridiculous.
Terrible.
Sick.
And I must say we're getting quite
a reaction from the crowd.
Let's see if we can get some more.
Sir, could you tell us
what you think of it.
It's degrading.
And you sir?
It's gonna hurt us abroad.
And you ma'am.
It's all right if you like modern.
They're going too far you know.
I can't say what I think about it
because I'm an old, old American.
And you know how they
figure, from Nebraska.
That'll never fly Orval.
I think it's kind of a foot on.
Well, I think it's all right.
- You like it?
- Yes I think-
Oh my word!
Sick!
In fact it seems like
a crease in some civil
mechanism in man's mind.
I couldn't tell really,
I don't know.
- Look at that!
- No it's base, and modest.
Look at the form, look
at the bottom there.
It represents the decline of the west.
This guy's a nut!
I think you should be shot,
people that do a thing like that.
You gotta give the
- artist credit!
- No, don't give
anybody credit!
That's where your tax payers money go!
Die!
Sick!
Superficial!
It stinks!
I don't know, I like it.
I'm not an expert but
speaking strictly as a mother,
it seems to me the material alone
must be worth at least $100.
Boing. boing, boing, boing.
Boing, boing, boing, boing.
Boing.
Hey!
Boing, boing.
- Hurry UP!
- Hurry UP!
- Come here!
- Hey that's not bad.
Come on, hurry up.
Harvey, bring your sisters.
Hey, watch out.
- Witch!
- I was here first.
I didn't have a very good roll on.
Look at that!
Wow!
Wee!
Have you ever thought that
radical ideas threaten
institutions then become institutions
and in turn reject radical ideas
which threaten institutions?
No.
Gee, for a minute
I thought I had something.
Doctor Delbecko, we've heard
some news of a breakthrough.
Well yes.
I think we're on to something important.
We have been working with small a virus
which we know induces cancer.
A small virus,
means it does a few things
when it enters the cell.
We've been trying to find out which ones
who disfunctions, changes the normal
cell into a cancer cell.
We already have ruled out
several of these functions.
And we know enough about the others,
so that we can now make a
really conclusive experiment.
We are very optimistic and we
hope to have positive results
within say, five years.
Doctor Delbecko has been working
on cancer research for 20 years.
When I began working on
the world food problem,
only one person out of
three across the world
went to bed hungry.
Today, in spite of all our progress,
two out of three people go to bed hungry.
More than two billion people
in the world as a whole.
This is because the greatest increase
and world population has
occurred in those areas
and have the lowest productivity of food.
The problem just continues
to expand as we work on it.
What specific progress
have you made doctor?
We have just
developed strains of tomatoes
and of peas that can grow
in areas where these crops
couldn't be grown previously.
We have also now produced
strains of cereals
and have all of the nutritive
value of a piece of meat.
I think that we'll be able
to get the whole problem
under control soon,
say, 15 or 20 years.
Doctor Bonner has been working
on this problem for 12 years now.
Actually this makes for a
very interesting dilemma.
You see the Big Bang Theory says
that 15 billion years
ago, a gigantic explosion
blew all the matter in the universe apart
- and it's still blowing-
- Doctor Greenstein
is working on the origin of the universe.
We should find 30% helium.
Okay.
I now have the technology to
observe very much fainter,
old stars and I find
they have no helium.
And my colleagues agree.
If this apparent discovery is true,
the Big Bang Theory is false
and we'll have to develop
an entirely new theory
to account for the origin of the universe.
But the other possibility
is equally provocative.
And I'm wrong.
At what you observe at
the surface of a star,
doesn't have to be what's really there.
Doctor Greenstein has been working
on the origin of the
universe for over 20 years.
Well we've hit a blank wall for now.
The line of investigation
we have been pursuing
seems to have lead nowhere.
But that's the nature of the process.
You get what you think
is a marvelous idea,
and it just doesn't pan out.
How long have you been working
on this problem doctor Weiler?
Seven years.
What do you aim to do now?
I don't know.
Why does man create?
Men have struggled against time,
against decay,
against destruction,
against death.
Some have cried out in torment and agony.
Some have fought with
arrogance and fierce pride.
Some challenge the Gods,
matching power with power.
Some have celebrated life.
Some have burned with faith.
Some have spoken in voices
we no longer understand.
Some have spoken eloquently.
Some have spoken inarticulately.
Some haltingly.
Some have been almost mute.
Yet among all the variety
of human expression,
a thread of connection, a
common mark can be seen,
that urge to look into ones self
and out of the world and say,
this is what I am.
I am unique,
I am here,
lam.