Concept and creative process
Titles for the first series of the popular show which invites members of the public to have their antiques and collectables examined and valued by experts. For the titles the leading expert and presenter Arthur Negus was featured in a light-hearted animated opening. The scenario was typical of the programme content in its depiction of the valuation of objects, the surprise of the vendor at the estimated value, and the banter and discussion that was very much part of the show’s charm and appeal. The animation was done as soft pencil drawings on beige paper with spot colour. Limited animation was achieved by 4 frame mixes, known as soft cuts, between key frames of the action, rather than full animation which would have required at least 12, or even 24 frames of drawn animation for each second of screen time. However, this style was well suited to the jauntiness of the title music, the Allegro from Wendy Carlos’s ‘Switched-On’ Moog synthesiser version of Bach’s Brandenburg Concerto No 3.