The Choir (1995)

‘The Choir’ was a drama series starring James Fox and David Warner, at the time two giants of film and the theatre. The agents of both super stars insisted each had top billing, so I had to work out a way to do this, otherwise one or the other would pull out. Luckily neither star had a long name, so I was able to place their names on two lines next to each other, one either side of the screen with an ampersand in-between. The requirement for the sequence was quite small. The production didn't want much more than for the credits to be displayed at the start. The budget was small to reflect this. The idea of using real objects with the type was delivered by photographing some props and specially created models, which were combined with the text. Some objects, such as the cross and the sword were hired, but the sword needed to be made more attractive and interesting so the model maker added brass wire to the handle. The ampersand was made as a model, roughly 45 cm high, so it could be lit in an interesting way with highlights and shadows to emphasise its form. The main title caption was hand drawn by Fen Field. Model work was by Alan Kemp. The sword was supplied by the BBC Armoury department, the cross was hired from an external prop hire company. Photography was done in-house by the Photographic Department.

Concept, Design and Creative Direction - Liz Friedman.

• BBC Programme Index/Genome