Concept and creative process
This generic identity for a film strand on BBC One was the work of Rosalind Dallas. She filmed a number of performance scenarios involving a unicorn, a string quartet, animals, actors, martial artists, an acrobat and Moses with the Ten Commandments – all oblique references to movies or movie themes. The bare set, consisting of a wooden floor with some heavy drapes in the background could be dressed during shooting or composited in post-production with other elements, such as a folding scrap screen, a vase of flowers or some empty chairs, or the strand title in three-dimensional letters standing on the floor. The set could also be populated with the characters from the filmed scenarios which offered endless possibilities of different combinations and the ability to refresh or change the idents if required. All of the scenarios were shot separately and in post-production all of the colour was drained out of the live action, leaving only one particular element in any one set-up in full colour. The result was a series of puzzling, enigmatic, but memorable sequences which became a talking point for the ‘Screen One’ brand and so fulfilled their purpose well.