Concept and creative process
The title sequence for 'Soldiers', a documentary series written and narrated by Frederick Forsyth. The brief was to create an invigorating, exciting and dramatic sequence but without glamourising war itself. My inspiration came from the visual movement of Impressionist paintings. I wanted the action to be seen only when the image was moving, but be unintelligible on a single static frame, due to the sketchy, impressionistic style of the drawing. Live action clips were sourced from a variety of areas such as old films, newsreels and documentaries. A final selection of the clips was edited together on 35mm film on a Steenbeck editing table. The edited sequence, which was mute at this stage (i.e. the music had not yet been written) was taken to three animation companies in order for them to pitch for the work. The task was to find an animator or illustrator who could rotoscope (copy) the live action and render it in the style of an Impressionist painter. Dennis Sutton, at Hibbert/Ralfe was chosen as he was a painter, illustrator and animator and could paint in a variety of styles. We met up and together created a test sequence template, which consisted of 3 layers of cels, one of which contained splashes and splats of colour in order to add the vibrancy and distortion required. To rotoscope the film, it was transferred to a VHS cassette and then played out to a TV monitor laid flat on its back, acting as a lightbox. Every other frame was projected up and a rough drawing of the image was made onto the first layer of cel. This was then rendered in colour and other cel layers added to build up the final frame. Once the animation artwork was completed and filmed, the final sequence was taken to Rod Argent's studio to record the music. The sequence was played on a monitor and the music recorded on a synthesiser with a few live instruments played in additionally.
Animator - Dennis Sutton.
Music - Rod Argent.
Editor - Dave Farlie.
Concept and Creative Direction - Liz Friedman.
Winner of a Design & Art Direction Wood Pencil for Television Graphics 1986.
More Information
Soldiers titles animation artwork and promo materials
Soldiers titles animation artwork 1
The artwork for Soldiers consisted of a series of drawings that had been taken from live action (rotoscoping). The original live action taken from various sources, once edited, was transferred to a VHS and put through a TV screen. The TV was laid on its back so it could be used as a light box to copy the live action. Only every 8 frames (still images) were needed as I wanted a rough, edgy feeling and not a smooth, natural live action look. The first drawing was done as rough copy then worked on with crayon. Cel overlays were added to build up the scribbly effect using ‘chinagraph’ pencils, which can be used on cinemoid (animation cel), perspex and glass. The final top layer consisted of a cel with random splats of paint to add an even more rough, vibrant and agitated effect to depict the action in war.
Soldiers titles animation artwork 2
The artwork for Soldiers consisted of a series of drawings that had been taken from live action (rotoscoping). The original live action taken from various sources, once edited, was transferred to a VHS and put through a TV screen. The TV was laid on its back so it could be used as a light box to copy the live action. Only every 8 frames (still images) were needed as I wanted a rough, edgy feeling and not a smooth, natural live action look. The first drawing was done as rough copy then worked on with crayon. Cel overlays were added to build up the scribbly effect using ‘chinagraph’ pencils, which can be used on cinemoid (animation cel), perspex and glass. The final top layer consisted of a cel with random splats of paint to add an even more rough, vibrant and agitated effect to depict the action in war.
Soldiers titles animation artwork 3
The artwork for Soldiers consisted of a series of drawings that had been taken from live action (rotoscoping). The original live action taken from various sources, once edited, was transferred to a VHS and put through a TV screen. The TV was laid on its back so it could be used as a light box to copy the live action. Only every 8 frames (still images) were needed as I wanted a rough, edgy feeling and not a smooth, natural live action look. The first drawing was done as rough copy then worked on with crayon. Cel overlays were added to build up the scribbly effect using ‘chinagraph’ pencils, which can be used on cinemoid (animation cel), perspex and glass. The final top layer consisted of a cel with random splats of paint to add an even more rough, vibrant and agitated effect to depict the action in war.
Soldiers titles animation artwork 4
The artwork for Soldiers consisted of a series of drawings that had been taken from live action (rotoscoping). The original live action taken from various sources, once edited, was transferred to a VHS and put through a TV screen. The TV was laid on its back so it could be used as a light box to copy the live action. Only every 8 frames (still images) were needed as I wanted a rough, edgy feeling and not a smooth, natural live action look. The first drawing was done as rough copy then worked on with crayon. Cel overlays were added to build up the scribbly effect using ‘chinagraph’ pencils, which can be used on cinemoid (animation cel), perspex and glass. The final top layer consisted of a cel with random splats of paint to add an even more rough, vibrant and agitated effect to depict the action in war.
Soldiers titles animation artwork 5
The artwork for Soldiers consisted of a series of drawings that had been taken from live action (rotoscoping). The original live action taken from various sources, once edited, was transferred to a VHS and put through a TV screen. The TV was laid on its back so it could be used as a light box to copy the live action. Only every 8 frames (still images) were needed as I wanted a rough, edgy feeling and not a smooth, natural live action look. The first drawing was done as rough copy then worked on with crayon. Cel overlays were added to build up the scribbly effect using ‘chinagraph’ pencils, which can be used on cinemoid (animation cel), perspex and glass. The final top layer consisted of a cel with random splats of paint to add an even more rough, vibrant and agitated effect to depict the action in war.
Soldiers titles animation artwork 6
The artwork for Soldiers consisted of a series of drawings that had been taken from live action (rotoscoping). The original live action taken from various sources, once edited, was transferred to a VHS and put through a TV screen. The TV was laid on its back so it could be used as a light box to copy the live action. Only every 8 frames (still images) were needed as I wanted a rough, edgy feeling and not a smooth, natural live action look. The first drawing was done as rough copy then worked on with crayon. Cel overlays were added to build up the scribbly effect using ‘chinagraph’ pencils, which can be used on cinemoid (animation cel), perspex and glass. The final top layer consisted of a cel with random splats of paint to add an even more rough, vibrant and agitated effect to depict the action in war.
Soldiers titles animation artwork 7
The artwork for Soldiers consisted of a series of drawings that had been taken from live action (rotoscoping). The original live action taken from various sources, once edited, was transferred to a VHS and put through a TV screen. The TV was laid on its back so it could be used as a light box to copy the live action. Only every 8 frames (still images) were needed as I wanted a rough, edgy feeling and not a smooth, natural live action look. The first drawing was done as rough copy then worked on with crayon. Cel overlays were added to build up the scribbly effect using ‘chinagraph’ pencils, which can be used on cinemoid (animation cel), perspex and glass. The final top layer consisted of a cel with random splats of paint to add an even more rough, vibrant and agitated effect to depict the action in war.
Soldiers titles animation artwork 8
The artwork for Soldiers consisted of a series of drawings that had been taken from live action (rotoscoping). The original live action taken from various sources, once edited, was transferred to a VHS and put through a TV screen. The TV was laid on its back so it could be used as a light box to copy the live action. Only every 8 frames (still images) were needed as I wanted a rough, edgy feeling and not a smooth, natural live action look. The first drawing was done as rough copy then worked on with crayon. Cel overlays were added to build up the scribbly effect using ‘chinagraph’ pencils, which can be used on cinemoid (animation cel), perspex and glass. The final top layer consisted of a cel with random splats of paint to add an even more rough, vibrant and agitated effect to depict the action in war.
Soldiers titles animation artwork 9
The artwork for Soldiers consisted of a series of drawings that had been taken from live action (rotoscoping). The original live action taken from various sources, once edited, was transferred to a VHS and put through a TV screen. The TV was laid on its back so it could be used as a light box to copy the live action. Only every 8 frames (still images) were needed as I wanted a rough, edgy feeling and not a smooth, natural live action look. The first drawing was done as rough copy then worked on with crayon. Cel overlays were added to build up the scribbly effect using ‘chinagraph’ pencils, which can be used on cinemoid (animation cel), perspex and glass. The final top layer consisted of a cel with random splats of paint to add an even more rough, vibrant and agitated effect to depict the action in war.
Soldiers titles animation artwork 10
The artwork for Soldiers consisted of a series of drawings that had been taken from live action (rotoscoping). The original live action taken from various sources, once edited, was transferred to a VHS and put through a TV screen. The TV was laid on its back so it could be used as a light box to copy the live action. Only every 8 frames (still images) were needed as I wanted a rough, edgy feeling and not a smooth, natural live action look. The first drawing was done as rough copy then worked on with crayon. Cel overlays were added to build up the scribbly effect using ‘chinagraph’ pencils, which can be used on cinemoid (animation cel), perspex and glass. The final top layer consisted of a cel with random splats of paint to add an even more rough, vibrant and agitated effect to depict the action in war.
Soldiers titles animation artwork 11
The artwork for Soldiers consisted of a series of drawings that had been taken from live action (rotoscoping). The original live action taken from various sources, once edited, was transferred to a VHS and put through a TV screen. The TV was laid on its back so it could be used as a light box to copy the live action. Only every 8 frames (still images) were needed as I wanted a rough, edgy feeling and not a smooth, natural live action look. The first drawing was done as rough copy then worked on with crayon. Cel overlays were added to build up the scribbly effect using ‘chinagraph’ pencils, which can be used on cinemoid (animation cel), perspex and glass. The final top layer consisted of a cel with random splats of paint to add an even more rough, vibrant and agitated effect to depict the action in war.
Soldiers titles animation artwork 12
The artwork for Soldiers consisted of a series of drawings that had been taken from live action (rotoscoping). The original live action taken from various sources, once edited, was transferred to a VHS and put through a TV screen. The TV was laid on its back so it could be used as a light box to copy the live action. Only every 8 frames (still images) were needed as I wanted a rough, edgy feeling and not a smooth, natural live action look. The first drawing was done as rough copy then worked on with crayon. Cel overlays were added to build up the scribbly effect using ‘chinagraph’ pencils, which can be used on cinemoid (animation cel), perspex and glass. The final top layer consisted of a cel with random splats of paint to add an even more rough, vibrant and agitated effect to depict the action in war.
Soldiers titles animation artwork 13
The artwork for Soldiers consisted of a series of drawings that had been taken from live action (rotoscoping). The original live action taken from various sources, once edited, was transferred to a VHS and put through a TV screen. The TV was laid on its back so it could be used as a light box to copy the live action. Only every 8 frames (still images) were needed as I wanted a rough, edgy feeling and not a smooth, natural live action look. The first drawing was done as rough copy then worked on with crayon. Cel overlays were added to build up the scribbly effect using ‘chinagraph’ pencils, which can be used on cinemoid (animation cel), perspex and glass. The final top layer consisted of a cel with random splats of paint to add an even more rough, vibrant and agitated effect to depict the action in war.
Soldiers book launch
Soldiers exhibition flyer
Soldiers poster
Soldiers press cutting
Soldiers press pack 1
Book jacket for the hardback book of the series
Book jacket for the hardback book of the series
Soldiers model army sequence
Soldiers press cutting