Concept and creative process
For the drama series 'Target' I created an action packed sequence that reflected the programme's content. Specially shot live action of a rooftop chase was rotoscoped (projected and traced frame by frame onto cels using the animation stand of the rostrum camera) and then re-filmed and optically coloured. I shot the live action of the star Patrick Mower in a mock chase in a derelict factory in Acton. The stunt supervisor and I persuaded him to jump from a 3-4 metre high wall - it was his first stunt and was able to add it to his Spotlight profile afterwards! The footage was initially rotoscoped one frame at a time to create the outlines. The animation cels were filmed again and Peter Simkins created the opticals by running the matte and master in contact with each other through the optical printer. This gave a creep of light, the result of the thickness of the emulsion, and printed the live action as a line. When step-printed through a blue filter, trailing coloured line images of the live action resulted.
Winner of a Design & Art Direction Wood Pencil for Television Graphics 1979.