Concept and creative process
New cutting-edge titles were required for ‘Top of the Pops’ the revamped weekly pop music chart show. I was the assigned designer to TOTP and given a brief by executive producer Michael Hurll and director Gordon Elsbury to create a new title sequence for the show. We decided to base it on the Phil Lynott (Thin Lizzy) single ‘Yellow Pearl‘ produced by Midge Ure (Ultravox). I storyboarded a sequence which had coloured vinyl singles flying up out of the clouds into the sky towards the camera. Animating over the top like a machine gun were chart numbers from 30 to 1. The sequence culminated with a pink record flying up and filling frame carrying the TOTP logo on the label. The record then exploded in slow motion creating a wipe through to the studio. The resulting 15-second sequence was cut so fast it worried people that it would cause epileptic fits and needed to be checked for safety before transmission. The track needed to be remixed to around 15 secs, which at the time was one of the shortest title sequences for a show. I went into the sound studio with Phil Lynott who produced a special mix. However, it was really disappointing. I played it to Midge Ure who arranged for us to go into Mayfair Studios in Primrose Hill and start again. In contrast the result was amazing. Next we needed some flying records, so the TOTP production team asked the record companies to supply any singles they had on coloured vinyl. I then relabelled several boxes of records with my redesigned neon-style TOTP logo. At Damson Studios we created a large-sided box on the studio floor which we filled with dry ice. A 35mm camera was hung above it with a platform for the camera assistant and me to drop records past the camera onto the dry ice cloud on the floor. The film was over-cranked to create slow motion and then in the edit, run in reverse to show the records flying up and past the camera. The sequence was constructed out of several takes to hide where the floor and broken records had been revealed. The exploding record was shot with the camera beneath a sheet of material that had been screen-printed with the final frame of a take of the pink record landing in front of the lens. It was shattered by an air ram forcing shards and pre-loaded debris towards the camera which had been protected by armoured glass. Finally, each word of the logo was cut out of sheet steel and mounted in front of a light. By adding smoke and rotating the lamp we created a sweeping lighthouse beam. The last element, the animating chart numbers, was shot on a BBC Rostrum camera as back-lit Kodaliths. I then set about editing the sequence. While it was short, the number of edits was so numerous that the cutting copy was made up of more splicing tape than film!
Cameraman - Douglas Adamson, Stewart Hardy Films.
Camera Assistant - Ros at Damson Studios.
BBC Film Editor - Simon Morice.
Music - Midge Ure and Phil Lynnot.
Designer/Director - Marc Ortmans.
Winner of a Design & Art Direction Wood Pencil for Television Graphics/Entertainment 1982.