Video Nation (1994)

To make the programme ‘Video Nation’ fifty people from all over the country had been equipped with camcorders to film their daily lives. Their recordings were seen in a series of programmes during the year, bulding up a unique picture of life in Britain at that time. This series was an extension of the very successful ‘Video Diaries’ strand, which it expanded nationwide. A generic title sequence for this long-running series was created from a selection of programme footage supplied by the production. It was essential to cut this footage down to short clips and home in on interesting yet obvious shots, as each one was only going to be seen for a matter of seconds, often quite small and in competition with 49 other shots! A video wall of 50 TV screens was created and assembled in Quantel Paintbox in order to accommodate the footage within each screen. A video 'shash' effect was created in a digital real-time edit suite to use as 'interference' to break up the footage and add a graphic element to the piece. The logo was created in Paintbox and superimposed at the end of the sequence over a translucent video colour bar background, allowing the footage to be seen faintly behind the logo and retaining a feeling of movement. Composited in Quantel Henry by Mike McGee at the Framestore.

Concept and Creative Direction - Liz Friedman.

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