Concept and creative process
In a race to Holby General’s Accident & Emergency ward, footage of an ambulance arriving and a patient being attended to was shot on video for this title sequence for the popular long running drama serial ‘Casualty’. The cameraman was directed to lie on the gurney and offer a patient’s perspective of the experience which was shot in one unedited take. The live action was edited to create the opener and the video frames were slowed down and de-interlaced to achieve a disorienting blurred effect. This was further enhanced using a reticulated film grain texture. The electric blue charged animation that moves in the frame is there to represent the lifeline of the patient. It was hand animated to the live action edit and then shot on an Oxberry rostrum camera as a matte pass run. This electric lifeline was then combined with the footage using Quantel Henry digital production. All of the elements were also colour corrected digitally. Designer Iain Greenway, also a musician, worked with composer Ken Freeman directing the music score.