The Collectors (1986)

Concept and creative process

Titles for ‘The Collectors’, a drama series about the lives and work of HM Customs & Excise officials, created by Ewart Alexander. Using the corporate logo of HM Customs and Excise, the portcullis and chains topped by the Crown, designer Dick Bailey created a framework for the introduction and featuring of the cast members in their roles. Using a light scan technique on a rostrum camera he created an animated trail of the crown, which was composited in a video edit with the title caption at the beginning and end of the sequence. He also used the crown's trail pattern as a frozen frame background to the video clips of the cast.