The Man Alive Debate (1982)

Concept and creative process

‘The Man Alive Debate’ was a series where far-reaching and often controversial issues were debated. A modest budget required a simple solution to the titles. The audio was supplied up front, which in some ways made it easier, though more restricting. The artwork consisted of a logo created with photoset type and letraset (rub down) lines. This was copied photographically and reversed out (clear on black) Kodaliths were produced. This artwork was then shot on the back-lit area of a film rostrum camera. Coloured cinemoids (gels) were used to create the coloured elements. The back-lit images were wiped on or off frame by frame with black card. The highlight glows and hot spots were burned in by double exposure with filters on a second pass of the negative through the camera. The end shot was done by panning the artwork frame by frame out of shot.