See Hear (1981)

Concept and creative process

Opening titles for a weekly magazine programme for the deaf community, with news, views and entertainment made more accessible with subtitles and sign language. An eye in close-up opened in a sequence of overlapping dissolves and was dissected by a sound wave, which split and panned north and south out of screen, wiping to a black screen with a grid of grey outline squares. The soundwave animated in again to form the word ‘See’ and the word ‘Hear’ zoomed in from out of screen, leaving a light trail of step-repeated outlines of itself which faded progressively to make the programme logo. The sequence was shot and animated on a rostrum camera using backlit artwork and coloured gels.