Concept and creative process
‘Silent Witness', in 2020 in its 23rd series, is a BBC television crime drama series, which focuses on the work of a team of forensic pathology experts and their investigations into various crimes. It was first broadcast in 1996 with this simple text version of the titles made on a tiny budget and in a very short time to meet the transmission deadline. The title ‘SILENT WITNESS’ was cut out of foam board and sprinkled with flour to give texture. Multiple projectors (one on a turntable) spilled blue light across the text from different angles to cause different distortions. Limited post-production was used and the sequence was created mainly in-camera. A more sophisticated second title sequence was designed and directed by Tom Brooks to replace the first version later the same year.