Testament Of Youth (1979)

Concept and creative process

Opening titles for ‘Testament of Youth’, a drama based on the eponymous First World War memoir written by Vera Brittain. Ros Dallas filmed the watery background and the leitmotif of the two floating flower heads on location. She filmed additional set-ups of fine clothing and military uniforms, contrasting the relatively peaceful world at home with the slaughter of the battlefield, which she framed in soft vignettes over the water background with the credits in a film optical. The images encapsulated the hopes of so many young women and the men of the lost generation who died in the war.