The Greatest Title Sequence I've Ever Seen
3,562,335
Published 2020-12-21
This is a story about a television title sequence, and about me, as a child, watching it. It’s also a warning about how YouTube won’t last forever, and it's the reason I'm climbing one particular hill in the Lake District. Merry Christmas, Denis Norden.
DoP: Simon Handley from Skylark Aerial Photography www.skylark-aerialphotography.co.uk/
Music: Benjamin Squires www.benjaminsquires.co.uk/
Animation: Matt Ley www.mattleywow.com/
Thanks to John Hoare and the Lake District National Park Authority
Filmed safely: www.tomscott.com/safe/
🟥 MORE FROM TOM: www.tomscott.com/
(you can find contact details and social links there too)
📰 WEEKLY NEWSLETTER with good stuff from the rest of the internet: www.tomscott.com/newsletter/
❓ LATERAL, free weekly podcast: lateralcast.com/ youtube.com/lateralcast/
➕ TOM SCOTT PLUS: youtube.com/tomscottplus
👥 THE TECHNICAL DIFFICULTIES: youtube.com/techdif
All Comments (21)
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I know this video's a bit personal; it's not the sort of thing I normally do. But it seemed like a good story to tell for Christmas.
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Final thought...I guess if I were to do it all again the OS map would be replaced with an iPad with google maps, the laser with a transitional glitch, I would have used a drone with a lidar scanner to create a point cloud for the terrain using MR for the scene. Denis would be a digital avatar using body and facial capture generated live from a MoCap studio. If Star Wars can do it then it’s only a matter of time…
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From now on, I'm going to call it "spinning the compass" when someone goes the extra mile
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Tom: talks about how important is the work of those who work behind the camera The camera guy: literally walking uphill backwards
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“They bothered to make the compass spin”. This reminds me of a story I heard about the original Lord of the Rings trilogy. The armourers and leatherworkers were so enthusiastic that they engraved the different cultural motifs/insignia on the inner areas of garments/equipment despite knowing it would not be visible on the screen. I think that kind of passion bleeds over into the visible work, and the audience appreciated the authenticity. PS - I only discovered Tom 24 hours ago, and this content is lovely.
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Here's hoping the guy who moved the compass needle sees this.
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Can we just appreciate the dude filming this climbing a steep hill BACKWARDS whilst holding a camera and keeping Tom steady in centre shot
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So Tom (and cameraman!) walked that entire distance for a full 18 minutes, did it in one take (even if there were multiple attempts), and arrived at the exact correct point just as the dialogue concluded. That's great work.
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Having just watched the "Last" video, I want to say that this is my favorite. On lots of levels. Well done and congratulations.
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I hope whoever had the idea of making that compass spin watches this video
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Hi Tom. The whole thing was a pain in the arse but was also great fun to do. Thank you for noticing the ‘craft’ involved in producing these sequences. I was the designer responsible from No.4 through to 21 years of Alright on the Night and it was always a challenge to produce a new title for each of the shows. I am grateful to Denis Norden and the producer Paul Lewis who supported me even if they didn’t notice the compass!
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I love how this video made me nostalgic for something I never knew existed.
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I grew up through the 90s and 00s, I loved the fact that every single person watched that same episode at the exact same time and then going to school the next day and everyone was talking about that particular episode.
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I have never seen a transition as clean as that 7 to the studio floor.
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More thoughts...When making these sequences I know, that at best, they will only be seen a couple of times, so it’s surprise to discover a young boy would remember them and make a film about one in particular.
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I was working in CG in 1996. That title sequence was the subject of coffee break conversations. The thing about VFX is that most of the time we were trying to go unnoticed. We even had a saying, "For 99% of the time, if you can see that we did something its because we did it wrong." It was, and mainly still is, all about selling the shot, making the audience not even think to question what they see. So being able to show-off a bit is a cool gig for an effects artist.
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I love how this guy clearly loves what he does, entertaining and educating people.
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"...right after the break" ad starts I like that. It's a little nostalgic.
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So the cameraman had to climb up the hill, backwards, filming Tom, deploy a drone, climb down the hill to be out of the shot, and fly the drone for that ending. I feel like thats exactly what Tom was talking about in this video
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Not a title sequence but James Burke walking along and then pointing to a rocket just as it launched (Connections) was brilliant timing.
