Cheerful Scout uses 844/X for first UK title sequence

The first ever UK title sequence created using 844/X from Media 100 has just been produced by Cheerful Scout, for a 15-part series entitled 'Sex in the High Street'.
The first facility to sign up for 844/X in the UK earlier this year, Cheerful Scout are now able to achieve more within a given time-scale, thanks to the real-time benefits of this award winning system for lightning-fast compositing of unlimited layers.
Sex in the High Street has been commissioned by BBC/Flextech – UK Horizons and is scheduled to run as a 15-part series over three weeks, the first part scheduled for transmission on December 2 2002. Directed by Max Barber, 'Sex in the High Street' is produced by Flame Television Production.
Cheerful Scout’s brief for the title sequence and in-programme graphics was to reflect the spirit of the series, which presents a profile of the high street sex industry in a fun and frank way. Over the past decade, the sex industry has moved into mainstream markets. Nowadays people do their shopping on the high street and think nothing of popping into a store to purchase a dildo, kinky underwear or sex toy. Sex shops are almost like supermarkets now and this series presents a window into this world.
In order to conjure up the essence of the entire series within the 16 second timeframe, Cheerful Scout’s Yan Masterson assembled a series of naughty, titillating images. These flash by on screen so quickly that you’ll want to see the sequence again just to check that you really did see what you thought you saw! These clips are enclosed in uneven black frames and superimposed onto a series of gritty, coloured screens which Masterson describes as ‘fluffy grunge.’ These backdrops are multi-layered and characterised by stripes, scratches and fingerprints, all of which are designed to conjure up the idea of "a much-handled sex product."
The sequence climaxes with the title itself, which makes use of the male and female gender symbols and which jerks as it appears on screen.
Prior to 844/X, creating such a sequence would have involved overnight renders in After Effects, but now, using the new system, everything is done in real-time. For Masterson this has proved highly liberating since there’s so much more scope to experiment creatively with noise, grain, colour and multi-layers within the given time-frame, as well the flexibility to adapt to new requirements with ease.
Series director Max Barber said: “Cheerful Scout and 844/X were ideal for this sequence, as we wanted it to be an assault on the senses and a bit saucy. Not only did Yan’s ideas perfectly conjure up the essence of the show, but 844/X gave him the creative freedom to chop and change and put as much into the sequence as possible – all within deadline - which is the beauty of the system.”
(GB)