CREATIVE REVIEW: Great Art (ITV)

Client Seventh Art Productions

Titles Liquid TV

Brief To deliver a title sequence featuring some of the famous paintings explored thought the series.

How it was done This 5×60-minute ITV series explores the life and work of some of the world’s most celebrated artists, including Canaletto, Michelangelo, Rembrandt and Vermeer. It is curator by broadcaster Tim Marlow, the artistic director of the Royal Academy of Arts and has been adapted from a series of full-length feature films originally released in cinemas under the banner Exhibition On Screen. The opening title sequence of the production, created by Liquid TV, ”takes the viewer deeper into the art, travelling through layers of extreme close-up brush marks and painterly textures – the DNA of each painting,” says the company. ‘Parallax’ techniques, created in After Effects, separate the brush strokes into multiple layers, creating a sense of depth. The title of the production is painted on ”as if a master’s signature,” says Liquid TV (see below), to complete the sequence. The titles were designed by Tim Varlow and animated by Shyam Vyda. The creative director was Asra AliKhan. The series was executive produced by Phil Grabsky at Seventh Art Productions, and commissioned by Jo Clinton-Davis, controller of factual and Sue Murphy, head of factual entertainment at ITV.

Watch it ITV, Thursday 4 January, 10:45 pm