Imaging the audio as visual
Client
BBC Four
Date
2022
Location
UK wide
Services Provided
Sector
Telling the composer's life story within the context of his own time and place. Working with both live action and animation we created a sense of visual style and identity, a full graphics package for this three part documentary series.
One of the key aspects of our brief was to devise a visual representation of the composers gradual hearing loss. Our aim was to show how Beethoven could possibly continue to create music when he simply couldn’t hear it.
We were also asked to provide a sense of personal experience to Beethovens story as it was told through his personal writings.
1
complete graphics package featuring art direction and production of a large percentage of in program content alongside title sequence cards and bumpers.
2
Innovative live action techniques used to visualise abstract concepts for a prime time audience. Animation style devised to provide context to Beethovens real life experiences.
3
Everything directed and produced in house.
Cymatics
Rather than take a purely graphic approach to this we felt that rooting the visuals in the real world would better represent sound as a physical force that can be felt and seen as well as heard.
These effects express sound as a physical force that Beethoven could actually feel as he was composing, a factor that fed directly into the dramatic and contrasting nature of his work, especially later in his career.
“
At every step of the way Graphical House were a joy to work with — bringing intelligence, creativity and a keen eye, whilst always delivering beautiful results.
Philip Cairney
Series Producer & Director
Silhouettes
We were also asked to deliver content that could support critical sections in the series where Beethoven himself is speaking (through the voice of actor Peter Capaldi) expressing deeply personal moments often through letters or writings.
We created these animated sequences inspired by traditional victorian silhouettes to bring these moments to life.
Rostrum
And finally we shot a wide variety of rostrum footage of archive material. Predominantly portraits of Beethoven himself.
We filmed large format transparencies on a light-box through various glass objects to express the sense of fracture and distortion that is such an important part of Beethovens story.
“
We approached Graphical House to create an identity for the Being Beethoven series, having worked with them successfully on other projects. Just as it had previously, the team’s approach led to outstanding results. Their art direction transformed the overall aesthetic and atmosphere of the series, giving it a coherent look that managed to be contemporary yet entirely in keeping with the subject matter. At every step of the way they were a joy to work with — bringing intelligence, creativity and a keen eye, whilst always delivering beautiful results.
Philip Cairney
Series Producer & Director
