This opening title sequence for BAFTA-winning Things You Should Have Done Series 2 was developed in close collaboration with the series’ director and producer, evolving through multiple iterations to capture the show’s unique off-kilter comedic tone.
The key themes for this series were: death, grief, and love. These weighty ideas were treated with witty references, taking care to find the strange land between glib slapstick and morbid darkness.
Paper features heavily throughout in reference to the to-do-list our main character’s world is dominated by.
References are also made throughout to specific moments, rewarding attentive viewers and deepening the connection between the titles and story. A mix of retro footage, stop-motion, compositing, and motion graphics forms the backbone of the sequence, resulting in a textured, eclectic visual style that reflects the show’s chaotic and shambolic nature.
The result is a piece of comedic punctuation that captures us mid-chaos, and literally rips through the scenery to take us on the journey of what will occupy our main character’s fudge of a mind throughout this series. Finally, we are set up with this week’s Thing she should have done, leaving us to wonder how badly this will go.
The BBC liked the sequence so much that they put it forward for a BAFTA Craft award. Imagine what I could do with a giant international co-production budget.
Here’s some ideas that were left on the cutting room floor:
