2. Camera
• The sequence starts with a close up shot of a
girl which captures her confused facial
expression, intriguing the audience.
• The camera remains at eye level throughout
the sequence and it is only the editing of the
vortex which makes the audience feel like they
are travelling quickly through space, following
the Tardis.
• The camera moves clockwise as it zooms in on
the Tardis, making it the focus point in the
sequence.
3. Mise-en-scene
• The Tardis is the main prop used in the
sequence as it is very important to the
series. Spinning and flying through
space adds to the sci fi effect and
creates mystery for the audience
because they don't understand what it
is for until they watch the series.
• The low-key lighting adds a mysterious
suspenseful tone and dramatic effect to
the sequence. The audience are unsure
as to what is happening.
4. Sound
• The theme’s four count bass line, swooshing
noise and eerie melody were produced by
manipulating analog tape. The technicians at
the Radiophonic Workshop used white noise,
plucked strings from a piano, played with
oscillators, wooden blocks and clanging metal
to create the notes and sounds heard in the
background. The tapes were spliced together,
speed up, slowed down to create the eerie
futuristic music. Once the individual pieces
were arranged, the team created the tracks
on three separate tapes and combined them,
hitting play on all three tracks at once.
5. Editing
• The editing used to create the different
colours in the vortex are used to establish
what period of time the Tardis is travelling
to for example, viewers discover in the
series that when the vortex is blue the
Tardis is travelling to the past and when the
vortex is red, they are travelling into the
future. The visual representation of where
the characters are travelling to helps the
audience keep track with the plot.
• The names of the cast spinning into the
shot and then zooming towards the camera
gives the illusion that they are also
travelling through the time vortex with the
Tardis. The simple sans-serif, metalic
font adds to the science fiction effect the
producers wanted to create.
