60: Watership Down (1978)
Section 2: Opening Titles
Scripted, narrated by Newell Fisher, with script assistance by John Ruths.
This section covers from 3:40 to 5:40
As the image of Frith melts away, it is replaced by a hazy rising Sun. There is movement from out of focus grass in the foreground and we zoom out to see more grass waving in the breeze, as well as a passing butterfly.
We get the first view of Watership Down on film: the single large tree standing on the high Down.
This is the vision of WD that was emulated in the TV series in the 90’s, even though, both in the book and in reality, the site actually lies at the north end of a long narrow “beech-hanger”.
The camera lingers on the lone tree for a few seconds as a beautiful clarinet based theme plays.
And now we are taken on a journey as the credits begin.
The words “Nepenthe Productions Limited Presents” appear.
The shot zooms out and right to include the Iron Tree, or pylon,at the foot of the Down.
And then it dissolves and moves left and zooms out into a more distant view of the Down, as a flock of birds flies across.
This is the view from the Warren of the Snares that we will see again after Bigwig survives.
And now we dissolve to a zoom out of the approach to the Warren of the Snares, though in better weather than in the narrative, as the credits appear for Angela Morley, who saved the musical score, and Marcus Dodds, the musical director.
Malcolm Williamson, who Morley had to take over from, is relegated to a credit for incidental music.
The shot dissolves to a right pan across fields as the words ‘ “Bright Eyes composed by Mike Batt’ appear, followed quickly by ‘Sung by Art Garfunkel’.
The camera zooms out and pans left to a graveyard and church tower. This is probably meant to be the churchyard at Newtown.
We now dissolve to a zoom out of a hazy sky, as our view of their eventual destination becomes the mystery it is at first in the story.
The Editor Terry Rawlings is credited at this point.
And now there is another dissolve to a pan left as animation supervisor Philip Duncan is credited. Then the camera pulls back and pans right as we see a glint of sunlight from the window of a passing hrududu.
Now we are entering woods. The shot dissolves to the River Enborne and animation director Tony Guy is credited.
We can now hear a conversation that is taking place at the Sandleford Warren
At first the words are indistinct. Then, as we dissolve to a shot panning right at Sandleford Warren itself, we hear the words.
“...down along the edge of that wood, there. Enjoyed many a Game Pie from it, too”
A Game Pie is one made from hunted wildlife.
So the very first words spoken in the film, other than by Frith as narrator, are by a human referring to killing wildlife.
We can also hear the sound of nails being hammered. These humans are up to something.
The reference to enjoying hunting in the woods is replied to by the other human saying “Ah well. You can’t hold back progress. Shame though”
The final credit comes up:
“Written for the screen, Produced and Directed by Martin Rosen”
The humans talking are giving us, as fellow humans, sufficient hints to realise that the wood being referred to may not be around for much longer.
As the camera pans right to a shot of a setting sun, which I have used as the image for this episode, we hear:
“Good Lord, it’s gone 8 and I told ‘Lizabeth we’d go into Newbury this evening.”
The man continues:
“Old Sun sets so late in Summer, it’s morning before evening...” and then his words become indistinct as we hear car doors slam and a hrududu driving away.
As we hear his closing words, we cut to a rabbit’s eye, open and attentive.
It blinks as the camera zooms out. Then it sniffs the air quietly.
So far we are still in our, human, world. And this wild rabbit is just a dumb animal.
But the camera is zooming out. And all that is about to change...
