Creative Credits

Forget the actors. Forget the crew. Forget the script, the costumes, and the sets. One of the most integral pieces of a television series is, believe it or not, the opening credits. It is the job of these sequences, not only to grab viewers attention, but also to set the mood of the show. Some popular shows (Lost and Grey's Anatomy come to mind) have forgone the trend altogether, opting instead to simply display the series' title in white font over a black background.   Most, however, follow the traditional trend of playing a catchy song, whilst clips of the principal cast members appear alongside their names.

In recent years, however, many series have begun to push the limits of what an opening sequence can achieve.  Often lengthy, these new credits sequences suggest an artfulness that is refreshing and unique.  One such credits sequence can be seen on HBO's True Blood.  The drama's opening credits - set to Jace Everett's Bad Things, juxtapose images of race, religion, blood, alcohol, and decay against a deep southern backdrop.  The sequence was developed and shot by Digital Kitchen (whose work is also seen in Six Feet Under and Dexter).

In an interview with Creative League News, Digital Kitchen had this to say about their inspiration for the project: "One of the biggest ideas we latched onto was “the whore in the house of prayer”. This delicate balance of the sacred and profane co-existing creates powerful imagery. Editorially we collided the seething behind-the-curtains sexuality of the south into the fist pounding spirituality of Pentecostal healings to viscerally expose the conflicts we saw in the narrative of the show."  It is clear that there was far more thought and creativity going on behind the scenes here than, say, a flashy segment supplemented by a song that everybody has already heard a million times and has absolutely nothing to do with the show itself (here's looking at you CSI: Miami).  Dark, gritty, and more than a little unsettling, True Blood's titles completely capture the essence of the series.  They are anything, but flashy.

To watch the True Blood opening credits on youtube.com click here.

Above image: Anna Paquin and Stephen Moyer in a scene from True Blood;
Credit: Flickr Creative Commons.  Click here for source.