After many years of binge watching many TV shows and seeing the opening credits too many times to count, analysing the very distinct aesthetic and purpose of the openings to various television series seems like a useful task in identifying both the importance of shots, selection and credits within a show (to set the tone and general plot for the entire show), and how I can utilise these techniques within my own creations in the future. The first of this series of analyses is the opening sequence of True Blood*.
True Blood follows the story of Southerner woman Sookie Stackhouse (an adaptation from the Sookie Stackhouse novels) as she finds her world opening up to the supernatural as vampires reveal their existence to humans. She soon realises that they aren’t the only supernatural beings out there, and becomes embroiled in a world of ancient politics and danger as she falls in love with the town vampire, Bill Compton. The opening sequence has been likened to the film Searching for the Wrong-Eyed Jesus, a Southern surrealist film, and definitely does draw inspiration from surrealism in lots of ways.
The music, ‘Bad Things’ by Jace Everett is a country tune that begins slow, with a deep tone and ominous lyrics, before speeding up to climax at the end of the sequence. It establishes the setting before any visuals are even considered, with both the country chords and timbre to his voice, and the almost church-style keyboard resonating in the background of the song. The sequence itself is perfectly synched with the music, with one of the more notable examples of well matched music to visuals in the shot of the woman in lingerie on the bed leaning down as a distorted chord peters off in the song.
More generally, the shots in the sequence all relate five main themes that play out within the show itself; death, race, violence, sex and religion, and how these intertwine. The recurring near subliminal shots of contorted bodies could be construed as pleasure or pain, a woman grinds against a man on the dance floor but yet the shot is tinted a blood red, hinting at a much darker undertone, and a priest grabs a hysterical church-goer’s throat. There is the progression of decay in the time-lapse of a rotting fox corpse, juxtaposed against what almost seems like rabid procreation (only seeming moreso wild and reckless due to the increased tempo of the music). Shots of ‘found footage’ racial protests and KKK members including a small child are included also. These themes are not only explored within the show, but within the wider setting of Louisiana, a place in America that is home to near fanatic religious followers, a deep rooted history of racism and a culture and set of attitudes that seem to ground it very deeply in the past and tradition on the surface, but yet give way to very dark, sexual tones underneath. The southern culture is unique, unlike the mainstream Western culture that other American, Australian or even English viewers would be more accustomed to. The inclusion of the bayous, crocodile skulls, ‘mud dog’ and various tropes of ‘redneck citizens’ (the man in the rocking chair most namely) also establishes setting. Interestingly enough, despite the fact that the show revolves around vampires and the supernatural, there is no inclusion of images of fangs, or long black capes. The only shots that suggest anything mildly close to the inclusion of vampires in the show itself is the sign (which harks back to similar church signs in the south at the time – and even now – against homosexuals) ‘God Hates Fangs’ being driven past, tinges of red over shots, and the recurring flashes of blood spatter throughout. Overall though, the sequence does have the characteristic ‘gothic’ tone that would be associated with vampires, but it has been transformed through the use of southern motifs and culture to create something entirely new.
It’s interesting to note that the sequence does have an ‘arc’ to it as well, as though it is its own story seperate from the show. What begins in the morning, showing light scenes of places and people, devolves into the darkness and becomes more animalistic, dangerous and instinctual, which hints at the nature of both vampire and human under the surface. The music reaches a fever pitch, as do the shots which become almost spliced together in quick succession editing that creates a sensory overload, before reaching midnight and settling on the show title, which appears to be a microscopic view under someone’s skin, before cutting to a midnight baptism in the lake which serves as the catharsis at the end, cleansing the woman in the lake and the audience as they prepare for the episode.
The creators of the sequence, designer kitchen, used super 8s and other old cameras to shoot most of the sequence. Save for the shots of the fox and the snake, the rest of the ‘found footage’ is actually original, but edited to look like old clips found in a camera abandoned in the swamp or in the archives. It’s a technique I’d be interested to try, as the effect makes it seem more authentic and more eclectic which I really like for an opening sequence. It sets the tone and the setting, however does not include the characters visually, rather just the actors name’s and crew names. The creators also noted that they removed some frames from footage such as the people in the church singing, to create a more jerky, unnatural feel. Overall, thats what this sequence feels; unnatural and unnerving, much like the existence of the vampires. It’s one of my favourite opening sequences that I feel communicates to the audience exactly what they’re in for while still maintaining an element of mystery and not relying on outdated, overused vampire tropes. This and Game of Thrones have my two favourite opening sequences and I hope you can all see why when you watch this.
*The use of copyrighted material is under fair dealing, Copyright Act 1968 section 41 for review and criticism.
