Showtime Series: Opening Credits

I am a huge fan of many of the series that Showtime currently has on air (and many that are sadly no longer on.) Just a few weeks ago, I became hooked on Shameless--yet another compelling series to add to the list of Showtime programming that I absolutely adore.

One of the things that really engage me about Shameless (aside from the fantastic acting and always compelling writing), is their opening credits. As I began to think more about it, I realized that many of the series that Showtime has, have very interesting opening credits and reveal a lot about what the show is about to the audience. Nowadays, shows tend to have much shorter opening credits—if any at all. Think about the quick opening of Modern Family and Community. Their openings are approximately thirty seconds long or shorter. It seems that nowadays, shows are choosing to cut down time by having shorter credits, but Showtime (and HBO) have maintained longer opening credits that are visually interesting, and revealing about the series.

Let’s take a look at Dexter. It is a show about a serial killer who works for the Miami Metro Police Department. The opening credits to the show, doesn’t show one image of him killing anyone. But the images are so powerful because they are extremely close up and even though it is an orange being juiced, and laces being tied, they convey a deeper meaning. The song being played conveys precision, as well as mystery. The shots are gruesome and make you cringe and when in combination with the music—it makes the perfect opening to the show.



Shameless on the other hand is pretty explicit with their opening sequence. The song playing in the background immediately expresses chaos and distraction. The show is about a poor and dysfunctional family trying to survive on Chicago’s southside in spite of their drunk father. The opening sequence features every main character and shows a bit of their personality—and it all takes place in a bathroom, a very private place. Unfortunately for the Gallagher family, there is no privacy, so the opening credits fit exactly.

Click here to view the video: Shameless Opening

The other show that I watch on Showtime is The Big C (view my previous blogpost.) It is about a woman, Cathy, dealing with cancer. Their opening credits are very representative of Cathy’s state. In the credits, she is inside a pool, looking out on the world as they stare at her every move. It is apparent that Cathy wants to feel free but instead feels trapped. The song playing is about life, which of course is very fitting since the entire theme of the show is about the struggles that come with life.



Opening credits aren't something that I often think about, but they appear to be a powerful tool in engaging an audience. It is after all, the first thing that a person sees before the show begins, so it must speak for the series.

Extracurricular Projects

A lot of people may stop after they finish schoolwork or required materials but I often find myself wanting to create and do more. Sometimes class work can get tiresome and boring so finding something you actually enjoy creating and doing is very important. Recently I have created a few different side projects not associated with school that I have been really proud of and would like to share.

My first project I created last week after watching a few parody videos online. After the announced hiatus of a great sitcom called Community there has been an outpouring of fan made videos showcasing how special this show really is. My friend and I stumbled on a video where a user created the opening credits for Community yet in the style of another great show called Parks and Recreation. We then realized that it would be interesting to see Community’s credits in the style of Arrested Development, a show that like Community had cult fans and network scheduling problems in its third and final season.

A few minutes after this discussion I went right to work seeing if this was doable. After playing around in Photoshop about if I could do it, all of the sudden it was all I could think about. For the next two days every free minute I had I would work on this credit sequence. I first created all the images in Photoshop by using pictures of the cast from online. Then I put them all into Final Cut and animated the slides to move and change at the exact same time the original credits changed. Next came adding the videos included on the slides. Finally I had to figure out how to make moving arrows, circles, and the hanging pictures. I then just sat down and tried different things and used trial and error to problem solve these things for myself. Two days later I was done and posted it online. In 48 hours I nearly had 2000 views and now as I write it has over 4000. I am very proud of the outcome and how I may finding people I don’t even know post it themselves on sites like Twitter and Tumblr! To view my video click here and to see the original I based it on click here.

Another side project I have been involved in is called Dual Redundancy. Dual Redundancy is an entertainment and television podcast my friend Mike and I created and host every week. On the show we have different segments where we discuss the week in entertainment. These include “In and Out Points” where we jump in and out of the week’s big headlines and “The Flashback” where we highlight a great new episode of a show from the last week. We also give movie reviews and have done a variety of theme episodes. These have included an Emmy prediction episode and another where we revealed the list of the top ten TV characters from the last ten years. For the latter podcast we created a survey and asked our listeners for their votes. We received over 100 votes before we closed voting! We are still going strong and have created ten episodes so far.

If interested in learning more about Dual Redundancy you can find us all over the Internet. We have a Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube page where you can find out about the latest episodes, contribute content for the show, and even participate in contests. Most importantly you can subscribe and listen to our show on iTunes or download it to your MP3 player.

Dexter: A Good Way to KILL Some Time

I love television but there is one show for me that sticks out above all the rest and that is Dexter. Dexter is a show on Showtime about Dexter Morgan, a blood splatter analyst for the Miami Metro police department. The first season was based on the book Darkly Dreaming Dexter by Jeff Lindsay. Dexter is your average guy except for one small difference; he kills people. One of the reasons I like this show besides from the suspense it creates is how it makes the viewer feel for Dexter. Even though he kills people, he only kills bad guys and other killers. So in a way he is an anti-hero and the viewer almost roots for him to escape so he can rid the world of evil. It brings up a good question. Is Dexter a good person doing bad things or a bad person doing good things?

Besides from great storytelling and acting, done especially well by Emmy nominated actor Michael C. Hall who plays Dexter, the production team makes some interesting and great aesthetic choices. First off the color of red is everywhere. Dexter will drink red wine and eat red meat. Streetlights behind Dexter’s head will often be red. Red, obviously, is supposed to signify blood, which Dexter sees a lot of. Another example is what they do to show the different sides of Dexter. When Dexter is the good, average Miami citizen upbeat Latin music plays against the sunny Miami city. The colors are bright and the world just seems happy. However when Dexter is acting as his “dark passenger” the lighting becomes chiaroscuro. There is a sharp contrast between light and dark (which is a metaphor for the sharp contrast between his two sides). Soft and creepy music also plays as Dexter slowly lurks in the dark.

Harry Morgan, a cop and Dexter’s dead adoptive father, will interfere with Dexter’s life and remind him about the code they set up so he will not get caught. Whenever Dexter sees him the scene gets a little blurry and the lighting becomes brighter, especially around Harry. This could be interpreted like Harry is Dexter’s guardian angel, a mystical figure coming back to help Dexter when he needs it the most.

One of the greatest aesthetic pieces of Dexter is seen every week in the opening credits, which is Dexter’s morning routine. There are many close ups and extreme close ups that show Dexter getting ready for the day. All of these show his precision and his eye for details. It is also edited in a unique way. First it is edited into “choppy” segments (pun intended) and like a horror movie the killer is not revealed until the end (Dexter is finally visible in the last few seconds of the video). These shots, especially in extreme close ups, also look very scary and brutal. For example when he tightens the lace on his shoe or cuts into a piece of meat, it looks like he is strangling someone or cutting into a body. It’s practically his killing cycle! The audience will definitely know what they are getting themselves into as they watch these credits! Finally despite all of these scary images his morning routine is very similar to ours and is supposed to show no matter how crazy or demented Dexter is, he is still human. He shaves, flosses his teeth, and locks the door to his house as he leaves just as we all do every morning. In a way he is just like all of us (except he finds very different ways to use his free time).

For more information on Dexter, check out it's Showtime website. The new (sixth) season premiere is October 2nd!