Madison

For our Title Sequence assignment at Billy Blue College of Design, we were tasked with producing a title sequence for a fictional TV show. Madison is a thriller crime show about a talented artist with a dark side. She’s manipulative, controlling and highly intelligent. She’s extremely social and likes to befriend people, take them to her studio and murder them by stabbing them in the eye with a painting knife. She then, quite contently, proceeds to paint them. To cover up her evil obsession, she also works at an art gallery.

Originally, the title sequence was going to be a 2D animation, however, it made more sense to combine video clips with text to achieve the outcome.

Style Frames

Vimeo Screen Grabs

My Darling's Shadow

Title Sequence Analysis

Elementary

The rapid movement of the ball perfectly communicates the erratic and quirky nature of Sherlock Holmes. His over-the-top crime scene analyses always produce a result, no matter how unbelievable they may be to anyone else. The simplicity of this title means your eye is always on the ball in anticipation of what comes next. It feels like it’s taking you on a journey through Sherlock’s mind. The music starts off with an soft staccato rhythm and builds up to a dramatic finale of sculpture breaking and cage falling on top of another.

Dexter

Dexter’s title makes the process of making breakfast and getting ready for work feel abnormal and almost creepy. This is due to the fact that everything he does in the title relates to his life as a cold blooded killer: The blood drops, cutting the ham, tomato sauce spilling onto his plate. He only kills the bad guys (an “ethical” killer) and because of that he’s a supringly likeable character. The extreme close-up and macro camera shots and the slashing/cutting sound effects add to the creepiness of this title.

Banshee: Episode 2, Season 3

Banshee’s usual rhythmic and powerful title sequence was replaced with a completely different one in Episode 2 of Season 3. The usual title sequence changes out for every episode and tells a story of all the characters in that particular episode. It pays special attention to the two main characters who have a turbulent and complicated relationship. This title sequence focuses on the characters of the town mayor and his niece who is learning the business of drug production and trafficking. Its fluid, macro approach seems to be the most creative way to illustrate the process of producing pills. The soundtrack is slightly distorted from the original title sequence to highlight the hazy state one might be in when consuming drugs.

Storyboard

Final Video