Supernatural Opening

Something that is unique about the show Supernatural, is that every season they change the graphics of their opening theme and they match it to the running plot of that season. The show is about two brothers who dedicated their lives to hunting down demons and monsters, and the atmosphere of the show is captured in just a few seconds of their opener. I'm sure very similar aspects of these can be achieved using after effects, but some of them are things we have talked about or gone over. Season 3 is set over fog and clouds, which we have done very basics forms of with the smoke. Another one that involved particles could be season 7 where the name of the show emerges from black material that dissipates into smaller pieces. Similar to season 5, where there is a red liquid that looks like many of the examples from Video Copilots riot gear expansion. It is also really similar to the end credits of Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince.

We're definitely seeing a lot more opening credits that rely heavily on motion graphics rather then rolling text over live action. Especially the opening for Chuck, shown below.

This is a really interesting article on fanboy.com that chronicles animated opening sequences in television from the 50's through the 70's (it also mentions how Saul Bass played a large part in this television revolution that brought animation to the audiences at home). It says that in the late 1970's, credits began to switch back to live action or just straight animation.

An article in smashing magazine showcases many of the impressive animated credits that have been playing in the last couple of years. Everything from the minimalist title of Lost, to the pop-up book in United States of Tara. While live action seems to work better with comedy, dramas are better paired with animation because it can create a certain mood for the audience and prepare them better for the show without getting distracted.

The Making of the True Blood Main Title Sequence

Although for our final projects we are working on remaking film opens, one of my favorite television openings is True Blood.



Even though the show True Blood is about the supernatural such as vampires and werewolves, the opening does not blatantly give away that this is the premise of the show. Instead producer Alan Ball helped to create an opening that is suggestive of the darkness that exists in the fictional Louisiana town of Bon Temps.

On the website Art of the Title it is clear that Alan Ball's intent in this opening was to show what it is to be reborn. At the end of the opening there is a woman being baptized.

How this opening is created is further demonstrated in a video on vimeo which shows the original footage uncut which is used in the opening. The look of the footage is completely raw and shot using a bolex. Although the graphics are not completely manipulated using a software post-production, it is clear that these images were completely manipulated after they were shot.

This is the video from vimeo:

Ideas for the first project

So I'm stuck between a bunch of ideas for my first project! My top three ideas (which seem wayyy too complicated) are:

Option One:
The opening title scene of Chuck but I found something really cool on youtube that someone did using supernatural within Chuck's title sequence!

Original:


Supernatural Version:


Option Two:
Community:


Option Three:
Skins:
Skins (British version of course)(can't be embedded)

This is Harry Potter version someone did of the opening!


Then simpler ideas (but really short openings) I was thinking about were Lost or Gossip Girl!