True Detective Title Sequence
When a person is trying to find a television show to watch the title sequence plays a critical role in determining whether or not it will be interesting to the viewer. It is the introduction of the show to the audience and gives them an idea of what they can expect the plot of the show to be. The imagery in the title sequence for the television show True Detective craftily uses double exposure technique to foreshadow the many interwoven themes. It also gives the view a general idea of where the story takes place using images and music. This sequence explores the ties of wealth and church, sexuality and innocence, light and dark, internality and externality, and death and ritual. Duplicity is a theme that is made very apparent throughout this title sequence. It has both literal and figurative meanings. Literally in the way that the images are double exposures, meaning that two imagines are combine to create one overall image. Figuratively because the two separate images together take on a different meaning when combined. Every frame in this title sequence from start to finish is created using double exposures. Based on opening introduction to the show True Detective it is apparent that the location setting is the rural south. There are many images of abandoned industrial buildings most of them appearing to
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be oil refineries. This is an indication that the story takes place in the south. Culturally speaking the south is known for being socially conservative. The repeated references to religion again support the location being in the south. The music that plays during the introduction is yet another sign that suggests the location is in the south. It has a Johnny Cash country twang sound and feel to it. One line of the song states, “Hidden in the branches of the poison creosote” which could be significant because a creosote bush is known to grow in the southern part of the United States.
The idea of the church being influenced by money is not a new concept. In this title sequence wealth is depicted through industrial buildings which are oil refiners. One particular example of this is an image of an upside down oil storage tank as the main exposure with the second exposure being three individuals who are worshiping God. The three people were placed inside the storage tank which signifies that the church must stay within limitations or rules set by the wealthy. Depicting the oil storage tank upside down highlights the unnatural relationship between money and the church. Another such instance this can be seen is where a valve wheel or machine part is overlaid on a church. The church again is only seen within the confines of the mechanical part.
Sexuality in today’s society is prominent and is portrayed in all types of forms. This title sequence is no different as it shows numerous bare skinned or scantily dressed females. A juxtaposition of innocence and sex can be seen in the frame that has the naked back and buttocks of a woman with a playground overlaid on her lower back. In another frame a young provocative looking woman is wearing an American flag bathing suit. The American flag symbolizes a certain type of wholesomeness and it was paired with a sexually charged girl.
Good and evil have often compared to notion of light and dark.
Fire is seen throughout the sequence from oil refineries to simply being in the background. The meaning of the fire is differs from frame to frame; it can either represent or illuminate the dark. A frame that shows a man bowing his head with light of the sky above and fire raging below could either signify a man rising from the ashes towards the light or sinking into the darkness below. In an opposing view, a separate frame shows a man’s face where left side is fire while leaving the right side almost black. In this image the fire is not meant as something dark, but as the thing that brings
light.
The concept of internalization or living inside one’s head is a reoccurring theme. This can be seen in a silhouette of man with an overlaid picture of skyline containing dark clouds. The clouds are positioned in the man’s brain. The figure represents the killer as his thoughts are seemingly dark and a storm is brewing. Another silhouette of a man is composed of two separate halves. One side is of a man and the other is a landscape turned vertically. There are literally two sides of a man being internalized in one body. In a subsequent frame there is a light silhouette of a man’s head and shoulders with a second dark full size man inside the head.
Death is a natural part of life, but it becomes unnatural when the death is caused by murder. The theme of death with ritualistic components is portrayed in multiple parts of the sequence. In two different frames a lifeless body, one of a naked girl and another of a shadow figure, can be seen with deer antlers attached to the head. These people have been murdered and the killer placed staged the bodies in the same ritualistic way.
If a person carefully analyzing a title sequence he will be able to deduce the major themes and plot of the show before actually watching it. This makes the information and images that are put into a title sequence important. It is typically the first thing the views see and an introduction to the show. The title sequence of True Detective pulls the viewers by intriguing them with its unique double exposure imagine, themes and song choice. The introduction demonstrates the ties of wealth and church, sexuality and innocence, light and dark, internality and externality, and death and ritual.
be oil refineries. This is an indication that the story takes place in the south. Culturally speaking the south is known for being socially conservative. The repeated references to religion again support the location being in the south. The music that plays during the introduction is yet another sign that suggests the location is in the south. It has a Johnny Cash country twang sound and feel to it. One line of the song states, “Hidden in the branches of the poison creosote” which could be significant because a creosote bush is known to grow in the southern part of the United States.
The idea of the church being influenced by money is not a new concept. In this title sequence wealth is depicted through industrial buildings which are oil refiners. One particular example of this is an image of an upside down oil storage tank as the main exposure with the second exposure being three individuals who are worshiping God. The three people were placed inside the storage tank which signifies that the church must stay within limitations or rules set by the wealthy. Depicting the oil storage tank upside down highlights the unnatural relationship between money and the church. Another such instance this can be seen is where a valve wheel or machine part is overlaid on a church. The church again is only seen within the confines of the mechanical part.
Sexuality in today’s society is prominent and is portrayed in all types of forms. This title sequence is no different as it shows numerous bare skinned or scantily dressed females. A juxtaposition of innocence and sex can be seen in the frame that has the naked back and buttocks of a woman with a playground overlaid on her lower back. In another frame a young provocative looking woman is wearing an American flag bathing suit. The American flag symbolizes a certain type of wholesomeness and it was paired with a sexually charged girl.
Good and evil have often compared to notion of light and dark.
Fire is seen throughout the sequence from oil refineries to simply being in the background. The meaning of the fire is differs from frame to frame; it can either represent or illuminate the dark. A frame that shows a man bowing his head with light of the sky above and fire raging below could either signify a man rising from the ashes towards the light or sinking into the darkness below. In an opposing view, a separate frame shows a man’s face where left side is fire while leaving the right side almost black. In this image the fire is not meant as something dark, but as the thing that brings
light.
The concept of internalization or living inside one’s head is a reoccurring theme. This can be seen in a silhouette of man with an overlaid picture of skyline containing dark clouds. The clouds are positioned in the man’s brain. The figure represents the killer as his thoughts are seemingly dark and a storm is brewing. Another silhouette of a man is composed of two separate halves. One side is of a man and the other is a landscape turned vertically. There are literally two sides of a man being internalized in one body. In a subsequent frame there is a light silhouette of a man’s head and shoulders with a second dark full size man inside the head.
Death is a natural part of life, but it becomes unnatural when the death is caused by murder. The theme of death with ritualistic components is portrayed in multiple parts of the sequence. In two different frames a lifeless body, one of a naked girl and another of a shadow figure, can be seen with deer antlers attached to the head. These people have been murdered and the killer placed staged the bodies in the same ritualistic way.
If a person carefully analyzing a title sequence he will be able to deduce the major themes and plot of the show before actually watching it. This makes the information and images that are put into a title sequence important. It is typically the first thing the views see and an introduction to the show. The title sequence of True Detective pulls the viewers by intriguing them with its unique double exposure imagine, themes and song choice. The introduction demonstrates the ties of wealth and church, sexuality and innocence, light and dark, internality and externality, and death and ritual.