Titles Tap Into Deep Themes
Opening credits not only stand out, but also convey
“Lisey’s Story” director Pablo Larrain needed a sequence that was about Lisey’s (Julianne Moore) emotions. It was Larrain who suggested puppetry to express her inner life.
“Marionette strings, deliberately made visible, suggest the ways Lisey is tethered to her late husband, a famous writer,” says Emmy-nominated creative director Karin Fong.
Fong, also nominated for Netflix’s “Cowboy Bebop,” used the main title song, “Tank” by Yoko Kanno, as their backbone. Merging live-action and animation with fan-favorite imagery, Fong says, “We used Japanese typography. Our approach was always about how to echo the original titles while giving a twist on the retro-graphic, film-noir language that is the hallmark of the show.”
With Hulu’s “Candy,” Emmynommed Ronnie Koff used metaphor, humor and symbolism in the show’s title sequence, employing animation to tell the story of Candy Montgomery’s collapsing world. “We tried to convey the monotony and the social normative ‘rules’ of her life,” says Koff. “Our title represents the collapse of that structure and her world falling apart around her.”
Koff, also nominated for “Foundation,” wanted to create a vibrant interpretation of the “living mural” as depicted in the show. He says, “We build a pop propaganda piece that would signal the march of the Empire, using vibrant colors and the sacred math that predicts the Empire’s downfall.”
Lisa Bolan’s Emmy-nommed work on “Only Murders in the Building” is a love letter to Manhattan, illustrated through animation as composer Siddhartha Khosla’s earworm plays.
With “Severance,” the title design takes us through Mark’s (Adam Scott’s) workday, straddling his job and his personal life using CGI versions of him. Coupled with bodies tumbling out of coffee cups and other imagery, it creates an uneasy tone.
The ancestral journey was key for Apple TV+’S “Pachinko.” After opening with archival footage, the middle of the credits shift into a dance sequence featuring the main actors of the series in a pachinko parlor. “The last set of photos — real life ones of the cast and their families — were chosen because it felt thematically appropriate for the story of the show itself,” says creator Soo Hugh. “It explores the story of family and the universality of what family means to all of us.”