'The Walking Dead (Season 3)' Title Sequence Analysis

This time I'm focusing on the title sequence of a TV series, as it is still valid to the post-apocalyptic genre and could influence my film opening.

Conventions

This title sequence follows the conventions of previous openings that I have looked at. There's a sense of desertion and isolation, again. There are no characters other than a silhouette and a creature's eye in the opening, just shots of abandoned buildings and places. This seems to be a common convention of the post-apocalyptic genre, as it's becoming a theme. The sequence relies fully of abandonment accompanied by the exciting music.

Another convention is the general dark atmosphere, with the lighting helping that along. There's a sense of death and darkness from purely the lighting used, something many other common post-apocalyptic pieces of media include. The desertion along with the dark, dead atmosphere show audiences that this is of the post-apocalyptic genre from the very beginning of each episode. The darkness could also be of the horror convention, as that is another genre of the show.

Titles

The titles themselves are rather generic and just placed within each shot, the surnames of the cast and crew in bold. We generally get one title per shot. The title, 'The Walking Dead' is placed at the end in capitals in the middle of the screen to show that this is the title of the series. It has a post-apocalyptic tone to it with the use of dark green in the background and the title being scratched at. The general feel to the titles have both a horror and post-apocalyptic sense to them, appearing dark, broken and dead.

Shots

This sequence uses many shots, most of which emphasizing on the sense of desertion and dark atmosphere. A lot of the shots are on fast forward, seemingly again showing the lack of activity in each shot. The fast paced shots fit well with the music placed and add to the excitement created altogether. Generally, the shots are very similar, if not the same, in that they all focus on an abandoned site or object. Some shots focus on individual items, whereas others focus on a place or setting. The individual objects are probably important within the show, hence the use in the sequence.

Editing

Editing is very well done in this title sequence. Each shot fades into the next, some of which creating a parallel with the last shot. Each shot has a good transition into the next and is fast paced fitting with the music used. It all fits together well to create an exciting sequence through the use of the many different shots and the fast music. The editing comes together smoothly with the many different shots and the use of non-diegetic sound.

Sound

Again, this sequence relies completely on non-diegetic sound, not diegetic sound. This is normal for title sequences, though. The music used is suitable for the content and shots used. It's fast paced and exciting. It also has a sense of mysteriousness to it. It's used to show the general excitement of the stories; to set the tone of the series. The theme does feel more towards the drama side of the series, as themes like this will be hard to find in a purely post-apocalyptic opening.

Narrative

We gain little narrative from this sequence. All we know is that, where the shots are taken, civilisation is gone. We get a quick shot of a creature's eye, making the audience wonder what that is and what it has to do with the series. Unlike most post-apocalyptic title sequences, the developers do not use the sequence to tell the story of the apocalypse. This is probably due to the fact that this is a TV series, and so telling the story of the apocalypse at the beginning of every episode could become tiresome for viewers.