Orange Is The New Black Opening Credits

Recently, I’ve used my free time to re-watch one of my favorite new television series, Orange Is The New Black. I’ve always enjoyed its hilarious use of situational comedy to portray an environment that is usually avoided in sitcoms, the woman’s section of prison. The show, created by Jenji Kohan, as well as the same individuals who created Weeds, has done a beautiful job of capturing all different types of emotional moments. The show was filmed with more creativity and technique than anyone expected from a new series that can only be found on Netflix. Upon doing more research about the cinematography that was used during this show, I discovered some amazing information about the opening credits.

Overall, I find that the opening credits are one of the most emotional parts of this show. The opening credits go along to the sing "You've Got Time" by Regina Spektor. The song is fast-paced and the lyrics are very meaningful and symbolic to the content of the show. In an interview with Rolling Stones, Spektor says, "It's such a great show and such a cool look". This isn't the first time Spektor has worked with Kohan to create a song that perfectly described the plot of the show. In the past, Spektor had worked with Kohan to create the well-known song for the opening credits of Weeds, "Little Boxes". In the interview, Spektor stated that when she first brought the music to Kohan she was nervous that she wouldn't like it. She goes on to say, "She was listening on headphones and then she just turned to me: "This kicks ass! I love it! This is awesome! This is perfect." As the song plays, images of different parts of woman’s face flash among the screen, casually pausing to show images of a prison. The faces include a quick montage of woman smiling, laughing, frowning and glaring.

The most amazing part about this sequence is that the faces are not merely the faces of actresses, but actual woman who had been incarcerated.  Actress Natasha Lyonne who plays one of the main characters, Nickles, states in an online interview, “I think we got so used to seeing botax faces that this show is going to feel like such a relief”. I believe that this montage, which shows faces that display all different ranges of emotions and types of faces, can support her statement. Netflix went on to confirm the fact that the credits do not feature actresses but in fact, woman who had been incarcerated. I believe that by using incarcerated woman the show brings a refreshing, realistic outlook that is not typically seen on popular shows.

The montage is one that catches your attention because of its new approach. The title sequence is created by Thomas Cobb Group, the same people who created the sequence for the popular series, “Homeland”. Executive producer of TCG stated that the original meaning of the sequence was to simply present the credits at each character’s personal point of view.  However, Kohan intervened during the creating process in order to change the idea behind the credits entirely by personally talking to the woman. Bryman explained in the following, "Thomas directed each woman to visualize in their mind three emotive thoughts: Think of a peaceful place, think of a person who makes you laugh, and think of something that you want to forget. He apologized ahead of time for the last question but found it was incredibly effective in evoking a wide range of unfortunate memories".

I believe these questions evoked the correct amount of emotion and efficiently told a story without words. However, I also believe that the music had a lot to do with this emotion. My favorite lyrics from this song which I believe help to convey a message are, “remember all their faces, remember all their voices, everything is different the second time around and you’ve got time.”

Source: Huffpost TV
Source: Rolling Stone