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

Shock of 65th Emmy Awards

Award Season has finally kicked off! The Emmy Awards were this weekend and they were quite different from years before. Check it out.

Neil Patrick Harris was the host this year so expectations were high, not only because he has quite the experience with hosting big award shows like the Tonys, but also because he is the main character of the funny sit-com How I Met Your Mother.  However, perhaps my expectations were too high.  The grand entrance of an original musical number, specially choreographed to the Emmys for our excitement and to keep us wanting to watch more was none other than disappointing.  Mostly because there wasn’t one.  Instead it was like most previous openings where other celebrities are in some way trying to tell him how to host a show and what he is doing wrong, as well as him taking a few jabs at other celebrities in the audience.  The opening of the show was quite sad, much like the rest of the show.

 

This year the show seemed more to me as a funeral reception more than anything.  Like Ken Levine, a hollywood comedic writer, put it, “it was one long funeral interspersed with production numbers.” There were individual tributes, musical tributes, presidential tributes, and they even felt it necessary to show Lee Harvey Oswald get shot again. I was very confused by all of this. Especially by Elton Johns tribute to Liberace.  Its been over 25 years, I didn’t get it but maybe im just missing something, I don’t know.  Regardless, I did not see the relevance most of that had to do with the actual Emmy awards.

To kick off one of the big shocks of the night. Merrit Wever, from Nurse Jackie, won the Emmy for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series. She out-won Anna Chlumsky from Veep, Jane Krakowski from 30 Rock, Jane Lynch from Glee, Mayim Bialik from The Big Bang Theory, Sofia Vergara in Modern Family, and two-time consecutive Emmy winner, Julie Bowen, from Modern Family. I definitely didn’t see that one coming. And perhaps what was even more unexpected was her speech.  A short and humorous “ Thank you so much. I gotta go. Bye” was all she said in response to her new piece of gold.  Maybe she was afraid of the getting cut off by the music cue in the middle of an important acknowledgment like every other winning actor and actress of the night. Either way it was actually pretty fun to watch since it was not at all what I was expecting to happen.

The other major shock of the night was when Jeff Daniels, as Will McAvoy, in the show The Newsroom, was the winner for Outstanding Lead Actor in Drama Series.  He beat out John Hamm as Don Draper in Mad Men,  Hugh Bonneville  for Downton Abbey, Damian Lewis for Homeland,   Kevin Spacey for House of Cards, and Bryan Cranston as the infamous Walter White of Breaking Bad.   My mouth dropped to say the least. I definitely would have lost a bet on this one.  All of these actors do tremendous work, however I firmly believe Breaking Bad would not be the show it is without Bryan Cranston.  His performances are incredible and very much worth of the acknowledgement. 

 On a different note, The mid-show performance referencing all of the shows for best TV drama was really cool to watch. The choreography was spectacular in the way that every move correlated to the different themes of the shows and what they represent.  It was by far my favorite part of the entire show.  Besides when Tina Fey and Amy Poehler decided to crawl up the stage. That was priceless.

The Emmy awards are always something I look forward to watching around this time of year.  However this year was a miss in terms of entertainment for me so I hope for the Oscars and Golden Globes to make up for it in the next few months.                             

Homeland: The Showtime Series

Homeland is a Showtime series starring Carrie Mathison, a bipolar CIA Agent who attempts to keep her mental sickness hidden from the CIA. She works with others to stop terrorist attacks on America, all formulated by the terrorist leader Abu Nazir. During her undercover work, she hears that an American prisoner of war has been turned. This causes much suspicion in her when Sergeant Nicholas Brody is uncovered and returned to America after eight years as a prisoner. None of her other colleagues believe her suspicions, so she pursues this question with the help of a freelance operative, Virgil. As the viewer, you find our she is correct early in the series, but she cannot find the information to prove it. With dramatic twists and a breakdown that leads Carrie to using shock therapy treatment, this show keeps you on the edge of your seat.   

In my opinion, this show is phenomenal and one of the best shows on television. Claire Daines, who plays Carrie Mathison, plays an incredible character because she acts like she is actually bipolar. Her character is so convincing, that it makes the show that much better. In addition, Damian Lewis’s character Nicholas Brody, the turned POW, pushes the plot along so well because of all the questions his family and the CIA ask. He thickens the plot even more when Abu Nazir pushes him into running for Congressman. The combination of these two characters creates a thrilling show, and combined with the underlying methods of characters, such as David Estes and Abu Nazir, this show is a must see. 

Homeland.. Finally!

This week I finally started the television series Homeland. My friends have been after me, often telling me that this is one of the best shows on TV. Being a TV-R student I figured I had to see what all the talk was about.

Homeland, which was created by Gideon Raff and runs on Showtime, quickly draws you in with a compelling plot line. The first episode has many clips of main character Nicholas Brody, a Marine Sargent, held captive by al-Qaeda. After being imprisoned for eight years he is finally rescued by an American Delta Force raid. However, after so many years as a prisoner his life had been completely altered. As he returns home almost everything has changed with his family, and peoples perception of him. He is now a hero to the American people. His family, who assumed he was dead, now has the chance to build a relationship with their father/husband. However, the most interesting plot line is CIA agent Carrie Mathison, who has her own feelings about Brody. She has suspicion that Brody is coming to America as a possible terrorist threat and launches an investigation. The show creators have kept me guessing weather Brody is a hero or a terrorist. I am completely intrigued and will continue to watch more of this series in the upcoming weeks. I am officially hooked on my new show.

"Homeland" Opening

Showtime shows have some interesting opening credits. "Dexter" and it's opening makes use of some great cinematography and chilling sound effects to effectively creep the viewer out upon each viewing. But what about "Homeland" and it's opening credit sequence? Take a look at the video below. It has some of the clips from it's opening along with the music.

Using disorienting jazz music and a plethora of oddly placed diegetic sounds, this is easily one of the oddest opening credit sequences I've ever seen. The images don't help with my confusion either. Characters are shown standing in a maze and videos of the 9/11 attacks taking place also bring about more questions for me. Perhaps the credits are more important than I think in this show, but so far I have yet to see many correlations, yet. I'm about one episode away from finishing the first season, and if I am proven wrong, I will post the results here. But so far, the opening isn't my favorite, and I would prefer it if they tried to be a little less jarring with something the viewer watches at the beginning of every episode.