Assignment 8: True Blood Opening Sequence
For this assignment I decided to analyze the opening sequence to HBO’s hit series “True Blood.” I feel like it really sets the tone and mood of the show. Using a series of stock footage clips, we a presenting a potpourri of footage that is dark, sexual and/or dirty, and shows stereotypical images of the deep south and of segregation in America.
To understand the title sequence’s relation to the show, you first have to know a little about it: “True Blood” is about a fictional town in rural Louisiana that is coping with the recent development of synthetic blood that has allowed vampires to be out in the open as they no longer need to suck blood from humans. It centers around a telepathic mind-reader Sookie Stackhouse and her wide-array of human and non-human friends and collegues.
The concept of vampires and their gaining of rights in the south is an allusion to three things: human sexuality and aggression, and the emancipation of African-Americans. The nature of vampires are sexual in themselves: the seduce their “feed”, suck on the flesh of their victims, and because they’re immortal they’ve had many years to practice and perfect their sexual abilities. They’re need to feed on flesh has led many of them into violent murder and aggression. Furthermore, because they are seen as unhuman and because of their reputation for being dangerous, as a whole they face discrimination from the prejudice human world, especially in the stereotypical rural southern town depicted in the show.
This title sequence touches on all of these things: we see images of sexuality (0:21 and 0:51), violence and aggression (1:04 – 1:07), and allusions to racism and segregation (0:18 and 0:27).
I liked the opening in the bayous because they are what you think of when you think of rural Louisiana. Also, the bayous are creepy, mystical & have a sense of foreboding, which are the same feelings the vampires invoke. The bayous are uncharted territory and you don’t know what you’re getting yourself into, a problem that Sookie grapples with as she becomes involved with the vampires. I thought the shots that were all red were an excellent addition because the color red can symbolize passion & love but also blood & lust, which as you said are major themes of the series.
| Posted 2 years, 3 months agoI also liked the juice around the kid’s mouth because it isn’t technically blood but it still provides the same trigger and reaction from the audience.