Opening Sequence Analysis (Narcos)

Mrs Elliott, our media studies tutor, has informed us that our main task will be to create the opening/title sequence of a feature length film. Although we haven't been given a criteria for this task yet, I think it would better my odds of creating a decent film if i researched into the topic. In this post I will analyse the opening sequence of Narcos as well as

Narcos is an American crime thriller based around the life of Pablo Escobar, The show aired first on August 28, 2015 as a Netflix exclusive. I have chosen to analyse the opening of this particular show as it has a lot in common with what i am trying to achieve with my own opening sequence. Narcos is based on real events, it is about crime and shows both sides of the story (from the protagonist's view as well as the antagonists). the difference between my envision and Narcos is that I am trying to create a horror/thriller film while Narcos is a crime/political television show.

In the opening credits of Narcos, a spanish song is played from around the same era as the show is set. the images on screen are all either photographs or 2 second long film clips. All the photographs and film is real footage from the time depicting mostly Pablo Escobar and cocaine. There are also photographs of women, DEA agents and money. All of these things make up the show so having them in the opening informs the audience of what they're about to watch. the opening of Narcos shows both sides of the story, both from the the american DEA agents as well as Escobar and his cocaine smuggling army. This is important as it's what I want to do with my opening scene.

In my opening scene, I want to incorporate real photographs of the time period it's set in. I want these photographs to link directly to the film. Because my opening is for a horror/thriller, I want to use disturbing images such as victims bodies and bloodstained crime scenes. This will hopefully set the tone for the rest of the film. I don't want to use music in my opening scene as i feel silence would create tension and dramatic affect.