Opening Credits

In just about every artistic conversation we've had over the past year the word "immersive" has bubbled up from the collective depths of our networked right-hemispheres. Good art is (to my mind) an assault on the senses. The artist takes his inspiration (sensory stimulus real or imagined) and then finds a medium through which to pass that sensory stimulus into an audience. To immerse them.

That's why I'm most excited about how new technology can bring to the theater the kind of sensory bombardment we've come to expect from imax films, pixar animations, and big-screen TVs with home theater sound-systems.

I want to score our performances with images, as well as music. Using digital projection we will provide rich, vivid images that (without distracting from the action) put people deep into the world of the play.

Visually, this style artistic endeavor is already well represented by what might seem an unlikely source: HBO original series opening credit sequences. Each one prepares the viewer for the action to come with evocative colors, objects and scenes. They aren't explicitly storytelling ("A three hour tour..."), most aren't even literal; instead, they fill the audience, perhaps without their knowledge, with an heightened awareness of the world they are entering.

I've embedded a bunch of my favorites (episode after episode, I never get sick of seeing these):

First, of course, is...



Even more in this vein of immersion is...



More scenic...



More symbolic (with heart-starting music)...



With somewhat overzealous application of digital editing techniques...



And with a more seductive application of the same techniques...



The rich visual imagery and the emotionally charged musical scoring effectively and insidiously transport the viewer to a new setting, filled with all the details and emotional undercurrents necessary for impending drama.

All of them are beautiful, simple, and effective works of art in their own right. They inspire me constantly to bring a similar ethic to the stage.