Durham County Opening Sequence Analysis by Katherine Hole

2. Durham County is a TV series that is a hybrid of action,
drama and crime. It’s creative director was Kevin Chandoo
and the show was created by Laurie Finstad-
Knizhnik, Janis Lundman and Adrienne Mitchell .
Durham County first aired on the 7th of May 2007.
The series stars Hugh Dillon who plays a homicide
detective named Mike Sweeney. Sweeney moves his family
to Durham County in order to have a fresh start as his
wife was diagnosed with breast cancer and his work
partner was killed. Although after his move he discovers
that his neighbour, and childhood enemy may be a serial
killer.

3. The opening shot of Durham County zooms, slowly into a woodland area.
The camera angle is straight and the audience are shown a mid shot. This
zooming in may imitate the action of curiosity and confusion as the viewer
may feel unsure and inquisitive, therefore zooming into look in more detail.
There is text overlayed on the shot which is written in small white sans
serif font. The type of font in the title is different; some are bold and some
aren’t. It is also quite difficult for the audience to read because some of the
words are blurred. This may create an uncomfortable atmosphere for the
audience as the TV show is already proving to be difficult to watch and
understand in the first shot.
The text is over a woodland background which is typical of the horror
setting. The forest connotes isolation and darkness. This means that the
viewer may feel confusion and isolation which fits in with how the text
may make them feel. The shadow and the low lit lighting may set the scene
for the viewer and make help them recognise the genre of this series.
The non-diegetic music begins in this scene with eery music box music
which may be associated with children. This may link to the theory
created by DJ Skal which suggests that horror films are a reflection of our
societal fears, this link to children may make parents watching this worry
in case it is a child is harmed. The use of pianos, chimes and violins create
a high pitched atonal continuous melody throughout the sequence which
creates an nightmare like atmosphere. Nightmares are also something that
people may associate more with children.

4. In the next shot the viewer can see a doll in the
foreground of the long shot. In the background there is
forest area like in the first shot which may prove to the
viewer that their feeling of enigma from the first shot is
justified.
The doll may make the audience feel uncomfortable
because of its obvious unhuman face and the way that
it moves its head. The doll is wearing a red jumper
which connotes danger and blood, this may scare the
viewer as they know that people are not safe. The
unsaturated background means that the red
immediately attracts the viewers attention.
The audience may think that they are in danger
because of the low angle shot the doll is made out to
seem more important and looks down on the viewer.
This low angle may remind the audience that they are
unable to help or stop the foreboding event from
occurring.

5. Throughout the titles, there is montage editing which is
made effective through disjointed cuts and camera
movements. This constant changing of editing may create
confusion among the audience as it is constantly jumping
between scenes, therefore they don’t get a chance to make a
fully formed opinion on certain scenes, this means they
have to go with their feelings rather than an educated
guess. The viewer is also unsure what is going to appear
next because of the difference in scenes.
In this scene the shot goes from a blurry, dark background
and then zooms out slightly to a clear, lighter background
where the red is more obvious. This is an example of the
disorientating editing used.
The red looks like blood which may make the viewer feel
scared because they may think that something in the
basket is dead/dying. The high angle reminds the audience
that they are unable to help the vulnerable thing in the
basket.

6. This shot is a straight angle which may make
the viewer feel as though they are on the same
level as this character which may be
comforting. However there is a mystery and
enigma that surrounds the character because
his silhouette hardly reveals anything.
The text in this shot is anchored into the man’s
head and the juxtaposition between black and
white text may adds to the viewers confusion.
White may connote purity and innocence and
black may connote death and doom. This
contrast may mean that the audience cannot
judge or put together the story of this episode
in the series. This may make them want to
watch on in order to find out more about the
character.

7. This scene juxtaposes the use of children's
action figures with death and guns. This choice
of mise-en-scene must have a reason to it and
the audience may want to watch on in order to
find out the hidden meaning. The pan of the
camera reveals the two different toys who seem
to be lying dead. The action figures are wearing
suits which is what is what the silhouetted
character was wearing. This may mean that
throughout the series the audience are on edge
because they may be expecting the deaths of
certain characters – even though they don’t
know who specifically. This expectation and
foreboding may be typical in the horror genre.

8. This is a medium shot of red roses floating in
water which the viewer may assume is a river
or a dock because of the thing in the top right
hand corner. Red roses may stereotypically be
associated with the romance genre and are a
sign of love. However this scene juxtaposes this
idea because they are unsaveble. The use of a
rose is also symbolic because of the red for
danger, roses have thorns which can hurt
people and cause suffering. This may cause
confusion in the audience because the use of
roses would not be typically found in a horror.
The shot appears to be in fast motion as the
water is moving abnormally quickly. This may
add to the nightmare theme.

9. This scene is filmed without any movement of
camera. It starts with a long shot of a man
running towards the camera and screaming. The
sound of the screams are edited out and the
audience do not hear them. This may remind
people of their own fears of being chased or being
under attack and not being able to make a noise
when screaming for help. This may make the
audience feel sympathy and empathy for the man
which may make them more scared for the
outcome.
There is then a jump cut as the man runs closer.
This may shock the audience because they
probably expected the man to continue running for
continuity purposes. This may make the audience
question whether this man is part of the
supernatural world and not understand what is
happening.

10. The titles end the sequence. The shot starts blurry and then
the texts moves from side to side so that it is unreadable. The
whole thing then becomes clear when the blur effect fades. The
setting becomes clear and the theme of woodland appears
again. This previous idea of isolation is changed by the
electricity pylons because electricity means that the place must
have people living near by. The pylons may also help the
audience realise when the series is set.
The anchoring of the series name ‘Durham County’ has an A
that is replaced with a triangle symbol. This symbol may have
something to do with witchcraft, which might suggest to the
audience that there will be witchcraft involved in the series.
This creates an scary and mysterious tone because the
audience don’t know who or what the protagonist in the series
is. This may mean that they do not feel that they can trust any
of the characters they are introduced to in the series until they
can establish between the good and bad.
The shot ends with a non-diegetic ringing sound which does
not bring a finality to the sequence instead it leaves the
narrative open and may encourage viewers to watch on.