NARCOS

Title Sequence Analysis

Shot Types and Camera

Angles

Throughout the sequence it is made very

clear that a lot of the shots are a form of
surveillance of presumably Pablo
Escobar.
A lot of the shots used are birds eye view,
this gives the impression of the
surveillance being performed during a
helicopter fly-over. The aerial view helps
the viewer to establish that this is a
series about searching for Pablo
Escobar.
The sequence integrates shots that are
from the series and real life footage of
Pablo Escobar, this is to remind the
viewer that the show is based on real
events and people.

Lighting

Similar to the lighting in the True

Detective title sequence there is a
spectrum of light being used to portray
both sides of the story. Whenever a shot
to do with the DEA comes up their isn't
much colour in the shot and because of
this it creates quite a clinical feeling
around the organisation. Whenever a
shot of Escobars lifestyle comes up the
colour is very prevalent and because of
this creates a fantasy look to his life,
which is reasonable considering he
thought he was living his dream.

Mise en Scne &

Typography
Aside from the recurring investigationstyle notes in nearly every frame, it is
made clear to the viewer what is going
on in the given time period from what is
shown on screen.
We are given an idea of what Pablo
Escobar does when a briefcase filled with
cocaine is shown then moments later the
same shot/briefcase is used only this
time it is filled with money, which is
obviously the fact that Pablo Escobar
sold cocaine for a living and it is made
clear how much money this could bring
him.
When shots of Escobars fantasy life are
shown, attractive women are often the
central interest points of the frames,
which leads to the suggestion that
Escobars fantasy life was heavily made
up by women.

Editing

In many shots some form of white writing

can be seen overlaying the actual shot
itself. There are also grids, highlighted
locations and crosses over peoples
eyes. All of this is representative for the
investigation taking place at the time,
these are clearly some form of DEA
research/investigation and this is made
clear specifically by the suspect
elimination shot in the bottom right.
The white writing that overlays these
shots is often variations of crime scene
notes or in some cases it is a chemical
equation for presumably the drug
heroine.
Another noticeable edit is the placement
of the real Pablo Escobar shots and what
comes before and after them. In one
scenario a shot of Escobar is shown then
cuts to a shot of burning buildings, which
is suggestive for what he has caused.

Sound

The soundtrack to the sequence is called

Tuyo by Rodrigo Amarante and was
composed specifically for the series.
The track is in Spanish which relates to
the context however if translated it can
be seen that the lyrics relate to the actual
narrative of the series.
The song fits into a genre known as
narcocorrido which is a genre of music
based on drug kingpins in Central and
Southern America.
The song is often described as hypnotic
which could be related to the drug
heroine which is one of the main centre
points of the storyline in the series.

Summary

Overall I feel that the title sequence

served its purpose and also was quite
entertaining to watch.

The most effective part of the sequence

was the investigation-style text as well as
the use of chemical equations to
establish that this is an investigation into
the Colombian drug lord Pablo Escobar.

It is made clear from the very start what

the series is about and the sequence
also provides basic character
descriptions.