Working closely with Executive Producer/Writer Veena Sud and Fuse Entertainment with AMC and Fox Television Studios, Sarofsky Corp. was asked to create a main title sequence that would capture the essence of the new TV series, The Killing, which centers around the murder of a young girl and the subsequent police investigation. Sarofsky ensured that the tonality of the main title reflected the series' haunting allure, as well as informed the direction of the extensive promotional package, which Sarofsky also designed and created.
The Killing is unlike other police investigation series in that it represents a distinct perspective: that of a female detective. Sarofsky's main title echoes that uniqueness by taking the audience on a journey through a moody, wet Seattle as seen from point of view of Sarah Linden, the main character. As Sarah drives from the city to Discovery Park, multiple environments are seen through the foggy, rain-saturated windows of her car. Erratic and fast moving cuts to images of dead bodies provide a simultaneous introduction to both the setting and the inner-workings of Sarah's mind.
"Our goal in creating the sequence was to keep the central character's point of view at the heart of the piece," said Erin Sarofsky, who directed the titles and promo package. "In the silence of her car as she drives to a crime scene, the vivid imagery haunts her. We used live action, lighting effects and kinetic type animation in the execution to create subtle manipulations that enhance the feeling of an eerie contradiction: a calm quietness, interrupted by frenetic thoughts."
The project was shot on location in Seattle using a RED One. The lighting effects were shot separately, then tracked and composited into the footage. Sarofsky Corp. made certain that the lighting effects were seamlessly integrated into the footage, ensuring technical coherence and an emphasis on the chilling feeling of the piece.
The music, which was composed by the duo Wendy Rae Fowler and Richard File of We Feel To Earth, match the eerie tonality of the main title perfectly. The promo package included more than 100 elements including the show's logo, all inspired by the mood of the titles, which are paradoxically menacing and beautiful.