Relations between pilot and opening credits on the tv show Dexter

Abstract

The pilot or pilot episode (the first episode of a TV series) fulfills the important role of not only convincing the big executives of a major producer or broadcaster to buy and produce the audiovisual product but also to make the public develops an interest in a particular fictional universe, giving the spectator essential elements that make the narrative desirable. The television vignettes, in special the opening credits, have grown in importance inside the schedule of a broadcaster, since the appearance of the vehicle, turning the attention of the public for the most different types of programs there are on TV. To common sense, the technological aspects related to motion graphics stand out more than the construction of a condensed narrative which is associated with the content of the show itself. For the meaning they produce, which consists in presenting the visual identity, the narrative of the show, and many times, also the broadcaster's, the TV vignettes constitute a rich field to the Semiotics to explore since it allows the analyst to observe the narrative and discursive condensation procedures and its relation with the choices that are made in order to organize the expression of those contemporary audiovisual short narratives. The analysis aims chosen for the realization of this research are the opening credits and pilot episode of the TV show Dexter (Showtime, EUA, 2006), whose excellence has been driving the attention of both public and critics since its first season. This research's goal is to analyze, based on the greimassian semiotics, how does the show Dexter develops its opening credits and pilot episode through intra and intersemiotic relations of a semisymbolic and missive character, in order to become audiovisual products that contain in a very schematic form, condensed elements from pragmatic, cognitive and passional dimensions of the TV series.(AU)