Art of the Title Sequence: PACHINKO
Using Theme in Your Intro
Pachinko tells a family story sprawling across years and continents.
Instead of focusing on one character or telling a singular story, Pachinko’s title sequence — crafted by Elastic artists with significant producer involvement — uses hundreds of images to encapsulate the show’s themes and reflect how epic and complex the family’s story is.
The sequence starts with short clips of historical moments intercut with Pachinko’s characters in time-period-signifying photos; right off the bat demonstrating how the series cuts back and forth between characters across decades.
The photos show many ‘versions’ of people, and as the title sequence transitions more into the pachinko parlour video sequence, it brings through this idea of ‘multiplicity’ to specific items or moments.
For example, images of feet dancing cover a gamut of colour, style, and time: in mituri (woven hemp shoes); in modern dress shoes; barefoot; in classic sneakers.
An interview with series creator Soo Hugh details the three types of images:
The first is real-life historical images that Wall and Tzuo selected and treated, the second is images from the show and the third is photo of the actors with their real life families. According to Hugh, the last set of photos were chosen because it felt thematically appropriate for the story of the show itself.
“‘Pachinko,’ is fiction, it’s a narrative, and yet it explores the story of family and the universality of what family means to all of us and we really wanted to drill that down and bring it to the actors’ level as well.”
While the joyous interactions and dancing of the actors presents them as individuals (necessitated by filming constraints as much as anything; more on that below), the sequence doesn’t prioritise any one character. Similarly, object shots and match cuts also prioritise theme over any specific character or story.
For example, a juxtaposition between pachinko balls rolling and masses of people crossing a street (below) doesn’t show any individual character manipulating the pachinko balls. It does convey an idea the show explores; specifically, the types of people who rise high in business and pachinko parlours see workers and gamblers as inconsequential.
The under-two-second clip uses multiple techniques of the whole sequence: a hand closeup; an edit between two shots with items / people moving the same direction (here pachinko balls and pedestrians); a screen where two images are framed as different ‘snapshots.’
It’s likely the title sequence team never had many of the actors in the same place at once. Pachinko was shot around the world in ‘blocks’ centred on location, time period, and story; logistical snarls and actor scheduling nightmares are common with an ensemble this big even before you bring Covid production protocols into the picture.
As an extra layer of fun; though Youn Yuh-jung has been a Big Deal in South Korea for decades, her rise to international fame as Pachinko went into production meant she had extra obligations to fit around.
The cherry on top of a logistical nightmare is the song itself changed multiple times because of music rights, creative choices, the usual kerfluffles.
In other words, they were filming actors dancing at disparate times, without even knowing what final tune they would be performing to.
The Elastic team made this work for them, leaning into the slight surrealism of greenscreen and lack of actor availability. It keeps grouped characters to three or fewer (many groups involving kids, probably to help keep their performances light and joyful), and vibes the way pachinko parlours (all gambling halls, really) heighten realism and play with our perception of time.
The sequence is slow-versus-upbeat in both music and visuals — still-frame images, slo-mo clips, and sped-up shots are all mixed together — embracing the contrast as a theme in itself. This echoes Pachinko’s exploration of life being many things at once; joyous and terrible, unfair and exciting, beautiful and complicated. Few days, just like few characters, are ever fully and simply right or wrong, good or bad.
Takeaways and Last Notes
When it comes to making a title sequence and you have limited time (and even more limited actors!) to tell a complex, sprawling series of stories, consider how you can work with themes, instead.
Meanwhile, the title sequence for Season 2 has dropped! along with a new song and different clips. It keeps much of the same style, techniques, and themes — though features a lot more characters interacting,likely because it was more practically feasible this time around.
Stay tuned and follow us on socials as we’ll be talking more about Pachinko as Season 2 airs!
this one goes out to Ramyeon and Chill
-M