The audience also feels an underlying sense of suspense because Dexter’s face is partially revealed in the beginning then followed by shots of his hands, feet, neck, and mouth. There also seems to be an overarching yellowing filter that visually ties the clips together. Each of these themes was interlaced to convey a deathly mood. Dexter is cutting ham, a grapefruit, and blending coffee beans. There are also frequent inferences to strangulation with flossing teeth, tying shoes, and putting on a t-shirt. There is the actual blood that comes along with killing a mosquito and cutting yourself while shaving, and then there is the depiction of blood by juicing a grapefruit and putting hot sauce on eggs. The images throughout the title sequence have a repetition of blood. Hence, the show being about a forensics expert who also is a serial killer that no one knows about. The intro gives the audience a normal-looking guy performing a mundane morning routine with an emphasis on an underlying violence. I have seen the entire TV series, and I remember as I watched the first few episodes, I could not look at the opening credits without grimacing or looking away. “But with creepy, there’s more opportunity for interesting sounds.Dexter has one of the most brilliantly composed opening title sequences. It’s been great and given me a little bit of ‘note’ recognition.”Īnd though he doesn’t hide from his connection to grisly fare, Licht, like most creative types, would rather not be pigeonholed. “It’s certainly one of my more visible projects,” says the composer, whose early efforts included two “Children of the Corn” pics as well as “Hellraiser IV.” “I’ve had a series of small breaks leading up to this medium-size break. Licht is reluctant to refer to his work on “Dexter” as his big break. “I’m using surgical instruments this season,” he says, demonstrating an array of sounds using chains, scissors, bone scrapers, surgical pans and even poison bottles. Though it is used variously in most episodes, it always figures in the end credits.įor the upcoming season, Licht is expanding his sonic options, as is suggested by the presence of those coroner’s implements. Licht’s most immediately recognizable music for the series is probably the “Blood Theme,” a slow-creeping melody with counterpoint coming from artificial harmonics produced on a violin or viola. Generally, I don’t riff off the theme it’s supposed to be a separate piece.” Yet there is compatibility, because we have similar styles. The theme was set before I was on the show. Some viewers may wonder if Licht’s interest in the exotic accounts for the haunting quality of “Dexter’s” main theme, but the show’s title music is actually the work of Rolfe Kent - his theme’s distinctive sound that of the bouzouki, a classic Greek instrument similar to a lute or mandolin, which Licht also employs. “Eventually, the shop owner will come over and show me how to properly play whatever it is, and then he usually ends up inviting me to dinner.” “For my vacations, I find music shops in exotic places and start playing the instruments,” he says. Licht, a largely self-taught musician, has a particular interest in world music, and he uses an array of non-Western instruments, including Balinese gamelans, on the series. Dexter has his own narrative going on, so sometimes I have to score the scene and his personal narrative at the same time, which makes things complex.” Like when he’s talking to his sister, Deb - that’s a good example. So I might be writing music for the underlying emotion of the scene while he’s showing a different emotion in that scene. “Some of the most difficult scenes are when very complicated things are happening,” he says, “because Dexter may be posing as someone else. The producers liked what I did, and it became, ‘Do more of that.’?”Īmong Licht’s challenges has been writing music that can work on multiple dramatic levels. I’m using scraping sounds - you hear that in comedy a lot. “I pitched it somewhat gothic-sounding but instrumental - more like what people are used to hearing in comedy,” he says. Though unconventional, it was apparently the right fit for the material, and Licht continued in that vein. I don’t know if it was the shot or what, but that set up a good sound right away. So it was this mysterious quality surrounding Dexter set against his primal instincts. “The scene was Dexter driving through Miami at night, and I used this haunting piano and wine-glass melody mixed with hand drums. “I set the tone after looking at the very first footage of ‘Dexter,’?” says the composer, dressed in a worn maroon T-shirt, jeans and sneakers as he shows a visitor around his home studio.
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