HBO’s Succession tells the story of a powerful international media mogul and the dysfunctional family politics around his impending retirement. Mirroring the themes of the series, this title sequence shows the emotional isolation of the father from his children amid a world of wealth and power.

Rather than constructing an elaborate metaphor, Picturemill literally created a past holiday event for the family, filmed with authentic 8mm cameras, to highlight the cross-generational story. To further heighten the separation from past and present, the high-resolution, widescreen modern footage is juxtaposed with the 8mm vintage pillar boxed 4×3 film.

For the series’ second season, Picturemill evolved the sequence while maintaining the Emmy award-winning theme by composer Nicholas Britell. Seamlessly incorporating new footage filmed by Picturemill on authentic VHS cameras, a typical weekend at the family’s summer home is shown. As time has passed the children from Season 1 have grown to teenagers, with the innocent playtime of their youth replaced by conflict and disillusionment.

Though separated by decades, the past and present are shown to be nearly identical for this powerful family, with time deepening wounds instead of healing them.