HBO 为什么会选用雪花屏作为片头？ 第1页

HBO的这个片头讲究可大了，虽然仅仅5秒钟，但从1993年至今为止已经使用了23年，号称是电视业界无出其右，最成功的能够引起观众「条件反射」的片头。甚至有多篇文章专门研究这种片头对于观众造成的心理和视觉效果。

首先注意一点，这个片头有两个主要的构成，一个是画面，从雪花屏到黑屏显示出具体的HBO的图像，另一个是声音。这个声音非常简短，但是徐徐上升，犹如教堂唱诗班的低音咏叹。正是这种画面和声音的完美结合才造就了5秒钟的奇迹效果。

在《花花公子》（这个杂志其实有很多不花的文章）的一篇访谈中，作者Zaron Burnett III访谈了当初参与片头制作的HBO播映部高级副总裁Bruce Richmond。他谈了当初这个声音是如何被选出来的：

“We spent about a week creating the static and doing all the layering of the type and making sure that it resolved. After that we went into sound design. It got more exciting once we got into sound design. When we started working on that kind of nice bass-y hum that comes out of the static, there was this moment when five or six people in a room, who had been up for two days working on it, we all said, ‘Oh, that’s it.’”

我们花费了一周时间制作片头的静电画面，确保不同画面层的协调。之后我们开始声音设计。这个部分更加刺激。当我们做出那个从静电画面中传出的漂亮的低音哼鸣时，五六个人已经在房间里工作了两天。我们都说，『好，就是这个！』

UCL的Catherine Johnson进一步解释了这种片头对于观众造成的心理效果。

“The HBO logo suggests that your television is switching over to a uniquely ‘HBO’ place for the duration of the programme, and hence the logo exemplifies the brand value of providing programmes not found elsewhere on television. As a representation of a television switching on at the beginning of the programme and off at the end, the HBO logo evokes the impression of an appointment to view with each programme, creating a separate and special place in which its programmes are encountered. In addition, the placement of the logo at the beginning of each programme provides an aural and visual trigger that indicates to the potential viewer that their programme is starting, and over time becomes a powerfully evocative trigger for the emotions associated with watching HBO programming.”

HBO 的片头凸显出你的电视正在为了节目的播放而转化为一种「HBO」的独一无二的场所，因此这个logo代表了一种品牌价值，它提供了你在其他电视节目中看不到的节目内容。这种电视切换发生在节目的开头和结尾，因此创造了一种独立而特别的节目和观众相遇的方式，唤起了一种约定要看这样节目的印象。此外，HBO 的每一个节目的片头的声音和画面效果像是一种触发器，向观众表示节目就要开始了，而随着时间流逝逐渐变成一种记忆触发器，唤起了观众观看 HBO 节目时相联系的情绪。

这个片头甚至成为流行文化的一部分，让一些粉丝沉迷不可自拔：

HBO 经典片头的声音带来了你无法想象的舒适

对此Bruce Richmond认为：

“Did we know that, ‘Oh my god we’re making something that everyone will get conditioned to hearing?’ No, but I think we knew it was Pavlovian when we realized, 'Oh, the minute that ‘kssshhhzzzztzztzzz’ sound goes away we risk losing something.’ People have been conditioned to know that their HBO program is literally going to start in the next second.”

我们一开始就知道「天哪我们做出了一个所有人都专门去听的声音」吗？不，但是我想我们理解这是一种条件反射，「哦，在这个声音结束时我们再不看就看不到一些东西了！」人们已经习惯于这个声音结束的下一秒 HBO 节目就真正开始了。

在《花花公子》文章的结尾，作者非常花花公子气质地进一步提出，这个片头的声音和女人解开衣服拉链的声音很像，因此预示着：

It’s the promise of good things to come.

好事即将到来

参考资料：