In Smoke, the new Apple TV+ crime drama from Dennis Lehane (Black Bird, Mystic River), fire isn’t just a plot device–it’s a compulsion, a symbol, and a trap. To mirror that intensity, Apple Studios once again tapped the Emmy-winning creative studio Digital Kitchen to design the series’ opening title sequence, resulting in a cinematic slow burn that’s as mesmerizing as it is methodical as it begins to unravel the story backward object by object, layer by layer.
Concepted, designed, and produced entirely in-house, Digital Kitchen’s main title for Smoke sets the emotional and visual tone for the nine-episode series. Smoke–which premiered on Friday (6/27)–follows a troubled detective and an enigmatic arson investigator, played by Taron Egerton and Jurnee Smollett, as they track two serial arsonists in a psychological cat-and-mouse pursuit.
Crafted over the course of four months, Digital Kitchen’s series intro approaches fire not as spectacle but as ritual. The studio intentionally designed the sequence to place viewers inside the mind of both the investigator and arsonist, capturing their process and compulsion with unnerving precision. The entire sequence plays in reverse. Each object–a cigarette, a police badge, a potato chip, VHS tapes, handwritten journals–burns in real-time, but is shown in reverse, gradually revealing its true identity. It’s a forensic puzzle told through fire.
“We wanted to visualize the duality of the show’s core idea: one character trying to unravel destruction, the other accelerating it,” said Mason Nicoll, executive creative director at Digital Kitchen. “That meant designing a sequence that felt both clinical and poetic, where every frame pulls the viewer deeper into the psychology of the arsonist.”
The team filmed a diverse series of real burns, using close-up cinematography to evoke intimacy and tension. Every object was approached with a unique visual treatment and scale. Rather than relying on visual effects to simulate fire, the burns were captured by practically experimenting with different materials, accelerants, torches, and an array of carefully created and sourced props. Color was used sparingly to focus attention on texture, heat, and rhythm. The result is a meditative visual loop where combustion becomes choreography.
A track scored by Thom Yorke serves as the emotional spine of the piece. Editorial pacing and design were built around the track’s haunting tempo, which deepens the psychological pull and allows the imagery to linger. The typography draws inspiration from both the crime and political thrillers of the ‘70s and evidence department labeling, adding a layer of graphic boldness that echoes the show’s vintage detective genre roots while maintaining a modern edge.
The Digital Kitchen team layered in elements from the series itself from objects that allude to character backstories, crime scene artifacts, and tools of ignition. As the flames consume these remnants of narrative, they reinforce the arsonist’s obsession and total surrender to destruction. The sequence ends on a final image: the word “Smoke” dissolving in fire, breaking down into embers and memory.
With art direction and cinematography by Rachel Brickel as well as art direction and design by Peter Pak, the Digital Kitchen creatives crafted the opening sequence using a combination of tools including Adobe Photoshop, After Effects, Premiere Pro, and DaVinci Resolve for compositing, animation, color, and edit. The fire sequences were filmed using RED Raptor 8K VV, RED Komodo, Blackmagic Pocket 6K, and Sony A7SIII cameras with Canon prime lenses. The production team built a fire-safe set environment for practical burn tests during pre-production, experimenting with unusual materials like fast food containers, sunglasses, and milk jugs to discover textures that would catch flame in visually compelling ways.
Smoke is inspired by true events and the acclaimed podcast “Firebug.” The series is produced by Apple Studios and in addition to Egerton and Smollett, also stars Rafe Spall, Ntare Guma Mbaho Mwine, Hannah Emily Anderson, Anna Chlumsky, Adina Porter, Greg Kinnear, and John Leguizamo.
