David Badounts is a Creative Director for major brands.
The Narcos Season 1 main title sequence was designed to immerse audiences in the volatile rise of Pablo Escobar and the global ripple effects of the Medellín drug empire. From the start, the goal was to blend fact and fiction to build a stylized narrative that traced the origins of narco trafficking and the shadowy entanglement of governments, economies, and power.
Working closely with the show's creators, the sequence drew from an extensive archive of real-world photographs, political footage, hand-scanned books, and custom 3D elements to evoke a voyeuristic, near-documentary feel. A sensual but dangerous tone emerges through handcrafted textures and curated color palettes, pulling viewers into the chaos of 1980s Colombia, juxtaposing the seduction of wealth with the violence it fueled.
Visually, the opening moves between curated and created imagery: flickering Super 8 reels, smuggler flight maps, product scans, and bursts of opulence layered with secrecy. This seamless interplay, paired with Rodrigo Amarante's haunting "Tuyo," set the mood for the season to come, rooted in fact, stylized with intent, and marked by a legacy of power, surveillance, and consequence.
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Role: Designer + Art Director + Animator + Editor + Compositor + Creative Director
Client: Netflix