SUNSET
BEACH
This soap only lasted just a few days short of three years, and it wasn't a huge ratings success in the United States, but Sunset Beach had a loyal following among younger fans. It also became one of several more recent soaps (i.e. Santa Barbara) to have achieved great popularity overseas.
The Original Sunset Beach Opening
The first Sunset
Beach opening sequence consisted of a series of black and white video
portraits of the contract players framed against the darkening sunset sky. The
sequence ended with a shot of a couple making love on the beach as the title
logo appeared in Organda Bold type. The accompanying theme song was a sultry
saxophone piece by Tim Truman. This opening only lasted until early August
1997.
The Revamped Sunset Beach Opening
A much more colorful
opening visual sequence debuted on Monday, August 4, 1997. Again there were
video portraits of each contract player, but the clips were now in color and
were blended with the background beach visuals via crossfading. Sometimes, two
or more character portraits appeared onscreen simultaneously. The final shot of
the lovemaking couple on the beach is now tinted in yellow as opposed to the
predominantly dark orange and amber hues of the previous opening.
Dominic Messenger composed the new theme song, which was originally just a background cue used during the show.
End Credits
Sunset Beach had an end credit crawl that raced up the screen. The end credit lettering was in Serif Gothic type. Below is a screen capture from one of the show's rapid fire "crawls:"
