The X-Files Introductory Montage

I often term Chris Carter’s The X-Files (1993 – 2002) the Star Trek phenomenon of the nineties 

At the dawn of the Internet Age, the series drew a large and appreciative fan base and the program blossomed into a full-fledged franchise featuring movies, comics, toys, and even TV spin-offs such as The Lone Gunmen (2000).

When it began airing in 1993, however, The X-Files was just another low-budget TV show, and one that aired on relatively new and untested network: FOX TV.  

But the series’ opening montage, scored with the now-unforgettable theme song by Mark Snow, brilliantly, -- and with deft visuals -- set up the parameters of the storytelling.  The images and theme song both became iconic in terms of the pop culture, and remain emblems of the 1990s.

As The X-Files introductory montage commences, we see a giant “X” in the right-center portion of the frame.  

The font of the “X” pointedly suggests an old-fashioned type-writer print, and in particular, the idea of top-secret writing being redacted with a series of “X”s.  XXXXXXXX for example.

“X” is also famous for the phrase “X "marks the spot," and since this Chris Carter series concerns hidden (or redacted…) secrets, this inaugural image is a clever one.  

A white spot light seems to move across the screen, briefly illuminating the X, and that’s out indication that something is being discovered...or more aptly, uncovered.  The previously hidden “X-Files” or secrets are being brought out -- at least briefly -- into the light.

Next, we get several stills -- as if snapped in fast succession -- of one such secret.  A man (in the lower left-hand portion of the frame) is pointing to something in the night sky. 

On the right side of the photo is a legend that indicates the official nature of the photograph. The key suggests that this is an FBI photo interpretation, thus marking it as an official document and as part of the “X” files.  The numbers underneath -- which catalog the photo -- suggest something about the nature of the government; something dehumanizing.  X5937012…?

Exactly how many X-Files are there?

As the photographer zooms in and snaps more photographs, we see what that something in the sky is: a flying saucer or UFO.  

So the first secret revealed on The X-Files is the existence of alien life, and alien visitations of planet Earth.

The intriguing and important aspect of these shots is the paradox they present. The closer the camera gets to photographing the UFO, the fuzzier and more out-of-focus the photographed image becomes.  

In other words, as we get closer to a secret revealed, the truth actually becomes more nebulous.  

Are we really seeing a UFO, or something else?  

The truth, as we get closer to it, becomes more elusive.  Could we be looking at a secret military plane, for example?

The next images in the introductory montage depicts a dark hand (the dark hand of the shadow government or conspiracy?) moving across an illuminated map, one that, perhaps, reveals the path of that UFO. 

But the letters and images are -- like that close-up image I describe above -- opaque. We can’t actually make-out any detail that makes our understanding of the imagery clearer.

Following this image of the map, we see a strange sphere or ball, one which seems to be leaking or projecting some form of energy. 

Could it be the “secret” power sauce of the flying saucer?  And if so, is it being used by “us” or by “them?”

Already, The X-Files -- a series resolutely about discovering the truth -- is determinedly muddying our sense of transparency and reality. 

As the truth grows closer our understanding gets further away…more indistinct.  Behind this energy sphere are the same letters/glyphs we saw on the map.

The next image reveals a face stretched or elongated into a horrible appearance.  This (creepy) image could signify a few things.  

It could suggest, for instance, that the aliens are subverting or changing the very shape of human life on Earth, twisting it into terrible new dimensions.

Or, perhaps the hideous visage seen below could suggest how humanity looks when the truth is not known, when it is the thing twisted.  The lies of our leaders also "twist" the face of humanity.

The next image suggests another subject of the "X files:" paranormal activity.  

And again, the search for paranormal activity is the search for the truth beneath the truth.  

The next set of images introduce viewers to the cast and characters. 

First up is FBI agent Fox Mulder (David Duchovny). Around his picture ID, we see traditional conventions of the police procedural format: a set-of hand-cuffs (right) and a police badge (bottom center).  These images remind us that though the stories will involve the search for the unknown, the approach will be grounded in reality.

Another crucial aspect of The X-Files is "the conspiracy," and the fear of conspiracy.  

In particular, there is the consuming fear that the government is not actually working for the people, and instead attempting to obfuscate the truth.  

Here, we get the legend "GOVERNMENT DENIES KNOWLEDGE" on a screen as some mysterious specter -- paranormal or extra-terrestrial -- prowls the hallway of what could be a government laboratory.

A shadow is alive and moving through the corridors of power.

Next, we meet our second cast member and character, Special Agent Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson).

In the next sequence of shots we see our leads -- Mulder and Scully -- breaking into a closed room, a metaphor for their insertion into secret and strange events involving aliens and the paranormal. 

The "moving photograph" technique utilized to show the FBI photo interpretation of the UFO sighting (at the beginning of the montage) is repeated here as the agents move in, countenancing a new mystery.

As they move closer to the camera -- and closer to the off-screen mystery -- their demeanor changes from one of professional concern to astonishment and awe.

Notice also that the agents carry flashlights, and Mulder shines his right at the camera, and indication that the agents are bringing light to darkness, the light of day to secrets.

Next, a body seems to fall or plummet before a glowing representation of a human hand; one colored in blue. 

However, one piece of one finger is red, not blue, signifying it is different, or special somehow. This "piece" of the finger (or fingerprint?) must be crucial.  

I believe this image is meant to suggest that in the crimes explored by the series, forensic evidence (represented by the hand) will be utilized to pinpoint the culprit, or the manner of death.  

The giant hand suggests the body of clues to sift through, and the red portion of the finger suggests the "red warning" or "alarm" among those clues; the forensic evidence that will resolve the investigation.

Finally, a card crediting series creator, Chris Carter.  

Behind his name is a close-up of a human eye.  I believe this image is also highly symbolic.  The X-Files is all about how you choose to "see."  

Do you see the secret truth?  Or do your eyes register only the lies and cover-up? 

The eyeball representing sight has another meaning too.  It leads us back to our intrepid protagonists.

Do you see through the lens of belief, like Mulder, or the lens of skepticism and science, like Scully?

Finally, storm clouds gather over a harsh-looking mountain-scape, an indicator that the search for the truth will not be easy.  

Yet, some episodes tell us that -- out there, in the roiling unknown, the truth awaits.  We must seek it out.