Title Sequences
A new obsession and this one thankfully relates to my uni work. Title sequences. We all know them. The opening credits, the little sequence of images at the beginning of a film or tv show. Back on the days of old they were simple text, photographed and put in with the film.
But now, nearly a century later, that’s not what we see, it’s probably super boring and we all have very short attention spans and the only reason a film would employ this method is that they want to give the feel of a vintage film.
This more creative approach was created by Saul Bass (and later Elaine Bass) who began to experiment with title sequences, taking the opportunity for the title sequence to reflect the film. We see this a tiny bit on the vintage graphic, where The Sound of Music has a little bit more cursive on a sepia cloud sky, whereas King Kong has a block print and the shading in the background mimics spotlights from the film.
But this has evolved into so many amazing things, so I’m going to list a bunch of my favourites, because this is my website, and I can do what I want [something I still can’t seem to get into my head].
Basically a meme
Why did these titles become memes, somehow recirculating themselves in so many parodies? I have no idea. I’m like 20, it’s past midnight, I don’t know what I’m doing with my life. If the goal of the title is to reflect the show, then the pure absurdity could simply be what’s keeping them current. Adam West as Batman can never be recreated and is definitely under-appreciated. I’m over the gritty, stoic superhero, why isn’t a stranger in colourful spandex teaching children about road safety? The Twilight Zone is just weird in the best possible way. While modern shows of the same template, like Back Mirror, are trying so hard to make a statement about humanity and what humanity even could be in a world filled with technology, the Twilight Zone is much more “wouldn’t it be weird if people were pigs?? that would be crazyy.” As for Law & Order, while I did list the whole title sequence as a meme, it really is just the DUN DUN that people love.
“In the criminal justice system, the people are represented by two separate yet equally important groups: the police, who investigate crime; and the district attorneys, who prosecute the offenders. These are their stories.” DUN DUN
The Franchise
These we know, these we’ve seen dozens of times. Even if you’ve never watched a Star Wars movie you know that there’s a big block of moving text at the beginning that you probably won’t read. Marvel is a bit more subtle. The credit’s scene has a moving camera following different pieces of art or photographic stills that relate to the specific film. It’s simple, it’s elegant, and it doesn’t distract from the three end credit scenes that we happily wait for. And of course, The Simpsons. Do I need to explain The Simpsons? It’s been 30 years and they are still going strong. 🎷
The Homage
With every other movie and tv show being a remake, an easy way to pay respect to the original without filling the actual film with 50 years of lore and exposition, is to put it in the title sequence. Detective Pikachu takes us through the history of the game, Tank Girl and Chilling Adventure’s of Sabrina go through the comics. While being very similar ideas they leave different impressions. Pokemon having a nostalgic vintage vibe, Tank Girl with chaotic punk vibe, and and Chilling Adventure’s of Sabrina going for spooky vintage, all affected by music, “camera” movement, and colour palettes.
Expositional
Sometimes we don’t have time to be artsy, we’re making a movie here and time is money. So we use the opening titles to cut down on exposition, to explain the lore, tell the prologue, get out all the information that would be in the Star Wars text. Romeo and Juliet has a literal prologue, which helps. Practical Magic uses the opening scene as a flashback, telling the story of the family of witches that have grown to exist in modern times, and Zombieland just seems to take great pleasures in its zombie kills.
Changing Art Styles
Some take the opportunity to be creative with their title sequences. Jessica Jones has a watercolour like art style that emphasises light and shadow, with many different silhouettes of people in New York in alleyways or behind curtains to create a mysterious vibe for Jessica’s P.I. business. with the final image being a side view of Jessica’s eye as we see all of this through her past and present experiences.
Good omens create little cartoon versions of the characters, Crowley and Aziraphale both with literal wings. We see them going from being the only ones wandering the earth together to travelling through a variety of historical events and environments, all the while, staying together because they are husbands.
The Morning Show uses symbolism, using coloured dots to show the ostracisation and isolation of an undefined character. Every character in the show experiences these things at some point, so using symbols to represent them can cause the viewer’s interpretation of the title to change over time, depending on what characters they have developed close to.
Honourable Mentions
If nothing else, watch Airplane
