Title Sequences

I noted an interesting passage from Woody Allen on Woody Allen, which consists of an interview of the director about his work.

I had done some fancy titles on Bananas and Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex..., and then I thought to myself, 'It's silly to spend money on titles! It's a very American stupid habit. I'm going to get the cheapest titles I can, just a plain announcement.' And I picked the typeface that I liked, and I never changed it after that. Because, what do titles mean? It's just simple information... Now they've been on fifteen films, or something. And I think it's just fine. It costs no money at all. It really got out of hand in the United States. There was a time during the sixties, when the titles got to be like The Pink Panther. The producers would put aside $250,000 for the title sequence. It would be one of the main things in the movie.

Indeed, the title sequences on many of Woody Allen's movies starting from Annie Hall in 1977 are nothing more than plain text.  But this passage got me thinking about what purpose title sequences really serve - whether or not they are really only giving 'simple information.'  There are many impressive title sequences in movies today, but is it really worth all the time and money put into it?

The first thing to think about is whether title sequences are regarded as entirely separate from the movie they are in, or whether they can work to actually enhance the movie.  Fortunately for my research, I ran across the website The Art of the Title and the YouTube Channel MovieTitleSequences, which are big repositories of title sequences for movies and TV shows.

After watching handfuls of title sequences, I've come to believe that in most cases, title sequences - even Woody Allen's simple ones - enhance the movie in some way.  To what extent the movie is enhanced is widely variable, and there are definitely some cases in which the amount of money spent on making a title sequence is questionable.

Many movies nowadays dive right into the action and just show the opening credits over the film itself, without a title sequence.  But a title sequence can be used to set the tone of the film before the action starts.  Let's take a look at some title sequences to show you what I mean.

Raging Bull's title sequence is much like those of Woody Allen and is pretty representative of what title sequences as a whole do.  In addition to displaying the opening credits, it serves as kind of an overture to the movie.  We see this sequence before getting into the film's plot, so we know that the movie is in black-and-white and is about boxing.  In a way, the title sequence lets the audience get relaxed and into the movie groove, much like an overture of a musical would.

Sweeney Todd's intricate title sequence does a good job at setting the tone for the movie, and a lot of time and money must have been spent making this.

But does this title sequence set the tone for Sweeney Todd better than this simpler sequence introduces Tim Burton's earlier movies Edward Scissorhands and Batman?

It isn't always the case that the title sequence comes right at the beginning of the movie.  The James Bond series, for example, is infamous for starting with an elaborate action sequence that is oftentimes only marginally related to the plot, then making a segue into the title sequence.  Here is an example of one such title sequence, from Goldfinger (though most of the Bond movies have very similar such sequences).

Now in the case of James Bond movies and many other movies that have a title sequence inserted after an opening scene, I've personally found myself kind of bored by the title sequences.  Unless the title sequences are in themselves entertaining, I get a little annoyed that the action was interrupted.  In fact, when watching Bond movies on my own, I tend to fast-forward through the opening credits.

This leads me to the case in which a title sequence is nice enough to be a work of art on its own.  This is the kind of title sequence that I wouldn't really ever mind, whether it is at the beginning of the movie or after an opening sequence.  It should still be kept in mind, though, how much these sequences are actually worth it from a perspective of how much time and money is put into it.  Here is a recent example, from Spiderman 2.

And another one from Catch Me If You Can.

I don't know though.  These kinds of title sequences have always struck me as kind of gimmicky.  Neither of them (visually) really says anything about the movie, other than the fact that both movies have exorbitant budgets.  I guess using simpler title sequences wouldn't have worked here only (and I hate to say this) because they wouldn't have been 'Hollywood' enough.

A very elaborate title sequence that does work really well, however, is the opening to Se7en.

It is visually stunning and is effective at setting the tone of the movie.  Sadly, its effectiveness also means that it has basically been copied to death since the movie came out in 1995.

So there are some of my thoughts on opening title sequences, and all the research on this has been really interesting.  I'll definitely pay more attention to these sequences in the future.