What Does a Title Sequence Do & Does Not Do

What Does A Title Sequence  Do & Does Not Do

In this post I will be writing about what opening title sequences can or can't do. 

What A Title Sequence Does Do:

1. Reflect/Establishes The Genre 

This credit video is from a series called American Horror Story (Season 1). When you watch this you can immediately tell that the series is going to be horror from the non-diegetic sounds strong soundtrack, however, there is also a use of diegetic sound of drilling and fast pace cuts.   


2. Hints/Suggests Narrative Themes 

Suggests death/murder of children & a lot of mystery. Body parts in jars shows already that this season is going to be very creepy and odd. 

3. Introduce Main Character/Villain 

This credit video is from the 1995 film 'Casino'. This establishes the main character as it only shows the man whom is the actor Robert De Niro. He is supposedly a gangster as he is killed from a car explosion which isn't necessarily a usual death. It also confirms that the movie will be in the action genre. 



4. Have Credits (key titles)

5. Tone (of the film) 

Unnerving/scary on edge -> Contrapuntal non-diegetic soundtrack along with calming sound effects -> An unpredicted soundtrack.

6. Establishes Setting (country, season, time)

This credit video is from the movie 'Grease'.  It might be a cartoon, however, it still establishes the setting/location which would be the 1950s in USA. 


The costumes/hair/cars/soundtrack reveals these times in the USA. You can't tell of the season as it is a cartoon in this video however, it could be all year around as these are teenagers who are going to school. The cartoon also helps it keep it playful and light.  

What A Title Sequence Does Not Do:

1. Swap or misdirect the genre2. Give away the whole plot3. Shows a whole story