Analysing Opening Sequence Titles - 'Art of the Title'

One of the key conventions in an opening sequence which can instantly indicate genre to the audience is the use of titles, and the font used on those titles. These titles either appear over the top of the images on screen (as in the opening sequence shown in the image above from 'The Beekeeper') or as separate title cards (often black) which appear between shots. Sometimes these titles will be animated/moving.

As part of my opening sequence I will be including titles, whether over the top of the images or as separate title cards. I will look in more detail at a series of title sequences for films from the action genre (or action hybrids), making a note of how the titles appear on screen and in which order they come. To help with this I am going to look at a website dedicated to the production of titles, including end credits but also those titles which appear at the beginning of the films.

The 'Art of the Title' Website

The website contains a wide range of titles for films and TV series from a range of genres, including those that belong to the action genre, and I hope that by looking at a number of action title sequences I will be able to notice patterns in action titles and gain some inspiration regarding styles of font I may want to use in my opening sequence.

I am going to look at the title sequences for the following action films:

'Raiders of the Lost Ark'

'Spectre'

'Die Hard'

'Stakeout'

'Men in Black'