Professional Pre-Production: Opening Sequence Tips & Research

I'd had an idea of the type of opening sequence that I wanted to create after researching professional and student examples, along with considering the type of titles that would suit The Identity before planning and filming. However, before beginning post-production on my own sequence, I thought it would be useful to conduct further research into advice on opening titles, along with more professional examples before beginning the editing process.

Research

Interested in learning about what seems to make a professional and effective opening sequence, I researched a number of tips on what to include and consider, and what to avoid or potentially change. I found a source that consisted of five tips for creating a title sequence, these are...

• Keep the font small: Find 'a size that is just comfortable enough to read without squinting your eyes, but not much bigger than that. The main title card with the film’s name is the exception to this rule, and you can always have that title appear much larger so it stands out from the rest. However, for any and all other titles, small is almost always better – so never up your font size unless absolutely necessary.'
• Choose a tasteful font: 'Fonts that have a grungy or spray painted look (or anything else overly stylized) can look very cheap. Again, there are exceptions to this rule as well, but typically clean and simple fonts will always work better.'
• Don’t animate the titles: 'Simple is always better ... and 9 times out of 10, you are going to be better off just fading in a static title over picture (or black) than animating it to achieve an unoriginal effect.'
• Use framing guides: It's obvious 'when an editor hasn’t used framing guides with their titles. One title will fade into the next and they will just be slightly off from each other. Or a main title that is supposed to be centered will feel like it’s off to one side or the other.'
• Avoid drop shadows: 'Drop shadows can look okay in certain circumstances, especially when they are part of the overall aesthetic of the film’s brand, however they should never be used simply because the text needs to stand out more.' [1]

Each and every tip in this guide was helpful for considerations on my own work in order to keep it tasteful and professional.

Suits Opening Sequence

• 30 seconds in length.
• Upbeat soundtrack, fits the slick feel to the show.
• Modern and calculated grid FX - matching a business theme.
• Montage of footage featuring the main characters and their preparations for and journey to their office. Along with footage of New York, the show's location.
• Blue tones for the first 10 seconds, changing to warm, orange tones. To me, this represents a transition from waking up in the morning, to the sun rising and the day beginning.
• Small, modern and neat text.
• Text consists of main cast, the title and created by, featured in that order.
• An overall very routine, slick, polished feel to the titles.

Sherlock Opening Sequence

• 32 seconds in length.
• Dramatic, slightly fast paced soundtrack, fitting to a mystery crime drama.
• FX of footage blending and fading together, along with time lapse shots. Matching the theme of investigation and gathering evidence - all blending together.
• Montage of footage featuring shots such as London (the show's location), weapons, graffiti, a character's eye, a droplet of blood, and a picture of Sherlock.
• Bright colours initially that turn to slightly warm tones, that mostly have a vintage, sepia styled colour to the sequence. Representing a story that dates far back in English history.
• Small, modern, but slightly decayed-looking text.
• Text consists of title, main cast, written by, co-created with and based on the works of, in that order.
• An overall very summative, vintage feel to the titles.

Se7en Opening Sequence

• 2 minutes and 10 seconds in length.
• Dark, chaotic and creepy soundtrack, fitting the footage of a killer's actions being seen.
• FX used in making the text hover in a deliberately messy style, images flashing in quick frames, blending footage together, creating a ghosting style of overlaying footage on top of other footage and creating a scratch-like effect over the footage.
• Montage of footage featuring shots such as crime scene investigation evidence, fingers playing with and using a razor blade, a book being written in, clipping of images being added to the book, taped up finger tips stroking their work and drawing over the eyes of a face in a picture.
• Lots of darkness and shadows, accompanied by yellow and green tones that create a creepy feel that suits the actions being seen in the sequence.
• Small, handwritten-styled text, with an almost vibrating effect. Suiting the chaotic/'scratchy' feel of the FX and footage.
• Text consists of production company presents, the producer's production, a film by, the beginning of the main cast, the title, contuining of the main cast, casting by, music by, costumes designed by, edited by, production designed by, director of photography, co-producers, co-executive producers, executive producers, written by, the title briefly shown again and produced by. Featured in that order.
• An overall unsettling, dark and theme explanatory opening titles.

By reviewing and analysing the appearance and sound of three seperate opening titles, I was able to analyse the compenents of each one that made them fit their show/film/themes so well. I was also able to take note of their length, how the soundtrack fits, the FX used, footage, tone/colouring, text style and how the text was used for crediting. Taking from each sequence example, I plan to draw inspiration from the following compenents...

• Switching from cool, blue tones, and warm, orange tones where appropriate. [2]
• Small, modern and neat text. [2]
• Text consisting of main cast, title and created by. However potentially not in that order. [2]
• FX of time lapse footage and blending/fading shots together. [3]
• FX of images flashing between frames and potentially overlaying footage in a ghosting style. [4]
• The use of darkness and shadows in appropriate shots/moments. [4]

Areas that I plan for my sequence to differ in however, are features such as before and after styled shots, an overall different theme due to the difference of my series to the examples above, and most likely a difference in length, as I currently plan for 40 seconds.

References

1. 5 Easy Tips For Creating an Awesome Title Sequence

2. Suits Opening Credits

3. Sherlock 2010 - Opening Credits

4. Se7en Opening Titles