Title sequences are probably one of those things that many people really like without knowing it. If people would just start looking at them not just “something in the beginning of the film” but more along the lines of it being a real work of art, often telling a story of its own. And there are title sequences for every taste; explanatory, animated, typographic, nude, violent, suggestive etc.
The best source of this is The Art of The Title Sequence (artofthetitle.com). There you can find lots of the best sequences ever made, you can read interviews with interesting people and sometimes there will be a lenghty feature article to enjoy.
Below, you can find a few of my own favorites on the subject.
Catch Me If You Can – This is a typical mood setting title sequence. The style of it also takes you right to the decade where the film takes place. And above all, it is simply stunning.
The Kingdom – Infographics, relevance, hard facts and it takes the viewer right to the punch.
Lord of War – Simple but clever. Interesting and relevant. Great setup for the rest of the film.
Panic Room – Not just for the typographics, but also because of the location. I love NYC, and I always like to see glimpses of it – where ever that may be. It’s 3D-type was also trendsetting, today we see 3D-type everywhere.
Stranger Than Fiction – Great animated infographics, and with Will Farrell too. I really like that guy. Plus, his sons’ name is Magnus.
Want to read more on the subject? Check out Saul Bass as he was the king and somewhat of the father of animated title sequences, ofcourse artofthetitle.com, Forget the Film, Watch the Titles and obviously, Youtube is an extraordinary source for this kind of stuff.
