Research into Title Sequences

A title sequence for a film is very important as it is often shown first therefore has to catch your attention. There are many different types of title sequences and really you can have anything but most of the time it usually relates to the film. Therefore that meant that our title sequence would relate to horror and zombies. But to have any idea about what kind of title sequence we wanted we first had to research different existing title sequences.

Title Sequence 1: 
Halt and Catch Fire (2014) — Art of the Title

This was the first title sequence I looked into. It was made for a TV series called ‘Halt and catch fire’ and I didn’t know what it was about which I think made it better to analyse as I had no expectations. At first It drew me in by the music and the red background as it is very bright and your eyes are immediately drawn to the screen. As the sequence goes on the characters names appear on the screen and they’re in white which stands out against the red and black therefore your eyes again are drawn to the text. The music also is intense which reflects the title sequence as it’s a very sequence. Another thing is that when the sequence starts there is a constant which is a light followed by a trail. This constant stays moving throughout the title sequence and I feel the reason it does this is because in each part when the sequence changes (for example the background) there is always something you can relate to in the sequence and it’s not just random. This is effective as it always keeps you interested. At the end the name of the series comes on the screen along with what I presume is the logo and the name, telling you what the series is. This is a very good visual title sequence and I’m quite interested in watching this TV show now I’ve looked at the title sequence so that tells me that it must be a good title sequence if it has got me interested!

Title Sequence 2:
The Walking Dead (Season 3) (2012) — Art of the Title

The second title sequence I researched is the title sequence from The Walking Dead which I already know is a zombie horror TV series. I wanted to research this title sequence because I know that if we wanted to have any kind of similar title sequence in terms of our genre then this (being one of the most successful zombie TV series) would be a great one to get ideas from. To start with the sequence gets straight to the point and the music comes straight away and it is very powerful. When it starts it shows shots (with effects on to make it look more ‘zombified’) and the shots are very close and aren’t really of anything significant, just setting the scene. Now if you watch the show then you’ll notice that some parts of the title sequence relate to the series as when Norman Redus’ name (or Daryl in the show) appears on the screen there is a pull focus of his arrows that he uses in the series now this would only occur to you if you watch the show therefore is good at relating to existing viewers but not to the new viewers. Finally at the end there is a shot of a prison which is where most of that season (season 3) is filmed so it sort of sets the scene before you watch it which is effective as you don’t need an establishing shot in the first scene you use (as long as the scene is set in the prison). And again similar to the first title sequence the name of the series is shown. This is a powerful title sequence and interesting to watch however the names don’t appear on the screen long enough for me as sometimes I had trouble reading them, but other than that it is a great title sequence and we can really take some ideas from this.