In forms of media such as TV and film, title sequences are extremely important as they give the viewer a taste of what to expect in the contents of the series. Due to this, a lot of series will use Barthsian engima codes to highlight and foreshadow key events relating to the plot and to specify what genre it is.
Main features of a title sequence:
- Lure the audience in
- Establish the main characters
- Establish the setting
- Establish the genre
- Foreshadow key events
The Conjuring (2013)
"The devil exists. God exists. And for us, as people, our very destiny hinges on which we decide to follow."
These newspaper extract generate interest and confirm straight away that this is a horror whilst luring the audience in as tales of the occult interest and spook people.
The photographs here establish who the important characters are whilst also creating enigmatic codes as we wonder why the girls faces have been covered up - perhaps foreshadowing key events.
The graveyard is a classic staple in the horror genre and establishes the setting as we know it'll be based around a graveyard and possible séances. Previous shots in the opening also giveaway that the investigations are about a mysterious house.
Psychological horrors feature ghosts and 'unseen fears' that lurk inside the mind so we know that this isn't going to be a gore or comedic horror by the repetitive usage of 'ghosts' and monochromatic colour scheme.
The image of the 'Annabelle doll' in particular is very jarring, especially in the manner in that it appeared on the screen very quickly in a flash putting emphasis that this is a horror with jump scares.
"It's adventure time, c'mon, grab your friends!"
Despite Adventure Time being completely different to The Conjuring in pretty much every way, the two still have the five main features when it comes to making a good title sequence and enticing the specified audience. As Adventure Time is a TV Series, it doesn't have enough air time for a long intricate opening therefore the opening has to be jammed packed and filled with key features to interest the target audience.
In these shots the world and location are established as well as defining minor characters. The bright popping colours, childish motifs and simple animation can be easily attributed to children's genre as well as luring a child's gaze as research has shown that children are drawn to bright colours. Although teenagers too may enjoy the quirky animation style.
These quick pan in close-ups establish the important characters and give clues to each characters quirks and personalities.
After the world introduction, the rest of the title sequence shows the two central protagonists, Finn and Jake doing various things. To make this even clearer that the two are of main importance, their names are written out, establishing them.
As this is just a simple cartoon with no episodic order, plot foreshadowing events are not necessary in the title sequence but from the sword and the name of the show we can assume that Jake and Finn go on quests or adventures through the land interacting with the various characters, having a fun time.
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