Opening Titles

Analysing Title Sequences

1) Teen Wolf (Season 3) 

The Teen Wolf title sequence is one of my favourites, due to it being first on my list. The music and the footage really creates the emotions and the atmosphere. So to get a basic feel of what this series is like, its Werewolves and the supernatural set in an American high school called 'Beacon Hills'. Where there's violence, relationships and a constant threat. Which could be anything supernatural. Characters come and go through out the seasons, but in season 3 the main characters are Scott McCall, Stiles Stilinski, Allison Argent, Lydia Martins and Derek Hale. These characters all have a part in the opening title sequence.

This title sequence was filmed specifically for the opening titles. All filmed in a black studio, with added effects included in post production. 

So the opening titles open with a sudden "Thud Thud, Thud Thud". Quickly revealing transitions from Wolf to Scott McColl opening his eyes. Once this has finished the music begins properly, with a repeating pattern of strings, as follows - 'G, G, A, A#'. This creates a great feel of urgency as you immediately get sucked in. Also a drum kit is present as it makes it a lot more modernised as it tracks along, with a simple beat and a constant cymbal hitting. With Scott McCall rising out of the mist revealing a dark atmospheric forest. This creates a mysterious feel that suddenly we realise that  there's going to be a lot of danger, undercover and hiding in the shadows. As Scott is the first character to be shown, we assume that he's the main focus of the series. As well there appears the actors name, revealing 'Tyler Posey' with the Teen Wolf font .The font type is very appealing as it looks very grubby and appears to have a few Werewolves slashes on it. Its all in upper case and is slightly italic, with all the words tightly close together.  

Moving on, we have Scott kissing Allison. As this show is about teenagers of course one of the main focuses is relationships. This inclusion is a massive part of seasons 1, 2 and 3 as it focuses on these two characters and their relationship. As they stop kissing and Scott goes out of shot, it zooms out slightly to reveal Allison holding and aiming a bow and arrow at Scott's position. This I really like because in the show Allison's family are Werewolf hunters. Its in her family blood, she's being trained to defend herself and kill Werewolves. What I really like about this title sequence is the use of 'clipping masks'. As the text 'Crystal Reed' appears on screen, its then briefly put behind a layer, which is when Allison pulls back the bow. This is a really nice touch as it feels not only the footage and music works together, but also the text as it feels like its part of the imagery.

Next is not a character inclusion, its more of a 'filler'. We have hands reaching out of the dirt and the ground; top and bottom.  In the show there's a lot of burying bodies and coming back to life moments. As its a supernatural show this would be expected. The reason we have fillers in this title sequence is because it gives us a break, makes it less crammed together and gives us a chance to process the information that appears on screen.

Now we've cut straight to the third character appearance. I really like this part as it looks visually stunning and very atmospheric. We have Stiles and his jeep. Just as a little reference, Stiles loves his jeep and said to Lydia when it broke down, "I will never abandon this jeep ok?" Even if people say its a tatty old piece of junk. The jeep is a huge part of the series and is instantly recognisable to any Teen Wolf fan. Scott is Stiles's best friend and they go off and solve supernatural murders and investigations behind the back of the police. Every superhero needs a gadget or superpower, for example The Doctor has his TARDIS, Captain America has his shield and Stiles has his blue jeep.

So, we see Stiles's jeep in the centre shining the head lights brightly. Then Stiles comes walking beside it and then in front revealing a silhouette of him. I love the transitions used here, as its jumps 4 times within the harmony of the music, which in this case the drum pattern goes off beat and bouncy. When it jumps for the fourth time the text on screen saying 'Dylan O'Brien' appears behind Stiles as its a 'clipping mask'. It makes it look like he's coming at us and looks very 3D.

The next part shows a hand with claws resting on Allison's shoulder as she turns her head and see's it. I like this because it shows, or rather what it doesn't show, whats lurking around the corner in the shadows getting the feel of horror.  This part is another filler as it spaces the title sequence out.

Now it cuts to the next character appearance where we see Derek. I like this part as it shows a lot of anger and screaming pain, which is also a massive part of his character and is cleverly shown as part of the title sequence.  Every Werewolf is different, but as a person, Derek keeps his anger as an 'anchor' to stop him shifting into a werewolf on a full moon. This is shown perfectly on the titles as he's letting out all the rage he keeps locked inside of him and in-bracing the power of the werewolf. The scene is sped up then immediately slowed down into slow motion as he screams. It makes it a lot more dramatic and cinematic, which is always very pleasing to the eye. The actors name 'Tyler Hoechlin' is also present to the right of him.

Right at the end we have the Teen Wolf logo as the music comes to a stop and fades out. Leaving the viewer wanting to watch more and find out what's going to happen next.

2) Doc Martin 


The Doc Martin title sequence is very effective and very different from others. The whole sequence is a time laps of Cornwall and was all specifically filmed for the titles. It starts of with a sun rise and then fades into the next clip and so on. The whole sequence is panning to the left, which works really well as its like going through the day. You get a mixture of different clips such as harbours, rock pools, fields, standing stones and the sea. The second to last clip is a sun set which fades into the actual location of the show "Port Wenn" and the time laps comes to an end. The music is cleverly merged in with the scenes by having more of an organic feel to the music which matches the footage of nature. By having a piano, a acoustic guitar, strings and natural sounding percussion defiantly fits it. The names of the actors fade on screen located in the bottom centre, as well as the Doc Martin title. Obviously the main character is going to be named first 'Martin Clunes' then the rest follows. Unlike other title sequences, this one doesn't have any characters or faces on screen. It was all made and filmed especially for the intro. As its all filmed in Cornwall, they wanted to show the beauty of the landscape and show the world what a stunning place it is. The show is really big in America and they get tones of tourists from the states and all over.





3) Primeval (Series 2)

Now this one is a very nostalgic title sequence, as I used to love this show when I was younger. The show is about tears in time called 'Anomalies' and creatures not only from the past but also from the future come through by accident. There's only a small group of people who know the truth - Professor Nick Cutter's team. Steven Hart, Connor Temple and Abby Maitland.

So the sequences begins with some hard hitting percussion and it kicks starts the show. I really like the visuals as all the characters are clipped masked inside the time crystals as they connect to each other like a puzzle flying by. The first character we see is Nick Cutter who obviously is the main star of the show. With the actors name next to it, as it also fly's in and forms the writing and spells - 'Douglas Henshall'. I like the way the text in all in upper case and is slightly italic. Also the red colour really sets of the danger side of the show, and works really well with those hard hitting percussions as it creates a lot of urgency. As the sequence begins to end the Anomaly closes down and forms into the red Primeval logo. Also I love the added, what it sounds to be, dinosaur screams in the background as its merged in with the music track. This creates a very on edge feeling as your about to get released into the danger of the twenty first century. When the music is literally about to stop the Primeval title falls apart and starts spinning as the Anomaly is closing, then disappears to darkness.

The way I can describe this title sequence is that its one big puzzle needing to be put together, and it does that! I love seeing all of the crystals linking up and floating around as its part of the Anomaly. Its like were all in there somewhere as its a massive part of time itself, past, present and the future.





4) Doctor Who (Series 4)



The Doctor Who titles have always been unique and has had many different versions over 50 years. My personal favourite is the 'Tenth Doctor Titles' from series 4. As I feel it gallops along and is a lot more modernised, with a faint drum kit in the background and more of a bass feel than the other versions. The music is instantly recognisable to mostly anybody and is a huge British icon.

This title sequence is really simple with all computer generated graphics and effects. No characters, no faces and no scenes. First off we jump straight into the action as the music instantly kicks in as if we we're on a rollercoaster. We see the blue time vortex as the TARDIS spins by and goes off into the distance. Here we see the BBC logo as it fades in at the bottom. As an extra point, blue vortex is the past and red vortex is the future.  At 0:10 we catch up with the TARDIS as it spins the whole camera to the left and then we go through the red vortex. I really love this part as it looks like we slowed down time, also the colours are stunning and really vibrant. The music is amazing as it gallops along and really does get you into the right mood. As the music hits the most iconic sound "Ehhhweeewhooo", we get the first actors name 'David Tennant' also known as the Doctor.  I love how the text turns to the camera and floats into us as the time vortex is constantly continuing into us.  Then metallic silver text goes straight into us as it flies past. Then we get the second main character 'Michelle Ryan'. After that we finally get the Doctor Who logo as it spins slowly to the camera and then flies past us. Then we catch up with the TARDIS once again as it spins around, then revealing the episode title "Planet of the Dead", you also get he name of the writers underneath. Then the whole sequence comes to an end as the music finishes and the visuals fade out.






5) Sherlock (Series 1, 2 and 3)


There's 5 different variations of the Sherlock titles. Series 1, 2, 3, 4 and Abominable Bride special. The video below includes the first three. I really like the Sherlock titles because it has a mixture of different elements. The big part of the sequence is the time laps, just like Doc Martin its to show life moving over the course of time shown. I also love the overlays of transitions as they all seem to blend all together really well.





6) Fawlty Towers 

The Fawlty Towers opening titles sequences is very unique and is very recognisable. My most favourite part is in every episode the titles are slightly different. Where it says 'Fawlty Towers' on the sign. Its spelt differentially every time. For example, 'Warty Towels' and 'Farty Owls' etc. Just where someone's come along and changed the wording on the sign as a joke. I feel that this is a really nice touch, as sometimes watching the same title sequence over and over again can be a little boring. Also the music is wonderful and defiantly gets stuck in my head all the time. The background is just of the Hotel where the whole show is set. The text fades on screen and out. Very simple but effective and it only lasts for about 10 seconds, any more than that then it would become boring.