The Title Sequences That Stick

That little movie that opened this past weekend, with those men and women wearing silly suits, has sent the Internet into a flurry of diverse chatter. There's talk of blue members, ratings, geek takes, and the art of adaptations. Love it or loathe it, Watchmen offers fodder for many discussions.

Like title sequences. Consensus says that Zack Snyder's visually explanatory introduction (actually created by a company called Yuco) to the Watchmen universe was spot on. Personally, I'd been expecting some sort of visual timeline, a la The Kingdom -- years flashing by the screen as we see all the slight and shocking changes to the political, social, and arts worlds. But the same was done without the dates -- just simple scenes set up like moving art pieces. The tone was set with each crack of violence, and relayed in a way exposition could never manage.

This latest title sequence, however, isn't the only one that wows. Over the years, there have been many noteworthy openings, either slowly guiding the viewer into the world, or explosively thrusting them into it. Some give background and play catch-up. Some begin the tale as the names scroll by. And some just look stunning.

The one thing that I've learned over the years is that there must be some visual flair to the clips -- either complex or simplistic. Names can unravel in a mess of bubble answer sheets and diagrams, or simply a hand writing names on lined paper, or paragraphs floating through the sky.

There must also be the music. Those openings that you remember -- do they unravel silently, or with the rush of carefully selected notes? More than anything else, the tune that you hear will set the tone, and if it merges flawlessly with the visuals, you'll never forget. Requiem for a Dream wouldn't have been the same without Clint Mansell. But also...

The softness of Cat Stevens with the dark laughs of faux suicide:



...or Simon and Garfunkel leading Dustin Hoffman to his sexual doom.



...or the chilling notes of vertigo set to Saul Bass' distinct visual eye.



...or the growing despair of the future.



Which title sequences have stuck with you over the years, sometimes even after the rest of the movie fades away?


Follow me on Twitter!