Uploaded June 2023 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
This is my video essay on opening credits in cinema and the questions surrounding their artistic value. Not all are created equally but for the majority, movie logos feel more like a drag on the runtime rather than something that adds to the enjoyment of the film.
As controversial as it may sound, is that what we’ve come to when we go to the theatre? Another waiting line?
Like waiting for the appointment at the doctor’s, the audience is stuck in a trap of being in this lobby while they are forced to watch something they didn’t come to see. With every second the passes, the attention once had on the movie slowly begins to fade and the runtime suddenly feels longer.
But can we do this better? What are some shining examples we can learn from?
This is my video exploring those other options.
Thank you to my incredible Patreons for continuing to support this channel. You guys are amazing.
At the time of this being made, these include the lovely people: “Matthew McKinley, Mike Scheurman, Jack Pollard, Dr_Slurp, ThatEvilCanadian”.
If you’d also like the option of becoming a Patreon, head to:
patreon.com/motioninart
For more of my reviews, analyses, and other articles:
motioninartmedia.com
Twitter:
twitter.com/motion_in_art
Reddit:
reddit.com/user/motioninart
What are Opening Credits?
In a motion picture, television program or video game, the opening credits or opening titles are shown at the very beginning and list the most important members of the production. They are now usually shown as text superimposed on a blank screen or static pictures, or sometimes on top of action in the show. There may or may not be accompanying music. When opening credits are built into a separate sequence of their own, the correct term is a title sequence (such as the familiar James Bond and Pink Panther title sequences).
Opening credits since the early 1980s, if present at all, identify the major actors and crew, while the closing credits list an extensive cast and production crew. Historically, however, opening credits have been the only source of crew credits and, largely, the cast, although over time the tendency to repeat the cast, and perhaps add a few players, with their roles identified (as was not always the case in the opening credits), evolved. The ascendancy of television movies after 1964 and the increasingly short "shelf-life" of films in theaters has largely contributed to the credits convention which came with television programs from the beginning, of holding the vast majority of cast and crew information for display at the end of the show.
In movies and television, the title and opening credits may be preceded by a "cold open," or teaser (in other words, a brief scene prior to the main acts), that helps to set the stage for the episode or film.
Many major American motion pictures have done away with opening credits, with many films, such as Van Helsing in 2004 and Batman Begins in 2005, not even displaying the film title until the closing credits begin.
George Lucas is credited with popularizing this with his Star Wars films which display only the film's title at the start. His decision to omit opening credits in his films Star Wars (1977) and The Empire Strikes Back (1980) led him to resign from the Directors Guild of America after being fined $250,000 for not crediting the director during the opening title sequence. However, Hollywood had been releasing films without opening credits for many years before Lucas came along, most notably Citizen Kane, West Side Story, 2001: A Space Odyssey and The Godfather.
Nevertheless, "title-only" billing became an established form for summer blockbusters in 1989, with Ghostbusters II, Lethal Weapon 2 and The Abyss following the practice. Clint Eastwood has omitted opening credits (except for the title) in every film that he has directed since approximately 1982.
With regard to television series, it is now an accepted practice to credit regular cast members for every episode of a season, even if they did not appear in each episode. One example is the American television series Nip/Tuck, in which the appearance of all credited characters is rare. Another television series that credited all regulars for a season in every episode (regardless of whether or not they appeared) was Lost, most notably from season two onward, in which the complete credited cast appeared in only two episodes out of 23.
The television series Police Squad!, in keeping with its parodic nature, featured a character who only appeared in the credits ("...and Rex Hamilton as Abraham Lincoln").
And if you’re still reading this – hello.
This video is made through Fair Use under copyright law for the purposes of education in criticism or review; as well as parody or satire. copyright.gov/title17/92c https://www.copyright.org.au/ACC_Prod
This is my video essay on opening credits in cinema and the questions surrounding their artistic value. Not all are created equally but for the majority, movie logos feel more like a drag on the runtime rather than something that adds to the enjoyment of the film.
As controversial as it may sound, is that what we’ve come to when we go to the theatre? Another waiting line?
Like waiting for the appointment at the doctor’s, the audience is stuck in a trap of being in this lobby while they are forced to watch something they didn’t come to see. With every second the passes, the attention once had on the movie slowly begins to fade and the runtime suddenly feels longer.
But can we do this better? What are some shining examples we can learn from?
This is my video exploring those other options.
Thank you to my incredible Patreons for continuing to support this channel. You guys are amazing.
At the time of this being made, these include the lovely people: “Matthew McKinley, Mike Scheurman, Jack Pollard, Dr_Slurp, ThatEvilCanadian”.
If you’d also like the option of becoming a Patreon, head to:
patreon.com/motioninart
For more of my reviews, analyses, and other articles:
motioninartmedia.com
Twitter:
twitter.com/motion_in_art
Reddit:
reddit.com/user/motioninart
What are Opening Credits?
In a motion picture, television program or video game, the opening credits or opening titles are shown at the very beginning and list the most important members of the production. They are now usually shown as text superimposed on a blank screen or static pictures, or sometimes on top of action in the show. There may or may not be accompanying music. When opening credits are built into a separate sequence of their own, the correct term is a title sequence (such as the familiar James Bond and Pink Panther title sequences).
Opening credits since the early 1980s, if present at all, identify the major actors and crew, while the closing credits list an extensive cast and production crew. Historically, however, opening credits have been the only source of crew credits and, largely, the cast, although over time the tendency to repeat the cast, and perhaps add a few players, with their roles identified (as was not always the case in the opening credits), evolved. The ascendancy of television movies after 1964 and the increasingly short "shelf-life" of films in theaters has largely contributed to the credits convention which came with television programs from the beginning, of holding the vast majority of cast and crew information for display at the end of the show.
In movies and television, the title and opening credits may be preceded by a "cold open," or teaser (in other words, a brief scene prior to the main acts), that helps to set the stage for the episode or film.
Many major American motion pictures have done away with opening credits, with many films, such as Van Helsing in 2004 and Batman Begins in 2005, not even displaying the film title until the closing credits begin.
George Lucas is credited with popularizing this with his Star Wars films which display only the film's title at the start. His decision to omit opening credits in his films Star Wars (1977) and The Empire Strikes Back (1980) led him to resign from the Directors Guild of America after being fined $250,000 for not crediting the director during the opening title sequence. However, Hollywood had been releasing films without opening credits for many years before Lucas came along, most notably Citizen Kane, West Side Story, 2001: A Space Odyssey and The Godfather.
Nevertheless, "title-only" billing became an established form for summer blockbusters in 1989, with Ghostbusters II, Lethal Weapon 2 and The Abyss following the practice. Clint Eastwood has omitted opening credits (except for the title) in every film that he has directed since approximately 1982.
With regard to television series, it is now an accepted practice to credit regular cast members for every episode of a season, even if they did not appear in each episode. One example is the American television series Nip/Tuck, in which the appearance of all credited characters is rare. Another television series that credited all regulars for a season in every episode (regardless of whether or not they appeared) was Lost, most notably from season two onward, in which the complete credited cast appeared in only two episodes out of 23.
The television series Police Squad!, in keeping with its parodic nature, featured a character who only appeared in the credits ("...and Rex Hamilton as Abraham Lincoln").
And if you’re still reading this – hello.
This video is made through Fair Use under copyright law for the purposes of education in criticism or review; as well as parody or satire. copyright.gov/title17/92c https://www.copyright.org.au/ACC_Prod
