The Importance Of Opening Titles

The information you may be given during the opening titles of a film;

• The title of the film
• Cast in the film
• The production company
• The distributor company
• Director, producer, make-up, costume design, music

What is the difference between opening titles and closing credits?

 

The difference between opening titles and closing titles is the following; the opening titles are there to inform the audience of the people who played the more important roles in the film. This will include those such as the director, producer and the production company. On the other hand, the closing credits list everyone who was involved in the film making; from the director and cast to the costume design and music department. During the opening titles it displays the theme including font, colour and style. These have all a correlation with the genre of the film.

What is the importance of opening titles?

The opening titles of a film are very important in giving the audience a lot of information. For example, it states the most important people in the film to give the audience that information. The names are usually given in the order of importance with the most important coming first. An example of this is from the film 'Se7en' where Brad Pitt's name is the first one stated out of all the actors. This is because he is the most well known actor in the film and the star actor therefore coming first in the titles. Also, he would be first in the titles as he of the biggest actors in the world and a huge star in Hollywood, therefore by putting him first this will attract viewers to the film. There are other crew members mentioned in the opening titles too. These include the director, producer and executive producer, music and the distributors. It is also important to include these members for the same reason that they are capable of attracting possible viewers. For example, the director of the 'Se7en', David Fincher, is a very successful and well known and respected director. This means people who have previously recognised his stuff and enjoyed it are likely to watch 'Se7en' due to the fact he is involved heavily in the making of the film. Opening titles aren't only just useful for giving the audience information, it has symbolic coding which the audience can recognise. For example, in 'Se7en', the font and style of the credits, along with the the music and image used all contribute to the genre. It is easy to make out from the titles that the genre of 'Se7en' is thriller.