No Opening Credits: A New Trend? (1 Viewer)

[Scott D S]

You are correct. Also, Pearl Harbor had the title but no studio logos. I didn't know movies could do that.

I for one love a good title sequence. Hitchcock, Fincher, the Bond films, Superman, they're like mini-movies. I thought Star Trek: Nemesis was okay but one thing I didn't like was the omission of a title sequence. You can't have a Trek film without a title sequence.

 

[Ray_Gootz]

I feel like at the start of the movie they should at least hold for the title. I feel like then it gives the signal to the viewer that the film is really about to begin. I liken it to comics, in comics sometimes you'll have 2 or 3 story pages and then suddenly the splash page with the title and a huge one-page drawing of the hero or something. It brings a climax to the prolouge and helps really start the movie. the best example is FOTR. In that we had the 7 minute prolouge and then the shot of Frodo by the tree reading with the titles over him. It helped establish to the audience that A)the main story was about to begin B) This was our hero and C) the world is pretty peaceful right now.

With some movies like New Nightmare and Last Action Hero I kept waiting for the title to jump at me and when it never came it sorta ruined the enjoyment. Even if it's just the title it sets the tone and really kicks thing off in a big way. I say keep opening credits.

 

[RafaelB]

Don't forget "The Lion King" which reprised the Percussive "Boom" at the title both at the beginning of the film (post "Circle of Life") and the end of the film.

Rafael

 

[Lew Crippen]

IIRC, The Wild One began with a title shown over a low-level shot of a deserted road—right down the center strip. We get a bit of a background and voice-over and finally see something approaching in the far distance. The indistinct blur turns into Marlon Brando leading a motorcycle gang into town.

Early 50s.

I’m pretty sure that I’ve seen some film beginning w/o credits even earlier, but I can’t remember just now.

 

[WillG]

"And of course the Star Wars films!"

The irony of it all! I remember hearing that at the time Lucas had to specifically petition the Directors Guild for permission not to use opening titles, when this request was denied, he abandoned the opening titles anyway and was fined by the Guild. He paid the fine, then resigned from the guild. Nowadays it has become common place not to use them. I, for one, am not that thrilled about this whole practice as it is another thing that is going away from the art of filmmaking. As someone else mentioned above, titles can be extremely effective in establishing mood. I wouldn't dare skip through the opening titles of films such as Superman, Bond films, Halloween, Jaws, etc.

 

[John Doran]

As someone else mentioned above, titles can be extremely effective in establishing mood. I wouldn't dare skip through the opening titles of films such as Superman, Bond films, Halloween, Jaws, etc.

for me, that mood is one of irritation. in fact, the opeinig sequence for superman is the principal example of this for me - i would rather rewind blank tapes with a bic pen than watch that ever again.

whatever cinematic usefulness credit sequences may have is, for me, ruined by the credits themselves.

as always, YMMV.

 

[Ray_Gootz]

Bond and halloween really set the mood plus a credit sequence also helps the film composers set up the musical theme for the movie. Once we've sat through the entire opening credits for Haloween, Superman, Batman and Psycho the movie's theme is allready ingrained in our head. That way when it cues up again (like in Psycho when Janet Leigh is killed or Haloween when we see The Shape stalknig Laurie) it heights the impact.

 

[DavidBL]

The irony of it all! I remember hearing that at the time Lucas had to specifically petition the Directors Guild for permission not to use opening titles, when this request was denied, he abandoned the opening titles anyway and was fined by the Guild. He paid the fine, then resigned from the guild. Nowadays it has become common place not to use them. I, for one, am not that thrilled about this whole practice as it is another thing that is going away from the art of filmmaking. As someone else mentioned above, titles can be extremely effective in establishing mood. I wouldn't dare skip through the opening titles of films such as Superman, Bond films, Halloween, Jaws, etc.

Straight from a Roger Ebert column in 1999,(actually 1997) :

"As the camera tilts up, a vast spaceship appears from the top of the screen and moves overhead, an effect reinforced by the surround sound. It is such a dramatic opening that Lucas paid a fine and resigned from the Directors Guild rather than obey its demand that he begin with conventional opening credits."

I wonder if that policy has since changed since it happens a lot more often?

 

[Bill J]

Black Hawk Down only had the title of the film and did not even have studio logos.

I don't think "The Ring" even had the title at the beginning either. All I remember is the little Dreamworks intro. Am I wrong?

That's correct. The Dreamworks logo is affected by static interference like the videotape.

 

[Travis Hedger]

Harry Potter too. WB logo, then movie starts, then HP title, then movie.

 

[Brad Eisenhauer]

A really good credit sequence can set the mood for a movie. Bond wouldn't be Bond without one. Most credit sequences a pretty boring though, so I don't consider it any great loss if a director chooses to forego the opening credit sequence.

I haven't seen Braveheart or Gladiator listed here. Those each have studio logos only.

 

[Brian Lawrence]

Did Scream have anything other than the title of the film? I don't recall for certian but I think that one also jumped right into the film without credits.

 

[Iain Jackson]

You're right, Scream only had a title.

 

[Ray H]

Minority Report and A.I. both don't have credits at the beginning.

Moulin Rouge doesn't. Who Framed Roger Rabbit has the company credits then goes right to the cartoon. The Royal Tenenbaums, Rushmore and The Godfather don't.

I don't think The Matrix and its sequel have opening credits either, but I could be wrong.

A Clockwork Orange and 2001: A Space odyssey don't have traditional opening credits, though Clockwork has company credits.

 

[Steve Felix]

I wonder if that policy has since changed since it happens a lot more often?

Without looking it up I'd say it almost certainly has. What I usually see now is that the credits required by unions and guilds appear at the end in a format that only makes sense at the beginning. (After it's over: X Presents an X Film etc.) So the exact wording and order is required but not at a specific time, apparently.

 

[MatthewLouwrens]

personally, i loathe credits at the beginning of movies.

Personally, I'm not bothered one way or the other by credit sequences. I usually never notice whether a film has opening credits or not.

But a good credit sequence is a wonderful thing to watch. Saul Bass was a true master of opening credits, and films like Catch Me If You Can and the James Bond films have been mentioned as wonderful credit sequences (hell, I bought Catch Me If You Can yesterday, and have watched the opening sequence four times - haven't got around to watching the actual film yet).

 

[Ray Chuang]

Actually, depending how well it is done, movies don't really need opening credits other than the company logo and the title of the film. It works absolutely superbly in The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, for example.

Full opening credits have to be well-done and really keep the interest of the viewer to work artistically. The James Bond movies have done full opening credit sequences so they can include the theme song for the movie, something that was started with From Russia With Love.

I remember historically, movies did their entire credit sequence at the beginning of the movie as a convention. It was only later that movies had some credits at the beginning of the film and at the end of the film, and now with heavy use of all the credits (besides company logo and movie title) at the end of the film.

By the way, I remember reading about one showing of Apocalypse Now where they NEVER showed the credits in the movie, and instead at the end of the showing ushers passed out small phamplets with all the movie credit information on it! I don't think the MPAA would approve of such a thing in regular movie theater showings, though.

 

[Bill J]

I remember reading about one showing of Apocalypse Now where they NEVER showed the credits in the movie, and instead at the end of the showing ushers passed out small phamplets with all the movie credit information on it!

Yes, they did this for the 1979 70mm release and for Redux (although the 1979 programs are much better quality).

 

[Richard Kim]

Moulin Rouge doesn't. Who Framed Roger Rabbit has the company credits then goes right to the cartoon. The Royal Tenenbaums, Rushmore and The Godfather don't.

The Wes Anderson films and the Godfather also contain the company credits and the title card, like A.I. Also, The Royal Tenenbaums does have opening credits several minutes into the film (much like Raising Arizona).

 

[Ray H]

Whoops, forgot about the Royal Tenenbaums part. :b

But I don't count the company credits as actual opening credits. I feel opening credits usually have things like the director of photography and editor.