Title Sequence Analysis!

Today we're doing something a little bit different, bloggers. I will be analyzing... Title Sequences! Every movie has their own unique title sequence, and so today I'm going to look at 2 movies and a TV show with some especially interesting title sequences and talking about how they're made as well as how good they are.

Movie 1: X-Men: First Class 

The title sequence for X-Men: First Class is a deviant from those of the rest of the X-Men saga. Instead of going all 3D and futuristic, director Matthew Vaughn opted for a much simpler 2D design. The designer for the sequence, Simon Clowes, took inspiration from the sequences of the early James Bond films as well as from the works of Saul Bass. The final product is a sequence designed to make the movie look like it was made in the 1960's (also when the film takes place) while still keeping a modern flow. The visual designing of the sequence itself is especially clever, as it portrays the X-gene and its mutations. The title sequence alone is able to seamlessly blend both futuristic and retro elements while referencing the film's story, both with the soundtrack and the visuals.

Movie 2: Twister 

The title sequence for Twister, despite being up there in age, is still one of the more clever sequences to this day. Obviously movies made before the 2000s didn't have the best options available in terms of CGI, but Twister was able to use this to their advantage to create a title sequence that was both creative and chaotic, just like the movie. The sequence features a tornado barreling towards the screen, revealing small credits as it approaches. The tornado then rapidly intensifies, eventually revealing the TWISTER title, which has an extremely jarring font that emphasizes the brutality of the film. The title then moves towards the camera before being swept away, and the tornadic winds die down. Finally, the winds disappear, transitioning into a seemingly calm scene with no real danger. This sequence does an amazing job with what little technology was available at the time, and is able to convey the terror of the movie without showing any actual tornadoes yet.

TV Show: Secret Invasion

Finally, I will be analyzing a show that is NOTORIOUS for having one of the most controversial title sequences ever made: Marvel Studios' Secret Invasion. The main plot of the show involves shapeshifting aliens infiltrating various world governments and agencies, with one of the main underlying themes of the show being that you can't trust anyone or anything. With this in mind, the designers of the title sequence opted for something unprecedented: AI art. That's right - the entirety of the opening credits for Secret Invasion was created using AI tools. On one hand, this makes perfect sense regarding the show's main theme, that being misinformation and distrust. The chaotic and unstable nature of AI art allows for visuals that would be hard for human artists to create and imagine to become reality, giving the title sequence an uncanny presence. On the other hand, AI art is fully comprised of data from the works of other artists, meaning any sort of AI art is comprised of stolen work. This caused controversy when the show released, with the public being outraged that a studio as big as Marvel would resort to AI art for a multi-million dollar production. From an analytical standpoint, though, the use of AI art adds a really neat "alienesque" quirk to the sequence that I don't think any human artist could have created (or at least not as good), so I personally don't have an issue with it. However, I do understand why people would be outraged about its use since it IS creative theft no matter how you spin the story.