Study of Credit Sequences

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Introducing a story and hooking the audience is not the only job that film openings have. It is very important to give proper credit to the people that worked on each film because every person dedicated their time and effort into each piece they work on and telling the public what everyone worked on is only fair. So, film openings often include the name of the production company that is behind the entire creation of the film, the producers, main actors featured, editors, directors of many arts (photography, cinematography, art, etc.), writers, etc. However, there are hundreds of other jobs that take place in the creation of a film, but they aren't all listed in the film opening, otherwise we'd be waiting for the movie to start for a really long time. Not to mention, the way that these credits are incorporated in the beginning of a movie helps to further set the tone and the mood for the rest of the film opening and story in general. Sometimes they are simply placed in the sky as the camera pans down to the setting where the story is taking place and other times it is incorporated into the actions of the character as the movie begins.

The Holdovers (2023)

The Holdovers has a very interesting credits sequence in that it copies the style of 1970's cinema, the year the film itself takes place in. Because of this, the credits are stretched through almost 6 minutes of the film's opening and, contrary to my earlier statement, credits numerous artists and people in this beginning scene as opposed to in the end credits where more recent movies tend to include the majority of these acknowledgements. The film begins with the names of the production companies, but it shows them in a "retro" style, evident by the classic Kodak colors they are seen in. It then fades to a black screen that is not quite black but more so a dark gray that is quite grainy, as videos shot in film often are, which further accentuates that 70's style. The credits begin to play in the foreground of a chorus group of young boys as they rehearse and then it switches to to different shots of the town that they are currently in, it looks quiet and peaceful, which is accentuated by the background singing. Once the boys wrap up, the scene cuts to a series of long and wide shots of the town with more peaceful singing in the background. Each shot shows different people going about their day, when the scene closes into someone's house and it is seen they are some sort of professor as he grades a paper. The credits come to an end as the scene cuts to a school lunchroom and the music fades out. During these long sequences, the credits play subtly in the foreground, not getting in the way of any shot or being too over the top. They only add to the calmness of the town as the soothing music plays. 

Grease  (1978)

Grease's title sequence is also very interesting because, like The Holdovers, it imitates the era in which the story takes place, in this case it's in the 50's. The credits sequence is completely animated which allows the sequence to take on a happy and bouncy mood that resembles the film's overall tone with its musical aspect. Each character and their respective actor is shown through a comical representation of each character so that they will be easily identifiable when the movie starts, even if this time they'll be real people and not only cartoon ones. As important aspects of the characters are shown, there are also visual representations of things that will happen later on in the movie (like how the cars that are shown throughout the credits will eventually appear in the movie) and, more than that, spread throughout the credit sequence are also drawings that date the year that the film will take place in with historical and political references from that time such as communism and MLK and, as the cartoon characters ride in their cars around town, the time period is further cemented by the inclusion of the buildings in background that are so clearly from the late 50's to early 60's due to their style and pops of color throughout. This approach to a credit scene is very interesting because it tells the audience so much about the story without a word being spoken or an actor making an appearance. It is a very fun and stark difference from other credit sequences and it immediately has the audience hooked, intrigued, and having a good time.