Remember when credits were fancy? Now they just scroll by as the scene starts. We have a question in the forum asking the most beloved..so I ask, do people miss these long 2 minute intros?
shareOh yes,i do...especially on tv shows.
shareNo. I don't have much time left.
I'd rather just get to the fun.
haha, yeah i hear ya. They pretty much seem like a waste of time or filler now a days. People complain that tv shows are shorter, but they never take into account that instead of having a 2 min songs introing the characters they have extra commercials.
I'm strange though, I love that old movies have all the credits at the beginning.
I think movies are different. At least to me.
I love the opening shot movies that the camera keeps going while the credits roll.
Like The Player or Touch of Evil.
TV shows back in the day also had over 30 episodes in one season.
Some now days only have 10 or less.
Some of the older movies went on too long.
I think people just like it because it gives them extra time to get snacks.
This is all so true. There may be not a minute to waste as they don't have as much time to tell the story. Plus I would say that most TV shows now a days are more complex then the serials that were mostly on in years gone past. Not that they all are were, but you know what I mean.
I also love the opening shots of movies... you can almost get a feel if you will like a film based just on this, as crazy as that sounds. Not sure if the older movies went on too long, guess that would be a case by case basis ;)
I think it depends on the movie. Some of Fords credits seem to last forever.
Now days I really think it's about the money.
Certain series who have split stories. Two or three different stories going on at the same time.
To me it feels like they don't want to have to pay certain people for an entire season so
they limit them to a certain number of episodes. Now I'm totally OT. Sorry
There are a LOT more opening credits with each passing TV season, and they obscure the action. I want to know the actors, the writer and the director. That's all. Okay, I know I'm going to see the Big Producer's name; but--c'mon!-- it's a 22- or 44-minute TV show, it's not a movie. I don't care about the co-executive producer (which is an illiterate phrase), the lighting guy, the driver or the fucking caterer.
shareDon't you think now days it's a moot point?
You can look up basically everything you want to know in a matter of seconds.
I think most people today might see a name or face, like them and search for them anyway.
If you're already searching does it really matter if they show who it is at the beginning?
Back in the day it was more important to get the names out there.
Dewey, I'm complaining about too much info on the screen. Of course you can go online and get the name of the extra with the great rack. My objection is to having content overlayed with content, which as RESULTED from our digital experience online. I like my experiences to be clear, not crowded. All those names and titles are in the opening credits not to inform me, but to kiss someone's ass. Because it's not my ass, I object.
shareOK, I hear you.
Reminds me of a similar topic about channels that shrink the closing credits.
This was presented by a very astute observer. I don't quite remember who that was though.
I also enjoy the occasional ass kiss and possibly lick every now and then. 😉
Yes, I do. Intros help a show become more iconic and they put you in the mood.
shareI like the Game of Thrones intro.
shareThe GoT theme is wonderful classical music, composed by the same man who wrote the theme for Westworld. It begins with a cello solo, then gradually ushers in the rest of the symphony orchestra. Musicologists agree that the cello is the most beautiful and compelling of all solo instruments, and that the full-on symphony orchestra is the greatest musical instrument our species has devised. Accompanied by inspired graphics, which include sigils next to the names in each credit (sigils for their character's respective house [Stark, Lannister, Targaryan, Barathian, etc.] next to the credit for each actor, Bighead/Littlehead for D&D, und so weiter) it constitutes a powerful, passionate, indelible statement. I could say the much the same for Westworld, which launches with a piano solo. We musicologists think the pianoforte is the second-most beautiful solo instrument; plus emotionally resonant graphics.
But that's not TV. That's HBO.
Sometimes it can be overdone. I started watching the original Twin Peaks recently, and I hate that slow-ass intro with the opening credits. Minimum of a minute and a half, sometimes longer... opening music is way too loud compared to the music in the show and the quiet dialogue... intro is very dull with just scenes of nature and the sawmill in the town. I skip through it as quickly as possible.
I like a nice quick opening, if there has to be one. Big Bang Theory is a great example, as is Rick & Morty. Frasier has a nice iconic opening title sequence, with actual variety to it, and it literally takes seconds!
There are still proper opening credits out there, but I get your point. I don't know when that started, but the first one I remember being really short was Lost. A flash and it was gone. Still, I liked it and it fit with the show IMO.
I think it mainly has to do with binge watching. A title sequence is great once a week. That way you get an extra treat and it gets you in the mood for the show. But every 40 minutes or so, it's unneeded waste of screen time /the best way I can put it/. I've seen it once, twice, and at a point I just want to get to the actual show.
Yes! Rather see a well constructed opening then bs credits rolling over pointless 'establishing' shots of the ep. (i.e. sunrise/set, a building, park) I mean really?
Also miss the AWESOME theme music. Like Night rider, damn was that a tune! Even Hawaii 5-0 the reboot has an opening sequence since the h50 song is so great.
Not only that there are lots of fun things you can do from it getting stale. Like Sabrina the Teenage With did, each time she was in a different outfit and said a different funny quip about it. Sometimes it even had to do with the ep itself. Nice set up. And of course the couch sitting scene in the Simpsons. Different each time. And the thing Bart writes on the chalkboard, and the thing the register says when they scan Maggie.
Opening credits also would ALERT you that your fave show was coming on as well. Also give you time to grab a snack, bath room trip, etc.
Haha also miss all the camp, remember Star Trek TOS OMG! To go where no man has gone before! Classic. And Xena "The world cried out for a hero....her name was Xena...forged in the heat of battle" OMG YES. I need this silliness in my life.