The purpose of an opening title sequence to a film is to establish the visual style of the film and to introduce the viewer to all or some of the following:
Characters
Location
Narrative/Plot
Genre
Themes
Typically, an opening sequence will contain:
- Details of cast and crew.
- The film's title.
- An introduction to character or character type.
- Indication of place.
- Indication of historical period.
- Information regarding mood and tone.
- Introduction to signature theme tune.
- Information about genre.
- Questions that the viewer finds intriguing.
- Patterns and types of editing that will be echoed in the remainder of the film.
- Mise en scene and cinematography that will be echoed or elaborated upon later in the film.