Opening credits
Encyclopedia
In a motion picture
, television program
, or video game, the opening credits are shown at the very beginning and list the most important members of the production. They are now usually shown as text superimposed on a blank screen or static pictures, or sometimes on top of action in the show. There may or may not be accompanying music. Where opening credits are built into a separate sequence of their own, the correct term is title sequence
(such as the familiar James Bond
and Pink Panther
title sequences).
Opening credits since the early 1980s, if present at all, identify the major actors and crew, while the closing credits
list an extensive cast and production crew. Historically, however, opening credits have been the only source of crew credits and, largely, the cast, although over time the tendency to repeat the cast, and perhaps add a few players, with their roles identified (as was not always the case in the opening credits), evolved. The ascendancy of television movies after 1964 and the increasingly short "shelf-life" of films in theaters has largely contributed to the credits convention which came with television programs from the beginning, of holding the vast majority of cast and crew information for display at the end of the show.
In movies and television, the title and opening credits may be preceded by a "cold open
," or teaser (brief scene), that helps to set the stage for the episode or film.
of the 1968 film Oliver!
runs for about three-and-a-half minutes, and while not listing the complete cast, does list nearly all of its technical credits at the beginning of the film, all set against a background of what appear to be, but in fact are not, authentic nineteenth century engravings of typical London life. The only credit at film's end is a listing of most of the cast, including cast members not listed at the beginning. These are set against a replay of some of the "'Consider Yourself
" sequence.
Some opening credits are designed to run concurrently with a film's first sequence; in fact, this is one practice even more commonly followed today. The opening credits for the 1993 film The Fugitive
continued for fifteen minutes into the film. The opening credits for the 1968 film Once Upon a Time in the West
lasted for fourteen minutes. This was because they were not presented in title sequences. Instead they are intermittently superimposed over the entire opening sequences of the two films.
The first sound film
to begin without any opening credits was Walt Disney
's Fantasia
, released in 1940. In the film's general release, a title card and the credit "Color by Technicolor" were spliced onto the beginning of the film, but otherwise there were no credits, although closing credits were added to the 1990 re-release and are on the videocassette. This general release version has been the one most often seen by audiences. In the roadshow
version of the film, unseen by most audiences until its DVD release, the title card is seen only at the halfway point of the film, as a cue that the intermission
is about to begin. The intermission was omitted in the general release version.
Orson Welles
' Citizen Kane
begins with only a title credit. This practice was extremely uncommon during that era.
West Side Story
(1961) begins with a shot of an ink sketch of the New York City skyline as it was when the film was made. As the background of the shot changes color several times, we hear an overture medley (not in the original show) of some of the film's songs. As the overture ends, the camera pulls back and we see the title of the film the rest of the credits are shown as graffiti
at the end of the film.
Most Disney films
between 1937 and 1981 had all the film-related information in the opening credits, while the closing just consisted of the credit "The End: A Walt Disney Production", nothing else. However, Mary Poppins
was the first Disney film to have longer closing credits
, in which all the principal cast members (and the characters that they played) were listed.
Most Soviet films
presented all film-related information in the opening credits, rather than at the closing which consist of just a "THE END" title, nothing else. A typical Soviet opening credits sequence starts with a film company's logo (Mosfilm
, Lenfilm
, etc.), the film's title, followed by the scenarist (the Soviet Union considered the scriptwriter the principal "auteur" of its films), followed by the director, usually on separate screens, then continuing with screens showing other credits, of varying number, and finally, the film's chief administrator-in-charge, the production director . Following this came the cast, usually in actor-and-role format for all principal and major featured players, and perhaps then a screen just naming, in an alphabetical cluster, some additional character players. The final credit screen identified the studio corresponding to the logo at the beginning, and the year of the film's production. It could also contain the frame with the technical information about the cinematographic film manufacturer (e.g., Svema
).
This basic method was also followed in most American films from the 1930s through the late 1980s, though, obviously, in American films there was no censoring of the director's name, except in cases of blacklisting. American films also tended to list the names of the actors before the names of the directors, screenwriters, etc. Exceptions were made in the films of director Frank Capra
, whose name was usually billed before the film's title. Director Victor Fleming
's name was also billed before those of the actors in films such as The Wizard of Oz
, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
, and Joan of Arc
. Capra, Fleming, and James Whale
were three of the few directors who received the credit "A (insert director's name here) Production" even though they did not produce their films.
François Truffaut
's 1966 film Fahrenheit 451
uses spoken opening credits instead of written ones, in keeping with the film's story of a world without reading matter
.
in 2004 and Batman Begins
in 2005, not even displaying the film title until the closing credits begin. Similarly, Welles
’ Touch of Evil
originally waited until the end to display the title as well as the credits; however, Universal Studios
took the film out of his hands, and his vision was not restored until 1998. Had Universal not wrangled Touch of Evil away from Welles, it might very well be the first film to follow this practice.
Francis Ford Coppola
’s Apocalypse Now
(1979) even went so far as to not feature the title at all, except briefly as a graffiti sketch in Colonel Kurtz’ (Brando
) compound. George Lucas
is credited with popularizing this with his Star Wars
films which display only the film's title at the start. His decision to omit opening credits in his films Star Wars
(1977) and The Empire Strikes Back
(1980) led him to resign from the Directors Guild of America
after being fined $250,000 for not crediting the director during the opening title sequence.
Hollywood had been releasing films without opening credits (except for the film's title) for many years before Lucas came along, most notably Citizen Kane, West Side Story
, and The Godfather
. However, "title-only" billing became an established form for summer blockbusters in 1989, with Ghostbusters II
, Lethal Weapon 2
, and The Abyss
following the practice. Clint Eastwood
has omitted opening credits (except for the title) in every film that he has directed since approximately 1982.
Other recent films that follow the trend:
, in which the appearance of all credited characters is rare. Another television series that credits all regulars for a season in every episode (regardless of whether or not they appeared) is Lost
, most notably since season two, in which the complete credited cast appeared in only two episodes out of twenty-three. In Losts fourth season, Harold Perrineau was credited for all thirteen episodes, despite only having appeared in five of them (fewer than some guest stars, such as Jeff Fahey
). The series Charmed
also began by crediting every regular cast member even if they didn't appear in the episode. The season 2 episode "Morality Bites" is the only episode in which only the three leading actresses were credited, and later the male cast members were only credited in the episodes in which they appeared. If a regular actor wasn't featured in that particular episode, the Opening Credits were edited with their images omitted and not being credited. This was especially done for series regular Dorian Gregory
, who was a regular for 7 seasons but only appeared in 6-7 of a seasons 22 episodes. Heroes
only credited cast members for the episode in which they appeared, with a few exceptions.
s are not credited in the episode opening sequences; this has been the case because of the escapist tone of the soap opera genre and as such, producers of soaps did not want cast members credited in the opening sequence in order to keep this intact. The drawback to this is that cast members are often identified by fans as their soap opera personas and not as themselves, as opposed to actors on other television programs who, in many cases, were identifiable by their own name.
In the 2000s, some soap operas began using an opening sequence where the actors are credited. The Young and the Restless
was the first such show to credit, at least, most of the actors on contract with the series. The Bold and the Beautiful
, which is produced by Bell-Phillip Television Productions (a subsidiary of Y&R producer Bell Dramatic Serial Company), began crediting all contract cast members in its opening titles in 2005, four years after The Young and the Restless implemented it. The most recent soap to include credits for all contract actors in its opening titles was General Hospital
after a February 2010 revamp of its opening credits, though during the final years of its "Faces of the Heart" sequence from 2001 to 2004, the names of the main characters were shown alongside video headshots of the cast members in the opening title sequence.
Often, only the Friday episode of a daytime serial would run closing credits
listing the actors. All performers from the preceding five episodes would be listed. Starting in the 2000s, complete end credits began running more frequently. Days of our Lives
in particular currently credits all actors, those on contract, on recurring status and with guest starring roles on the show that week, alternating every other episode with a closing credit sequence showing the program's crew members; in either instance, either version is shown after the producer, director and writing credits.
British soaps have never credited cast members or crew members in their opening titles nor do they show video or images of the cast members. However, in recent years they have listed the writers, producers and directors over the first scene of the episode and episode titles if they apply.
As a variation some of the below may be noted:
Film
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
, television program
Television program
A television program , also called television show, is a segment of content which is intended to be broadcast on television. It may be a one-time production or part of a periodically recurring series...
, or video game, the opening credits are shown at the very beginning and list the most important members of the production. They are now usually shown as text superimposed on a blank screen or static pictures, or sometimes on top of action in the show. There may or may not be accompanying music. Where opening credits are built into a separate sequence of their own, the correct term is title sequence
Title sequence
A Title Sequence is the method by which cinematic films or television programs present their title, key production and cast members, or both, utilizing conceptual visuals and sound...
(such as the familiar James Bond
James Bond
James Bond, code name 007, is a fictional character created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels and two short story collections. There have been a six other authors who wrote authorised Bond novels or novelizations after Fleming's death in 1964: Kingsley Amis,...
and Pink Panther
The Pink Panther
The Pink Panther is a series of comedy films featuring the bungling French police detective Jacques Clouseau that began in 1963 with the release of the film of the same name. The role was originated by, and is most closely associated with, Peter Sellers...
title sequences).
Opening credits since the early 1980s, if present at all, identify the major actors and crew, while the closing credits
Closing credits
Closing credits or end credits are added at the end of a motion picture, television program, or video game to list the cast and crew involved in the production. They usually appear as a list of names in small type, which either flip very quickly from page to page, or move smoothly across the...
list an extensive cast and production crew. Historically, however, opening credits have been the only source of crew credits and, largely, the cast, although over time the tendency to repeat the cast, and perhaps add a few players, with their roles identified (as was not always the case in the opening credits), evolved. The ascendancy of television movies after 1964 and the increasingly short "shelf-life" of films in theaters has largely contributed to the credits convention which came with television programs from the beginning, of holding the vast majority of cast and crew information for display at the end of the show.
In movies and television, the title and opening credits may be preceded by a "cold open
Cold open
A cold open in a television program or movie is the technique of jumping directly into a story at the beginning or opening of the show, before the title sequence or opening credits are shown...
," or teaser (brief scene), that helps to set the stage for the episode or film.
History
Up until the 1970s, closing credits for films usually listed only a reprise of the cast members with their roles identified, or even simply just said "The End", requiring opening credits to normally contain the details. For instance, the title sequenceTitle sequence
A Title Sequence is the method by which cinematic films or television programs present their title, key production and cast members, or both, utilizing conceptual visuals and sound...
of the 1968 film Oliver!
Oliver! (film)
Oliver! is a 1968 British musical film directed by Carol Reed. The film is based on the stage musical Oliver!, with book, music and lyrics written by Lionel Bart. The screenplay was written by Vernon Harris....
runs for about three-and-a-half minutes, and while not listing the complete cast, does list nearly all of its technical credits at the beginning of the film, all set against a background of what appear to be, but in fact are not, authentic nineteenth century engravings of typical London life. The only credit at film's end is a listing of most of the cast, including cast members not listed at the beginning. These are set against a replay of some of the "'Consider Yourself
Consider Yourself
"Consider Yourself" is a song from the 1960s original West End and Broadway musical Oliver! and the 1968 film of the same name. In the 1968 Oliver! film, it is performed in the market.-In popular culture:...
" sequence.
Some opening credits are designed to run concurrently with a film's first sequence; in fact, this is one practice even more commonly followed today. The opening credits for the 1993 film The Fugitive
The Fugitive (1993 film)
The Fugitive is a 1993 American thriller film based on the television series of the same name. The film was directed by Andrew Davis and stars Harrison Ford and Tommy Lee Jones. The film was one of the few movies associated with a television series to be nominated for the Academy Award for Best...
continued for fifteen minutes into the film. The opening credits for the 1968 film Once Upon a Time in the West
Once Upon a Time in the West
Once Upon a Time in the West is a 1968 Italian epic spaghetti western film directed by Sergio Leone for Paramount Pictures. It stars Henry Fonda cast against type as the villain, Charles Bronson as his nemesis, Jason Robards as a bandit, and Claudia Cardinale as a newly widowed homesteader with a...
lasted for fourteen minutes. This was because they were not presented in title sequences. Instead they are intermittently superimposed over the entire opening sequences of the two films.
The first sound film
Sound film
A sound film is a motion picture with synchronized sound, or sound technologically coupled to image, as opposed to a silent film. The first known public exhibition of projected sound films took place in Paris in 1900, but decades would pass before sound motion pictures were made commercially...
to begin without any opening credits was Walt Disney
Walt Disney
Walter Elias "Walt" Disney was an American film producer, director, screenwriter, voice actor, animator, entrepreneur, entertainer, international icon, and philanthropist, well-known for his influence in the field of entertainment during the 20th century. Along with his brother Roy O...
's Fantasia
Fantasia (film)
Fantasia is a 1940 American animated film produced by Walt Disney and released by Walt Disney Productions. The third feature in the Walt Disney Animated Classics series, the film consists of eight animated segments set to pieces of classical music conducted by Leopold Stokowski, seven of which are...
, released in 1940. In the film's general release, a title card and the credit "Color by Technicolor" were spliced onto the beginning of the film, but otherwise there were no credits, although closing credits were added to the 1990 re-release and are on the videocassette. This general release version has been the one most often seen by audiences. In the roadshow
RoadShow
RoadShow , formerly known as "資訊娛樂共同睇" [paraphrased as Integrated View of Information and Entertainment]) is the first "Multi-Media On Board" service on transit vehicles in the world. It was launched by Kowloon Motor Bus Company on 26 November 2000...
version of the film, unseen by most audiences until its DVD release, the title card is seen only at the halfway point of the film, as a cue that the intermission
Intermission
An intermission or interval is a recess between parts of a performance or production, such as for a theatrical play, opera, concert, or film screening....
is about to begin. The intermission was omitted in the general release version.
Orson Welles
Orson Welles
George Orson Welles , best known as Orson Welles, was an American film director, actor, theatre director, screenwriter, and producer, who worked extensively in film, theatre, television and radio...
' Citizen Kane
Citizen Kane
Citizen Kane is a 1941 American drama film, directed by and starring Orson Welles. Many critics consider it the greatest American film of all time, especially for its innovative cinematography, music and narrative structure. Citizen Kane was Welles' first feature film...
begins with only a title credit. This practice was extremely uncommon during that era.
West Side Story
West Side Story (film)
West Side Story is a 1961 musical film directed by Robert Wise and Jerome Robbins. The film is an adaptation of the 1957 Broadway musical of the same name, which in turn was adapted from William Shakespeare's play Romeo and Juliet. It stars Natalie Wood, Richard Beymer, Russ Tamblyn, Rita Moreno,...
(1961) begins with a shot of an ink sketch of the New York City skyline as it was when the film was made. As the background of the shot changes color several times, we hear an overture medley (not in the original show) of some of the film's songs. As the overture ends, the camera pulls back and we see the title of the film the rest of the credits are shown as graffiti
Graffiti
Graffiti is the name for images or lettering scratched, scrawled, painted or marked in any manner on property....
at the end of the film.
Most Disney films
Walt Disney
Walter Elias "Walt" Disney was an American film producer, director, screenwriter, voice actor, animator, entrepreneur, entertainer, international icon, and philanthropist, well-known for his influence in the field of entertainment during the 20th century. Along with his brother Roy O...
between 1937 and 1981 had all the film-related information in the opening credits, while the closing just consisted of the credit "The End: A Walt Disney Production", nothing else. However, Mary Poppins
Mary Poppins (film)
Mary Poppins is a 1964 musical film starring Julie Andrews and Dick Van Dyke, produced by Walt Disney, and based on the Mary Poppins books series by P. L. Travers with illustrations by Mary Shepard. The film was directed by Robert Stevenson and written by Bill Walsh and Don DaGradi, with songs by...
was the first Disney film to have longer closing credits
Closing credits
Closing credits or end credits are added at the end of a motion picture, television program, or video game to list the cast and crew involved in the production. They usually appear as a list of names in small type, which either flip very quickly from page to page, or move smoothly across the...
, in which all the principal cast members (and the characters that they played) were listed.
Most Soviet films
Cinema of the Soviet Union
The cinema of the Soviet Union, not to be confused with "Cinema of Russia" despite Russian language films being predominant in both genres, includes several film contributions of the constituent republics of the Soviet Union reflecting elements of their pre-Soviet culture, language and history,...
presented all film-related information in the opening credits, rather than at the closing which consist of just a "THE END" title, nothing else. A typical Soviet opening credits sequence starts with a film company's logo (Mosfilm
Mosfilm
Mosfilm is a film studio, which is often described as the largest and oldest in Russia and in Europe. Its output includes most of the more widely-acclaimed Soviet films, ranging from works by Tarkovsky and Eisenstein , to Red Westerns, to the Akira Kurosawa co-production and the epic Война и Мир...
, Lenfilm
Lenfilm
Kinostudiya "Lenfilm" is a production unit of the Russian film industry, with its own film studio, located in Saint Petersburg, Russia, formerly Leningrad, R.S.F.S.R. Today OAO "Kinostudiya Lenfilm" is a corporation with its stakes shared between private owners, and several private film studios,...
, etc.), the film's title, followed by the scenarist (the Soviet Union considered the scriptwriter the principal "auteur" of its films), followed by the director, usually on separate screens, then continuing with screens showing other credits, of varying number, and finally, the film's chief administrator-in-charge, the production director . Following this came the cast, usually in actor-and-role format for all principal and major featured players, and perhaps then a screen just naming, in an alphabetical cluster, some additional character players. The final credit screen identified the studio corresponding to the logo at the beginning, and the year of the film's production. It could also contain the frame with the technical information about the cinematographic film manufacturer (e.g., Svema
Svema
Svema is a registered trade mark and former name of the Shostka Chemical Plant, located in Shostka, Sumy Oblast, Ukraine. It was founded in 1931 in then Ukrainian SSR....
).
This basic method was also followed in most American films from the 1930s through the late 1980s, though, obviously, in American films there was no censoring of the director's name, except in cases of blacklisting. American films also tended to list the names of the actors before the names of the directors, screenwriters, etc. Exceptions were made in the films of director Frank Capra
Frank Capra
Frank Russell Capra was a Sicilian-born American film director. He emigrated to the U.S. when he was six, and eventually became a creative force behind major award-winning films during the 1930s and 1940s...
, whose name was usually billed before the film's title. Director Victor Fleming
Victor Fleming
Victor Lonzo Fleming was an American film director, cinematographer, and producer. His most popular films were The Wizard of Oz , and Gone with the Wind , for which he won an Academy Award for Best Director.-Life and career:Fleming was born in La Canada, California, the son of Elizabeth Evaleen ...
's name was also billed before those of the actors in films such as The Wizard of Oz
The Wizard of Oz (1939 film)
The Wizard of Oz is a 1939 American musical fantasy film produced by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. It was directed primarily by Victor Fleming. Noel Langley, Florence Ryerson and Edgar Allan Woolf received credit for the screenplay, but there were uncredited contributions by others. The lyrics for the songs...
, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1941 film)
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is a 1941 horror film starring Spencer Tracy, Ingrid Bergman and Lana Turner. Rather than being a new film version of the novel, it is a direct remake of the 1931 film of the same name, which differs greatly from the novel. The movie was based on Robert Louis Stevenson's...
, and Joan of Arc
Joan of Arc (1948 film)
Joan of Arc is a 1948 Technicolor film directed by Victor Fleming; starring Ingrid Bergman as the French religious icon and war heroine. It was produced by Walter Wanger. It is based on Maxwell Anderson's successful Broadway play Joan of Lorraine, which also starred Bergman, and was adapted for the...
. Capra, Fleming, and James Whale
James Whale
James Whale was an English film director, theatre director and actor. He is best remembered for his work in the horror film genre, having directed such classics as Frankenstein , The Old Dark House , The Invisible Man and Bride of Frankenstein...
were three of the few directors who received the credit "A (insert director's name here) Production" even though they did not produce their films.
François Truffaut
François Truffaut
François Roland Truffaut was an influential film critic and filmmaker and one of the founders of the French New Wave. In a film career lasting over a quarter of a century, he remains an icon of the French film industry. He was also a screenwriter, producer, and actor working on over twenty-five...
's 1966 film Fahrenheit 451
Fahrenheit 451 (1966 film)
Fahrenheit 451 is a 1966 film directed by François Truffaut, in his first colour film as well as his only English-language film. It is based on the novel of the same name by Ray Bradbury....
uses spoken opening credits instead of written ones, in keeping with the film's story of a world without reading matter
Literature
Literature is the art of written works, and is not bound to published sources...
.
Recent trends
Many major American motion pictures have done away with opening credits, with many films, such as Van HelsingVan Helsing (film)
Van Helsing is a 2004 American action horror film directed by Stephen Sommers. It stars Hugh Jackman as vigilante monster hunter Gabriel Van Helsing, and Kate Beckinsale...
in 2004 and Batman Begins
Batman Begins
Batman Begins is a 2005 American superhero action film based on the fictional DC Comics character Batman, directed by Christopher Nolan. It stars Christian Bale as Batman, along with Michael Caine, Gary Oldman, Liam Neeson, Katie Holmes, Cillian Murphy, Morgan Freeman, Ken Watanabe, Tom Wilkinson,...
in 2005, not even displaying the film title until the closing credits begin. Similarly, Welles
Orson Welles
George Orson Welles , best known as Orson Welles, was an American film director, actor, theatre director, screenwriter, and producer, who worked extensively in film, theatre, television and radio...
’ Touch of Evil
Touch of Evil
Touch of Evil is a 1958 American crime thriller film, written, directed by, and co-starring Orson Welles. The screenplay was loosely based on the novel Badge of Evil by Whit Masterson...
originally waited until the end to display the title as well as the credits; however, Universal Studios
Universal Studios
Universal Pictures , a subsidiary of NBCUniversal, is one of the six major movie studios....
took the film out of his hands, and his vision was not restored until 1998. Had Universal not wrangled Touch of Evil away from Welles, it might very well be the first film to follow this practice.
Francis Ford Coppola
Francis Ford Coppola
Francis Ford Coppola is an American film director, producer and screenwriter. He is widely acclaimed as one of Hollywood's most innovative and influential film directors...
’s Apocalypse Now
Apocalypse Now
Apocalypse Now is a 1979 American war film set during the Vietnam War, produced and directed by Francis Ford Coppola. The central character is US Army special operations officer Captain Benjamin L. Willard , of MACV-SOG, an assassin sent to kill the renegade and presumed insane Special Forces...
(1979) even went so far as to not feature the title at all, except briefly as a graffiti sketch in Colonel Kurtz’ (Brando
Marlon Brando
Marlon Brando, Jr. was an American movie star and political activist. "Unchallenged as the most important actor in modern American Cinema" according to the St...
) compound. George Lucas
George Lucas
George Walton Lucas, Jr. is an American film producer, screenwriter, and director, and entrepreneur. He is the founder, chairman and chief executive of Lucasfilm. He is best known as the creator of the space opera franchise Star Wars and the archaeologist-adventurer character Indiana Jones...
is credited with popularizing this with his Star Wars
Star Wars
Star Wars is an American epic space opera film series created by George Lucas. The first film in the series was originally released on May 25, 1977, under the title Star Wars, by 20th Century Fox, and became a worldwide pop culture phenomenon, followed by two sequels, released at three-year...
films which display only the film's title at the start. His decision to omit opening credits in his films Star Wars
Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope
Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope, originally released as Star Wars, is a 1977 American epic space opera film, written and directed by George Lucas. It is the first of six films released in the Star Wars saga: two subsequent films complete the original trilogy, while a prequel trilogy completes the...
(1977) and The Empire Strikes Back
Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back
Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back is a 1980 American epic space opera film directed by Irvin Kershner. The screenplay, based on a story by George Lucas, was written by Leigh Brackett and Lawrence Kasdan...
(1980) led him to resign from the Directors Guild of America
Directors Guild of America
Directors Guild of America is an entertainment labor union which represents the interests of film and television directors in the United States motion picture industry...
after being fined $250,000 for not crediting the director during the opening title sequence.
Hollywood had been releasing films without opening credits (except for the film's title) for many years before Lucas came along, most notably Citizen Kane, West Side Story
West Side Story (film)
West Side Story is a 1961 musical film directed by Robert Wise and Jerome Robbins. The film is an adaptation of the 1957 Broadway musical of the same name, which in turn was adapted from William Shakespeare's play Romeo and Juliet. It stars Natalie Wood, Richard Beymer, Russ Tamblyn, Rita Moreno,...
, and The Godfather
The Godfather
The Godfather is a 1972 American epic crime film directed by Francis Ford Coppola, based on the 1969 novel by Mario Puzo. With a screenplay by Puzo, Coppola and an uncredited Robert Towne, the film stars Marlon Brando, Al Pacino, James Caan, Robert Duvall, Sterling Hayden, John Marley, Richard...
. However, "title-only" billing became an established form for summer blockbusters in 1989, with Ghostbusters II
Ghostbusters II
Ghostbusters II is a 1989 science fiction comedy film produced and directed by Ivan Reitman. It is the sequel to the 1984 film Ghostbusters and follows the further adventures of a group of parapsychologists and their organization which combats paranormal activities...
, Lethal Weapon 2
Lethal Weapon 2
Lethal Weapon 2 is a 1989 action comedy film directed by Richard Donner, and starring Mel Gibson, Danny Glover, Patsy Kensit, Joe Pesci, Derrick O'Connor and Joss Ackland...
, and The Abyss
The Abyss
The Abyss is a 1989 science fiction film written and directed by James Cameron. It stars Ed Harris, Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio, and Michael Biehn. The original musical score was composed by Alan Silvestri...
following the practice. Clint Eastwood
Clint Eastwood
Clinton "Clint" Eastwood, Jr. is an American film actor, director, producer, composer and politician. Eastwood first came to prominence as a supporting cast member in the TV series Rawhide...
has omitted opening credits (except for the title) in every film that he has directed since approximately 1982.
Other recent films that follow the trend:
- 2001: The Mummy ReturnsThe Mummy ReturnsThe Mummy Returns is a 2001 American adventure film written and directed by Stephen Sommers, starring Brendan Fraser, Rachel Weisz, John Hannah, Arnold Vosloo, Oded Fehr, Patricia Velásquez and Freddie Boath. The film is a sequel to the 1999 film The Mummy...
- 2004: Teacher's PetTeacher's Pet (film)Teacher's Pet is a 2004 animated musical film based on the television series of the same name; the film ends the central storyline of the series. The film was produced by DisneyToon Studios, and released to movie theaters in the United States in 2004...
- 2005: Hostel
- 2007: Hostel: Part 2
- 2007: No Country for Old MenNo Country for Old Men (film)No Country for Old Men is a 2007 American crime thriller directed by Joel Coen and Ethan Coen, and starring Tommy Lee Jones, Javier Bardem, and Josh Brolin. The film was adapted from the Cormac McCarthy novel of the same name...
- 2007: There Will Be BloodThere Will Be BloodThere Will Be Blood is a 2007 drama film written, co-produced, and directed by Paul Thomas Anderson. The film is based on Upton Sinclair's 1927 novel Oil!. It tells the story of a silver miner-turned-oilman on a ruthless quest for wealth during Southern California's oil boom of the late 19th and...
- 2008: CloverfieldCloverfieldCloverfield is a 2008 American disaster-monster film directed by Matt Reeves, produced by J. J. Abrams and written by Drew Goddard.The film follows six young New Yorkers attending a going-away party on the night that a gigantic monster attacks the city...
- 2008: Wanted
- 2008: The Reader
- 2008: The Dark KnightThe Dark Knight (film)The Dark Knight is a 2008 superhero film directed, produced and co-written by Christopher Nolan. Based on the DC Comics character Batman, the film is part of Nolan's Batman film series and a sequel to 2005's Batman Begins...
- 2009: Avatar
- 2010: How to Train Your DragonHow to Train Your Dragon (film)How to Train Your Dragon is a 2010 3D computer-animated action fantasy film by DreamWorks Animation loosely based on the 2003 book of the same name. The film stars the voices of Jay Baruchel, Gerard Butler, Craig Ferguson, America Ferrera, Jonah Hill, T.J. Miller, Kristen Wiig, and Christopher...
- 2010: InceptionInceptionInception: The Subconscious Jams 1994-1995 is a compilation of unreleased tracks by the band Download.-Track listing:# "Primitive Tekno Jam" – 3:23# "Bee Sting Sickness" – 8:04# "Weed Acid Techno" – 8:19...
Credit only
With regard to television series, it is now an accepted practice to credit regular cast members for every episode of a season, even if they did not appear in each episode. One exception is the series Nip/TuckNip/Tuck
Nip/Tuck is an American drama series created by Ryan Murphy, which aired on FX in the United States. The series focuses on McNamara/Troy, a plastic surgery practice, and follows its founders, Sean McNamara and Christian Troy...
, in which the appearance of all credited characters is rare. Another television series that credits all regulars for a season in every episode (regardless of whether or not they appeared) is Lost
Lost (TV series)
Lost is an American television series that originally aired on ABC from September 22, 2004 to May 23, 2010, consisting of six seasons. Lost is a drama series that follows the survivors of the crash of a commercial passenger jet flying between Sydney and Los Angeles, on a mysterious tropical island...
, most notably since season two, in which the complete credited cast appeared in only two episodes out of twenty-three. In Losts fourth season, Harold Perrineau was credited for all thirteen episodes, despite only having appeared in five of them (fewer than some guest stars, such as Jeff Fahey
Jeff Fahey
Jeffrey David "Jeff" Fahey is an American film and television actor. He has portrayed Captain Frank Lapidus on the ABC series Lost and the title role of Deputy Marshal Winston MacBride on The Marshal.-Early life:...
). The series Charmed
Charmed
Charmed is an American television series that originally aired from October 7, 1998, until May 21, 2006, on the now defunct The WB Television Network. The series was created in 1998 by writer Constance M...
also began by crediting every regular cast member even if they didn't appear in the episode. The season 2 episode "Morality Bites" is the only episode in which only the three leading actresses were credited, and later the male cast members were only credited in the episodes in which they appeared. If a regular actor wasn't featured in that particular episode, the Opening Credits were edited with their images omitted and not being credited. This was especially done for series regular Dorian Gregory
Dorian Gregory
Dorian Gregory is an American actor most notable for playing Darryl Morris on the television show Charmed, and as the fourth and final permanent host of Soul Train, replacing Shemar Moore.-Background:...
, who was a regular for 7 seasons but only appeared in 6-7 of a seasons 22 episodes. Heroes
Heroes (TV series)
Heroes is an American science fiction television drama series created by Tim Kring that appeared on NBC for four seasons from September 25, 2006 through February 8, 2010. The series tells the stories of ordinary people who discover superhuman abilities, and how these abilities take effect in the...
only credited cast members for the episode in which they appeared, with a few exceptions.
Soap operas
Traditionally, actors in daytime soap operaSoap opera
A soap opera, sometimes called "soap" for short, is an ongoing, episodic work of dramatic fiction presented in serial format on radio or as television programming. The name soap opera stems from the original dramatic serials broadcast on radio that had soap manufacturers, such as Procter & Gamble,...
s are not credited in the episode opening sequences; this has been the case because of the escapist tone of the soap opera genre and as such, producers of soaps did not want cast members credited in the opening sequence in order to keep this intact. The drawback to this is that cast members are often identified by fans as their soap opera personas and not as themselves, as opposed to actors on other television programs who, in many cases, were identifiable by their own name.
In the 2000s, some soap operas began using an opening sequence where the actors are credited. The Young and the Restless
The Young and the Restless
The Young and the Restless is an American television soap opera created by William J. Bell and Lee Phillip Bell for CBS. The show is set in a fictional Wisconsin town called Genoa City, which is unlike and unrelated to the real life village of the same name, Genoa City, Wisconsin...
was the first such show to credit, at least, most of the actors on contract with the series. The Bold and the Beautiful
The Bold and the Beautiful
The Bold and the Beautiful is an American television soap opera created by William J. Bell and Lee Phillip Bell for CBS Daytime. It premiered on March 23, 1987....
, which is produced by Bell-Phillip Television Productions (a subsidiary of Y&R producer Bell Dramatic Serial Company), began crediting all contract cast members in its opening titles in 2005, four years after The Young and the Restless implemented it. The most recent soap to include credits for all contract actors in its opening titles was General Hospital
General Hospital
General Hospital is an American daytime television drama that is credited by the Guinness Book of World Records as the longest-running American soap opera currently in production and the third longest running drama in television in American history after Guiding Light and As the World Turns....
after a February 2010 revamp of its opening credits, though during the final years of its "Faces of the Heart" sequence from 2001 to 2004, the names of the main characters were shown alongside video headshots of the cast members in the opening title sequence.
Often, only the Friday episode of a daytime serial would run closing credits
Closing credits
Closing credits or end credits are added at the end of a motion picture, television program, or video game to list the cast and crew involved in the production. They usually appear as a list of names in small type, which either flip very quickly from page to page, or move smoothly across the...
listing the actors. All performers from the preceding five episodes would be listed. Starting in the 2000s, complete end credits began running more frequently. Days of our Lives
Days of our Lives
Days of our Lives is a long running daytime soap opera broadcast on the NBC television network. It is one of the longest-running scripted television programs in the world, airing nearly every weekday in the United States since November 8, 1965. It has since been syndicated to many countries around...
in particular currently credits all actors, those on contract, on recurring status and with guest starring roles on the show that week, alternating every other episode with a closing credit sequence showing the program's crew members; in either instance, either version is shown after the producer, director and writing credits.
British soaps have never credited cast members or crew members in their opening titles nor do they show video or images of the cast members. However, in recent years they have listed the writers, producers and directors over the first scene of the episode and episode titles if they apply.
Common opening credits order
While there are numerous variations most opening credits use some variation of the basic order noted within:- (NAME OF THE STUDIO)
- Name of the studio that is distributing the film and may or may not have produced it (Walt Disney Pictures, Columbia, Lions Gate, Universal, etc.).
- (NAME OF THE PRODUCTION COMPANY)
- Name of the production company that actually made the film or name of the investment groups or companies that financed a substantial part of the film (usually credited as "in association with" or "A (studio name) production.").
- (PRODUCER NAME) PRODUCTION or/and (director only) A FILM BY (DIRECTOR NAME)
- Director's first credit, often "a film by XY or "a XY film".
- STARRING
- Principal actors, (Sometimes the stars' and director's credits will be reversed, depending on the star's deal with the studio; sometimes, as in the Rodgers and HammersteinRodgers and HammersteinRichard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II were a well-known American songwriting duo, usually referred to as Rodgers and Hammerstein. They created a string of popular Broadway musicals in the 1940s and 1950s during what is considered the golden age of the medium...
films, or as in all three film versions of Show BoatShow BoatShow Boat is a musical in two acts with music by Jerome Kern and book and lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II. It was originally produced in New York in 1927 and in London in 1928, and was based on the 1926 novel of the same name by Edna Ferber. The plot chronicles the lives of those living and working...
, or, as in many of Disney's films, the title of the film will be shown before the names of its actors).
- (FILM'S TITLE)
- Name of the film.
- FEATURING
- Featured actors.
- CASTING or CASTING BY
- Casting director.
- MUSIC or MUSIC COMPOSED BY or ORIGINAL SCORE BY
- Composer of music.
- PRODUCTION DESIGN or PRODUCTION DESIGNER
- Production designer.
As a variation some of the below may be noted:
- SET DESIGN
- COSTUMES or COSTUMES BY or GOWNS (older movies)
- HAIRDRESSER
- MAKE-UP ARTIST
- SOUND RECORDING (older movies)
- VISUAL EFFECTS DIRECTOR or VISUAL EFFECTS BY
- EDITOR or EDITED BY
- Editor.
- DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY
- Director of photography.
- PRODUCER or PRODUCED BY, EXECUTIVE PRODUCER
- Producers, co-producers, executive producers, 'also produced by' (credited for various reasons according to contracts and personal scrutiny of the principal producer). Often, though, the name of the producer will be the next-to-last opening credit, just before the director's name is shown.
- BASED ON THE BOOK (PLAY, GRAPHIC NOVEL etc.) BY or FROM A PLAY/BOOK BY (older movies)
- If based on a book or other literary work.
- BASED ON THE CHARACTERS BY or BASED ON THE CHARACTERS CREATED BY
- If based on characters from a book or other media.
- STORY or STORY BY
- Person who wrote the story on which the script is based, gets "story by" credit, and the first screenplay credit, unless the script made substantial changes to the story.
- WRITER(S) or WRITTEN BY
- Screenplay writers. The Writers Guild of America allows only three writing credits on a feature film, although teams of two are credited as one, separated on the credits by an ampersand ("X & Y"). If each works independently on the script (the most common system), they are separated by an "and". If more than two persons worked on the screenplay, the credits may read something like "screenplay by X & Y and Z and W" X and Y worked as a team, but Z and W worked separately.
- DIRECTOR or DIRECTED BY
- Director. The Directors Guild of America permits a film to list only one director, even when it is known that two or more worked on it. Except in very rare cases (a death in mid-production) there is only one directing credit.
See also
- Acknowledgment (creative arts)Acknowledgment (creative arts)In the creative arts and scientific literature, an acknowledgment is an expression of gratitude for assistance in creating a literary or artistic work....
- Billing (filmmaking)
- Broadcast designerBroadcast designerA broadcast designer is a person involved with creating graphic designs and electronic media incorporated in television productions that are used by character generator operators...
- Character generatorCharacter generatorA character generator, often abbreviated as CG, is a device or software that produces static or animated text for keying into a video stream. Modern character generators are computer-based, and can generate graphics as well as text...
- Closing creditsClosing creditsClosing credits or end credits are added at the end of a motion picture, television program, or video game to list the cast and crew involved in the production. They usually appear as a list of names in small type, which either flip very quickly from page to page, or move smoothly across the...
- Credit (creative arts)Credit (creative arts)In general, the term credit in the artistic or intellectual sense refers to an acknowledgement of those who contributed to a work, whether through ideas or in a more direct sense.-Credit in the arts:...
- Digital on-screen graphicDigital on-screen graphicA digital on-screen graphic is a watermark-like station logo that many television broadcasters overlay over a portion of the screen-area of their programs to identify the channel...
(BUG) - Lower third
- Production logoProduction logoA production logo, vanity card, vanity plate, vanity logo or vogo is a logo used by movie studios and television production companies to brand what they produce. Vanity logos are usually seen at the beginning of a theatrical movie , or at the end of a television program or TV movie...
- Title sequenceTitle sequenceA Title Sequence is the method by which cinematic films or television programs present their title, key production and cast members, or both, utilizing conceptual visuals and sound...
- WGA screenwriting credit systemWGA screenwriting credit systemIn the United States, screenwriting credit for motion pictures and television programs under its jurisdiction is determined by either the Writers Guild of America, East or the Writers Guild of America, West . Since 1941, the Guilds have been the final arbiter of who receives credit for writing a...
External links
- The Art of the Title Sequence - A compendium and leading web resource of film and television title design from around the world.
- Forget the Film, Watch the Titles - A collection of title sequences and interviews with designers.
- The Movie title stills collection - A collection of screen shots of movie title stills from feature films and trailers.
- The MGM Title Art Collection.
- Novelty Title Sequences in Classical Hollywood Cinema
- Making a Fuss Over Opening Credits