The advent of television was a pivotal moment for title design because it forced the major film studios to invest in making cinema more attractive in order to win back a diminishing audience.
The "cast of thousands" epics shot on various patent widescreen formats were a direct response to television's successful invasion of the leisure marketplace.
Part of cinema's new prestigious and expansive quality were orchestral overtures before the curtains opened and long title sequences — all designed to convey a sense of gravitas it was hoped television would be unable to compete with.
As cinema's title sequences grew longer and more elaborate, the involvement of prominent graphic designers including Saul Bass and Maurice Binder became more common.
The title sequence for Alfred Hitchcock's North by Northwest is generally cited as the first to feature extended use of kinetic typography.
Ironically, a key sequence in this resurgence was the main title to David Fincher's Se7en, designed by Kyle Cooper while at R/GA, which was created using primarily analogue means.
Its title sequence "helped lend the show a credibility and gravitas normally reserved for cinema, giving it a stronger foothold in the mind and memory of the audience.
[6] In the 1936 film Show Boat, cut-out figures on a revolving turntable carried overhead banners which displayed the opening credits.
However, the title is shown by means of the camera slowly panning across the base of the statue of the dead king Hamlet, whose ghost will appear in three scenes of the film, and who will play a crucial role in the story.
Although a title sequence may be modified during a series to update cast changes or incorporate new "highlight" shots from later episodes, it will tend to remain largely the same for an entire season.
Conversely, retaining a series' original title sequence can allow a producer to change many key elements within a programme itself, without losing the show's on-screen identity.
Others make minor alterations to the content of the sequence itself, to keep them from being completely repetitive each episode and to reward attentive viewers.
In anime produced primarily for an audience of young children, karaoke lyrics to the song will sometimes be provided at the bottom of the opening and ending sequences.
When the actual title appears on the screen we see Baryshnikov in his nutcracker costume and mask leaping into the air in slow motion and freeze frame.
The series, in order of first to tenth, were: The Simpsons, Get Smart, The Mary Tyler Moore Show, the original Hawaii Five-O, True Blood, The Big Bang Theory, Dexter, The Brady Bunch, Mad Men, and The Sopranos.
[10] Deus Ex: Human Revolution by Eidos Montréal and The Last of Us by Naughty Dog are two examples of Triple-A games that have employed film-style opening title sequences.