Opening credits
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Opening credits, in a television program or motion picture, are shown at the beginning of a show and list the most important members of the production. They are usually shown as text superimposed on a blank screen or static pictures, or sometimes on top of action in the show. Some opening credits are built around animation or production numbers of some sort (such as the James Bond films). Opening credits usually mention the major actors, guest stars, producers and director, as opposed to closing credits which lists the entire production crew.
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[edit] History
Up until the 1970s, closing credits for films usually listed only the major cast members or even simply just said "The End", requiring opening credits to contain more detail. For instance, the title sequence of the 1968 film Oliver! (film) runs for about three-and-a-half minutes, and while not listing the complete cast, does list all of its technical credits at the beginning of the film. The only credit at film's end is a listing of most of the cast.
The opening credits for the 1968 western Will Penny run for a full seven minutes into the film.
In television, the opening credits may be preceded by a short teaser or cold opening sequence that helps to set the stage for the episode.
The first sound film to begin without any opening credits, other than the display of the title and the credit "Color by Technicolor", was Walt Disney's Fantasia, released in 1940. The next film to begin with only a title credit was Orson Welles' Citizen Kane. But this practice was extremely uncommon during that era.
[edit] Recent trends
In recent years, many major American motion pictures have done away with opening credits, with many films, such as Van Helsing, Batman Begins, Lassie (2005 film), and The Mummy Returns not even displaying the film title until the closing credits begin. George Lucas is credited (or blamed) with popularizing this with his Star Wars films which only display the film's title at the start. His decision to omit opening credits in his films Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope (1977) and Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back led him to resign from the Directors Guild of America. However Hollywood had been releasing films without opening credits for many years before Lucas came along, most notably Citizen Kane and The Godfather. Clint Eastwood has done away with opening credits (except for the title) in every film that he has directed since about 1982. In Europe, films without opening credits are also commonplace.
