Recently producers have opted for much shorter opening segments, sometimes a title card displayed for just a few seconds. Why?
THE OPENING sequences of television shows do several jobs at once. They must pay tribute to the stars and set the tone for the episode to follow. Above all, they must entice the viewer to commit to the show for the next 30 minutes or more. For decades, networks thought the best way to do this was to create complex and costly sequences. But recently producers have opted for much shorter opening segments, sometimes a title card displayed for just a few seconds.
“The Sopranos” was broadcast on HBO, a premium television network which does not run adverts during shows. This meant that the creators had a longer running time to work with, and so could devote more of it to an ambitious opening sequence. Shows on other channels started to follow suit.
It was “Girls”, which had its premiere on HBO in April 2012, which took a radically different approach. Lena Dunham’s comedy of millennial manners thumbed its nose at the industry’s pretentions with a sequence that consisted of a single title card on screen for precisely seven seconds. Echoing the content of the show, it was bold and surprising. It also allowed for playfulness and flexibility: while the font remained the same every time, the colours, backdrop and music changed with each episode.
The move was controversial. Purists saw it as an affront to the art and appreciation of television; others were happy they no longer had to press fast-forward. The function also seemed to represent a shift within Netflix itself. Its first major production, “House of Cards”, had a grandiose, 90-second title sequence, perhaps to position itself as the equal of HBO or Showtime.
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