Many films roll credits during their openings to give acknowledgement to the cast, crew and studios, listing main actors, directors, producers, important crew positions. Credits are required for the film opening in this portfolio project, so I went over a few opening credit sequences from my chosen genre, which is of course fantasy. With stylized fonts and unique visuals, the credits can carry much more meaning than just displaying names.
Game of Thrones (2011 - 2019)
Overview:
One of the most well-known pieces of fantasy fiction to exist, Game of Thrones is a fantasy drama television show based off of a series of high fantasy novels called “A Song of Fire and Ice.” The show was developed for and aired on HBO. The story takes place in the fictional land of Westeros, and spans over several elongated story arcs happening simultaneously, such as a war of succession between royal families fighting for control over the Iron Throne. The show has won a collection of awards for its high quality, and has a very large cast. In 2022, a spinoff series was released, centered around the Targaryen family.
Game of Thrones is one of the most iconic examples of an epic fantasy story. It’s opening credits sequence that begins every episode is instantly recognizable, featuring a rotating metal sphere engraved with several intricate symbols that represent the fantasy world which the show takes place in, with a spinning sun in the center. This striking imagery establishes the dramatic and intense tone of the entire series. The rest of the sequence is many different shots moving around and looking down upon a map of this fictional setting, establishing the major locations that are important to the story. As this happens, the physical features and structures in each land dramatically rise out of the map, and the sequence uses various types of angles and shots from inside these locations and incredibly dramatic harsh lighting to make it all the more interesting. The music is also very big, dramatic, and orchestral, fitting the grand scale of Game of Thrones’ setting and plot and the epic fantasy genre. Every name in the credits is emphasized by a larger emboldened symbol placed in the front of it. The letters in the font are extremely detailed to look like gold or metal. The visual style in every element of this opening sequence, with an emphasis on metal and making all of the material look ancient originating from olden times, conveys the Medieval inspiration for the setting. The primary things which this credits sequence accomplishes is establishing the tone, genre, and setting of the show.
Wolfwalkers (2020)
Overview:
Wolfwalkers is a hand-drawn animated film made by Cartoon Saloon, an independent Irish production company that is known for making movies based on folklore from the country. Following Secret of the Kells in 2009 and Song of the Sea in 2014, the film is the third and final installment in a trilogy of individual self-contained stories based on Irish mythology. Released to streaming on Apple TV+ , it was met with overwhelming critical acclaim for its story and animation. It follows a young English girl living in Ireland with her father, who has been sent to hunt and exterminate the wolves inhabiting the nearby forests due to the superstitions of the townspeople. One day while running off to explore the woods, she discovers and befriends a girl with the ability to turn into a wolf at night.
This opening credit sequence is an interesting one, as it creates an eerie and enchanting feeling to engage the audience. It is also detached from the actual story events in the opening, and the film dedicates time to the credits on their own. This is likely to create a calm, peaceful, and slower atmosphere after the intense beginning of the film and further establish the tone and themes. The font used for the credits, much like the title, has exquisite, detailed illustrations of leaves and patterns around each capital letter, making it look fancy, elegant, and like it was drawn by hand like the writing in an old book. This immediately makes the film feel artistic and natural. Another thing of note is the way that the titles are lined up together in a paragraph structure rather than flashing on and off of the screen one after the other. This further enforced the natural feeling created by making it seem like formal writing on a page rather than a words on a screen. Given the film’s heavy focus on nature, this is very meaningful. And it is further enforced by the backdrops for the credits being stunning animated backgrounds made to resemble a painting or a sketch, each depicting a the forest landscape. These visuals change as each paragraph of credits changes to the next one, again making it feel like one big art piece with all of the elements engrained into each other. The music in the credits is the eerie, echoing song from a female voice singing Irish lyrics. This sets up the mystery and mystique surrounding the magic that exists in nature, and all of these elements together make this short sequence feel like a beautiful creation made by human hands.
Percy Jackson and the Olympians (2023-)
Overview:
Adapted from the expansive beloved book series, Percy Jackson and the Olympians is a television show produced by Disney and is currently airing exclusively on the streaming platform. Though there have been many adaptations of the Percy Jackson story in the past, this is the first and only TV series. The franchise takes inspiration from real Greek mythology and legends. It follow the titular protagonist, a misfit twelve-year-old boy with learning difficulties, who discovers that he is the son of Poseidon, the Greek god of the sea. He is sent to Camp Halfblood by his human mother, where other demigod children live, and given a quest to go on with his friends in order to retrieve Zeus’ “master bolt” before war breaks out between the gods.
This credit sequence is more of a spectacle with the moving pictures beautifully drawn in a flashy yet simple archaic style which references the Greek inspiration behind the story. The show’s theme music, which is epic and incorporates many different instruments, plays during this sequence to make it even more exciting. The golden font used to display the names of the cast and crew is quite small, so the sequence most likely wants to draw more attention to the accompanying visuals instead. Said visuals feature animated illustrations with complex colors and intricate details depicting many of the different monsters and scenes that the characters engage with in the show. The animation throughout the whole thing is lively but still reserved to display these detailed images. This credit sequence strives to illustrate the journey which the protagonist takes, and represents the story of the show as a whole, placing very little importance on the credits themselves and more on the moving fantastical art.
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