Title Sequence

"Mo-om! Phineas and Ferb are making a title sequence!"

— Candace, Phineas and Ferb

A title sequence is a short section of a piece of video media that serves to show the viewer the name of the title.

It is the video equivalent of the illustration & byline of a book cover. This sequence will be at the beginning of the media, generally after The Teaser and it lets the viewers know what show they are watching. The title sequence is also called the "Opening Credits" or "Opening Sequence", though, strictly speaking, they do not have to include any actual credits. They always display the title of the program in a logo or specific font.

A Theme Tune is commonly played during full length sequences while in short sequences a leitmotif or musical sting is played.

In syndication, the title sequence is often abbreviated to leave more time for commercials. That has become common for first-run shows as well.

Although most shows modify the title sequence to reflect the current cast lineup when it involves clips of the characters, Anime is especially known for doing it at least once and sometimes more within a 26-episode run to reflect changes or additions to the main cast that follow the plot. This is often complete with a new theme song each time.

Television title sequences are usually made by a specialist production company outside the one that is actually producing the show. Babylon 5 is a rare exception whose production crew created the show's five Title Sequences entirely in-house.

Although it is commonly associated with television, these sequences can also be found in films, web content and video games. An example of a well known title sequence in film are those from the James Bond franchise that start once the Action Prologue concludes via the iconic Bond Gun Barrel shot.

An example from a video game are those in the Grand Theft Auto franchise. Those began in the 2nd game with a Full Motion Video sequence, to stencil cutout pictures of locations & people in GTA 3, San Andreas & Vice City before moving to an immersive in-game cinematic style in the 4th and 5th games in the series.