When I think of innovative title sequence, I think of Wreck-It Ralph’s fantastically engaging three-minute ending credits scene.
Accompanied with an upbeat song “When Can I See You Again?” by Owl City, the scene places the animation’s main characters into varied scenarios from the movie and references many arcade games that the audience reminisces about.
From Qbert to Sonic (Sonic Sprite from Sonic 1, Chemical plant zone from Sonic 2, and the boss from Sonic3 Angel Island)...
To Super Street Fighter II...
To Dance Dance Revolution...
It doesn’t get better than this! I believe this was also why I remembered many people staying to finish the whole ending credit sequence even after the film’s ending. I think this should be the goal of title sequences – to make it entertaining enough so people could be compelled to stay back in the theatre long enough and appreciate the vast number of people who worked their ass off for the particular film! (Before I pursued my major as my university degree, I never stayed to watch ending credits. However, after witnessing/experiencing the enormity of work required to make a short film, I’ve always stayed till the end of a film, sometimes even managing to persuade my parents to do the same. Perhaps, if ending credits were made to be more entertaining, or even interactive?)
On another note, while watching the ending credit sequence, I’ve noted down some transitions used that effectively took the audience from one place/space to another. These transitions are identified with my limited knowledge on After Effects way of thinking… I might be able to apply such a concept to my own project!
0:21 A transition between one scene to the next with the swipe of an object that takes up the full screen 0: 23 A transition “zoom-in” effect with the scaling down of Ralph and scaling up of another (might be achieved using the camera Z space as well) 0:28 Similar “zoom-in” angled effect into a bright space which takes up the whole screen 0:39 Ralph and Vanellope drop in from above the screen and hop away to drop into another screen with Sonic! 0:48 The multiple rings merge into different circles that “pull” the audience into another space 0:53 The vertical wiping of the things on screen is matched with the vertical scrolling of new items 0:59 Planes that scale to take up the whole screen and reveal another space 1:04 Using the same object that changes color and reveals a different information 1:13 Quick track matte attached to a speeding car that reveals the production manager’s name 1:30 The quick wiping of the information on-screen is integrated with other items that is shown next on screen
Something these transitions have in common are their seamless and creative manners of hiding and revealing information, which (I think) makes storyboarding even more crucial because every movement requires keyframes that will affect other keyframes! While on the Internet, I’ve also found a video that explains something interesting that happened at the end of the film, which is that the Disney castle logo glitches to form a visual similar to the kill screen players experience in level 256 of the original Pac-Man arcade game.
Sources: All gifs from GIPHY.
P.S. Discovered an excellent motion graphics end-title sequence, based on the film Chicago, that’s made by two students!