What goes into a title sequence

A title sequence is the shortest piece of work we make and the one people remember. It runs for twenty seconds, sometimes less, and it has to tell the audience what kind of programme this is before a word is spoken. Here is how we approach one, using Pen Petrol for S4C as the example.

Start with the show, not the software

Pen Petrol follows the car group Unit THRTN through the car world. Producer and director Mike Williams was clear about one thing: it should have the energy of the cast, not the look of another car show. So we did not start with chrome and speed lines. We started by watching the cast and asking what the programme felt like when it was at its best.

Find one device and use it everywhere

For series one the answer was kinetic type. The title starts as a full-screen location marker, the same device the show uses every time it moves somewhere new, and lands on the title card. That means the titles and the programme graphics are one system. The audience learns it in the first minute and reads it instantly for the rest of the series.

Know what to keep for series two

When a show comes back, the temptation is to start again. We kept the short, snappy sting so the sequence still felt like Pen Petrol, and changed everything else. Series two took its colour and attitude from Japanese street racing culture. Same length, same energy, different world.

Put the graphics in the footage

The pre-title sequence introduces the four members of Unit THRTN. Their names are camera-tracked into the scenes they are in, so the type sits in the space with them rather than floating on top. It is more work than a caption, and it is the difference between graphics that decorate a show and graphics that belong to it.

The questions we ask before we start

What should the audience feel in the first three seconds? What is the one device the whole series can share? What has to survive when the sequence is cut to five seconds for a promo? And does the title card read from the back of the room with the sound off? If we can answer those, the animation is the easy part.