Title Montage

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A Title Sequence composed primarily of clips from the series, sometimes intercut with artistic elements. Probably the most common form of Title Sequence for American shows, particularly sitcoms, but relatively rare in British series.

The content of a Title Montage is similar to that of "Previously On...", but is closer in format to a Blipvert.

Often, the montage will be updated from time to time with new material, making them Evolving Credits. In an Action Series, it is traditional for the sequence to end with a Power Walk (This usage is sometimes called a "Hero Shot").

Sister trope to Credits Montage. Compare Placeholder Titles, which are similar in execution, but done because the real opening isn't ready.

Examples of Title Montage include:


Anime and Manga

  • Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex had one for its first two episodes (on their first Japanese airing), then switched to an original CGI sequence.
  • The season 1 opening of Pokémon only. Season 2 onwards used completely original animation.


Film


Live Action Television

  • Some shows use a different style of Title Sequence for their first season (or first episode), then switch to a Title Montage later as they accumulate a stockpile of footage to use. Examples: Gilmore Girls, Family Ties, Honey I Shrunk the Kids:The Series.
  • The A-Team
  • The Tomorrow People (1990s version) and Battlestar Galactica (both the original and the 2005 version) are unusual in that the montages consist of clips from the upcoming episode. The latter was inspired as an homage to Space: 1999, which opened each episode in the same manner.
  • Thunderbirds (probably the earliest example of this type) also uses only clips from the upcoming episode, apart from the Supermarionation credit, which appears over an exploding industrial complex. This shot is not present in any episode, and was made just for the montage. It is worth noting that both Thunderbirds and Space: 1999 were made by Gerry Anderson.
  • Justice League Unlimited did something similar, though some seasons had the standard "clips from the series" approach instead.
  • This technique was also used for the original incarnation of Mission: Impossible.
  • Space Precinct (another Gerry Anderson series) mixed this with the standard Title Montage (with a caption reading THIS EPISODE appearing before the clips from that episode, the this episode caption was also used in Space: 1999).
  • Buffy the Vampire Slayer does this. It updated each season to incorporate the new season's footage as well as to bump or demote characters in the introduction. Although it uses mostly new footage, some favorite shots show up consistently throughout the new seasons (most notably Buffy holding the hell-axe from season 3 pilot is used as a Hero Shot, and Giles wielding a chainsaw, from season 4. This shot is so popular it remains even after Giles left the show and is removed from the lead character profiles.
    • Also used in Angel, although slightly confusing in the pilot where the final shot of the teaser is also the final shot of the Title Montage.
  • Top Gear: The three main presenters appear in silhouette over clips from previous episodes. These are usually updated between seasons.
  • Red Dwarf from Series III onwards.
  • The Bill moved to doing this in its second season (with the clips interspersed with an eplectic inducing flashing blue police light) and continued to use variations of it for the following 12 years.
  • The Goodies
  • Mystery Science Theater 3000
  • Stargate SG-1 (except for seasons 4-5 and the beginning of season 9). Starting with season 6, the sequence ended with a Power Walk into the SGC's Stargate.
  • And Stargate Atlantis.
  • Charmed not only updated the Title Sequence for each season (common practice as is), but also edited the individual Title Sequences for each episode so that it would only show and credit characters that appeared in that episode.
  • Mork and Mindy
  • Malcolm in the Middle
  • Band of Brothers
  • The BBC's 2006 Robin Hood series, from the 2nd series onward, had a new title sequence that featured quick montages of the assorted characters inbetween shots of forest scenery. In the third series, the cast was constantly changing to the point that only episodes 3 & 4 and 8 & 9 kept the same credits for two episodes running, as the actors' names had to be removed or added and the montages changed accordingly to represent the cast for that week.
  • Garth Marenghi's Darkplace
  • The Hawaii Five-O opening (1968 original) was a "travelogue" of scenes from around Hawaii. Most of it was shot just for the opening, with only a few short clips (e.g. the "Zulu as Kono" freeze-frame) lifted from the pilot or one of the early first-season episodes.
    • Although this montage was changed with other shots of cast members (and other clips, such as the welder and the exploding car) as the series went on, some shots stayed for the duration - most obviously Jack Lord's.
  • The Monkees
  • Most of Quinn Martin's shows adjusted the opening of each episode depending on who the guest stars were (complete with announcer); even when clips of the guests weren't included (on latter-day QM Productions like Most Wanted and A Man Called Sloane) their names still were.
  • 3-2-1 Contact
  • Smallville
  • Power Rangers updates its montage throughout the season to showcase new characters and equipment.


Web Original


Western Animation

  • Kim Possible updated post The Movie for Season 4 including The Sealed with a Kiss.
  • South Park started doing this in the second half of the fourth season. It was updated for the sixth season, and starting with the seventh season, it's updated every half-season with clips of the previous half-season.
  • Tale Spin
  • Garfield and Friends switched to having one of these in its third season. (Prior to that, the original title sequence was an animated sequence of Garfield and the U.S. Acres characters fighting for the spotlight.) The first title montage would notably be the only theme song the show used in syndication. The show got a different title montage in season 6, and then another one when the theme song itself changed in season 7 (though it's replaced by the season 6 intro on the DVDs).
  • Transformers Animated
    • Averted with the Japanese opening, however, since it instead used completely original animation.
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