4. Research. Art of the Title

Game of Thrones:

The title sequence consists of a 3D map of the world. There are light rays that shine around and through the sphere. The details of the title sequence, e.g. the names of places change every week depending on the locations visited by characters.

The sequence opens with a close-up of the sun and the astrolabe surrounding it. There are details visible on the astrolabe, showing a volcano destroying a city while a dragon watches on and several people escaping in a boat. The camera then pans to a wide-shot of places on the map before zooming in on what appears to be a large gear in the middle of the city. The gear begins turning, moving other cogs, and then 3D buildings start rising out of the ground.

Once the city is assembled, the camera moves north across the map. The camera pays particular attention to certain places in the city and its heart tree as it rises out of the ground before panning up to the sun and astrolabe. There is then another close-up of the detail on the astrolabe.

The title sequence ends with a return to the detail of the astrolabe, now showing various animals. The Game of Thrones logo then appears over the astrolabe, with the heads of a dragon, wolf, lion, and stag emerging from the side of the logo.

A discussion with Creative Director ANGUS WALL

"Title sequences can do a lot of different things, and besides taking you on a journey, this one offers a lot of information about the world you’re going to see. It allowed us to really create our own little world."

"We didn’t want to create something that’s been done before like what you’ve seen in Harry Potter or Lord of the Rings. Those things are wonderful, but we wanted to do something different."

Some early drawings for the title sequence

The Simpsons:

The Simpsons title sequence is one of the most well known title sequences on television and has one of the most recognisable theme songs. Some parts of the title sequence remain standard but the couch scene changes with every episode as well as what the character of Bart writes on the classroom board.
However, the title sequence has seen changes on a full level; the whole sequence was reanimated to improve the quality of picture. Certain shots were changed due to an addition of characters that were not present in the previous season. Overall, the changes made brought better graphics, added characters and more jokes.

The sequence opens with movement through clouds and the title is then displayed. The camera then zooms into the nuclear power plant where the character of Homer works and then into the town square. The camera weaves through several buildings and structures and zooms into Springfield Elementary School where Bart Simpson is writing lines on the board. The bell rings and Bart skateboards home, Homer leaves the power plant carelessly and Marge is with Maggie at the supermarket. Maggie is accidently scanned and put in the trolley. All the characters run into each other as they enter the house and they all sit on the couch. Then we see the scene that changes with every episode; this scene is referred to as the "couch gag".