Title Sequence Analysis II – Reservoir Dogs (1992 – Quentin Tarantino)

The title sequence to Quentin Tarantino’s first feature film Reservoir Dogs is incredibly simple but also uses a number of techniques to appear subversive as a title sequence itself.
The title sequence begins fading in from black with the non-diagetic soundtrack easing in. On the first punctuation of the drums in George Baker’s ‘Little Green Bag’ we are greeted with our first title; directed by Quentin Tarantino.

The first title appears punctuated to the beat

After the director credit, there is another punctuation of the drums which begins the first actual shot of the sequence. Immediately, Tarantino provides us with a number of clues towards genre and narrative without revealing too many specific details.

The framing of this shot indicates motion towards an objective

The first shot we are given is framed and filmed in a way that immediately engages the audience. We see our cast walk left in slow motion as the camera pans left ever so slightly, putting emphasis on the distance being walked – seeing our cast walk forwards as a group makes it obvious there is a singular goal they are moving towards collectively. The viewer wants to know exactly what it is the group is moving towards, which makes the rest of the sequence inherently irritating when it becomes clear that no solid answers are going to be given in the titles.

costume, setting and close ups hint towards genre

We quickly cut away from the shot of the group walking to close ups of the individual characters, with the actor credits conveniently placed underneath the face of the character they are portraying. The characters are dressed in black suits with with black ties, costume which could be considered a staple of organized crime in media – this furthers the intrigue that began in the first shot. The audience are now wondering where the group are going and what is going to take place there.

Tarantino destroys audience expectation by revealing nothing

After there has been close ups of the entire cast, most of them dressed in formal attire with sunglasses, there has now been a significant build up of anticipation – the audience may now be hoping for a reveal of the destination the group are walking to; but such anticipations are immediately wilted when the next shot begins as a wide from behind the group, showing them in front of a road in a distinctly urban environment.
This shot distance represents how far apart the viewer now feels from the group – they still know nothing about them and thus feel further apart than ever before.

The entirety of this sequence is governed by the non-diagetic soundtrack and how the sequence has been edited to it to be more effective. Most of the close up shots immediately cut to the next after the punctuation the drums and all of the shots have slight slow motion effect to match with the rhythm of the music. The timing of the edit to the music and the choice of the actual music itself simply makes the sequence more interesting – if this sequence was in normal time without the music, it wouldn’t be as effective because the audience would simply lose interest. The title sequence feels ‘cool’, simply from these small additions.

The titles to Reservoir Dogs soon become deliberately generic

Tarantino then irritates a large majority of the audience by taking us out of the action. We are forced to concentrate on the movement of very plain looking, orange titles. The plain, black background with slowly paced titles bores the audience for a short while, until right at the very end our attention is captured again by the fading in of audio. This title sequence provides a brief glimpse of anticipation, fails to deliver on that anticipation, then reverts to something very basic, subverting audience expectations greatly.

The titles themselves are plain and lack any real features that might suggest genre or narrative, which is likely a deliberate decision based on the general vagueness of the sequence. The positioning of the titles for the close ups of the cast are positioned beneath each actors face for easy identification. The titles towards the end of the sequence feel almost like end credits based on the way they move and fade in.

How can I use this as inspiration for my title sequence?

The title sequence for Reservoir Dogs provides something that is effective for neglecting any real narrative elements in favor of style and a clever trickery in expectations. The title sequence for Reservoir Dogs basks in its own simplicity – there are no ambitious shots here, nor is there any tricky masterworks of editing. One thing that I think I could learn from this sequence is the style of titles themselves, how they are positioned and the purpose of titles and how to draw attention to them.
1) The title font and style – many opening sequences have a font or title style that is genre specific. Could the absence of this as seen in this title sequence be used to deliberately ignore genre and narrative elements? Could I use a more plain style of titles to subvert audience expectations?
2) Title positioning – the cast titles all appear beneath the face of their respective actors – the positioning of titles within the frame is very important. What meaning are you trying to achieve when positioning the titles? In this title sequence, the credits act as labels for each of the characters; a more visually identifiable way of presenting the credits.