Matt Berry talks Title Sequences/ Freaks and Geeks

'A great example of something not working in any way at all is probably Hollyoaks. Which is ugly in all ways possible'

Amen sister.

Mr Berry (who happens to be on my 'ugly/sexy' list and I definately would given half a chance in case you were wondering) articulates, much better than I seem to be able to, the simple beauty and truth of a title sequence in how and why it is so important for setting the tone and the mood of the show. I guess maybe that's why the Hollyoaks titles are seemingly designed with the idea of making people's eyes start spontaneously bleeding... yeah, that actually makes sense.

Titles can't make a bad show better but they can make a good show seem worse, or, conversely, push it into greatness.

Now, given my love-affair with smart, sassy American based pop culture, Freaks and Geeks was always going to win my heart. This happens to be not just a good show but a great one from first to last. For those of you that it managed to pass by (which is, sadly, pretty much everyone) it was on around the 1999/2000 mark but set in the early 80's in a Detroit suburb. It was conceived and written by Mr -motherfuckin'-Pool (the 'motherfuckin' was pronounced as silence in the show itself) from Sabrina the Teenage Witch (yeah, I know right!) and was produced by Judd Apatow (who is so hot right now people have been known to achieve third-degree burns just by being in the same room as him). This show gave us our first glimpses of Seth Rogen, Jason Segel, Linda Cardellini as well as plenty of cameos from future legends like Jason Schwartzman, Lizzy Caplan (who played Janis Ian in Mean Girls and is possibly going to take over the world after co-starring in Cloverfield), Shia LeBouf (before his voice, and other things, dropped... neh neh neh *pinches imaginary Shia cheeks and makes pukering 'oh how cute' face like a long lost drunk aunty at a wedding*, David Krumholtz. Loads. I can't say enough good things about this show, but, save this turning into a 10,000 word dissertation on 'like dude, seriously, Freaks and Geeks was, like the best show EVA LOLOLOLOL!!!!!!1'
let's take a look at the titles seeing as that's why we're all here:



Firstly, please note the title music. It's so very rare that a kick-ass song gets used in such a kick-ass way.
Bear in mind the two things we need to set - TONE and MOOD. What does this song tell us from the opening bars? That's right, that this show is going to ROCK and ROCK HARD. I jest but not really, this is a fun, smart-slash-stupid, empowering song about not caring if you fit in with other people's expectations of who or what you should be. If the title of the show itself didn't tip you off then this will - all ye who are dispossessed and don't fit in? It's ok, we're here now. You're not alone anymore.

The beauty of these titles lies in their simplicity. All it is introducing us to all the main players. We are shown a make-shift photo studio, one that very possibly we recognise from our youth as being the site of school pictures - something that we may look back on and laugh but when originally handed to us two to three weeks later, just made us want to run away to the corner of the playing fields and weep gently. Maybe. Still, we know for a fact that photos are about to be taken and can assume that this is set in a high school, especially given the accompanying music. Simple, elegant, informative - all within the first 15 seconds the TONE and MOOD have been set.

Then, and here lie-eth the true genius, we meet everyone we need to know in turn whilst learning a little about their character and get to put names to faces AT THE SAME TIME. Simple, elegant, and can I get a... that's it my friends, INFORMATIVE. At this point I'd just like to mention that it's a testament to the caliber of the acting chops of each of the individuals assembled within this cast that they are able to express so much about their characters within a window of only three-to-five seconds.

We have Linda Cardellini up first looking like a self-aware, lovely, intelligent young woman (by the by if anyone fails to fall body-and-soul in love with her at this point then you my friend, are either a robot from the future or have fallen through the space-time continuum and are from a parallel universe that we over here in our 'verse like to call 'Bizarro-World'), then John Francis Daly geeking it up and geeking it up good. He's gauche yet adorable and likable (side note: FYI for any cougars out there, having seen him make an appearance in an episode of Clark and Michael this is one ugly duckling that grew into a beautiful piece of hot burnin' man love). Then James Franco swaggers into frame looking for all the world like he thinks he's Cock of the Walk. This is obviously the 'cute one', the one we're meant to fall for. Whether a stoner grin and a quick exit will convince the audience remains their choice. I suspect most people who watched this show wouldn't be won over so easily. Sam Levine is next emitting Jewishness from every pore. His smile lets us know that this is the geek joker of the pack. I like him. (I am him). Then it's the turn of the angry young Seth Rogen. God I love him hard. He hates the world, and you, and himself, and doesn't give a fuck if you know it. That's my kind of man baby. After that, Jason Segel bounces in practically in stink-o-vision. I can smell the pot from here. See his smile? See his eyes shifting about like he's not quite sure where he is? S-T-O-N-E-R. I should know. But look, he's all cute and puppyish and playful. He's obviously a good guy. Finally, Martin Starr - King of the Geeks lumbers in. Never has a name been more apt, this dude is a comedy legend (if you've seen Knocked Up he's the one the makes the bet about not shaving his beard for a year to get his rent paid if it means the others can rip the piss as much as they want). I love him because he does look like a proper geek. He doesn't look like a cute-dude-playing-geek. He's just really really geeky. And doesn't care. Rock on say I.

The end shot is of all their photos succinctly summing up who these people are and what their life outlook is. All in all, this is how title sequences should be done. Observe, study, learn. Now go out into the world and make tv shows with title sequences of a similar standard. You owe it us and, most importantly, yourselves.