It feels like one of those silly things people say... until you start looking into it.
Psychologists have been studying this kind of thing for decades. A placebo can ease real pain. A countdown can raise your heart rate before anything has happened. Somehow, what happens before an experience changes the experience itself.
We tend to think great experiences begin when the lights go down, the game kicks off, or the story starts.
They don't. They begin much earlier. Which brings us back to title sequences. Most people think the job of an opening sequence is to begin the story. We've never really believed that. Its job is to prepare the audience before the story begins. Long before the first line of dialogue, people are already asking questions, whether they realize it or not.
What kind of world am I entering?
How should I experience this?
What should I pay attention to?
A great title sequence doesn't answer every question. It teaches the audience which questions matter. The same is true for a product launch. A keynote. A website. A campaign. Even a conversation.
