Opening credits, in a television program, motion picture or videogame, are shown at the beginning of a show and list the most important members of the production. They are usually shown as text superimposed on a blank screen or static pictures, or sometimes on top of action in the show. Where opening credits are built into a separate sequence of their own, the correct term is title sequence (such as the familiar James Bond title sequences). Opening credits usually mention the major actors, guest stars, producers and director, as opposed to closing credits which lists the entire production crew. In television, the opening credits may be preceded by a cold open, or teaser, that helps to set the stage for the episode.

History
In recent years, many major American motion pictures have done away with opening credits, with many films, such as Van Helsing, Batman Begins, The Mummy Returns and Teacher's Pet not even displaying the film title until the closing credits begin. George Lucas is credited (or blamed) with popularizing this with his Star Wars films which display only the film's title at the start. His decision to omit opening credits in his films Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope (1977) and Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back led him to resign from the Directors Guild of America. However, Hollywood had been releasing films without opening credits for many years before Lucas came along, most notably Citizen Kane and The Godfather. However, it was with the release of Lethal Weapon 2 in 1989 that the "title only" opening became an established form for summer blockbusters. Clint Eastwood has done away with opening credits (except for the title) in every film that he has directed since approximately 1982. Fahrenheit 451 uses spoken opening credits insted of written ones, to provide a taste of what life is like in a non-literate culture.