Series Openings - Use of Silhouette

Silhouettes are a very big thing in tv show openings- especially ones filled with action. They emphasise the shape of characters which, if a character designer has done their job properly, should give you some indication of ht sort of character they are and their personalities.

Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes

Justice League Unlimited

For large groups or teams, especially in superhero shows, a silhouette with all of the cast is often used. This gives you some comparison of all of the characters, and is used to make the sequence more dramatic.Usually they are found at the end of a sequence, as a kind of summary of what the show is or who the show is about. Having zoomed in silhouettes like the top image makes you pay closer attention to each character individually, with some lighter grey areas to set a few apart, as the smaller characters could easily get lost among the larger ones. In the second example, the characters are much further away, although they do move closer to the camera. They are all shown much more as a team, one single unit together, and feels a lot less personal. This does give the team more of a sense of professionalism or seriousness, which makes sense; Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes [first image] is a lot more of a comedy kind of show, and focuses a lot more on character, whereas Justice League Unlimited does a lot more with heavy plot lines and action.

Beware The Batman

Batman The Animated Series

Batman has always been known for it's seriousness and these two animated series are no exception. They use silhouettes to create drama as well as using it to show us things from an ordinary citizen or even criminals' point of view in the show; you can't see any detail properly, but just from the silhouette you know that it's batman and something's about to happen. I really like the idea of making the whole background a sihouette as well in Beware the Batman; a black bat silhouette wouldn't stand out against the background as much as it does in BTAS, but that allows highlights and other colors to appear, making characters and certain parts of buildings to stand out. This makes everything feel less repetitive than just a silhouetted fight scene and also builds up anticipation for what will be highlighted and concentrated on next.