I wrote the main title to
Psycho (1960) before
Saul Bass even did the animation . . . After the main title, nothing much happens for 20 minutes
or so. Appearances, of course, are deceiving, for in fact the drama
starts immediately with the titles . . . I am firmly convinced, and so is
Hitchcock [
Alfred Hitchcock], that after the main titles you know something terrible must happen. The main title sequence tells you so, and that is its function: to set the drama. You don't need cymbal crashes or records that never sell.