“Watchmen” Opening Credits
March 7th, 2009 | 
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The opening credits of the WATCHMEN movie are a spectacle to be enjoyed on the big screen. Or an IMAX if you get the chance. Set to the iconic Bob Dylan song “The Times They Are A-Changin,’ the audience receives a quick run down of several very stylized time periods starting in 1939 with the Minutemen and ending in 1985 with the public uprising over masked vigilantes.
L.A. production company yU+Co had the joy of creating the WATCHMEN opening credits despite having one of the worst flash sites as their portfolio. That aside they did a fantastic job with the graphics in the credits. The entire 6-minute piece is almost a work of art in itself.
From the yU+Co release:
The challenge for yU+co. was integrating titles into an already edited six-minute sequence that was built without the placement of titles in mind. In order to make the titles feel like an organic part of the sequence, Yu and his creative team wove meticulous detail into the type design. Rather then simply lay 2D type onto the foreground of the live action, it is incorporated in 3D into each scene.
EDIT: FYI, this video is about to be pulled offline….enjoy it while you can. There are a few other links still available online like this but Warner Bros. is going around and pulling it from all the sites. Even the yU +Co site.
DOUBLE EDIT: This title sequence was removed at the request of Warner Bros. If the video appears online in the future we will update this post but for now we are being politely asked to remove the video from our site.
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OK even though I despise the usage of Dylan’s work in any commercial work, this really works.
[...] Um holy hell, here it is “Watchmen” Opening Credits – Dave and Thomas [...]
Who Made the Watchmen? (The People in This Credits Sequence) : www.awesomeblogs.info says:
[...] automobile advertizement where the automobile keeps bumping into its reviews–is online at the Dave and Thomas blog. I hit to say, the ordering does a enthusiastic employ environment up the film’s base [...]
Cool, only problem i noticed is a continuity issue. The riots against the mask’s didn’t happen in 1985, even though that TV add showing Nixon’s 3rd term indicated it was. it was in 1977 when the Keane act was passed banning them & in a flashback in the movie, they show the riot happening & the Comedian telling Nite Owl about it, well before the events of the movie took place in 1985.
Nice call…you’re absolutely right.
Nothing in the opening credits suggest that the last sequence in the opening titles takes place in 1985—Dave and Thomas simply assumed it was. The video footage of President Nixon winning a third consecutive election would have taken place in November of 1976. (As in our timeline, Nixon was elected in 1968, but unlike ours, the Nixon of the Watchmen universe never resigned over Watergate, so ‘76 would have been his third consecutive election victory.) Another TV set says that “Term Limits Repealed” which explains how Nixon could run again. But all of the TV footage in the stores is simply for our benefit and does not necessarily have to happen “now”—it could just be old footage played on videotape. The riots we see taking place are the following year when Nixon’s third term actually begins—1977.
You’re correct, Edward. This was addressed in the above comment by Nyt and THAT JEFF last March in which we did not differentiate correctly the years from the Keene Act in ‘77 and story’s current time line in 1985.
[...] März 7, 2009 +Opening Credits = AWESOME [...]
Your design & graphics work making it organic through the passage of time. I had a huge grin. GREAT work. Added to the “feel” of the film…
Nixon was first elected in 1968. His second term would start after the 1972 elections. If he managed to avoid Watergate, and somehow overturn presidential term limits, his third term would have started in 1976. So I would have to say the opening scene is correct: Nixon is celebrating his third term during a 1977 inauguration, while the Vigilante Riots are happening. How he managed a fifth term in 1985, well, let’s suspend disbelief.
[...] The Watchmen tells the tale of a group of super heroes (the watchmen) who have retired, and in many ways forgotten by the general population. Interwoven with this is another group of super heroes, the minuteman who in the 1940’s were seen as the saviours of the people. However, many members of the group met with… unfortunate ends (as seen during the amazing 5 minute intro credits (spoiler)). [...]
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[...] can check out a short blurb about the creators HERE courtesy of Dave and Thomas!! I thought this was one of the best movie intros I have ever seen. [...]
[...] it was a visually stunning film and one of the parts that killed me was the opening credit sequence. It was absolutely stunning in the way it was executed and well I think despite ones opinion on the [...]
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[...] because I was in the back row and my girlfriend had her hand down my pants. This scene is said by many to have been one of the best parts of the movie. They used to have it online, I guess Warner Bros. [...]
http://vodpod.com/watch/1418375-who-watches-the-watchmens-title-sequence
A working link to the Watchmen Opening Credits video: http://www.hhwlod.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=133:watchmen-opening-scene&catid=49:watchmen&Itemid=81