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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. Some opening credits are built around animation or production number of some sort (such as the James Bond films). 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.

Up until the 1970s, closing credits for films usually listed only the major cast members or even simply just said "The End", requiring opening credits to contain more detail. For instance, the title sequence of the 1968 film Oliver! runs for about three-and-a-half minutes, and while not listing the complete cast, does list all of its technical credits at the beginning of the film. The only credit at film's end is a listing of most of the cast.

The opening credits for the 1968 western Will Penny ran for a full seven minutes into the film.

The films of Satyajit Ray often show creative opening credits. His first film, Pather Panchali features completely hand-written opening credits. Further movies of his frequently show credits in some way thematically related to the film, for example, the credits of Kanchenjunga are written in a mock-Tibetan font.

The first sound film to begin without any opening credits, other than the display of the title and the credit "Color by Technicolor", was Walt Disney's Fantasia, released in 1940. The next film to begin with only a title credit was Orson Welles' Citizen Kane. This practice was extremely uncommon during that era.

In recent years, many major American motion pictures have done away with opening credits, with many films, such as Van Helsing, Batman Begins, and The Mummy Returns 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. In Europe, films without opening credits are also commonplace.

• Films with no title
• Closing credits
• Title sequence
• Billing (film)
• Production logo

• Article: The Art of Retro Title Sequences
• Novelty Title Sequences in Classical Hollywood Cinema
• Original Doctor Who opening credits
• A collection of title sequences and interviews with designers