History.
Since the beginning of filmaking, title sequences were used however not as complex as they are now for example, simple title cards were used at the beginning and end of silent films to showcase the production company and the title of the film. In addition they were to show the audience where the film began and finished. However, this chaged when television put pressure on the major film studios to invest in developing cinemas which would attract a more varied and bigger audience. A way that they did was longer title sequence and orcestra music playing before the curtains opened but as they advanced more graphics became introduced then became a main feature that television couldn't compete with. In modern society, title sequences are a lot longer or have the option to focus more on titles at the beggining/end or not at all. With all the new technology introduced title sequences are also a lot more complex than they used to be. Furthermore on television, series of programmes usually have recognisable titles that are the same at the beginning of every episode.
Examples
Juno - a comedy/drama/romanceIt is a film based upon a teenage girl having an unplanned preganancy and goes through a journey of her making the decision about what she is going to do about as she doesn't want to keep it.
These are the two beginning shots of the title sequence of Juno. It starts with music playing in the background as she begins walking and this goes to the beat of when she is walking. This is an introduction to the main character as you know that the film is going to center around her as it is following her walk. In addition, the character is represented on how she is going to be in her film for example her hair is all back quite messily and no makeup could represent that she is not a popular character at school and doesn't care much for her appearence. Furthermore, she is holding a drink which signals that it could have some signifcance further on in the narrative. It starts off in regular day but as she walks behind a tree it turns to a cartoon version of it which starts the title sequence. 
It progresses to different scenes on her walk whilst showing various names of the people/ companies involved for instance, 'A Mandate Pictures.' Furthermore, It uses various transition to each shot for example, the transition for the first once to appear is it shows a close up of her character and zooms out and across to show the text and the transition between these two images is the first slides off the the right. By doing this, it is a creative way to shows the people involved in the title sequence. Also, by doing various shots like close ups of different features it gives hints about the characters personality and the narrative such as, her clothing again with the image of her shoes and also she is drinking her drink what she has been carrying throughout. In addition, it sets the scene also because even though it is represented in a cartoon way, you can still see the setting she is in which appears to be a regualar, American town. This all could have some signifcance to what is going to happen in the film. 
This print screen image shows the main title of the film with, 'Juno.' Again, transitions have been used in the to ensure continuity between each scenario. In this, the main title appears and does a long shot showing her walking towards the camera whilst it still continuous of her walking across from the previous scene to possible represent passage of time. Throughout the title sequence the writinng has been capitalised and yellow and black to add emphasis and contrast with the background. However, in this the main title isn't the same because it is red but still the 3D part is yellow in this particular print screen. Although, it does change to several different colours for example, purple which changes the the beat of the song. This is done to add the main emphasis to the title with contrasting colours but still show continuity and the font style is one you would typically see in a romantic comedy genre film. 
Then it goes on to showing the main characters names. With this the shot has changed as usually it would be a long shot of her however, not it has gone to a medium close up. This is to ensure to the audience that the main emphasis is on her at the point where it is showing her actual name, 'Ellen Page.' Furthermore, it is a low angle shot looking up at her which is done purposefully to show her characters dominace at this specific time. 
This is also show in the next print screen image because it moves on to another name but shifts the emphasis off her to that. This is because it hasn't got any relevance to her therefore only shows her legs walking as opposed to her face. The colour scheme has changed on this also to blue. This could represent the gender of people shown being, red for girls and blue for boys which is the usual stereotypical associations with gender. 
On this print screen the colour scheme adjusts again, using the colours green and brown alternate. This is done to segregate the different people involved, such as blue and red for the characters and different for people in volved in the music/production. However, in this print screen it is done to possibly represent the season it is set as the audience can associate these colours with autumn. Furthermore what reinforces this idea is the fact that leaves are falling of the trees which is what occurs in Autumn. The shot in this is a high angle one, looking down on her and you can see she is looking up at the leaves falling. However, it also appears as though she is looking at the text which suggests that by doing this it is adding the emphasis to the text as opposed to her. 
This image shows the next transition of where it becomes real life image again from it being a cartoon. It shows the same place but with both as it transitions from one to another as you can see the shop with 'Drugs' written on each one. This signals the beginning of the film and the ending of the title sequence. 
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