How do I get a job making title sequences (apart from talent, vision, and technical ability)?
I just finished watching the newest season of The Crown (I know) and the abstract flowing of liquid gold to eventually be cast into a crown might be slightly on the nose, but it still does a great job of setting the scene. It even says 'The Crown' over the image of the crown. The Skip Intro button means you probably only see it the first time, or when you can't find the remote under the sofa cushions.
The Sopranos probably has the most famous title sequence of all. Tony, driving from New York (where he wields little power) into a rotting New Jersey. Masculinity in the form of a big truck, big arms and a big cigar while he observes the land he controls, but a land that is in deep decay.
Se7en combines Nine Inch Nails and a montage of John Doe's meticulous process and documentation of his victims before we know anything about him and his crimes. After finding his apartment, forensics tell a detective that they haven't found a single finger print, except we already saw someone taking a razor blade to their fingertips before the movie really began. Layered detail to encourage repeated views, even in an aspect of the production that's usually pretty disposable.
My favourite by far is North by Northwest. Saul Bass' late modernist masterpiece, combining graphic design, geometry, and very possibly a borrowed idea from an Ernst Haas photograph from six years prior. It's lavish, introduces a bustling city, and gets the Hitchcock cameo out the way nice and early.