Author Andrea Codrington discusses the opening titles for Mission: Impossible, from her 2003 book Kyle Cooper: Monographics.

The opening sequence to Mission: Impossible takes its cue from the 1960s television show, which always begins with a fuse being lit as a trigger for action sequences. An emphasis is put on the flame and sparks by placing them tightly in frame and against a black background. As scenes from the film flash on and off the screen, interspersed with metal-reminiscent credits that glint with speed and urgency, the fuse sparks on to the end of its logical course — a visual explosion that introduces the title of the movie in bold italic serif type.

Andrea Codrington is a Brooklyn-based editor and writer specializing in design and visual culture. She is the co-author of Pause: 59 Minutes of Motion Graphics and sole author of Kyle Cooper: Monographics and has written extensively for such publications as The New York Times, The Washington Post, Harper’s Bazaar, Elle, Metropolitan Home, Metropolis and Cabinet.