Mission Impossible

This introduction opens with an extremely tight shot of a translucent blue and orange flame shown against a black background. It is the head of a match that has just been lit. While the flame floats slowly and finally lights the entire match head, the intro theme music ties in nicely with the display. Then just at the moment the head is totally lit two things happen. One the match ignites a wick to an explosive, and the display changes to this rapidly sparking wick. The music likewise picks up to a rapid chaotic pace.
Soon after the wick is lit, the images cut out, and 'Paramout Pictures Presents' appears in a clear font in the center of the screen. While this text is displayed , a larger blurred, somewhat opaque text stating 'Paramount' rapidly streams from right to left.
The intro then cuts to very rapidly changing black and white facial shots, almost like mug shots. Once they've completed, a color image of a concerned womans face is shown, and the display then cuts to what appears to be official badges of some type. All of the photos are have hard cuts from one to the next, with the one close up of the concerned woman being given just a little more time in the sequence. This is followed by another black background with white centered white text, that again has the oversized blurred partial text rapidly flying by from right to left.
This is the pattern is repeated again and again. A rapid selection of photos followed by the text animation. The photos throughtout the intro include closeups of concerned individuals, several shots of technical equipment, dangerous scenarios, official looking documents and computer data, and the reoccuring flash of the sparking wick.
The beat of the theme song, combined with the sparking wick, and the photo selections all come together to produce the feeling of urgency. Anyone watching immediately knows that the movie will be comprised of intelligent, quick thinking, quick reacting individuals that are in situations that they must resolve immediately to avoid dire consequences.