The "low tech" idea is actually pretty good. It's mentioned in Rick Schmidt's Feature Filmmaking at Used Car Prices. If you use the biggest possible piece of glass that you can get, keep it as far as possible from the camera and use the shortest focal length possible you may have enough dof to have both the titles and the background in focus.

To get even more dof film at a slower frame rate to get a slower shutter speed, allowing you to stop down. If you have actors in the background have them move slower.