Could you please supply some screen shots of what is happening please?
Specifically one of your use of the section effect and another of the timeline editor expanded slightly so we can see the title and positioning.
For now I will take a guess at what you mean.
I think that
when I apply the section affect under view animation, it makes the top half of the image obstructed by darkness
This is normal. Section is normally applied to a video or picture to present as a picture within a picture so the black area would be a masked area to allow another image or video to be projected into that area. So that effect should only normally be used on higher track numbers.
If you have come from another editing program please be aware that the track behaviour is upside down to most other editors so any video put on a higher numbered track will obscure any video showing on a lower numbered track.
Depending on what title you are using can depend on how it is applied.
A normal Title will be applied in it's own track 'Object' and if placed at the beginning will start there. If you want to start or fade in video shortly after, then place the video object at the end of the title object.
Oops. Opened wrong video. Have replaced it for the correct one. Sorry.
Further to what Ray said, which version are you using?
Section is a cropping feature. By default, the rectangle for cropping will have the same proportions as the project settings, most likely 16:9. If you change the parameter to be Free proportions or some other proportion, like 4:3, then the result will not fill the screen. As well, there is checkbox for Fullscreen. If you uncheck this box, then the result will be the image the size and proportions of the rectangle that you selected and at the same location.