Charlotte Makin, TV and Film Production : November 2014

What is an ident?

Information which tells you what's coming on the television next
Logo
Idents can give you information/clues onto who the program is targeting
Ident is created to give you a certain 'image' that they're trying to represent
The design of the ident gives you a look into what types of shows they stream on their channel

Why use an ident?

Why do you have more than one? They can use more than one ident to show the 'image' of the certain program which is being shown for example their is a football ident on the BBC whilst the football is ready to be streamed. When a documentary is about to be streamed we see a moon background.

What are they for? They are designed to draw attention to the different programs and attract the correct target audience to watch the shows. Also breaks up the schedule and alerts you that advertisements are coming and which program is coming next on the channel.

Who do they target?

Cartoon Network Studios - Powerpuff Girls Ident

This Cartoon Network ident is targeting young girls because it's pink and the show that they're promoting is The Powerpuff Girls which is a cartoon designed for girls, we see the characters fly in and the logo Cartoon Network Studios appears. This is to keep the audience interested and draw attention to the program and get young girls drawn in to watch this cartoon.

BBC One Ident 'Football'

This BBC ident is targeting males and football fans because the colours are quite dull which relates to the history of football which will get fans excited and ready for the match of football to be shown.

What do you think the purpose of an ident is?

-To represent the style of the channel
-Keep the audience watching
-To create a brand identity
-Promote the programs because idents are a marketing tool
-Break up the programs
-To map out the TV schedule
-Keep the viewer from turning over

How do you make an ident?

TCM
-Footage - filmed
-Post production - billboard transition

Watch
-Practical set

-Effects - cinema 4D
Pre visualisation and animate
-Adobe after effects
-Text graphics
-Voice over

BBC
-Green screen
-Certain cast and crew and animals
-Animate in post production
-Sound effects

MTV Sweetheart Ident

In this ident there is use of a practical set, effects/cinema 4D, previsualisation and animation, adobe after effects and text graphics. The style of this ident is surreal, trippy and brightly colored to draw a certain target audience which is young people.

Sky 1, 2 & 3 Ident Boxes

This ident is using a green screen, cast and crew, animation in post production, sound effects. This ident is to represent the different channels on Sky.

Gas Station Film 4 ident

Footage which is filmed and then post production - billboard transition, and then they're is animation of the film 4 logo.

Opportunities

What opportunities do you think a good ident design could mean for a brand or designer?
If you a designer and you have been asked to create an ident for a huge channel/company it would increase your chances of gaining more jobs from other channels due to your creative style and your idents could attract a certain audience which other channels are trying to attract. It would also as a designer mean you have been given a lot of money, which will make you more motivated to carry on and become better and make your projects bigger to gain more of a profit for your work. It will also make your portfolio look better because other employers will see that you have created a well known good ident for a huge company. For the brand it would mean that the ident you have choose to use will increase your viewers if it was something that stands out, people will talk about it and your brand will gain more popularity. As a brand it could also revamp an old image and give a new brand identity that will attract more people and more target audiences.

What limitations could you face working as a designer for a channel?

The brand could have a lack of knowledge and realism for the software you have and would have limitations of what they're asking you to do. Money could also be an issue, if the goal was to create a massive costly production for an ident and they haven't given you a big enough budget but are dead set on this idea they've got you would have to do everything to try and make it work with what budget and software they have provided you with. Failure to obey a brands visual image of what they would like in an ident will cause them to talk to other companies and tell them that your work is rubbish and other companies won't give you jobs as well, your street cred would be zero and you would have no decent job opportunities. Time would also be an issue because something may take longer than what the brand wants, the deadline could be in 2 weeks and you may have to stay up late nights, early mornings use all the time necessary to complete the ident to a high standard. But you could be getting constant feedback and criticism and the brief may not be detailed and could be vague so there's a lot of limitations to becoming a designer for a channel and starting out.

These 3 idents I don't like because I don't think there has been much thought put into them and don't stand out to me.

FIVE

The reason I don't think these idents aren't very good is because it's just a simple logo in the colour white and says the name of the channel in boring font. It's placed in the side and isn't very bright and the background of the ident is just a camera with boring shots and the crew are just filming videos of people doing mundane boring tasks, to me it shows that channel is boring and simple and nothing stands out to me. It doesn't draw me into the channel and I think channel five doesn't get a lot of viewers.

Comedy Central

I think this ident for Comedy Central isn't good because it's just text and different backgrounds it seems really easy to make and just has different easy transitions. This could easily be made on adobe and I find it really boring. It isn't exactly funny to me and would put me off watching the channel.

ITV

I don't think this ident is good because it's just been made by filming an activity with a camera and crew and there isn't much to it, it doesn't stand out to me and these are the types of idents that I don't like the most because it doesn't engage me in the screen it feels like i'm watching something boring and the channel is boring overall. It may stand out to the certain target audience but not for younger people which I think I would try to target whilst creating my own ident.

Analysing a suite of idents - BBC 4

We are going to analyse some BBC four idents from their suite

BBC ARTS: BBC FOUR CHANNEL IDENT BY LAURE PROUVOST (HANDS)
DESIGN ELEMENTS: What were the key colours, text, speed, use of space
Colours - Black and white logo, 8 secs in hand transition to pink and other primary colours which shows different sort of variety in channel content. The black and white colours of the logo connotate simplicity - life being straight forward/realistic.

PURPOSE: What do you think the ident is being used for? What kind of audience is the design targeting?
To sell the variety of programmes because of the variety in the footage shown. Style is unexpected - trying to prevent you from turning over. The target audience is educated adults - lifestyle and programmes and are educational for example the noises of birds audio and waterfall shot. High brow and their cultural appetite usually 30+ would watch this channel but it depends if you want to learn things and depends on the person and their interest.

CREATIVE: What were the most creative elements of the ident? What brand identity are they trying to create?
Transitions of the hand 10 seconds. SFX 20 secs - breathing. Pace and structure is fast enough to intrigue. Brand identity is mature. "TV that stimulates the mind"

BBC ARTS: BBC FOUR CHANNEL IDENT BY JAMES RICHARDS (BIRDS)

DESIGN ELEMENTS: The colour scheme of the logo is white and black, and the birds flying in the sky are very grey. It has a dark feel towards it and it looks like the birds are flying away and blown in the wind. This connotates to me the channel is trying to show science and physics and makes me feel like it's a tornado that the birds are being taken away by nature and natural disasters programmes.

PURPOSE: To sell science and nature programmes that educate you. Style is very dull and dark it is captivating though because it engages the audience to be educated. The target audience is educated adults - lifestyle and programmes and are educational. High brow and their cultural appetite usually 30+ would watch this channel but it depends if you want to learn things and depends on the person and their interest.

CREATIVE: SFX 5 seconds in of birds. The pace of the birds flying is quite slow and flows and is peaceful. Brand identity is mature. "TV that stimulates the mind"

BBC ARTS: BBC FOUR CHANNEL IDENT BY JOHN SMITH (BEES)

DESIGN ELEMENTS: The colour scheme of the logo is again black and white, the colours are bright blue, yellow and white.

PURPOSE: To sell science and nature programmes that educate you it is captivating though because it engages the audience to be educated. The target audience is educated adults - lifestyle and programmes and are educational. High brow and their cultural appetite usually 30+ would watch this channel but it depends if you want to learn things and depends on the person and their interest.

CREATIVE: The purpose is to show the name of the BBC 4 channel in a creative way, by showing pictures of two bees, a sea and a Roman numerals. Which shows that the target audience is adults because they're educated to understand the roman numerals.

COMPARE: Which of the idents was more creative? Better at targeting the audience? Suitable for a specific genre of program?

The ident I thought was the most creative was Laura's there is more variety in the shots - waterfalls, birds, jellyfish. The bees and the birds ident were both the least creative. The birds was dull and the greyscale was depressing and boring. The bee ident because it was unimaginative and the sound and images didn't fit together.
The first ident was better at targeting the audience because it shows a variety of programmes on the channel and keeps you engaged and is possibly better for nature documentaries because of the images.

Idents I have chosen for the channel