Success and failures of TV idents Updated

Success and Failures of TV idents

Before and after most shows we will watch an ident, most of the time this ident will give us lots of information about the channel sometimes without us even realising it. A successful ident is one which is easily recognisable and distinctive and works well to complete its purpose whether that may be to inform or entertain its target audience.

BBC One: 1991 Ident

This is one of BBC Ones less successful idents as out of the majority of BBC 1 idents, this is one of the less memorable which was only used for a few years, it was first shown in February 1991. The ident features a rotating swirling globe with the number 1 in the middle, along with the BBC logo which was current at the time, positioned at bottom of the frame. 

Firstly one of the main reasons as to why this ident was not a success could of been the colouring. The colours associated with the BBC are warmer colours such as red and yellow/orange. However, within this ident the colours are dominantly colder blues and black. This could be a reason as to why the ident was not a success as it was not as distinctive as the other BBC logos and due to this it was not as easily recognised meaning it did not fully serve its purpose as an ident. Also the overall composition of the ident is not very visually pleasing as the colouring and animations do not work well together. On the other hand the ident does not tell us much about the channels personality, we can gain some understanding from the globe that the channel brings the world together and is very universal however the dark cold cloudy atmosphere suggests that the channel is not as warm and family orientated as BBC 1 actually is. 

Here is one of Channel 4's less successful idents. These square themed idents lasted from 1999 until 2004, and consisted of rectangular shapes of different tones travelling across the screen with the Channel 4 logo rotating across the frame, stopping in its final position on the right hand side. These idents all had the same animation, the only thing that varied was the colours in the background, the Channel 4 logo stayed white throughout. Channel 4's dominant colour is blue, but in this series of idents the colour varied meaning that the channel could not be assigned to one colour that makes the channel instantly distinctive and recognised by that colour. Also Channel 4 is an entertainment based channel, and the ident should represent this to inform the viewers and make them aware of the personality of the channel, however the overall look of the ident is quite simple and boring which does not really create the messages Channel 4 is trying to present to its target audience meaning the ident is not very successful. 

This is one of Blightys idents, the ident itself is based on the theme of tea as the channel is a very British channel and tea is stereotypically a very British thing. In the variations of the idents the theme changes but remains to be something stereotypical to Britain, the colour scheme also changes throughout the idents with the colours remaining as very contrasting colours e.g. green and pink however there is no clear relevance to the theme of the ident. 

Some reasons why these idents may not be very successful could be due to the density of information within the ident. In every variation of the ident there is simply too much happening at once for it to be enjoyable and entertaining to watch. And for a duration of 23 seconds over time the ident becomes extremely boring and repetitive to watch meaning it will not be able to maintain the target audience an they could be likely to turn to another channel. Although the ident does present Blightys personality it could have been more precise and show other aspects of the channel such as what they broadcast to make it more informative while maintaining the entertaining aspect of the ident. This could be done through the colour scheme being red white and blue the emphasise that the channel is extremely British and maybe quick clips of the shows in the background or even the characters being in the ident itself.   

This is one of BBC Ones more successful idents, it features a group of hippos swimming in a circle formation with red rotating shapes around the BBC One logo. The ident is successful as it maintains the BBCs main concepts such as the colour red, and the consistent theme of circles which has appeared in almost every ident they have ever made. Also the current BBC One ident has a very short duration, making it very entertaining to watch because it does not last long you do not get so bored of it. The BBC are also world famous for producing their high quality nature documentaries meaning an ident such as this is very representative of that aspect of the BBC. The ident creates a message that the BBC are very professional and put time, effort and money into their idents, meaning that they also put this into their shows which is evident from the programs featured on the BBC as well as their series of high quality idents.

This is one of Channel 4's more successful series of idents which are currently in use today and can easily recognised. It consists of a field with lots of burning hay stacks which align as the camera passes through the environment to reveal the Channel 4 logo. These idents with the objects forming the Channel 4 logo have been used since 2004 and are easily recognised as they are very distinctive and unique to Channel 4. Although there is no consistent colour scheme which is what is seen in most successful idents, Channel 4's idents have multiple colours due to the location altering so that they can produce new creative ways of the logo being formed, the location is usually set in an American environment with a mixture of urban and natural landscapes. This represents the channel as Channel 4 broadcasts a mixture of American and British shows and means that although the ident has no consistent colour scheme the ident and channel are still easily recognisable.

This is one of Dave's successful idents which was introduced along with the re-branding of the channel which was equally a great success. Dave became the 'home of witty banter' which is clearly presented through the style and context from within this ident. For example, Dave is a very British channel and this is represented by the stereotypical British scenery in which this ident is set. Also, the viewer is instantly placed in an environment which is creative and abstract and enjoyable to be which is shown through the unusual use of props such as the very out of fashion hat, and the chandelier being used a s a swing across the river. These all clearly give an insight into the adventurous and witty personality of the channel, which is what an ident is supposed to do therefore making this a successful ident. 

Design/purpose of idents- Updated

^{The purpose of idents.}

^{An ident is the short clip we usually see between TV shows, they only last a few seconds but tell us lots of information sometimes without us even realising. The main purpose of an ident is to make the target audience aware of the personality or nature of the channel; they do this by giving the viewer a clear insight into the channel and its values and even the shows broadcasted through the way the ident is presented. The ident could be interpreted as a ‘snapshot’ into the channel’s personality.}

^{Idents are a key part of television, as they can influence the audiences that will end up viewing the channel and watching their programs. One ident that is a good example of targeting specific audiences is E4's. Simply by viewing the E4 ident we can instantly tell that it is aimed at a younger audience, we can see this through the way the small fun things are presented to us which would attract the younger audiences.}

This ident from E4 features very bright vivid colours, multiple sound effects, upbeat music and a bizarre situation which is fun and exciting to watch. Firstly, the dominant colour in the ident is purple, purple is E4’s main colour and is consistently found in all of its logo’s and ident’s, purple is a very unisex colour as it is a mixture of blue and red which is useful to attract a audience of both genders. The other main colour is green, which contrasts the purple causing them to both become much bolder and vivid. They are both very bright bold colours which are fun and exciting which will attract the younger fun seeking audiences. The upbeat music and strange yet fun cartoon like sound effects also play a part in attracting young audiences, they are much more suited to the upbeat fast and playful lifestyle of the younger generations in comparison to people of the age 50+ and therefore is more likely to attract them to the channel and its programs. Additionally, the exciting situation of a normal living room being transformed into a strange green and purple swamp with trees sprouting from the ground and purple sheep walking around portrays an image that E4 is fun, exciting and you never know what crazy thing could happen next. All of these individual concepts put together create the E4 ident and show us a clear image of what their views and aims are, as well as the target audience of their channel/programs. This is why idents are a very useful tool for channels to use as it can help them gain the target audience they desire, and in some cases idents can even be used to inform audiences. 

^{For instance, channels such as History HD use their idents to inform their older audiences on the timings of their programs and the days of the week and what will be playing. The channel is much more formal and informative rather than an entertainment led channel which could be due to them being more reliant on timings and newer technologies. The colours are a lot less vibrant consisting of mainly white yellow and red which are much more formal colours suited for an older audience. The overall composition of the ident is also very basic, with just a simple animation of the logo and some text. Telling the audience that this channel is information led rather than entertainment led which is important  to History HD because it tells the target audience that History HD is an informative channel that will suit what they want to watch.} 

The design of idents

When designing an ident there are 6 main concepts to consider. The density of information, composition, space and time, tempo, the interaction with the audience and also if it is information or entertainment led. 

The density of information is how much information  is given in the ident, some idents give lots of information such as times for shows etc whereas others are purely to attract audiences by looking fun and exciting. This also partially links to if the ident is information or entertainment led. For example the BBC Parliament ident has a high density of information on its ident displaying event and program times. 

The composition is to do with how everything in the ident is composed, you have to consider how each of the visual elements work together in the ident to portray the meanings and aims you are trying to reach. The visual elements would be things such as the shots, any visual effects or CGI  as well as any text that may be in the frame. A good example of all visual elements working together would be Itv 1 HD. The shot of the sunflower field along with the Itv 1 HD logo and lens flares all works very well together. As they create a subtle warmth within the frame which creates a feeling for the HD aspect of the channel, with the high quality shot of the sunflower field which is almost like a painting. Creating a realer than life perception of the channel which works well together and makes the overall look very enjoyable and easy to view with no bold harsh colours contrasting through. 

Space and time is when and where the ident is set. More informative idents would be set in a real life situation or something that would link to the channel, for example the ident of a history channel may have an ident set in the past. This is because they focus on more formal subjects and therefore must appear this way through their idents, whereas the more entertainment based idents would be set in a fantasy world which is fun and abstract such as E4's ident with the room turning into a swamp. The space and time is a key part of an ident because if the ident was set in the wrong place/time then the audience may be misled into the values of that particular channel and therefore they could lose viewers. 

The tempo is how fast the ident is. This alters depending on the mood and aims of the ident. For example a more informative ident is more likely to have a longer duration and a slower paced edit in comparison to an entertainment ident which is more likely to have a shorter duration and a much faster paced edit to suit the specific target audiences that the individual idents are trying to attract. This also works alongside other concepts of design such as density of information. A more informative ident is likely to have a slower pace and longer duration as there may be additional information in the ident which may take the viewer some time to process, if the ident has a fast paced edit and a shorter duration they may not see the key information that the ident is giving them. This alternatively works for entertainment led adverts, if the adverts is purely to attract the audience and not give information it needs to be much shorter and faster as you do not want it to drag out and bore the audience. 

Interaction with viewers is all about communication. This is about how information is presented and communicated to the viewers, depending on the channel and its aims, target audience etc, will influence the way in which the information is presented. It could be formal or informal, some channels with younger audience may present their information more visually than ones with an older target audience as they would want to communicate the fact that they are enjoyable and fun to watch. Whereas channels with an older target audience would be more likely to present information in a more formal way such as having text displaying times of shows etc. 

And finally, if the ident is information or entertainment led. This is decided by the aims of the channel and its target audience, if it is trying to provide information it will be information led, an example of this would be BBC Parliament, which gives information on the timings of events. Whereas other idents which are simply there to entertain their audience and create a message about the channel would be entertainment led, an example of this would be Film 4 as their idents mainly display action scenes to entertain their target audience. 

The BBC One ident (composition)

This is one of many BBC One idents. This is a very good example for the composition of the idents, all of the visual elements work well together giving the ident a very clean sense of flow. The fluent movements of the space robot along with the rotating red lines work very well together as they are both very slow and consistent. The consistent theme of circles which is portrayed in the majority of BBC idents is maintained throughout this ident, the circular lens on the front of the robot along with the circular pattern in the ground and even the circles in the craters are seen throughout the ident all link in with the concept of the BBC being a universal channel bringing all aspects of the world to your T.V. The colours of the darker blue space environment also contrasts the rotating red shapes which compliment each other and make the rotating rings and text much bolder and distinctive. This makes the ident much easier and more pleasant to view as well as making it look very professional which helps promote the channel and its programs as it portrays an image of the channel putting time, effort and money into their idents which is essential for the BBC due to their funding coming from the public via the television license. 

The ITV 1 ident (space and time)

This is an ITV 1 ident, this ident is a good example to understand space and time. At first the location appears to be a normal street at night, which suggests that ITV 1 is more of a formal channel but when the yellow liquids burst through the surface of the roads and form multiple fountains we soon gather that actually ITV 1 is not as formal as it initially appears and that it can be rather entertaining because it has changed an ordinary environment into something unexpected and unusual. Also from the location being set at night it could suggest that there is almost two sides to ITV 1, during the day there could be more formal channels such as This Morning, and then in the evening there are less formal shows however they still remain within the values of the channel and aren't as bold as the later shows on channels such as BBC3. 

The Discovery Knowledge ident (density of information) 

This is the Discovery Knowledge ident, this ident is a clear example to explain the density of information. Throughout this ident there is lots of tiny little interesting facts; which are constantly being presented to the viewer. The pieces of information fill up the landscape almost like an overlay of a 3D blueprint and because of the high amount of information in such a small amount of time/space this ident has a high information density. The way the information is presented as part of the environment makes the information more subtle  This is crucial for a channel such as Discovery Knowledge as it is an informative channel and therefore the ident needs to represent that to attract the target audience.

The FX ident (Interaction with audience)

The FX ident communicates it’s information very visually, there are no bold titles telling us any information yet simply from the visual effects, scene and props such as the ‘crime scene do not enter’ banner, and the traditional body outline on the ground. We as an audience gain a clear understanding that the channel and some of its programs will have some involvement in crime dramas which can be both entertaining and informative to watch. On the other hand some idents such as BBC Parliament features much more information in a text format, such as what's on and program timings. This is more appropriate to the channel as it is more of a formal channel with programs based on more serious topics and therefore requires a more informative and formal ident which needs to be clearly communicated to its target audience. 

The Film 4 ident (tempo)

The Film 4 ident has a very slow tempo to it, the majority of the ident is in slow motion which creates a sense of tension, this suggests that Film 4 is a very dramatic channel that likes to build up tension to give a dramatic conclusion. Also the clip in the ident is a very almost stereotypical scene of an action film, with a character running away from a location which the explodes as the character dives through the air which could also suggest that Film 4 will display many classic movies of multiple genres for everybody to enjoy. In contrast the BBC Three ident has a much faster pace, this suggests that although the channel is still an entertainment based channel it is more of an upbeat fun channel in comparison to a more dramatic tension building movie channel.

The  History HD ident (Information or entertainment led)

History HD has an information led ident, this ident is designed to inform the target audience about program timings for days of the week which is more appropriate to this channel as it is a very factual channel with informative programs so the ident has to represent this aspect of the channel. This is why there is not many complicated things happening in the ident In comparison some idents are entertainment led such as that of Channel 4. In which the parts of the environment all align to form the Channel 4 logo and no real information about program timings etc is given to us.  

Ident ideas

Ident ideas.

The Grid Ident

The main concept of my idea is the transformation of paper characters.

With the paper figures you can alter their shape and create a stop motion of the process making the object look like it can transform by itself. Also because it's made from paper you can be very creative with the colouring and relate it back to the name of the channel 'The Grid'.
This can be used to show that the channel is constantly creating new concepts and ideas and will always be fresh and new. The idea is simple enough to attract the younger end of the target audience, yet sophisticated enough to attract the older end of the target audience as well.

The bright bold colouring of the idents and props within it suggest to the target audience that the channel is very fun and enthusiastic and this would be representative of the programs the channel broadcasts.
The ident will have a relatively slow pace, as there will be very few cuts between shots and not much happening other than the initial animation.

Ident 2 Planning

This is my idea for my second ident

Props

• 2 sheets A3 paper
• Multicoloured paper
• Tape
• String
• Pens
• Scissors

Location

• Can be done in a classroom as there is a backdrop and set so the surrounding area will not matter because it will not be seen in the ident. Only a small amount of space is needed to set up the camera along with the set for the animation so being limited to small amounts of space isn't a huge problem. 

Music

• For the music in my ident I decided to choose Breezeblocks, this song is relatively modern and has a much calmer tone which works well with the overall composition of my ident. The music will still engage with the younger target audience and also relate to the musical aspect of the channel. 

Shooting schedule

Ideas and storyboards

Ident 3 Planning

This is my idea for my third ident

Props

• 2 sheets of A3 paper
• Multicoloured A4 paper
• scissors
• pens

Location

• Can be done in a classroom as there is a backdrop and set so the surrounding area will not matter because it will not be seen in the ident. Only a small amount of space is needed to set up the camera along with the set for the animation so being limited to small amounts of space isn't a huge problem. 

Music

• The music in this ident will be a dubstep song, this would work well as parts of the ident will have good timing with the drop in the song as well as the music attracting the target audience and giving them an insight into the nature of the channel. The music will be very upbeat creating a very enthusiastic happy tone which will work well with the ident. 

Shooting schedule

Storyboards

Ident 1 Planning

This is the idea for my first ident

Props

• 2 sheets of A3 paper
• Multicoloured A4 paper or card
• Tape
• Pipe cleaner/ wires 
• Pens

Location

• Can be done in a classroom as there is a backdrop and set so the surrounding area will not matter because it will not be seen in the ident. Only a small amount of space is needed to set up the camera along with the set for the animation so being limited to small amounts of space isn't a huge problem. 

Music

• For my music and sound ideas, i have chose very upbeat modern music as it will attract the target audience as well as relating to the channel as it broadcasts music videos. The song i chose for this ident was Anything could happen, i chose this as it fits in with the genre i wanted as well as having lyrics which work well with the channel as Grid would be a channel full of suprises where anything could happen. 

Shooting Schedule 

Plan and Storyboards

Initial ident ideas

These are my spider diagrams for my original ident ideas