Ident feedback

From the feedback I received for my ident I will be making some improvements. Firstly one of the comments I received was that the ident has no real indication of what the channel offers. To improve this aspect of my ident I will use more props and colours and animations that relate to the channel and what it offers, such as notes to represent music etc. 

Another comment was that there is no real lead up to the end shot of the titles, to improve this the end shot could be based more along the story line so it flows well into the last shot. 

Throughout the ident there are some shots where the props appear to lag, to compensate for this I will take more images to give a higher frame rate to reduce lag.

Also to improve I will make sure all of my shots are in focus so that the quality is much clearer, also I should maintain the lighting for all of the shots so there are no frames that are of a different brightness so they all look consistent and flow fluently. 

File Format help sheet

File Format help sheet.

JPEG: Joint Photographic Experts Group 

JPEGs are the most common image format used and are used for many things such as digital cameras and images on the web. They are useful as the compression rate can be altered meaning the quality can also be. JPEG's have a lossy compression rate which means some quality is lost however as you start to edit and zoom into the image artifacts are created (the pixilated areas in the image below where data has been lost in compression). This occurs due to the format recognizing areas of similar colours and then making whole areas follow the pattern of that colour, creating large pixelated areas of one colour. 

One benefit of JPEGs is that they can be interlaced, meaning the image can be progressively downloaded if you have a slow connection allowing you to see a preview of the image before it fully loads, however one disadvantage to interlaced JPEGs is that it has a lossy compression rate and the format does not support animation.

PNG: (Portable Network Image)

PNG's were developed to transfer images over the internet, they can be created with or without an alpha channel (transparent background) and support lossless data compression meaning very little data is lost. The concept of the PNG file was first thought of in 1995 as a replacement for the GIF however the format does not support animations. The file format itself was developed in 1996. The format is widely supported and commonly used in images especially online. 

GIF: ( Graphics Interchange Format) 

GIF's were developed in 1987 as a bitmap image format, the format holds up to 256 colours which in comparison to more modern formats isnt many however unlike most formats GIF's also support animations. The main frame of the GIF acts as the thumbnail image, and then the additional frames come in to form the animation, the frame rates can be adjusted however the more frames the larger the size will be. The GIF has a lossless date compression meaning data is not lost and file size is reduced, however due to the limited colours GIF's cannot be used to show high quality images. 

PSD: (Photoshop Document) 

PSD's is an image format that is very useful, this is because unlike most formats it can store additional information about the image such as the layers and effects that were used to create the image within Photoshop. Also, because Photoshop is widely used, the PSD format can be accessed through other forms of software from Adobe. One disadvantage to the PSD format is that it has a limit on dimensions and also file size, from 30000 pixels to 2GB. However, one solution to this is a larger version of the PDF format which allows an extended file size, and larger dimensions.

RAW

Raw image formats are the original files containing data directly from the camera etc, there is no processing inbetween to convert the Raw image into a standard file format such as a Jpeg. Because of this the Raw files contain all of the original information and are of a higher quality than other file formats. Raw files cannot be directly used but are useful in photography because you have more control over the final processed image.

One disadvantage to the file format is that the file size is considerably larger than other formats such as a Jpeg.

Exif: (Exchangeable Image File Format)

Exif was developed by the Japan Electronic Industries Development Association in 1998, and is used to store metadata within the original file format. This data can include the date, time and even model of the camera etc which can be very useful for storing the images as it keeps additional data which can the be used to adjust the image etc.

Tiff: (Tagged Image File Format)

Tiff was developed as a standard format for scanners in the 80’s, the original version could only handle two set values for each pixel being black or white, but as scanners developed so did the format meaning that today the TIFF format can support a high range of colours and detail. The format is widely supported due to it being a successful was to store image data,  however one main disadvantage to the format is that there is a file size limit of 4GB

PDF: (Portable document Format)

PDF was developed in the 1990’s as a way of sharing documents between different devices that may use different softwares and operating systems etc. The PDF contains the document, text, fonts, sizes etc and all additional information needed to display the image. One disadvantage of the PDF especially in the past is that due to the large file size the document did take a long time to download on slow connections and on slower systems the document did take a while to open and render. An advantage is that you can open PDF's in the web browser as well as on different systems etc.

PCX:(Personal Computer Exchange)

PCX was one of the first file formats to be used as an imaging standard, however it has been overtaken by more advanced formats such as JPEG, PNG etc. The format can hold a variety in the number of colours ranging from 16 to 16.7 million which also means there is a large variation in the quality. The format also works with a simple lossless compression rate, meaning very little data is lost when compressing the image. 



WebP 
WebP is a new file format being developed by Google, it was first announced in 2010 to be a replacement for most image formats such as the JEPG and PNG due to its matching image quality with a significant reduced file size for the image. This is very useful to modern standards as more images are shared on the web, meaning an image with a reduced file size and matching image quality web pages will be able to load much faster and the images can be transferred at a much higher rate. The file supports a lossless compression format and is also being developed to support animation, just like GIF's 

Finished Ident

This is my finished ident

To create my ident I first formed the set, which consisted of the white background and the backdrop of 'The Grid', I then created all of the props and origami figures which I animated in the ident. First I took the pictures and moved the props a tiny bit and then continued until I had all of the shots I needed including the closing shot of the logo and some of the figures. 

I then looked on YouTube for an upbeat song with a reasonably fast beat and downloaded it and then loaded that up into the editing software. I imported all of the photos onto my computer and then loaded them into the editing software.

I adjusted the length of each shot so they lasted roughly 1-3 frames so that the cut between each shot would be very smooth. I then positioned the shots in time with the music and rendered the video. I then re-imported the rendered video back into the software to apply the effects. 

On the first part of the ident with the origami flashing on and off screen I used a hue effect to alter the colour so it looked like different coloured pieces of paper was used in the animation. I then used some cross-fade transitions so the different objects flowed into each other. I then used an iris transition along with a colour adjusting effect to create a bright burst effect. Lastly I used the pan/crop tool to zoom into the final shot and then faded to black. 

Magazine Cover

This is my magazine cover.

The main concept for my magazine was to create a up to date magazine based on current events within the music industry to entertain and inform the public. The target audience is aimed at theslightly older generations between 25-35, this is because the magazine is more formal and would appeal to them rather than younger audiences who would be more suited to a colourful upbeat magazine. I have appealed to the target audience by using less bright colours and an overall simple look, using more formal fonts that look stylish and suited to older generations. 

The main image i used was Emeli Sande as she is currently a big part of the music news due to her winning the best british female solo artist at the brit awards. 

The titles i used are all small quotes and headlines from the news that give an insight of the information and interesting stories that would be featured in the magazine. 

The photoshop tools I used were mainly the lasso tool to mask around the singer, I also used the text tool with drop shadow so it stands out from the background. I used the paint tool to create some glows and colour gradients within the cover too. Finally I used saturation adjust and gradient maps to give the colouring of the cover. 

One thing I like about my cover is that the overall cover looks very simple yet sophisticated which was the main thing I was trying to achieve. 

One thing i would improve is the arrangement of the text as although it fits around the central image it does look random and sometimes out of place, I would also increase the opacity of the flag in the background so it becomes bolder and stands out more. I would also add text to the bottom of the page next to the bar code including prices etc.

This is my pitch for my ident 

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.