nicolefettinmediabtec.weebly.com · Web viewBroadcasters commission someone to create and select the fashion visual or the logo, later when this animation is created they are scheduled

There are many different purposes for television idents; one could be marketing, branding and corporate identity. Marketing is how the ident portrays its values and communicates to the specific target audience. The branding is the way to tell one person’s channel identity from another. This could be BBC’s ident from MTV’s television ident; they’re all different and convey different messages to different audiences. The branding of a television ident is almost like a watermark for the company, it’s a way of a channel expressing and establishing their individuality. The packaging of the ident is the way the ident was put together, re packaging the ident is making it more visually appealing and presenting it in a new way. A TV ident is short for an animated sequence developed by TV networks to brand the content on the show and reflect their channel/programming style. Broadcasters commission someone to create and select the fashion visual or the logo, later when this animation is created they are scheduled to feature before programmes to begin and sometimes pop up in between advertisements. These short animations are known as idents. BBC Three was launched in 2003 with idents created by Aardman animations. The BBC is set to close its youth orientated television channel known as BBC Three and move its content to an online player. The corporation plan to save a total of £100 million by 2016 by making these changes. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-26448757

As a part of research and planning methods for my ident which I will create I will have a £0 budget because I’m creating it for my media course. (This is my client). Although I have access to a huge range of resources which can help me in the creation stage. I have access to the software which my college provides such as ‘Final cut pro’, ‘After Effects’, ‘Flash’ and many more. I also have access to the college still cameras and video recorders. We also have a software technician who can guide me if I get stuck using any of the equipment.

Because I’m creating my own ident for my media coursework I wanted to get an insight on what the budget is like for a company who creates television idents. I researched the UK’s largest broadcasting company called “Red Bee Media” whose top well known clients include The BBC, Channel 4 and Virgin Media. This company has been so successful in broadcast branding because they believe that TV quality control should be shareable and consumable. They state that they also believe that the purposes of television brands are created to drive awareness, make a deeper connection with their target audience and sustain loyalty with their clients. Red Bee Media creates idents for a wide range of companies and television channels. An example being in the year 2006 the BBC has revealed that their new restructured idents were produced and constructed by Red Bee Media. As a successful company Red Bee Media have a huge production budget so they have the ability to create high-quality and professional idents for paying companies. Red Bee Media produced each of The BBC’s idents which have a total cost of £150,000 each. The BBC wanted 15 idents creation which rose the production budget to a huge £2.25 million. This therefore backs up and proves how television idents are a successful way of communicating information to a selected target audience for any professional television channel.

In conclusion to this secondary research which I have acquired along with the primary research this will benefit and therefore help create my ident. This information has expanded my knowledge on how industries create idents (on a budget) and opened my mind to designs/layouts that could potentially attract to my target audience.

For this project I have been asked to create a fresh ident for the channel BBC Three. From secondary research I have discovered that BBC Three is targeted to a younger generation of people in comparison to BBC One or Two. I took into consideration the type of programmes which get aired on the different channels; this helped me design my storyboards for my potential ident. I created a mood board for my ident which then I discovered it would be physically impossible to create. I then had to scrap that idea and start over.

In this screenshot of my ident it clearly shows my background. The technique I have used when creating my ident was ‘cut out’. I used this because I thought it would utilise my time and be accomplishable. I felt like this because I did not have any knowledge on idents/ident creation. I didn’t know how to use the special software such as adobe, flash etc. In the background I have used the significant colours for BBC Three. These being pinks, purples and blacks. The new idents were introduced on the 22nd of February 2008 abandoning the old colour scheme of blue, orange and white and the animated blobs. They wanted a fresh idea which attracted the attention of a younger generation (more niche) market. They did this because the other BBC Channels were targeted to different audiences. The BBC wanted an individual channel for each targeted audience.

When creating my ident I decided to keep my background consistent throughout the three of my videos. This creates a more professional feel and usually this is how the professionals create their ident. For example when BBC had their first ever ‘blob’ ident was created they used a consistent background and colours. This was light blue. This was kept the same until they decided they almost wanted to rebrand the channel. The text I have used in my ident is the original BBC Three. I chose this one because it uses the key colours which represent the channel, and is easy to read for different people. (Bold, clear) I did not want to keep everything the same as the BBC Three ident otherwise that defeats the purpose. The two pictures of the fireworks in the top left and right corner of my background were to celebrate BBC Three almost being reborn. I gathered inspiration to do this by thinking about how people in the UK celebrate New Year.

The ‘BBC’ is the original BBC writing which is used. I have kept this the same because BBC has given a huge thought to typography. It’s clear easy to understand and communicate messages to various audiences. The colours in this screen shot are still BBC Threes colours. (Pink, purple, black)

In this screen shot it is now showing the little threes which pop up one by one. I put these in because I wanted to consistently remind the audience/viewer what channel this ident is for. I want it to be memorable so it sticks in their heads. The reason for them being the shade black is because pink and black suit, and also that’s BBC Threes significant colours when they recreated/redesigned the channel. In this ident I have included balloons. When the ident is playing the balloons are popping up one by one making the audience think this is some kind of celebration. On the bottom of the screen there is presents, this is also to make the audience feel like that they are a part of this celebration.

Idents communicate some sort of message that helps extend the viewer’s knowledge surrounding the brand or trying to create a new message. BBC’s idents are visually appealing, different people consider different aspects visually interesting. So the ident could be quirky, humorous and memorable. The aim of idents is to attract and maintain the attention of the target audience, to do this the ident must be entertaining in some sort of way. The music, content, colours, tempo determines whether the ident holds a value of entertainment.

Some networks believe that the purpose of their ident should be to create and set a mood. For example the SKY movies ident has been known to create a warm and homey feeling as it aims to spark childhood memories. If the creators of the ident want to have an excitable impart on their target audience the ident will then be created to be upbeat and fast paced and effective in whatever message they want to communicate.

In BBC’s ident they use fast paced editing to make the visuals consistently look visually appealing. Fast music and quick transitions are used to generate excitement and happiness, whereas if the transitions were slow and the music was slow this creates more of a relaxed, calm mood. This all varies on what message the broadcaster wants to communicate to the specific audience targeted. Television idents are usually on screen from about 10-15 seconds. The tempo of the ident can be based on the show

which is about to be shown. For example if a action packed show was about to be aired the TV ident would be fast paced/tempo. The BBC one hippo ident lasts a little over 10 seconds; it has a slow tempo and is very subtle. This makes it appeal to the desired target audience.

TV idents majority of the time have scheduling. Scheduling is portrayed via voice over. This voice over enables the audience to understand what programme is being aired after the advertisements. The voiceover may announce if the channel has any new programmes which are coming onto the channel. The voice over would almost influence the audience to watch certain things by announcing times and dates of the show. A good channel which uses this technique is BBC 1 with an ident in the background to make the screen more visually appealing.

Some televisions are working at a ratio of 4:3 compared to TV’s nowadays work in a 19:9 ratio which is wider. Graphics are usually created on a computer screen, this later affects the output ratio of the graphics when the broadcast is aired on the television. This is because computers do not have the same aspect ratio as TV. Some of the graphics on TV may appear stretched and wider. Since technology has become more advanced over the years flat screen TV’s are being purchased more and more everyday this means the graphics are now being created for this ratio which then creates limitation for the graphic designers.

On screen graphics can be used for a variety of things such as interactive television e.g red button, signposts The BBC and Film 4’s graphics show the genre of the film which is going to be aired, teleshopping and a range of sports such as football, hockey showing the scores of the games, team colours and the positions of players on field before the game.

Here is a link to an example of this https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r8fAyNKJc58 (film 4)

Here is a link to another example of this https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gl1UKwKX8fc (BBC based)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hqRDBcNV9_Y (BBC Three Ident- Kick step turn 2008) This is one of the newly designed idents for BBC Three. This ident was created in 2008.

The colours which have been used was the key colours for the rebranding, these are pinks, purples, blues. This can indicate mixed gender as the target audience. The objects which are portrayed in this animation consist of red lipstick, a blue pair of high heels which are targeted at women. Also in this ident another object which is shown is different cars, this proves that this ident is targeted at men as well as women. This BBC Three ident also shows people who are animated both male and female uniting as one dancing. This indicates that the target audience for this channel is focused on both genders.

The first ever BBC Television ident was created in the early 1950’s. Since technology has become more advanced over the years the idents have drastically changed from a simple black and white images to a highly sophisticated full colour short film.

The first ever ident created by the BBC. The picture is either known as “angels wings, bat wings”. This ident was then used from (1953-1960)

This ident was known as the first incarnation of the globe. This was introduced in 1963 and then later aired until 1964.

In 1985 the first (CGI) known as computer generated image was generated then aired on the BBC channel. This ident was known as the computer generated world. This ident was shown from (1985-1991)

BBC Three decided that the target audience would be “young adults”. BBC Three was launched on the 9th of February in 2003 as a successor to BBC Choice. The official launch of the idents revealed the three dimensional figure “Three” surrounded by small (CGI) computer generated images known as “blobs” which are the small little orange things shown in the picture to the right. BBC’s channel logo is a large slanted Three placed below the BBC logo in a rectangular box.

In 2008 the BBC was looking to redesign their image/brand for the channel. This decision was made by Danny Cohen. The BBC was redesigned to emphasise its new focus on cross-platform programming. The idents for BBC three were introduced on the 22nd of January 2008. The newly created BBC logo was known to look like a pipe with pink liquid passing through it spelling out the word ‘three’. The pipes and pools of liquid are present in most of The BBC’s idents to appeal to the younger generation/audiences.

Here is a picture of BBC’s

The idents which The BBC has created has used signposting; this informs the audience what is happening next. Signposting is commonly used to keep the attention of the target audience.

Interactive idents: Aimed directly at the audience and some how relates. For example social networking sites such as Facebook, Twitter pages/groups. The audience has an active update of what is happening.

The BBC divides their mission statement into three different categories;

Our mission. Our vision. Our values.

This information was taken from the www.bbc.com website.

The BBC’s mission is to enrich people’s lives with programmes and services that inform, educate and entertain.

The BBC’s vision is to the most creative organisation in the world.

It was crucial that The BBC took typography into consideration when creating their idents, for example a complex font which could have curly bits could be difficult to read on the television screen especially when the tempo and transitions of the idents are quite rapid in order to convey the desired message to the audience. This then would be a limitation because the audience would not be receiving the information that the ident is trying to communicate. Colour could also be considered as a limitation because including a range of colours or even patterns on the screen could then distract the targeted audience from what the ident is trying to communicate which then defeats the purpose. This would then create less impact for the audience and possibly fail at being a successful ident. On the other hand The BBC are successful in the way that they create their idents, they use a clear bold font which is easy to read for a range of audiences. The font is a decent size which enables the audience to have an understanding of what they’re watching and who it was created by. The font is standard and clear to read, there is no patterns or extras which causes difficulty for the audience to read. Certain fonts should be avoided as its hard to read and certain information which the producer wants to convey gets missed. The audience/viewer would try and spend a long amount of time reading and understanding the text but in idents the transitions and shots are usually fast so they would miss crucial aspects.

The BBC’s values;

Trust is the foundation of the BBC: we are independent, impartial and honest. Audiences are the heart of everything we do. We take pride in delivering quality and value for money. Creativity is the lifeblood of our organisation.

We respect each other and celebrate our diversity so that everyone can give their best. We are one BBC: great things happen when we work together. The royal charter and

agreement also sets out six public purposes for the BBC.

Brand loyalty is a crucial aspect of the BBC’s branding. They stick to a recurring theme for a number of years when they was using the ‘blob’ theme. Sticking to a consistent theme communicates to a range of audiences that this was created by the BBC. The ident is easy to identify. The way that they do this is by using the same colour scheme in the ‘blob’ idents, these where light blue, navy, orange and white. When any company looks to establish themselves in the market place they always reflect on branding to help. The concept of branding is to create a look which is immediately identifiable and recognisable in the market place. Good consistent branding can then increase the value of the product and the company.

BBC Threes closure has been confirmed for autumn 2015.

Audience interaction is key for the BBC, this is because they need the audience to communicate and interact with the ident otherwise it is not fulfilling its purpose, therefore what is the point? The audience interacting with the ident will make them easily identify it was created by the BBC by noticing the BBC THREE logo in the bottom right hand corner which was originally watermarked there or with the redesigned logo notice the key colours black and pink straight away which makes them automatically know it’s a product of the BBC.

Creative communication when creating idents involve enhancing ideas. New and up to date software is now available and this allows you to creatively/effectively show and express your ideas, which was physically impossible to achieve effectively a few years ago simply because of the technology which was available at that time era.

Graphic designers and producers have targets and deadlines to achieve for when the idents are due to broadcast on the television. This creates a huge impact on the production process. If the creators lose track of time and don’t achieve the deadline or rush any of the production process it doesn’t just affect them negatively but it has a negative impact on the whole corporation. In huge companies like The BBC time is money and if you don’t keep to the planned schedule money losses will result in designers having to pay for the time and money lost. A set budget also impacts the designers because they would be limited to how far they can go with the quality equipment/resources. The amount of money which is put into a ident doesn’t determine how successful it is at conveying the message to the specific target audience. If the ident does not create corporate identity, show/promote the organisation who created the ident there is a high chance for it to be unsuccessful in promoting the channel therefore creating it would be a huge waste of effort, time and money.

2d animation involves a creation of animation systems in two different dimensions. These are commonly used in education, television and advertisement productions. One of the most common uses for companies and people who are creating 2D animations is the programme Adobe Flash Player. On the internet 2D animation is used to create lively advertisements which communicate a message effectively. On the internet is useful in a creation of web banners as they are an effective

way of advertising a company or product. However 2D animation in flash is another successful way for creating an animation for promotional and advertising purposes. They’re an effective way of communicating a message and also adding humour. The use of 2D animation in television is rapidly increased over the past couple of years. This is an example of 2D animation. This is my recreation of BBC Three’s ident. 2D animators and producers use different creative skills and a variety of programmes (Adobe, Flash, and Motion) to create images which appear to move. 2D animation is generated on a two dimensional platform, in comparison to 3D which adds depth to the work. Think about the concept consider squares to be two dimensional and a cube to be three dimensional. Animations which are 2D (two dimensional) is commonly used within advertising, animated movies, video games, TV shows, and computer programmes.

Questions which are commonly raised when creating animation is “how many frames are in one second of an animation?” This actually varies on the type of software you are using. If you are creating a standard animation using the software stop motion and Final Cut Pro to edit it usually is 24 frames per second. This enables your animation to run smoothly and majority of production companies/producers use this when creating animation or short film. However creating a 2D animation on the software ‘Flash’ you can use whatever frame rate which you think runs smoothly and the way you want it to be portrayed. This could be 12 fps or 24fps. If your frame rate is set to 24fps it appears to play much faster compared to 12fps so this leads to the duration of your video being shorter.

This is my recreation of BBC Three’s ident. 2D animators and producers use different creative skills and a variety of programmes (Adobe, Flash, and Motion) to create images which appear to move. 2D animation is generated on a two dimensional platform, in comparison to 3D which adds depth to the work. Think about the concept consider squares to be two dimensional and a cube to be three dimensional. Animations which are 2D (two dimensional) is commonly used within advertising, animated movies, video games, TV shows, and computer programmes.

Power centres are used in 2D animations because it emphasises points on a character depending on their moods. Another technique which is commonly used within 2D animation is line of action. This technique is used direct in the movement of the animation to guarantee emphasis is held in the correct places. Therefore guides producers to maintain their focus on their aims and objectives.

This is an example of an animation which is 12fps. This is a successful animation which proves that an animation does not need to be 24fps. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hyRw2kfY5GE

Here is an example of an

animation which is 24fps. Using this frame technique makes the outcome look more professional. This is what typical producers/creators use when they create successful animation movies/short films.

Animation formatting; The format which is selected for animation is based around how complex the animation is and what the animation is designed to be used for. For example a webpage how large the file is for the animation. There are many different formats for animation, these include Dynamic HTML like Java, GIFS, shockwave and Flash.

Dynamic HTML; this is used alongside client scripting languages like Java Script. This can be used to create simple animations such as drop down menus. There is a downside to using dynamic HTML since there are various types of internets which can be used, these are Firefox and Google Chrome, this means information can be displayed differently meaning the Dynamic HTML may not always be effective.

Shockwave; Shockwave is more focused on 3D graphics and the streaming of videos. This programme is designed to work alongside a director application, which then combines various information into a multimedia product on a massive scale compared to Flash.

Animated GIFS; gif images which have been normally animated have various images combined into one single file. GIF have a limited amount of flexibility compared to other formats, however It is now supported by almost every web browser created therefore this has led to it becoming extremely popular. Another perk to GIF files are they tend to be smaller than other animation files.

Flash; flash allows people to create animations frame by frame using a variety of materials such as scripting. Flash is beneficial for animations since it can allow the use of sound and video. On the other hand Flash Software can be used to create a website, however since the whole website uses flash you may need excellent internet connection and speeds in order to load up the files which are needed. To use Flash you will need the Flash Player installed on your computer in order to load up the content which is required. (Most computers tend to have this pre-installed anyway.) In order to make a Flash file work on the internet you have to convert the file in to SWF format so they can stream. The SWF format was originally designed to keep animations in and possibly sounds. However Flash can be used for more purposes then animations and website creations.

An ident is a brand name use within different types of broadcasting or media to self-promote various companies such as video game companies, television channels and film distributors. Different companies use idents as a way of branding themselves and self-promotion, on the other hand they use it to remind the specific target audience what the companies brand value is and what they stand for. Majority of television channels/stations and even radio have their own individual idents as part of their corporate identity. The visuals and audio in the ident should clearly reflect the image that the company wanted to portray about themselves. The ident should have memorable moments included such as music which is only used for their company or any other key points which are easily identified to the target audience. For example BBC uses ‘the blobs’ in their idents which is only used on that specific channel. This makes the target audience easily identify that this ident was created by the BBC. Another example of a successful ident would be BBC’s Eastenders which serves as an

opening sequence to the programme. The audio ident which is used is famous for its unique audio which is easily identified and recognisable so the audience can easily make links to the television programme.