Television Idents Design and Purpose

Ident purpose

1. Identity of channel, The simplest use of an ident is to identify the channel, creating a corporate identity for the channel and a brand to sell to there consumers of merchandise and to sponsor products with. With television being such an international industry with many shows being shown in multiple countrys the channel must create a brand that the whole world will recognise this can be achieved by making a attractive ident. The e4 ident has very strong channel based message it helps build e4s identity as a young and fun channel compare to the more serious channel 4.

2. Branding and rebranding, a brand has been defined many ways by hundreds of authors and journalist a brand will to most people represent a certain name, logo and ethos that you can buy into and consume. A brand helps consumers differentiate between various products and services and choose one that is right for them, the right choice will vary from consumer to consumer so it makes sense to brand your product towards a wide group so it will appeal to the largest audience a variety of brands mean that everyone will have something that suites them. The simpsons ad is a example of branding and rebranding as it is part of the set of channel four idents that showed the 4 logo in a different style each time this makes the brand appeal to a wide audience.

an ident is used to identify a channel or sometimes to tie a popular piece of programming to a specific channel this means that people watching the ident who watch the tv show advertised will automatically know where to find it on the televison and will tie that happyness brought by the tv show to the channel. The superhumans ident is an example of a channel tying a televised event to there channel exclusivley.

Building a brand is vital to a channels aims as a brand is what you can sell to new customers and and strong brand will inspire loyalty from there consumers as they will always be reminded of the brands identy and ethos.

A channel will only really re brand if they are noticing a drop in viewing figures or there brand starts to become out dated and while still working makes the whole channel look dated, when rebranding the channel will look to widen its target audience as to appeal and draw in more customers.

3. Marketing, marketing is used to sell products and define an audience, it can do so by using on screen animation and other on screen techniques. Marketing goes hand in hand with branding, idents are used to market a channel and to do that successfuly it needs to create a strong brand identity and a logo they can apply to all of there products. A will marketed ident will be able to display the various forms of programming a channel has to offer without listing the different shows it will sometimes use text based infortation but for the most part the viewer should be able to tell from the grahics and visuals. Marketing with in the tv industry is mostly used to reflect the channel and its audience.

4. Packaging and repackaging, 
Packaging and repackaging is the evolution a redesigning the idents from one channel and using them again while keeping the vital and important parts of the ident but with a different message or theme this means that even though the ident is new and different it still has the key recognisable features. The e4 ident is an example of repackaging the estings series of idents was made by consumers and although each one is different is always features the same style of e4 logo.

5. Schedule (Break up),

Television scheduling Art and science

marketing closely links in with scheduling as the time of day and day of the week that programmes are broadcast effect who will be interested in watching it shows intended for late teens and early/mid twenties will be shown during the week as this is when they are likely to be home to watch said show as they will be out on the weekend so they would miss it otherwise. This is effective as it benefits the viewer directly and brings in a bigger audience.


the way television is scheduled is a science, the marketers must first predict what programmes would best suite certain time slots and weekly slots and then analyses ratings and demographics so they can find out who is watching a show and how they are consuming it. if this is done correctly it will intice the viewer to stay on the channel past the show they just watched as the next show will appeal the to viewer a ident helps keep the channels schedule organised and up to date it informs the viewer of what is coming up next and what they are watching. the channel 4 Simpsons ad has the show advertises then talks about the similar shows coming up.

6. Segmentation, segmentation within scheduling is the grouping of the idents between programming, for example on channel 4 in between the ads they will show the channel 4 ident thid reinforces each time the programme is broken up and re started what channel you are watching are where to come to watch the show in the future they will show the ident again at the end of the show again for this purpose. Channels like the bbc do not have any ads so the idents are timed between programmes.

i summary idents are to provide information, show and advertise the variety of programming and control the scheduling.

E4 beach ident

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vFSaGi4niB4

The Density Of Information – The ident is only 21 seconds long and the information that is being conveyed is quite dense. The main focus of the visuals like all E4 idents is on the the stop motion animation with the bright colours, and large amounts of purple are classic signs of an E4 ident. Although the information conveyed is dense it does not feel like your mind is being overloaded with information although the screen has many moving elements they all combine into a simple (not visually) and entertaining ident which appeals to the younger audience as well as advertising/identifying the channel as a whole.

Space And Time - The ident takes place on a beach there is no clear indicator of where it is set, the time is slightly more clear as is is clearly summer and around midday as it is very light. As the company is based in the uk you can assume by the classic british beach huts that it is in the uk.

Informative or Entertainment - The logo is the main textual information; and still, at the end of the day it is not very dense with information. The emphasis is on the visuals and as this is the thing that draws the viewer's attention. The reason for an ident is to inform and entertain and this ident does this.

Screen Tempo - The ident is first quite tranquil and the music is soft and gentle until the teddy gets swallowed then The screen is very busy and there are alot of moving characters, the music is upbeat and the whole ident is very quick and there is a barrage of things to look at on your screen with not 1 clear point of focus, the pace change is very sudden and there are tons of things on the screen

Interaction With Audience - There is no real interaction with the audience the whole point of the ident is to entertain and advertise e4 therefore they did not need to interact with the audience.

Superhumans ident

Setting/ Time

There is no information regarding the time of the idents airing but the visuals appear to be taking place at dawn in the beginning then moving chronologically through the day then jumps back and fourth to tell the story of the athletes. ·

Tempo

The ident keeps in tempo with the music that is played over the top with quick cuts it and slows down when there are moments of emotional tension and adds emotional resistant’s.

Audience interaction (–

The athletes look into the camera and the camera is at eye level which interacts with the audience which suggest equality with the viewer which is a big theme of the paralympics this underlying theme can be seen throughout the ident with the atheletes training like able atheletes and the channel treating the paralympics with the same gravity as the bbc did with the able olympics.

Informative or Entertainment

Although the Ident is information based the Ident has got entertainment value as it has a very well known song backing it, the whole advert is also cut in an action film style way which means it is visually appealing and entertaining to watch as the cuts are quick and the action on screen is interesting, although some bits of the ident are quite somber the general feel of the ident is positive.

Density  

The visuals take up the entire screen at first then the logo appears on the screen forming from the colours in the frame and creates a white space and there is room in the screen for text but only the logo is used for a few second as it is quite explanatory ·

Space and time

The time of the ad jumps back a forth from different space and time zones showing the past and present and shows how the athletes came over what has happened to them whether from birth or accident to be how they are now which adds power to the ident ·

Information led

It introduces to you who britains athletes are and tells you about the accidents the training and the competition as well as telling you the channel its on. · Entertainment led It is not entertainment led it is just giving you information.

True blood ident

The Density Of Information – The information is subtle they do not overload the screen with textual information the add faint names of the cast and crew the visuals take up the entire screen and is it mostly film footage.0

Space And Time - The time seems to jump back and forth as it appears to show a child turn to a man there is not much information regarding the date but it looks to be set in the last 20 years by the style of clothing and cars other than that you can see that it looks to be set in new orleans.

Information-Led - It’s information led it reveals small parts of the plot There is a medium shot of a ladie in underwear, this reveals the plot includes desire or perhaps some kind of sexual connection. The utilization of sound through the soundtrack additionally reveals info the on plot. Verses "I wanna do bad things to you" are suggesting, this could be sexual or it could litterally mean what it is saying. Both translations are important to the plot . Medium close up shot of a chilf in Ku Klux Klan outfit, juxtaposition between a child(innocence) and Ku klux klan (contempt) could symbolise a loss of innocence within the plot.

Screen Tempo -  the ident varies at pace depending on the importance of what is being shown the whole video is cut to the beat of the song so the song determines a steady pace the creators then played with the speed of the visual effects and the speed of the action some in slo mo and then speeding up to fast motion, because it is cut to the beat it feels like the pace is a naturally varied.

Interaction With Audience - There isn’t any interaction with the audience it’s just the intro to set the mood for the show. Some of the characters will look straight into the camera this could be conceived as being audience interaction as they looking in a threatening or creepy manner the act of looking into the camera is an effective tool as it adds a very personal element to the ident and effects the viewer on a personal level as it makes them feel involved rather than them just watching a spectacle take place in a virtual world.

Entertainment-Led - it’s also entertainment it gets the audience excited about the show they are about to watch when you watch it, it builds tension before the show even starts and the mix of imagery makes it very appealing to look at, the creators make a big effort to make the show appealing and will make sure that the best and most entertaining parts of the show are shown which draws in the viewer and makes them want to watch on.

Channel 4: Simpsons Ident

The Density Of Information – The information takes up the entire screen as it first appears to be a episode of the simpsons there is no text on screen and it is not clear until the camera pulls out to show all of springfield there is some black space on the side of the screen with a large flickering 5.

Space And Time - Any fan of the simpsons will know that it is set in springfield although it is not said the simpsons is a big enough part of modern culture that it its clear it also pulls out to show the whole city, the advert starts in the day time as the sky is blue it then changes to night time and ends at night.

Information-Led/ Entertainment-Led - This ident is entertainment-led as it uses a flagship programme to advertise the channel. This offers a great opportunity as when viewers see The Simpsons they will begin to automatically associate it with Channel 4, thus advertising the channel. It is not obvious that this footage is an ident, which could be seen as either positive or negative. Although at the end the continuity announcer talks about where to watch the simpsons and at what time it is mostly just to advertise the channel.

Screen Tempo -  The ad is quite slow paced and for most of the ad it plays out in real time until the time-lapse from day to night after this the tempo speeds up and the action starts homer gets electrocuted the shot then goes wide and reveals the city with the lights flickering the pace builds gradually from the point of homers electrocution.

Interaction With Audience - there is no interaction with the audience from the character in the ident although the continuity does directly address the simpsons saying things like 'if you want it that bad' other that this there is no visual interaction.

Lie to me ident

The Density Of Information – In the beginning of the ident the whole screen is being used but by a single picture as the ident progresses the information of the screen gets more dense with three pictures taking up the screen to make a face.

Space And Time - There is no way of telling where they are our when it is set all we know is that they are in a well lit room.

Information-Led/ Entertainment-Led - The ident is entertainment led, it does not reveal much information about the show other than it is about liars, though it does have entertainment value with the music being catchy and the quick cutting and visual effects. The information being conveyed is mostly factual and the first part is about the facial expressions people make, at the end of the ident the information about the show and its airing is told to the audience and the timings and channel are shown on screen.

Screen Tempo -  The ident starts off slow paced and then gradually the cuts gets quicker and the amount of information on the screen gets more dense, this is also cut in time with the music as the music also get progressively more up beat, the main pace change is when the faces on the screen get cut an merged this is a very entertaining and visually appealing technique, the sudden change of pace will draw the viewer in.

Interaction With Audience - There is some quite clever audience interaction within the ident all the characters look directly into the lens and display the facial expressions associated with lieing this could be construed as the characters lieing to the audience which makes the audience feel involved and set up the show nicely.

The five idents i have discussed are each very different, i think they each serve a different purpose the true blood ident builds tension and is very well made and have good production value you can see they focused on a certain message and stuck to it and it has worked very well the ident makes me want to watch the show and makes me aware of the show and that is what is most important although it lacks information about the plot or any real details it still draws you in, this is the same for the lie to me ident although this ident does not build tension it still draws in the viewers attention with an interesting visual style and the narration talks of a subject that most normal people would be able to relate to (lieing) this means that it is successful in its purpose of advertising the show. The superhumans ident is the ident that i think has the clearest message from start to finish it shows the struggle of the athletes and there fight to be seen in the same regard as the able bodied athletes i think the music and the visuals make the athletes seem "superhuman" and this makes for a very powerful ident even if it does not have much information about the games it works in the same way that the true blood ident works by mixing sound and visuals to create tension. These three idents are very different to the other two i discussed the E4 and Channel 4 idents are both adverts for the channels using different techniques the E4 ident goes for eye catching visuals with no connection to the channel other than its colour scheme where as channel 4 took a well known show and appropriated it to advertise there Channel alongside they were both successful but i think the Channel 4 ident stands out most in my mind part in thanks to the familiar imagery and the use of a continuity announcer explaining the visuals relevance where as in the e4 ident the visuals were completely random.

What do the idents have in common?

The majority of idents are entertainment led or have an entertaining side, they are not text based information led and the only real information is the channel logo and th continuity annoucer telling you whats is coming up, all of the idents have changes in speed throughout.

what key conventions have you noticed?

All of the idents i have discussed are designed to advertise a certain program over advertising the channel as a whole, although all of them bar the true blood ident have chanel logos.

What elements do you know you need to include in your own ident design, i know that i need to include the channels logo and add the name into the script of the continuity announcer that i have inferred will be vital for my ident to succeed as all of the adverts i discussed have a announcer, also i know i need to make my ident entertaining for it to be successful.