Looking at idents

Looking into the use of idents

1. Looking into Television Idents Sydney Pooleman

2. In essence the most core purpose of a television Ident is to show the viewing audience the channels name between shows so that it becomes ingrained in their brains that the shows they like are on that channel. The basic premise of an Ident is to brand a TV channel and intergrade its personality into each one to showcase the brilliance and the appeal of the channel. Another job of the Ident is to appeal to the audience which should help to draw them in and entice the viewers attention and trap them in the channels air space. A less important  job of the Ident is to waist time and separate out the broadcasting shows so it appears that they run less adverts when they are inserting the channels advert in.  TV Purposes Q1 Microwave Popcorn Glass ident (Orange)

3. Purposes Q2 At the start, in 1927 TV's only came with one channel called BBC , this meant that there was no need to brand as there was literally only one channel; BBC decided to upgrade their name to BBC 1 even though they are still the only channel, this was to differentiate between the company and the product. The 2 nd ever channel started in 1955 when ITV showed up and gave the viewers choices on what to watch; with the new competition the BBC had to think fast, so they started splitting the programs up with Brand advertisement and pushing the BBC 1 name into the face anyone who was watching. When the 60’s came so did BBC 2 , because BBC was becoming over crowded and needed more space to show everything; now the BBC had a TV brand and this meant the 2 channels had to work together to advertise what was going on with the other. When We Had To Have More Channels Than One P1

4. Purposes Q2 Jump forward to 1981 and the Channel Four Television Corporation joins the part and claims the 4 th channel (duh) and naming it Channel 4 (so inventive) from the start they were an alternative to the old school channels of yester year and this meant that we got shows like The Simpsons; Branding was now more important than ever because the company's want their views so Idents became big, officially showing the attitude of the channels. In the 1980’s naming channels creatively didn't ’ t seem to matter because here come Channel 5 , the biggest collection of shows that no one else wanted; when it came to branding a Personality Channel 5 seemed to be lost and this meant their Idents were a mash up of the others with no soul or individuality. When We Had To Have More Channels Than One P2

5. Purposes Q2 After these the on slaughter came! With BBC3 and BBC4 getting on air, ITV wanted more so we got ITV 2 through to ITV4 . Kids needed their own channels for full day entertainment so CB B C and CITV were started however later on the BBC decided that CBBC wasn't appropriate for younger children so Cbeebies was formed for that taking all the baby aimed shows with it. Then Channel 4 wanted in and made E4 ; and all the companies decided that incase you missed the first showing +1 and More 4 were needed. News had its own channels with the BBC and ITV so that we could be frequently updated on what's been going on without bothering those who don ’ t care or just want to watch the entertaining show When We Had To Have More Channels Than One P3

6. Purposes Q2 Other channels were set up out side the companies that made the main 5 with channels including: Alibi Dave Drama Eden GOLD Good Food Home Really W Yesterday When We Had To Have More Channels Than One P4

7. As the expansion of TV channels and their purposes expanded this resulted in competition, mainly to keep people inside the brands airwaves instead of wandering off to the other channels available. With the 3 main competitors in this being: The British Broadcasting Corporation, ITV Network Limited, and Channel Four Television Corporation; each of whom own a litter of offspring channels some of which are more well known than others. As shown left Channel Four Television Corporation owns at least 6 channels with different purposes and shows, i.e. Film 4 showing the films they have the rights to, and this meant each one needed to be branded with a personality that summed up what the channel did. Enter the Idents which not only summed Companies And Their Need To Brand Everything Individually Purposes Q2

8. BBC ’s Idents in particular have had to evolve with the times to keep people on their channel, and as they add more channels they need to sell the whole collection of ‘The BBC ’ and not each one. In the 80’s the Idents were lower quality and mainly just the space out between the shows, this meant they consisted of just having clips of shows that were coming up, the current time or a nights schedule for the current one you were on. They did this back in 1981 however it only showed the events coming up on the singular channel they were on, this was because there were only 3 or 4 channels on all of TV; where as now the announcer says what is on several of the channels relation to the one you are currently on, to alert you to what you could be watching if you stay on this company's airwaves. Because They Now Have To Deal The Brand As A Whole Purposes Q2 65 Year later

9. The BBC1 design as of January 1 st 2017 is all about the ‘ ONE ness ’ of the channel this has given the design a inclusive style and has the Indent feature a varied collection of people doing the same activity. This is a different approach to the companies other channels such as BBC4 which has the screen divided into 4 which just reflects the channel number. The use of the range of people makes you relate to the channel and feel like you are part of this ‘ ONE ness ’; each Indent has a different group of people that have a different characteristic, the “ Sea Swimmers, Clevedon ” Indent includes a bunch of older people playing in the sea and the “ Skaters, Southwark ” Indent has younger people. Doing this variety reflects the channels universal appreciation. The First Channel, Meaning It Had To Deliver BBC1 Sea Swimmers, Clevedon Skaters, Southwark

10. On BBC2 ’s Idents are very in your face with the channel number being the main image in the whole thing, this is a clear mark of territory for the channel and reflects the purpose of the channel. As BBC2 is a varied channel, with many of the shows being plucked from other channels shows get put here if he have success on lesser channels or if they failed on BBC , the wide range of themes for the channel makes sense; with some being education related and others being fun; such as the 2 Idents ‘ Predator ’ and ‘ Toy Car ’.  BBC2 is a BBC channel and so part of a whole corporation, the Idents for the channel represent this with references to popular BBC owned shows; even if it is from a different channel such as BBC1 like the ‘ Exterminate ’ Ident which is a reference to Dr Who . The BBC Version Of Channel 5 BBC2 Toy Car Predator Exterminate

11. The ITV logo is subtle and comes in using color tones that are on screen, this means it isn't in your face and makes the over all felling less crowded than others such as True crime , FOX and Really ; this implies the channel is inclusive but still stands out, like the log, and there for it extends the audience to be more inclusive like BBC1 . Like BBC1 these Idents have a few where it is a group of people doing an activity, such as ‘ Night Cyclists ’ which has people cycling away from the camera in a group, however there are some more obscure that relate to sections of broadcasting directly; some examples are ‘ Line Marker ’ Indent which relates to sport and ‘ A seasonal ’ Indent which relates to weather specifically shown on a day following bad weather. This gives a more personal feeling to the channel as it relates to the programing and not just to a whole channel. The Other BBC 1 ITV Night Cyclists Line Marker A seasonal channel's main Charlee is one of only 300 female fire fighters in the UK Man (2)

12. Channel 4 ’s new Idents releases for 2017 have 3 themed sets; one set is the ' Clock Indents ', which are 3 indents shown at specific times each day and has the separate shapes form the logo moving round clockwise. The set of Idents makes a more systematic feeling to the channel and subconsciously makes the channel feel more grown up; especially when one of them, ' 9pm Clock ', is the watershed marker with more mature programs coming on after it’s display.  Another set of Indents is the mineral/metal some of which are: ‘ Red Crystals ’ and 3 others; each has a full length and 2-3 shortened versions that show. The shapes of the rocks are resemblance of the Channel 4 logo. This gives more of an explorative feel to the channel and give the channel an identity that is far different of that of ITV and BBC1 ; it makes the audience more refined than them as well. There are also specific Idents for shows; ‘ The Simpsons ’, which has yellow bricks and character styled eyes which move around the screen, and formula one which has a tone of little versions of the bricks moving fast speed around the screen in random directions . A Channel With A Different Approach Channel 4 12 Noon Clock Red Crystals The Simpsons

13. Channel 5 is a channel with that over the years has had an identity crisis, this is reflected in their Idents which are generally appear random, the only real connection between them is the appearance of 5 of the same thing which shows up in every Ident without fail. Each of the Idents starts with a landscape and ends on 5 items, this is representation of the choice to watch Channel 5 , with the landscape meaning the whole choice range and the 5 items the channel. ‘ Dogs ’ is one of the Idents in witch this allegory can be applied, in fact the only one it cant be applied to is ‘ Skateboarders ’ as there isn't a landscape shot.  The channel is shown as standing out in the from the rest in a weird way; this is reflected in the ‘ Birds ’ Indent which has a Urban setting in which 5 parrots show up, which they wouldn’t really. This gives the channel personality as it appears to be a fish out of water with no real sense of belonging. The Garbage Dump Of Channels Channel 5 Skateboarders Dogs Birds

14. The BBC1 ident is a more based around the ideas of being active and united and has people of all ages, races and abilities which pushes the ideas of standing together; this contrasts to Movies 24 which is designed to have a more homely and relaxing vibe which encourages the idea of snuggling up with a movie and snacks. BBC1 features groups of people that have come together to do one activity and it is a wide shot that incases everyone; this is a reflection of the Channels purpose which is to reach and appeal to many people regardless of there gender, background or age. Movies 24 is a set of close ups of one person or thing, with slow sluggish movements, this is a reflection of the channel which only plays movies and so it stands to reason that the Idents would be designed to be relaxing for the watcher. Visual Elements and Style Comparing Idents Break bumpers Break bumpers Bhangra Dancers Sea Swimmers

15. The biggest viewers of BBC1 , according to YouGOV profiles, are elderly women in Yorkshire. The Idents for BBC1 appeal to this main audience by showing that this age range and gender are not constrained by the stereo-types; the wider audience would be appeased by these Idents as well because they are so wide in range of those it includes. The audience that views Movies 24 most is older women between 40 and 55, this is why the domesticated Idents appeal to this audience; the idea of getting settled on the sofa and watching a movie in privacy in comfortable style would be appealing to anyone however this audience would appreciate it more for the idea of spending time with loved ones. Audience Comparing Idents Movies 24 Audience according to YouGOV profiles Popcorn BBC1 Audience according to YouGOV profiles Exercise Class, Avonmouth

16. Money wouldn't be an issue for the BBC when making Idents especially for the more popular channels in their brand, such as BBC1 ; however as BBC1 is a universally viewed channel the Ident makers would be issues such as avoiding stereo-types of age, gender or class to make it appeal to the masses and also to the majority viewer. The makers must do this with out being to ludicrous or gaudy. Movies 2 4 would have the challenge of make the channel comforting and inviting through one 30-45 second ident that doesn’t overpower the message and is relaxing to watch. Other challenges for the channel would be budget, since it isn't a huge TV channel compared to channels like Film 4 or SKY Movies and funded/ owned by NBCUniversal who have many channels in their home base country and have this one as a side channel here in the UK. Challenges Comparing Idents Movies 24 Audience according to YouGOV profiles BBC1 Audience according to YouGOV profiles

17. Both channels opted for Slow-moving/ sounding Idents that project calmness and don ’ t over power the audience with their sounds and images. In one ident there is a feel of being Inclusive while the other is rather selected; the BBC1 ident has lots of people in contrast to Movies 24 which only has around two people at a time who are clearly engaged in activities with each other. Logos and writing are also different depending on the channel. In the case of the BBC1 ident the writing is small and comes quite small on the bottom of the screen which is rather subtle where as in the Idents for Movies 24 the logo appears over the action in an obvious way as well as when there is writing over the top. This difference is more significant because it shows that the BBC is well known enough that they don ’ t have to push the name forward however Movies 24 is less recognized and therefor has the need to show case the name. Characteristics Comparing Idents Birdwatchers , Rainham Marshes Coffees

18. I believe that it is the BBC1 Idents that are the most success full however I believe that the suit for Movies 24 is well executed. The BBC1 Idents have a universal theme with a range of actives and ages, it shows that anyone can do anything and it perpetuates the channels theme; that the channel is for everyone. All the Movie 24 Idents have the desired effect of a tone of warmth and domestication; with Idents showing two people making them appear more intimate, this draws conclusions to what the that the channel is about. Success Comparing Idents Night Kayakers, Killyleagh Snap Mummy Rain Allotment Holders, Smethwick Bog Snorkellers , Llanwrtyd Wells