Unit 32 Designing Idents for Television

Creation of Corporate Identity The way a channel presents themselves is how their corporate image is seen to their target audience. Channels can employ agencies to create this particular image that will help the channel's idents fit in with the overall ethos.  Idents require the channel's logo, colours and a particular layout. This particular style must stay the same otherwise the audience will not be able to remember one particular logo. This is to primarily help the brand's name and logo stay in the target audience's mind.  The channel's target audience should ideally have a preferred reading to the ident as it will match together the audience and the channel.  Negotiated: Shows some of the values of the company to an extent Oppositional: Does not show values/identity of the company in any way Preferred Reading: Entirely matches the ethos of the company This ident by Channel 4 is an example of a negotiated reading, as The Simp...

Assignment 2 - Understand the opportunities and limitations of onscreen graphic representation

Segmentation within Scheduling Non-commercial channels like the BBC do not have time between programmes to include adverts, as all of their programmes are either 30 minutes or an hour long. This means that there is only time available for idents. Idents can be useful for providing information, promote a variety of programming, filling time in-between channels and allowing breaks for members of staff working in the studio. 

Scheduling Channel schedules must be kept organised, which is where an ident will come in handy as not only does it divide shows, it is an opportunity for the channel to explain to the audience what is about to appear on the next show. This may keep the audience from switching over to other channels due to boredom as they will have some information on the next showing, therefore maintaining audience flow.  This is an example of maintaining audience flow as all of the characters featured in a popular show (EastEnders) are shown looking and smiling at something, which will make the audience feeling intrigued wanting to know what they are looking at. This is an effective way of keeping the audience's attention as well as dividing time between programmes. 

Packaging and Re-Packaging Idents serve as an anchor of meaning that reflects their ethod. BBC most recently changed their idents to reflect their fourth and new ethos of celebrating cultural diversity. They responded to this change by repackaging their idents away from their circular branding to spaces in the UK that celebrates diversity.  The repackaging of the BBC this year revolves around portraying the lives of people in different communities and their interests and hobbies. The BBC have also chosen to include different groups of people to portray the diversity within modern Britain. 

Marketing Idents can also be a useful marketing tool if a channel wants to consistently promote a new show or a returning series. An example of this could be Channel 4's ident for The Simpsons. Channel 4 could potentially release a Simpsons themed ident every time a new series comes out. 

Branding A company's ethos and aims can be reflected by on its idents. Having a brand will allow a channel's target audience to associate any programmes to that channel, especially when an ident is consistently played.

Identity It is essential for media companies to stand out to its competitors, therefore creating a unique identity will portray everything about the company; its aims and values as well as representing its target audience and their particular hobbies. 

Information-led Some idents do not have as much entertainment to them as they are purely used to fill in time between different programmes and to inform you of what is about to come on next.  This is an example of a non-entertaining ident, as it is only used to announce essential details of the following programme (of flashing images). This is a lawful regulation as it warns Channel 5's viewers who suffer from epilepsy.

Interaction with Viewers Idents on occasion will interact with viewers, for example, E4's Eefer robot first came out when The Big Bang Theory series returned on the same channel. This was to appeal to the science fans that originally came to watch The Big Bang Theory. This allows the audience to engage with the channel in a unique way as 'eefer' can interact with viewers on Facebook, Twitter, Spotify, YouTube and Instagram. This is an effective way of maintaining humour and purpleness by introducing 'Eefer'. 

Screen Tempo The pace of an ident is either slowed down or increased to match the type of target audience and the show that is about to come on. For example, BBC One used a fast-paced edit of an ident with people playing football before an England match in real life. This means that those watching it will be more excited for what they are about to see as it mentally prepares them for it. 

Space E4's target audience are aged between 14-36 year olds; therefore their channel idents will be more colourful and appealing due to them being young, providing their target audience with more to look at. Younger audiences will need more colours and settings to keep them interested in what is going on onscreen. The ident also shows a man drawing eyes that resemble a cartoon version of female breasts, which is included to humour the young audience as it is subtle yet works if you are focused on the screen.  However, the BBC's target audience (aged between 22-55) will not require as much colours and much to look at as their audience are more mature. BBC's idents are more professional as they can be used to fill time in before something serious comes on like the news, in order to allow the studio to prepare setting up for going live.  Time Channel idents like E4's could be longer as they need to fill time in before a scheduled time, however younger audie...

Density of Information The ident created by E4 is more-rich in information. This is due to  it being generally longer, along with it having a voice over narrative telling the audience what show is on next and what events are expected to happen, along with 2 characters being shown doing an activity and the appearance of 'eefer' the robot. 'Rich in information' refers to an ident providing a lot of information to the audience, therefore they are more often used before a show is about to come on.  The BBC One ident is more abstract and less informative (not so rich in information), as no narrative is provided and the actions in the ident are not similar or linked to one another, therefore the audience that watches this will not be informed of what will be on next. This could be due to the majority of BBC's programmes being informative, therefore this ident could be shown before a news segment. 

Channel Idents Why we use idents:  - to identify the channel - to organise the schedule by telling you what is on next - to fill in time between programmes, providing breakdsfor non-commercial channels - to create an overall corporate identity - to create and encourage brand loyalty - to brand particular content - to create the tone and make it appeal to the target audience - for marketing opportunities - to package and re-package programmes or events Identifying the Channel The first ident appeared in 1953 on the BBC as commercial television began to expand and viewers needed to be able to identify different channels.  Technology has played a major role in the development of idents.  In 1960, the first "BBC TV" logo within a circle was introduced.  The most famous ident "the globe" appeared in 1963. It rotated as the BBC TV logo would appear and a voice would announce "this is BBC television".