Successful
and Unsuccessful Idents
Idents are shot clips that inform
and/or entertain a channel’s target audience. There are opportunities as well
as limitations within idents. Some of the opportunities connected to an ident
are the ease of displaying information and the ability for it to create a
corporate identity and tone for a channel. Also, an advantage of an ident is
that it has the ability to brand a channel, appeal to the target audience and
to encourage brand loyalty.
However, there are also limitations to
an ident that may determine whether or not an ident is successful. The
typography of an ident is important; being able to clearly read information and
text is going to be an important factor in whether or not an ident succeeds.
Also, the resolution of the ident will contribute to its success; the higher
the resolution the better the quality of the image, however the longer it will
take to download. This may be an inconvenience to some viewers using tablets or
smartphones to view a program online, and so the ident must be of good quality
yet convenient to download. The colours in an ident are also important; is the
channel using the colours associated with them or just random combinations? And
finally, whether or not the aspect ratio is appropriate; if the image does not
adjust well to widescreen to smartphone screens, the audience will be less
likely to continue viewing the channel.
The UKTV Gold channel idents are good
examples of successful and unsuccessful idents. The older ident UKTV Gold
presented in 1992 is an example of an unsuccessful ident. In terms of the
design features, there is an extremely low density of information, with no
verbal or visual information being relayed to the audience. The composition and
tempo of the ident is also unexciting and dull; the music was neither upbeat
nor enthusing and the tempo was rather slow, giving off a laboured feeling. Although
the ident is set in a normal household and is intended to entertain the
audience, watching someone do their washing up then being shown the dirty water
is not at all entertaining.
UKTV Gold’s newer ident, released in
2004, is much more successful. The updated ident interacts with the audience
much better than the old ident and posses many more appealing features. While
the newer ident has little visual information in the form of text, the effects
and events going on are much more attention grabbing and entertaining for the
target audience. In terms of tempo and space and time, the clip is played at a
moderately fast speed and is not set in reality, giving the ident a much more
stimulating appearance. Moreover, the verbal information creates an improved
interaction with the audience and viewers; using colloquial language and old
slang engages with the target audience much more than the old ident. By
displaying old toys, objects, games and activities, the target audience are
entertained visually and can use these images to relate to past experiences.
Eden’s Jungle Ident form 2009 is a
second example of an unsuccessful ident. The ident contains a moderate density of
information in the form of lots of verbal material regarding program times and
names. However the visual information is low as only the logo is shown at the
end of this ident, suggesting there is more to find out about the ident. The
composition is rather unbalanced with lots of the same colour, green,
frequently used on the screen and minimal other colours. The slow tempo of the
ident is one of the main reasons as to why this ident is unsuccessful; the
visual actions are presented in a very dreary way, though they are supposed to
provoke the ideas of adventure, an exciting concept. Even though the talking
pace is at a normal speed, there is little connection between the ident and the
target audience; it does not make the audience anticipate the show and what it
may contain. The jungle setting is supposed to create excitement within the
viewers, and even though the setting implies great discoveries and adventures,
the slow and lethargic movements of the people and animals featured in the
ident take away this excitement and make the audience less enthusiastic. Nevertheless,
the ident is led by intending to relay information to the viewers and so is not
necessarily going to focus heavily on the aesthetics of the ident. The verbal
information the audience is given suggests that the channel shows factual
programs, for example documentary style shows.
The successful ident Eden currently
being displayed on the channel is the Science Zone ident. In terms of the
design features of the ident, it is much more successful than the previous
ident form 2009. The Science Zone ident had a moderate density of information;
little visual information is shown however plenty of verbal information is
communicated. The composition of the current ident is very good; the visual
elements of the ident are well balanced and compliment the verbal information
being relayed to the audience. The visual aspects of the ident all relate to
the topic of the program and are all interesting and attention grabbing images
that may not be seen in everyday life for most viewers, enhanced by the verbal
information explaining in slight detail more about what the show contains. The
tempo of the ident is also of moderate speed, keeping the viewers interested in
what is happening on the screen rather than elsewhere. The tempo speeds up
further into the clip in order to challenge the viewers into paying attention
to everything shown on the screen, a good way of keeping the audience focused
on the clip. The interaction with the viewers is good because of these points
as they all aim to keep the audience engrossed by the ident. Moreover this also
shows that the ident is entertainment led and succeeds in keeping the audience
amused. Lastly, as the ident is set in outer space, it is an unusual setting
once again grasping the audience’s attention and entertaining them and
continuing to spark idea’s as to what they can expect from the program. As this
ident is dedicated to one specific program the channel shows, it is much more
specific in the kinds of things that appear in the clip, leading to the higher
success rate of the ident.
A third example of an unsuccessful ident
is UKTV Dave’s 2007 miscellaneous idents. These idents are extremely low in
information, with no verbal or visual information about programs being shown, only
Dave’s logo and slogan is displayed. The composition of the ident is also
unbalanced; the ident contains no verbal information and only visual components,
although they do not move and show a still image. Due to the idents being still
images and having no verbal information, the tempo for the ident is non-existent.
This does not give the audience and exciting look into the kinds of programs
the channel shows and certainly does not represent the channel’s personality
well. Each ident is set in a living room; however each ident has a different
background, what we assume to be wallpaper, and different objects and items
placed at the centre or around the image. There is no indication of the time
each ident is set in unless there is a window letting in natural light to the
image. The idents are neither entertainment nor information led as the ident
does not achieve either of these aims; they also do not interact with the
audience in any way as only the channel logo is displayed. The still images are
neither informative nor entertaining to look at and do not grab the audience’s attention
and focus.
UKTV Dave’s updated and current idents,
the Sailing Boat ident is a much more successful and effective ident. In terms
of the design features, this ident contains much more information than the
previous idents. In this ident in particular, a male voice speaks over the
visual events explaining a bit about the program and what the viewers should
expect from it. This shows the audience that the channel wants to inform them
as well as entertain by giving them a brief idea of the program they are about
to watch. The composition of the ident is much better compared to the old
miscellaneous idents. This ident has lot of bright colours and attention
grabbing objects and events going on, as well as a nice balance between the
verbal information and the visual entertainment; neither one detract from the
other, in fact they commend the other aspects of it. The tempo of the ident is
a good moderate speed. The voice over talks in conversational style,
interacting with the audience well, contrasting to the slightly slower visual
events; the two people featured in the ident move slowly to begin with and then
begin to move slightly faster and with less anxiety. The Sailing Boat ident is
set in the modern day, with the characters featured wearing up to date
fashionable clothing and hair styles. I assume the ident is set at around
midday as there is blazing sunshine coming from the top right hand corner of
the screen. This suggests to the viewer that Dave show up to date, fresh and
exciting programs that the target audience will be easily entertained by. Due
to the ident being led by the information the channel wants to communicate to
the audience, there is a good interaction with the viewers; the visual and
aural setting in the ident is toned down in order to focus the viewers’
attention in the information.
In conclusion, there are a few main
differences between the successful and unsuccessful idents. We can see that the
design features of an ident are a very large contributing factor into whether
or not the ident is successful. Firstly we can see that the more the design
features aid the interaction with the target audience, the higher the chance of
the ident being successful. Secondly, the better the ident is presented, the
more likely it is to catch the viewers’ attention and focus. Finally, the more
exciting the audience finds the ident, the higher the chance the viewer will
return to the channel to watch other programs and become loyal to the branded
channel.
No comments:
Post a Comment