Television Idents

Task 1

Television Idents are used by TV channels as a means of separating programmes, advertising and informing the viewer of upcoming content and also a way of displaying the channels brand and unique identity. The channel CBBC has a multitude of Idents, all of these feature various characters that have their own programmes on the channel or created for the Idents. They all last for around 10-15 seconds each, the reason for this is because of the target audience. Children are more likely to have short attention spans so instead of an announcement of the schedule the Ident shows bright visuals with characters using the letters of the channel at a rapid pace.

One example of this begins with cartoon pirates sailing through a flooded town. The background is a still real life image of a row of houses and three parked cars, the foreground however is animated with the streets flooded as several pirates stand on a wooden boat and another abseils down knotted handkerchiefs. This section is for the letter C. It then cuts to the B letter growing out of the ground in a place with many green hills as different sized black silhouettes stand watching a round blue character with a white computerised face stand atop the B. The second B shows the letter sliding down an orange slope as classic British TV puppet Basil Brush emerges from the top of the letter. The background in this section are different shades of blue that turn together in a wave like motion. Another C is shown falling on an igloo with the round blue character standing in front of it. Icebergs, a periscope and four anthropomorphic submarine-fish are also featured. Finally a white and green background the CBBC logo morphs onto the screen contorting itself until it is the right way up, a voiceover in time with the Idents jingle says “CBBC”.

The Ident is spontaneous with its imagery, rapidly shown colourful characters in over the top situations and bizarre. This is done as the target audience are children, the bright colours are attention grabbing along with the moving images rather than it being static. This makes the Ident more interesting making the viewer wonder what will happen with the next letter. The one consistent colour throughout the scenes is green as it is the channels identity. As a part of the BBC, CBBC has its own distinctive colour and logo following the trend as BBC One has red, Two has blue and sometimes yellow, Three is pink and BBC Four is black. One, Two and Three are contained within squares of their colours and are aimed at older and family audiences.

Three is styled differently with three not beginning with a capital and the font being wavy rather than the BBC house style. CBBC is jagged with each letter being a different size and alternating between capital and lower case letters. The capital letters are blocky in design whereas the lower case are round below the logo is the BBC logo to advertise the brand identity as a part of the corporation. All of this is highlighted by a thick green outline with the letters filled in white. This design along with the Idents content is most likely to show the channels content as exciting and adventurous rather than the content their parents watch which they could consider boring and safe.

The Ident has its own jingle and chant, these are there in order to distinguish the channel and make it more enjoyable to watch. The jingle is also heard throughout the continuity announcements, this makes the tune recognisable to the audience wherever they see it and establishes its identity. The green colour for the channel was likely chosen as it is seen as a colour of youth in media, also can represent things that could be considered immature and unpleasant by older viewers. This allows the young audience to feel the content is made with them in mind and not other people. The logo appears on all licensing material including toys, DVD’s and clothing among other things, allowing audiences to identify official materials easily. The music and sound effects are quite loud with overlapping sound on some occasions compared to other channels Idents, the reason for this is to be in the viewers face and grab attention and is related to its over the top nature.

Task 2

The theme of CBBC’s suite of Idents all have unique styles, each of the idents shows

four letters that showcase a short animation before all of the letters join up and complete the channel’s name on a separate white background. The reason behind this is so the channel can show off the imagination behind the programmes it shows as well as their creators. They are aimed at an audience of 7-14 year olds, because of this the idents are fast paced and bright usually with a lot of characters or moving visuals on screen. Since there is a variety of different sections to the Idents they are occasionally mixed around to make a new combination of characters advertising the channel. In particular the idents reflect CBBC’s

current programming and because of this all ident sections featuring CBBC stars from old programmes was be swapped out to make way for current programming. There is not a particular style to the animation as the sections vary from live action, 2D animation, 3D animation and some stop-motion, occasionally other styles may be seen too.

One consistency in the idents is that there is always an interaction with the letter being shown. The other big part of the channel’s theme is the colour green. It has been a part of the channel’s identity since the BBC relaunched all of their channels with their own colour back in 2002. The colour green can mean youth in some contexts and this is likely a reason why it was chosen. Green is also a secondary colour on the colour spectrum meaning it was likely chosen by the broadcaster to show that the channel is secondary whereas BBC’s One and Two are primary channel represent by red and blue.

The reason this style appeals to the target audience is because it is attention grabbing. By making the idents showcase different styles and characters it keeps their viewers entertained. The images are surreal and over-the-top like most animated projects and children’s television, doing this gives the idents a certain unpredictability as well as adding humour. Although some of the characters featured in the idents are exclusive to this part of the schedule some of them appear in multiple idents in new situations an example of this is a mad scientist character. In one section he is shown electrifying a blocky version of the letter C with a lever but then in another ident he is depicted with a telescope on the moon as a blocky B crashes down behind him.

By changing the scenario it shows

that the character is a part of multiple idents and makes the audience more familiar with the channels identity. Other characters seen in the idents are CBBC stars that have TV shows, by using these the audience can see what content is broadcast on the channel and recognise those characters as BBC programming. An example of this is Shaun the Sheep, a show that was created in Britain but also a franchise that has remained on the BBC. One of their sections shows two sheep launching baby sheep Timmy off an inflatable round C as he squeals with joy.

This brief scene gives a bit of the shows tone and humour and allows the audience to remember where the show can be seen. Familiarity and entertainment are used in the idents to the benefit of the target audience as it keeps them engaged towards the channel. In contrast to this BBC One’s idents are more information lead with a voice-over as well as a brief live action sequence followed by a logo. Instead of a voice-over the CBBC channel has continuity announcers that encourage viewer interaction.

These idents are not designed to be for a particular time of day, the main reason for this is because the channel itself is not a 24-hour service instead it lasts from 7 am till 7 pm. The sections in the idents feature various times of day from morning to night. However there are idents that are altered during different times of year, for example Christmas. Around this time a lot of the sections become covered in snow other Christmas iconography shown are Santa Clause hats, frozen water and wrapped presents.

The idents jingle gets sleigh bells over the top of its tune to evoke a more Christmas theme, some characters are also altered such as the black shadowy characters that stand watching the computer character turn white with red bobble hats on. The logo at the end of the ident has snow tumbling from it as well as snow thrown at it. All of this celebrates Christmas and informs the audience that the channel has festive content. The seasonal idents keep the regular ones sense of fun and energy with multiple, fast paced action.

The suite of idents show the brand identity as over-the-top, unpredictable and entertaining. Comedy shows are a big part of the channel’s programming and most of their suite shows this by featuring odd and unique characters of all forms as well as slapstick in some instances. The sections of current programmes that have been altered through-out the years shows a different approach to their suite compared to other broadcasters. Whereas others might re-brand themselves with a complete overhaul CBBC re-launched previously seen idents with different characters to stay relevant to its schedule.

The letter shown is always green and the colour can be seen incorporated at some other points too. The letter is also typically in the centre of the screen, making it the focal point. Even when it is not central the green is tends to be brighter than the rest of the colours bring the viewer’s attention towards it. The audio in the idents revolves around a jingle and then one or several people chanting “CBBC” along to the tune. This is altered in some idents to sound deeper or more electronic.

The suite of idents are very effective, they lasted from 2007-2014/15. They were able to last for so long as they were always adapting the idents with alternate sections and mixing the idents around. The unpredictable and fun style of the idents was correct for their young audience as it can spark their imaginations. Each ident is around 10-12 seconds long as they do not include announcements and are only used to separate programming, making them a brief, interesting visual.

Task 3

Unlike other channels CBBC has two types of typography, a more round, smooth style and a jagged, blocky style. This style shows the energy the channel wants to portray, in a way it is how a lot of young children do bubble writing and being something that could be easily replicated can make it more relatable to the audience. The limitations because of this can be seen by the letter having to be interacted with or predominantly shown in some way. The letter cannot be left out of a section of the ident as it would go against the ident suite style, along with this two or more letters cannot be in the same scene for the same reason. The typographic is very important to these versions of idents for the channel, in a previous iteration only the C was stylised, being bold and purple on a green background and the BBC was in the style of the other BBC channels being shown within separate boxes. On the other hand having to make an animation or sequence around a letter can make the designers more creative involving the shape in some way. This can be seen in the idents as the blocky letters usually appear to be heavy, having metal textures or falling down on things and the round letters are shown as light and bouncy.

The channel’s identifying colour is green and in particular a bright vibrant shade. This can be a disadvantage as it has to be included in some way and limits how prominent other colours can be on screen. If a character is not designed with green on them in some way then the background or surroundings would have to include the colour. However this colour can be positive to the channel, green is tied to the environment and the outside, something which should be promoted to children and because of this CBBC shows many of the sequences taking place in outside environments. The colour can also be related to sci-fi of which the channel has a few related shows. One sequence shows the character Clyde from The Sarah Jane Adventures holding a C made out of glowing streams of light. This shows the alien nature of the lights and the characters amazement at them gives a teaser of what the show involves to the audience. In this way colour compliment the characters to advertise their shows.

All current BBC programmes and idents are supported by a 16:9 ratio. This can be problematic as televisions are constantly evolving with new technology and expanding in size. This causes the picture to have black horizontal or vertical bars and appearing a letter box type format. As it is not common for television to appear this way it can prove distracting to the viewer. However on televisions that fit a 16:9 ratio the picture fills the screen allowing the picture to immerse the audience.

The idents have to stay within the tone set by the channel and the other idents in the suite which can be restricting. In this instance there has to be bright colours incorporated and a generally uplifting and energetic style to the sequences. As this is the case there cannot be sections that last longer than a few seconds. If a single character was focused on such as E4’s Effer the audience can see more of the character’s personality as well as a representation of their audience in the character. However the characters in the CBBC idents are mostly just distractions, but do have distinct looks that make them stand out. Things are also constantly moving in the CBBC idents to keep the energy the channel wishes to present, because of this the idents do not have static images with a logo meaning a more simplistic approach doesn’t work with the brand identity. The tone of the channel is not necessarily a limitation though although it must be family friendly the surreal imagery and comedy allow the content makers to use their imagination.

The duration of each ident is around 10-12 seconds and because of this they must be fast paced. Each sequence lasts around 3 seconds before the next letter is introduced, this makes the timeframe a limitation. If there was more time to the idents the sections might be more fleshed out for example the pirates sailing through the street could be seen from another angle approaching the town. Since this is not the case the pirates are shown already in the street all performing different tasks and the next moment the ident moves to the next letter. This longer format would work better if the idents had a voice-over as they could play in the background providing interesting visuals to the announcements. However the short timeframe lets the animation present several ideas all at once with an array of colour showcasing the channel’s energy.

Since the channel is targeted towards children it must abide by TV rules and regulations. This is limiting in the way that the idents cannot push boundaries or be ‘edgy’ in their content. Graphic or obscene thing must not be present as it is not appropriate for the audience. At most things like blood could be used sparingly for horror themed idents but would have to be kept to a minimum and clearly be fake. Things could also be hinted towards subtly in visual gags to reach an older audience outside the channels target. However the ident producers can work within these boundaries to create content that appeals to the target audience and be better for it. This is because the content makers can embrace what the channel is and advertise that, making the content interesting rather than boundary pushing.