Researching Idents

Recreating Dave Idents Assessment

This is a short film that me and my group produced where we had to create an Ident for the Red Bee Media for the channel Dave, known as 'The Home of Witty Banter'.

In the first stages of the lesson, we planned with a story board how each shot will go, what camera angle it will be and how long it will last for. Also, we had to arrange who was providing props, costume, what location and set we would be using etc. I think that the planning went well and we had a fair amount of time to prepare for the filming. For this particular task, we had to make sure that we had enough shots to fit a 30 second clip, and we did well on that. Whilst planning, we have to consider whether everyone can get the correct props so that it follows the story board in order to be professional. One thing we didn't do well, was getting a range of camera angles which would of made it much more interesting. Moreover, we cut a scene too early which made it the other clip too late:

at 11 secs.

at 12 secs.

In the last of the three lessons, after importing and editing our film, we realised that we didn't show the Dave logo clearly, so we had to go back and re-shoot in the last 20 minutes, upload, import and edit it back into our film so that it was clear to the audience watching, who the ident is for.

I feel I have contributed to the lesson by ensuring that we had the correct equipment that we needed to have to film. Furthermore, I brought in extra props too, just in case there were any issues with props. We all took turns in shooting the scenes and overall I think ident is suitable and fits the standards of Dave's own idents.

For this task, I think I have been awarded a Merit because it's quite hard to achieve a Distinction and I don't know if I have reached that level yet.

BBC Idents

An ident is a quick clip before the showing of a programme that represents the channel it is being shown on. For an ident to be successful, it should have a unique and individual logo for the viewer to be able to remember.

Over the years, BBC 's idents have begun with a globe and 'BBC 1' labelled to it. The idents have been adapted further, but still maintained the logo they originally had since the beginning. Nowadays, they have played on the viewer's mind as they usually expect to see the globe image, however, they have created a circular shape to imitate the Earth's shape. Moreover, BBC have changed the '1' as the word 'One' to connect with the idea of the circular shape of the Earth.

 The mise-en-scene in this shot, is the sky, mountains, clouds and penguins with a sun sparkling in the sky. The sun imitates the 'O' of the word one. I think that this ident would be used before an animal doctumentary which would be appealing to the target audience (those who enjoy discovery programmes.). Another one of the aims of an ident is to intrigue viewers.

In the mise-en-scene, there is a helicopter landing above the sea and the wings of the helicopter whizz around in a circle making that well known shape as we know as the BBC. Also, the sea ripples out in circular motions to enhance the circle theme. The camera angle is of a birds eye view so we are able to see that shape that is being created.

Personally, the BBC One idents don't really appeal to me because they are quite serious and boring;  they don't use a range of colours to attract or use things that the audience are interesting in. However, what I do like is that the idents that are shown, relate to what is coming up next. For example, when football is being broadcasted next, they will show an ident related to football which makes the audience aware of what is coming up.

Animation

Although making this animation took long, this is one of the activities that I enjoyed the most because when you finally put the pictures together to make a short clip, it looks good and flows well if done correctly. If I were to improve the piece, I would choose to have a bit more time and not added the sound in the background because it doesn't go in time with the scissors opening and closing. 

Denotation and Connotation

In this shot, there is a group of seven students in class. The director has asked for the students to look at the main boy to exaggerate the fact it is about him. Costume has been used to highlight the main character; he wears a bright white shirt and although the boy next to him is wearing the same thing, the girls head is covering making him less noticeable. The use of characters, also lime lights him by there being a lot of girls surrounding him making him unique. 

Here is when the girl first enters the classroom, distracting the class causing them to all stare at her. By all the students looking at her, allows the audience to know that this part revolves around her. The technique 'Rule of Thirds' has been applied to emphasise her because she it right in the middle. Although it's an extreme long shot of her, we know it's about her because of how the room has been set out; a lead way of equal desks balanced on each side.

In this shot, is the main girl just entering the classroom. The director has called attention to her as the main girl because she causes a scene as see enters. The director has made her the focal point by using the 'Rule of Thirds' placing her in the centre as a close up. Not only that, but they have designed the door to highlight her face using a white window against her dark brown hair which makes her stand out.

In this quick shot, the extras in this part exaggerate how much they stare at her. There are three students turned to face her all in a very similar position in a diagonal line so that all of them can be seen. However, this shot magnifies the first boy because of the formations and because he is closer to the camera. Again, the 'Rule of Thirds' has been used, but instead, the main character is at the bottom left.

In this picture, the girl sits down in her chair and stares at the main boy character. Repeatedly, the director has used the technique 'Rule of Thirds' highlighting the girl and the boy on opposite sides. They are closer to the camera and are in the foreground which give the audience a clear view of who this scene is about. Again, the set and background have been used to illuminate them, as the classroom is a dark brown colour and they are in bright white shirts.