Idents

The purpose and design of a ident within televisual content

What is an ident?

An ident is a short video/visual image that television channels use to identify themselves.

Examples:

Link:

BBC Three Ident - Ooze

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-9BnZUfqAhw

Ident Purpose

Identity Of Channel

Branding

Marketing

Rebranding

Visual Stimulatio

n

Break UpSchedule

Raise Viewing Figures

• Represents the upcoming show (Family Guy)

• Informative• Attracts specific

viewers • Continuity • Channel identity

• Represents the American flag

• Attracts specific viewers as it’s a reminder of the US election

• Continuity • Channel identity

Ident Design

The design of the ident is also very important because it is the main way a company will get across their message and the purpose of their ident to the audience and will be the main representation of the companies image.

The key points for the design of an TV ident are:

Setting/ Time

Tempo

Audience interaction

Informative or Entertainment

Density

Ident Design

Symbolizes a romantic movie

For Film 4 the design of an ident is a important factor, it enables the channel to address the viewer of what type of genre of film is going to be

shown Setting/ Time – From what we can see it looks like the setting is outside as its dark, only using the reliance of the moon for light and the wind for the movement of the hair. There is no informative material which suggests the time

period.

Tempo – The tempo of the ident is going at a slow place, it goes along perfectly with the slow music in the

background.

Audience interaction – There is no interaction with the audience, its personal between two people, all the action purely happens

within the scene.

Informative or Entertainment – It has both informative and entertainment value, the narrator informs the viewer of what's coming up next and visually it informs you that the film is going to be about romance, however it also has entertainment

value as its something you can watch.

Density – There is no information inserted in the ident. The screen is full of the video however there is room for

text/images to go on top.

http://www.theidentgallery.com/player.php?id=FILM4-2008-ID-KISS

History of Idents

The first ident, "Television Symbol", or the "Bat's Wings" (1953–1960)

The first incarnation of the globe, introduced in 1960 (1960–1964)

The "mirror globe" ident, the first ident in colour (1969–1974)

The final mirror globe using the twin-striped BBC1 legend (1981-1985)

In 1985, the first computer generated BBC One ident was introduced, the "Computer Originated World" (1985–Feb 1991)

The "Virtual globe", designed by the Lambie-Nairn branding agency (February 1991–1997)

This outdoor image depicts Cley next the sea (1997-2002)

The "Capoeira" and other Idents are predecessor of the current ident, "Circles". It marked the departure of the globe that was used as BBC One's symbol for over 39 years. (2002–2006)

The circle Idents were introduced on October 7, 2006.

BBC 1 Ident Timeline

Pre-1969 The Mechanical Globe/Nexus Orthicon Display Device

(1969-1985)

The Computer Originated World

(1985-1991)

The Virtual Globe (1991-1997)

The Balloon (1997-2002)

Rhythm & Movement (2002-2006)

Circles (2006-present)

Task 1 Name the idents

You have 5 minutes!!

Questions and Feedback

1. What is an ident?

2. Name two purposes of an Ident

3. Which channel created the first ever ident?

4. When does a ident usually occur on a channel?

5. Do you think having an ident helps you to identify a logo to a channel?

Thank You For Listening

Bibliography

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-9BnZUfqAhw - BBC Three Ident

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_BBC_television_idents 24.10.12 - History of BBC

http://www.theidentgallery.com/ - Ident images

http://www.theidentgallery.com/player.php?id=FILM4-2008-ID-KISS - Film 4 Kiss ident

http://leesandersunit32.tumblr.com/post/10121213636/understand-the-design-and-purpose-of-television-idents - Ident Design

BTEC Level 3 National Creative Media Production Student Book – Ident design