OUAN406 - Cbeebies Reference:
After a fellow animation student (Alex) showed me this beautiful showreel of animations by a woman named Tracey Chung on Vimeo, we both quickly discovered that the style of her animation was very similar to that of my potential Cbeebies ident. However, this was using 2D computerised animation methods in comparison to mine of which would be cutout animation. It was nice to see and compare styles as I can now get a glimpse of what my animated ident would look like if I had opted for a computerised 2D technique.
I love the use of colour and shapes, however mine uses more rounded shapes as it is more child friendly and softer colours so not to agitate them too much. Hers is very playful animation whereas mine is very laid back and subtle.
Tracey Chung - 2D Animation Showreel from Tracey Chung on Vimeo.
Thursday, 27 February 2014
Saturday, 22 February 2014
OUAN406 - A Tale in The Sting: Storyboards and Animatics
OUAN406 - Storyboards and Animatics:
After a spending an entire day getting my ideas down into storyboards and then finally working out the timings for each shot/scene/keyframe, I was relieved that I had managed to get things working at last and figure out how things were going to work, what methods I would use, what techniques would work best etc.
I spent around 8/10 hours getting all of this done and still have a fair amount of character designs to do. I know how I will tackle the voice acting for my E4 ident as a very kind third-year offered to do the voices for my E4 girl. (Not to mention she has the perfect voice for the job!) I thought about what sound effects would work for the Discovery ident (soft, ambient noise such as crickets, chirping and wind blowing of wind) and I think it would be easily possible to get a free clip of such sounds off the web given some time.
For the Cbeebies ident, I was thinking of similar sounds to that of Discovery's however I think something a little more upbeat given the audience would be more appropriate. Short clips of a lion roaring and monkey screaming would need to be found as I don't know anyone possible that can make these noises accurately! The E4 ident will also have a short scene where she fights the monster which will require some form of music such as Japanese pop music/battle music etc. I will have to browse around for this.
The storyboards consist of few panels to be honest as not only are they each ten seconds long, but some aren't as dynamic and animated as others. The panels range from 6-8 with E4 having the most as it contains a fight scene that consists of more shots and angles.
After a spending an entire day getting my ideas down into storyboards and then finally working out the timings for each shot/scene/keyframe, I was relieved that I had managed to get things working at last and figure out how things were going to work, what methods I would use, what techniques would work best etc.
I spent around 8/10 hours getting all of this done and still have a fair amount of character designs to do. I know how I will tackle the voice acting for my E4 ident as a very kind third-year offered to do the voices for my E4 girl. (Not to mention she has the perfect voice for the job!) I thought about what sound effects would work for the Discovery ident (soft, ambient noise such as crickets, chirping and wind blowing of wind) and I think it would be easily possible to get a free clip of such sounds off the web given some time.
For the Cbeebies ident, I was thinking of similar sounds to that of Discovery's however I think something a little more upbeat given the audience would be more appropriate. Short clips of a lion roaring and monkey screaming would need to be found as I don't know anyone possible that can make these noises accurately! The E4 ident will also have a short scene where she fights the monster which will require some form of music such as Japanese pop music/battle music etc. I will have to browse around for this.
The storyboards consist of few panels to be honest as not only are they each ten seconds long, but some aren't as dynamic and animated as others. The panels range from 6-8 with E4 having the most as it contains a fight scene that consists of more shots and angles.
OUAN406 - A Tale in The Sting: Colour Theory
OUAN406: Colour Theory:
In the process of choosing particular colours for each of my idents to suit my target audience, or rather the target audience of each channel, I decided that it would be a wise idea to look at colour theory in order to make my choices more informed. Firstly, I thought about what colours would attract children for the Cbeebies idents. Warm, bright, happy colours came to mind as these would gauge the most attention in my opinion. E4 would benefit from bright, deep and shocking colours such as purples and pinks (also would work well with their logo). As for the Discovery channel, greens, browns, earthy tones would be successful as would greys and metallics shades (science, cold).
http://www.colormatters.com/color-and-design/basic-color-theory
Colour Matters is great website that I came across informing me about the basic colour theories I learned way back in primary school. It was a nice refresher to see how colours compliment each other and how some don't go together at all. There are obvious patterns to choosing the best colours thus making it easier for me in the long run.
The main categories on the colour wheel are shown above. http://www.resene.com/homeown/use_colr/coloursforliving.htm is a great website I found that looks at how colours affect children. Although this site focuses on colours in the home and bedrooms in order to calm children etc. I found that it was particularly helpful in helping me understand colours and their effects.
Pastels and soft colours tend to be more calming and soothing giving the feeling of love to children who are exposed to these colours for a long period of time. Bright, primary colours are seen to excite children in small doses - can be healthy if the aim is to stimulate their brains. However, in large quantities, primary, bold colours can be unsettling along with geometric patterns.
In the process of choosing particular colours for each of my idents to suit my target audience, or rather the target audience of each channel, I decided that it would be a wise idea to look at colour theory in order to make my choices more informed. Firstly, I thought about what colours would attract children for the Cbeebies idents. Warm, bright, happy colours came to mind as these would gauge the most attention in my opinion. E4 would benefit from bright, deep and shocking colours such as purples and pinks (also would work well with their logo). As for the Discovery channel, greens, browns, earthy tones would be successful as would greys and metallics shades (science, cold).
http://www.colormatters.com/color-and-design/basic-color-theory
Colour Matters is great website that I came across informing me about the basic colour theories I learned way back in primary school. It was a nice refresher to see how colours compliment each other and how some don't go together at all. There are obvious patterns to choosing the best colours thus making it easier for me in the long run.
Pastels and soft colours tend to be more calming and soothing giving the feeling of love to children who are exposed to these colours for a long period of time. Bright, primary colours are seen to excite children in small doses - can be healthy if the aim is to stimulate their brains. However, in large quantities, primary, bold colours can be unsettling along with geometric patterns.
| Muted colours considered beneficial | |||||
 |  |  |  |  |  |
| Resene Ming | Resene Drover | Resene Golden Glow | Resene Mexican Red | Resene Milk Punch | Resene Chetwode Blue |
 |  |  | |||
| Resene Puerto Rico | Resene Sunglo | Resene Tacao | |||
I plan to use Drover and Golden Glow-type shades for my lion, Giraffe and Monkey. Similar colours will be easy to focus on, not causing too much distress. These neutral, warm, earthy colours mixed with some green for the grass and background will work very well.
| Uplifting bright colours | |||||
 |  |  |  |  |  |
| Resene Cranberry | Resene Deep Koamaru | Resene Flame Red | Resene Lima | Resene Moon Yellow | Resene Resolution Blue |
 |  |  | |||
| Resene Salem | Resene West Side | Resene Windsor | |||
In order to stop my ident from being too calming and essentially losing its "excitement", I think Moon Yellow tones and West Side would be good shades to use. Obviously, these may slightly differ in my ident but using these charts as a guide is proving helpful.
Distressing colours for my E4 ident would be useful as I plan to make the ident gaudy and very "in your face" anyway. Bright, clashy pinks and purples would be suitable. I plan to also use muted and earthy/grassy tones for the Discovery ident too.
Friday, 14 February 2014
OUAN406: A Tale in The Sting: Informing Style (Discovery)
OUAN406: Informing Style:
In terms of style for the Discovery channel's Ident, I decided on a fairly realistic style for the animal I would choose to run across the screen. Discovery, although have an eye for humorous yet informative entertainment, have a range of fairly serious programmes, therefore I felt a realistic style would be appropriate. If I used heavily cartoon-styled animals and scenery, I feel it would not cater to the target audience as much as although children/teens do watch this channel, it is not primarily teens as the target audience and although this could be argued against as my E4 ident is extremely cartoony, they're entirely comedy based whereas Discovery is not.
If it is possible, I feel that rotoscoping some parts such as the animal sprinting through the air would benefit me as not only would I learn how they behave and learn about secondary animation, arcs, and timing, I feel that it would save a little bit of time as I do have two other idents to accomplish. If I can get away with drawing from reference alone without rotoscoping then I would prefer this method.
My ideas on animals ranged from a rhinoceros plodding across the screen, a lion fleeting whilst its mane will have a beautiful follow-through animation, a bird fluttering in the grass, to a leopard or a cheetah sprinting. Eventually, after weighing up the pros and cons of each animal, I decided on a cheetah as not only are they graceful when they run, they are fast (a frolicking cheetah would be fun to watch) and suit the terrain (grassy savanna) well. I had to be fairly accurate with the setting and the animal. I did want to use green grass, but the savanna is very hot and therefore there would be very little green grass as we know it in the UK. Yellow, dry and "rustly" grass will be used as this is more accurate.
Cheetahs have fairly short fur in comparison to most big cats. Of course, in a hot climate short hair keeps them cool through the day and warm on the colder evenings. It would be easier to animate compared to a lion's flowing mane or a bird's fluttering individual feathers. I don't want to give myself a huge task. If I could focus my attention on just one ident, I would consider other animals. Cheetahs are quite slender though, so the texture of the fur won't need to be too complex.
Above, a photograph from National Geographic showing a cheetah in mid-leap. Notice the short tufts of fur on the under belly with short fur elsewhere. The tail is thick and sleek. I may add rougher, hairier textured brush strokes around the belly.
In terms of style for the Discovery channel's Ident, I decided on a fairly realistic style for the animal I would choose to run across the screen. Discovery, although have an eye for humorous yet informative entertainment, have a range of fairly serious programmes, therefore I felt a realistic style would be appropriate. If I used heavily cartoon-styled animals and scenery, I feel it would not cater to the target audience as much as although children/teens do watch this channel, it is not primarily teens as the target audience and although this could be argued against as my E4 ident is extremely cartoony, they're entirely comedy based whereas Discovery is not.
If it is possible, I feel that rotoscoping some parts such as the animal sprinting through the air would benefit me as not only would I learn how they behave and learn about secondary animation, arcs, and timing, I feel that it would save a little bit of time as I do have two other idents to accomplish. If I can get away with drawing from reference alone without rotoscoping then I would prefer this method.
My ideas on animals ranged from a rhinoceros plodding across the screen, a lion fleeting whilst its mane will have a beautiful follow-through animation, a bird fluttering in the grass, to a leopard or a cheetah sprinting. Eventually, after weighing up the pros and cons of each animal, I decided on a cheetah as not only are they graceful when they run, they are fast (a frolicking cheetah would be fun to watch) and suit the terrain (grassy savanna) well. I had to be fairly accurate with the setting and the animal. I did want to use green grass, but the savanna is very hot and therefore there would be very little green grass as we know it in the UK. Yellow, dry and "rustly" grass will be used as this is more accurate.
Cheetahs have fairly short fur in comparison to most big cats. Of course, in a hot climate short hair keeps them cool through the day and warm on the colder evenings. It would be easier to animate compared to a lion's flowing mane or a bird's fluttering individual feathers. I don't want to give myself a huge task. If I could focus my attention on just one ident, I would consider other animals. Cheetahs are quite slender though, so the texture of the fur won't need to be too complex.
Above, a photograph from National Geographic showing a cheetah in mid-leap. Notice the short tufts of fur on the under belly with short fur elsewhere. The tail is thick and sleek. I may add rougher, hairier textured brush strokes around the belly.
Monday, 10 February 2014
OUAN406: A Tale in The Sting: Informing Style (E4)
OUAN406: Informing Style:
For my E4 ident, I am very, very intent on using an anime (Moe) style for this ident. Anime is my preferred style yet I haven't had the chance to use it once in any of my previous projects. Considering this ident is for E4, what better place to use it than now? The exact style I wanted to aim for (anime is a very broad genre, it reaches way beyond the stereotypical style of schoolgirls and overly-large breasts) was moe. Moe is basically overly-cute, overly-cheesy and usually quite shallow in storyline as in between all the cheeky shots of panties and bras, there usually isn't much to look at as it's usually just a bunch of clumsy girls falling over and acting "cute".
I wanted to create a character with this personality as it would really work as a mic-take of the stereotypical Japanese popular culture. By making her a clumsy warrior, it would add humour and appeal. In terms of style, a mixture of Princess Robot Bubblegum from GTA IV, Sailor Moon, elements of Panty & Stocking With Garter Belt, Cardcaptor Sakura, Tokyo Mew Mew, Madoka Magica and Senpai Club.
Moe as a subgenre is the stereotypical anime style you see plastered all over Japanese billboards and subway posters, usually aimed at older men as a style as it's purely eyecandy and fanservice for seedy men who love looking at women that take the form of younger girls. "Lolicon" is very similar in style and morals. Here is an example of both Moe and Lolicon.
Found on silverparfait.blogspot.com
The idea of a cute girl with a weapon fighting off giant monsters is a very popular and overly-used storyline in Japan of which I want to use as a parody for my ident.
In terms of character personality, I was thinking of conforming to the "Lolicon" subgenre of anime, which is very similar to Moe in the sense of art style and narratives, as Lolicon anime usually features older girls with very young personalities, often relating to the clumsiness and cutesy-cutesy stereotype.
For my E4 ident, I am very, very intent on using an anime (Moe) style for this ident. Anime is my preferred style yet I haven't had the chance to use it once in any of my previous projects. Considering this ident is for E4, what better place to use it than now? The exact style I wanted to aim for (anime is a very broad genre, it reaches way beyond the stereotypical style of schoolgirls and overly-large breasts) was moe. Moe is basically overly-cute, overly-cheesy and usually quite shallow in storyline as in between all the cheeky shots of panties and bras, there usually isn't much to look at as it's usually just a bunch of clumsy girls falling over and acting "cute".
I wanted to create a character with this personality as it would really work as a mic-take of the stereotypical Japanese popular culture. By making her a clumsy warrior, it would add humour and appeal. In terms of style, a mixture of Princess Robot Bubblegum from GTA IV, Sailor Moon, elements of Panty & Stocking With Garter Belt, Cardcaptor Sakura, Tokyo Mew Mew, Madoka Magica and Senpai Club.
Moe as a subgenre is the stereotypical anime style you see plastered all over Japanese billboards and subway posters, usually aimed at older men as a style as it's purely eyecandy and fanservice for seedy men who love looking at women that take the form of younger girls. "Lolicon" is very similar in style and morals. Here is an example of both Moe and Lolicon.
Found on silverparfait.blogspot.com
The idea of a cute girl with a weapon fighting off giant monsters is a very popular and overly-used storyline in Japan of which I want to use as a parody for my ident.
In terms of character personality, I was thinking of conforming to the "Lolicon" subgenre of anime, which is very similar to Moe in the sense of art style and narratives, as Lolicon anime usually features older girls with very young personalities, often relating to the clumsiness and cutesy-cutesy stereotype.
Note the incredibly cheesy opening title sequence, this is also a parody and one I hold close in terms of reference as I want achieve something similar to this.
OUAN406: A Tale in The Sting: Informing Style (Cbeebies)
OUAN406: Style:
In the process of looking for a particular style for each of my idents, I came across images and videos that would perhaps portray a better picture of what style I have chosen to do my idents in. These will later inform character designs.
For my Cbeebies idea, I had the style of cut-out paper characters in mind and for process, a stop motion animation could work and look more crafty and child-friendly. Scissors and other bits and bobs could be shown on screen around the edges to add to the authenticity. I quite liked this image from flutterbydesignsaz.blogspot.com
Giangrande - Paper Plane (Official Video) from gianluca maruotti on Vimeo.
In the process of looking for a particular style for each of my idents, I came across images and videos that would perhaps portray a better picture of what style I have chosen to do my idents in. These will later inform character designs.
For my Cbeebies idea, I had the style of cut-out paper characters in mind and for process, a stop motion animation could work and look more crafty and child-friendly. Scissors and other bits and bobs could be shown on screen around the edges to add to the authenticity. I quite liked this image from flutterbydesignsaz.blogspot.com
I had the idea of putting split pins through the joints for smooth, sturdy movement but after some thought about it, I thought simply cutting the limbs off the animals and placing the limbs over the body and adjusting them each time was a better idea as it would look more "seamless" compared to massive, chunky split pins taking up most of the animals' bodies.
I watched a really nice animation with a fellow animation student of whom sent me the animation from Vimeo. It demonstrates a good use of this technique that I would consider using (cutting out the limbs and placing on top in layers for smooth, seamless movement).
Giangrande - Paper Plane (Official Video) from gianluca maruotti on Vimeo.
OUAN406: A Tale in The Sting: Channel History
OUAN406: Channel History:
E4 was launched on January 18th, 2001 as a companion channel to Channel 4. The "E" signifies entertainment and its primary target audience are the 16-35 (approximately) age range. E4 focusses heavily on American comedy (most of which isn't really that funny...) which would appeal to a indie/culturally-modern audience. E4 also show rather popular British shows such as "Come Dine With Me" and are often known (My family often make many jokes regarding this) to re-repeat many shows such as "Friends" which is long-gone and "Big Bang Theory". It has gained the title within my social group as "The Big Bang Theory Channel" as you can guarantee it'll be on the moment you flick over to E4! E4 Radio is also part of the Channel 4 range of channels and More 4 is another example.
Cbeebies was launched in February 2002 as part of the BBC group and has a target audience of children 6 years and below. It encourages safe play and learning within an educational environment and has a good reputation by being not only part of the BBC, but by broadcasting channels that are incredibly child-friendly and simple. Parents can trust Cbeebies because of this. CBBC is basically the "older variant" of the channel, which has an age range of around 6-12 in audience. Their shows include "The Tracy Beaker Show" and "The Sarah Jane Adventures".
Discovery channel was launched in 1985 and was formerly known as The Discovery Channel, now referred to as Discovery for easiness, is mainly an American-based channel that features shows such as "Shark Week", "How it's Made" and "Deadliest Catch". They have a large audience of a range of ages from many different countries. They broadcast in several languages and have the goal of informing an audience whilst being entertaining at the same time. Their Shark Week stunt boosted ratings heavily and they continue to broaden their audience by incorporating more programmes dedicated to occupations and machines as opposed to just animals and nature.
E4 was launched on January 18th, 2001 as a companion channel to Channel 4. The "E" signifies entertainment and its primary target audience are the 16-35 (approximately) age range. E4 focusses heavily on American comedy (most of which isn't really that funny...) which would appeal to a indie/culturally-modern audience. E4 also show rather popular British shows such as "Come Dine With Me" and are often known (My family often make many jokes regarding this) to re-repeat many shows such as "Friends" which is long-gone and "Big Bang Theory". It has gained the title within my social group as "The Big Bang Theory Channel" as you can guarantee it'll be on the moment you flick over to E4! E4 Radio is also part of the Channel 4 range of channels and More 4 is another example.
Cbeebies was launched in February 2002 as part of the BBC group and has a target audience of children 6 years and below. It encourages safe play and learning within an educational environment and has a good reputation by being not only part of the BBC, but by broadcasting channels that are incredibly child-friendly and simple. Parents can trust Cbeebies because of this. CBBC is basically the "older variant" of the channel, which has an age range of around 6-12 in audience. Their shows include "The Tracy Beaker Show" and "The Sarah Jane Adventures".
Discovery channel was launched in 1985 and was formerly known as The Discovery Channel, now referred to as Discovery for easiness, is mainly an American-based channel that features shows such as "Shark Week", "How it's Made" and "Deadliest Catch". They have a large audience of a range of ages from many different countries. They broadcast in several languages and have the goal of informing an audience whilst being entertaining at the same time. Their Shark Week stunt boosted ratings heavily and they continue to broaden their audience by incorporating more programmes dedicated to occupations and machines as opposed to just animals and nature.
OUAN406: A Tale in The Sting: What has Informed My Ideas?
OUAN406: What has Informed My Ideas?
Cbeebies has a very strong consistency of using the little, yellow blobs in each of their idents. I wanted to break free from this as I felt it was overused and although it may seem popular and well-loved by many children, I feel that something equally as appealing could replace these blobs. Something with more character and more emotion, not just a bunch of blobs bouncing around randomly! Cbeebies' idents informed my decision of changing the use of the blobs and going for a shared interest in all children: animals and wildlife.
My E4 ident was again, informed by their previous idents. I browsed their site for idents that won their annual competition and the ones that didn't win, the reasons why maybe they didn't quite make it and the reasons why the winners' entries were so strong. The strengths of all the winners were that they were hilarious, innovative, fun and just plain crazy! E4 like creativity by the looks of it, and I planned to use popular culture to benefit me (for once!) by using an anime style with cheesy attacks and a big E4 monster! Godzilla may have a vaguely informed by decision of the narrative as the ident in general is Japanese-themed and the idea of a giant monster ravaging through the city is probably connected to Godzilla in some way. I may watch clips of Godzilla as reference.
The Discovery ident ideas were informed by their content on the channel: wildlife, nature, animals, adventure. By featuring an animal (yet to be decided fully) going on a brave adventure across the screen filled with tall grass then finally pouncing on the logo (its prey), I would be relating the ident to their programmes and feel it would be a good representation of their channel instead of merely confining the ident and animation to the sphere/logo and not allowing any animation to roam the rest of the screen. By including the logo actively in the narrative, it would seem fun and friendly and not completely serious.
Cbeebies has a very strong consistency of using the little, yellow blobs in each of their idents. I wanted to break free from this as I felt it was overused and although it may seem popular and well-loved by many children, I feel that something equally as appealing could replace these blobs. Something with more character and more emotion, not just a bunch of blobs bouncing around randomly! Cbeebies' idents informed my decision of changing the use of the blobs and going for a shared interest in all children: animals and wildlife.
My E4 ident was again, informed by their previous idents. I browsed their site for idents that won their annual competition and the ones that didn't win, the reasons why maybe they didn't quite make it and the reasons why the winners' entries were so strong. The strengths of all the winners were that they were hilarious, innovative, fun and just plain crazy! E4 like creativity by the looks of it, and I planned to use popular culture to benefit me (for once!) by using an anime style with cheesy attacks and a big E4 monster! Godzilla may have a vaguely informed by decision of the narrative as the ident in general is Japanese-themed and the idea of a giant monster ravaging through the city is probably connected to Godzilla in some way. I may watch clips of Godzilla as reference.
The Discovery ident ideas were informed by their content on the channel: wildlife, nature, animals, adventure. By featuring an animal (yet to be decided fully) going on a brave adventure across the screen filled with tall grass then finally pouncing on the logo (its prey), I would be relating the ident to their programmes and feel it would be a good representation of their channel instead of merely confining the ident and animation to the sphere/logo and not allowing any animation to roam the rest of the screen. By including the logo actively in the narrative, it would seem fun and friendly and not completely serious.
OUAN406: A Tale in The Sting: The History of Idents & Chosen Channels
OUAN406: Historical Research:
After searching the internet meticulously for the oldest known ident in the history of television, I managed to find the most ancient of idents made for, of course, the BBC. The first television channel in the world was called WRGB, which started broadcasting in January 1928. However, this television channel didn't actually have an ident!
I discovered that the BBC's ident was very simple, following a graphic design style and was first broadcast in 1953 up until the early 60s. At first glance, it does look rather random with its flashing wings, magical jingles for sounds and rotating rings around a small sphere. However, it's actually very clever in the way the the rings move to line up with the sphere to look like an eye thus relating very well to the BBC's purpose as a channel - to be viewed. The flashing wings look vaguely like radio signal waves with lightening bolts coming off them which is also appropriate. I think it's a very successful ident and set the bat for many years as to how other channels identified themselves.
BBC's first ident is actually very similar to that of ATV's in 1969. It follows the same theme of having an eye or eyes watching the audience. Only up until the 2000s did idents start getting incredibly wacky and creative with YTVs range of alien characters and goo used to promote the channel. Goo and slime seemed to very popular when I was child watching TV probably because of the sheer gross factor that kept kids interested and parents disgusted!
The BBC also had a very similar ident which featured a clock, which relates well to their news being broadcast at a certain time.
After searching the internet meticulously for the oldest known ident in the history of television, I managed to find the most ancient of idents made for, of course, the BBC. The first television channel in the world was called WRGB, which started broadcasting in January 1928. However, this television channel didn't actually have an ident!
I discovered that the BBC's ident was very simple, following a graphic design style and was first broadcast in 1953 up until the early 60s. At first glance, it does look rather random with its flashing wings, magical jingles for sounds and rotating rings around a small sphere. However, it's actually very clever in the way the the rings move to line up with the sphere to look like an eye thus relating very well to the BBC's purpose as a channel - to be viewed. The flashing wings look vaguely like radio signal waves with lightening bolts coming off them which is also appropriate. I think it's a very successful ident and set the bat for many years as to how other channels identified themselves.
BBC's first ident is actually very similar to that of ATV's in 1969. It follows the same theme of having an eye or eyes watching the audience. Only up until the 2000s did idents start getting incredibly wacky and creative with YTVs range of alien characters and goo used to promote the channel. Goo and slime seemed to very popular when I was child watching TV probably because of the sheer gross factor that kept kids interested and parents disgusted!
The BBC also had a very similar ident which featured a clock, which relates well to their news being broadcast at a certain time.
Wednesday, 5 February 2014
OUAN406 - A Tale in The Sting: References
OUAN406 - References:
For the E4 ident, I plan to look at the way anime as an animation style is created. How anime animators get their characters looking so fluid with those clean, crisp lines and cel-shadings. I will watch references that also perform mockeries of Japanese otaku culture such as Princess Robot Bubblegum parodies from GTA IV. I will also use reference when creating my characters and plan to base them around cute, maid-like warriors such as those from Tokyo Mew Mew or Cardcaptor Sakura. I will also watch more E4 idents to see if there is a possibility that I can make my logo more 3D looking as he needs to look gargantuan in comparison to my female warrior. I will also watch anime where beams of light are being shot. Dragonball, Naruto, Tokyo Mew Mew and maybe some video games such as Tekken would be good reference for this.
For the Discovery ident, I will obviously need to look very carefully at how lions move, run, pounce and attack their prey as this will be the predominant bit of animation in my ident. I will need to observe how leaves flutter when they are thrown into the air, such as when a pile of autumn leaves are jumped into by children. I will focus on the way grass sways in the wind, also. I already have fair knowledge on how pendulums swing when hit by a force, but a little more learning about them won't hurt my animation.
Lastly, the Cbeebies ident will require me to look at how animals creep up on their prey whilst in hiding. i will study how animals walk and will have to look at a few considering I will choose to animate at least three animals. I also need to observe how my chosen animals sit and perform small animals characteristics like scratching themselves and twitching.
For the E4 ident, I plan to look at the way anime as an animation style is created. How anime animators get their characters looking so fluid with those clean, crisp lines and cel-shadings. I will watch references that also perform mockeries of Japanese otaku culture such as Princess Robot Bubblegum parodies from GTA IV. I will also use reference when creating my characters and plan to base them around cute, maid-like warriors such as those from Tokyo Mew Mew or Cardcaptor Sakura. I will also watch more E4 idents to see if there is a possibility that I can make my logo more 3D looking as he needs to look gargantuan in comparison to my female warrior. I will also watch anime where beams of light are being shot. Dragonball, Naruto, Tokyo Mew Mew and maybe some video games such as Tekken would be good reference for this.
For the Discovery ident, I will obviously need to look very carefully at how lions move, run, pounce and attack their prey as this will be the predominant bit of animation in my ident. I will need to observe how leaves flutter when they are thrown into the air, such as when a pile of autumn leaves are jumped into by children. I will focus on the way grass sways in the wind, also. I already have fair knowledge on how pendulums swing when hit by a force, but a little more learning about them won't hurt my animation.
Lastly, the Cbeebies ident will require me to look at how animals creep up on their prey whilst in hiding. i will study how animals walk and will have to look at a few considering I will choose to animate at least three animals. I also need to observe how my chosen animals sit and perform small animals characteristics like scratching themselves and twitching.
OUAN406 - A Tale in The Sting: Work Plans
OUAN406 - Work Plans:
After choosing which brief I would like to have a go at, I decided that it would be a wise idea to create a rough work plan of which I should try my best to adhere to. I made a plan in my last module but didn't follow it 100% and sometimes got a little carried away with the holiday break by going into hiding and enjoying my creative slump...
I fully understand that this should help with my time management and will do my best to follow this plan as a ritual in order to get my idents finished in good time with enough room for improvements.
After choosing which brief I would like to have a go at, I decided that it would be a wise idea to create a rough work plan of which I should try my best to adhere to. I made a plan in my last module but didn't follow it 100% and sometimes got a little carried away with the holiday break by going into hiding and enjoying my creative slump...
I fully understand that this should help with my time management and will do my best to follow this plan as a ritual in order to get my idents finished in good time with enough room for improvements.
Monday, 3 February 2014
OUAN406 - A Tale in The Sting: Discovery Initial Ideas
OUAN406 - Discovery Channel Ideas:
This was probably the hardest solution I had to solve out of the three that I chose yet I stuck by it as I wanted a challenge and although I could have a little bit of humour in the ident as Discovery Channel is fairly laid back, it was still going to be difficult and is completely different to that of the other two.
One of my ideas was to stick to the theme of having the orbiting "D" logo with some kind of animation in the middle of the sphere. I thought maybe something majestic and epic such as a leaping cheetah or galloping gazelle running towards the viewer/camera would be a nice little idea. The background could consist of raindrops running down the screen with a blurred filter on top so that the audience wouldn't be too distracted from the foreground and logo.
Another idea was that a lion would pop its head out of the grass that surrounded the bottom of the screen and as the grass rustled, the lion would pounce out of the grass, run across the screen with its mane flowing in the wind and jump into the patch of grass at the right hand side of the screen. The discovery logo would swing from the top of the screen in the breeze and the lion's paws would spring out of the grass in an attempt to catch the logo in the air. After a few swipes at the logo, the logo would fall from the string/rope holding it in the air and crash into the grass below sending leaves flying into the air.
My last idea was that the Discovery logo could take up the majority of the screen and the D would spin around the sphere like their current idents. Then, the globe would turn into a camera lens almost (i'd prefer a fish-eye lens to add some depth and make it more interesting to the viewers) and a bird would swoop down with its wings flapping steadily and land on a perch out of view from the lens and pop its dangling head into view and look curiously through the lens audience. It would then prepare for take off and fly away after a few seconds. There would be swaying silhouettes of trees as the background with an orange/pink hue to give the look of a sunset in the Sahara.
I wanted to stick with a natural theme as Discovery focus heavily on nature and animal documentaries. Although they make various other shows, I think a natural theme would draw the audience in as let's face it, everyone loves animals of some description. It would also be child-friendly as if I used a cold-hard scientific theme with plenty of greys and silvers, it wouldn't really be as eye-catching and fun.
I stuck with the idea of a lion character rustling in the grass and then pouncing into the grass to catch the Discovery logo. It seemed fun, light-hearted and would allow me to watch reference videos and observe how lions pounce, move and sneak up on their prey.
This was probably the hardest solution I had to solve out of the three that I chose yet I stuck by it as I wanted a challenge and although I could have a little bit of humour in the ident as Discovery Channel is fairly laid back, it was still going to be difficult and is completely different to that of the other two.
One of my ideas was to stick to the theme of having the orbiting "D" logo with some kind of animation in the middle of the sphere. I thought maybe something majestic and epic such as a leaping cheetah or galloping gazelle running towards the viewer/camera would be a nice little idea. The background could consist of raindrops running down the screen with a blurred filter on top so that the audience wouldn't be too distracted from the foreground and logo.
Another idea was that a lion would pop its head out of the grass that surrounded the bottom of the screen and as the grass rustled, the lion would pounce out of the grass, run across the screen with its mane flowing in the wind and jump into the patch of grass at the right hand side of the screen. The discovery logo would swing from the top of the screen in the breeze and the lion's paws would spring out of the grass in an attempt to catch the logo in the air. After a few swipes at the logo, the logo would fall from the string/rope holding it in the air and crash into the grass below sending leaves flying into the air.
My last idea was that the Discovery logo could take up the majority of the screen and the D would spin around the sphere like their current idents. Then, the globe would turn into a camera lens almost (i'd prefer a fish-eye lens to add some depth and make it more interesting to the viewers) and a bird would swoop down with its wings flapping steadily and land on a perch out of view from the lens and pop its dangling head into view and look curiously through the lens audience. It would then prepare for take off and fly away after a few seconds. There would be swaying silhouettes of trees as the background with an orange/pink hue to give the look of a sunset in the Sahara.
I wanted to stick with a natural theme as Discovery focus heavily on nature and animal documentaries. Although they make various other shows, I think a natural theme would draw the audience in as let's face it, everyone loves animals of some description. It would also be child-friendly as if I used a cold-hard scientific theme with plenty of greys and silvers, it wouldn't really be as eye-catching and fun.
I stuck with the idea of a lion character rustling in the grass and then pouncing into the grass to catch the Discovery logo. It seemed fun, light-hearted and would allow me to watch reference videos and observe how lions pounce, move and sneak up on their prey.
OUAN406 - A Tale in The Sting: Cbeebies Initial Ideas
OUAN406 - Cbeebies Ideas:
Cbeebies, albeit fun and silly (a style that I love) was a difficult one to process ideas for as it took me a while to think of something that would be suitable for young children but also engage them quickly in the ident. Bright colours and a fun story are all fine and dandy, but if you lack appeal it can fall through and possibly mean nothing to the audience. I had to find a way of using the same sort of appeal Cbeebies used for their idents.
Their current mascots if you like, are the jiggly yellow blobs that seem to be able to morph into any shape and mould themselves appropriately into a shape depending on the occasion. At Christmas, I remember that they could transform into trees and candy canes and bounce up and down while being surrounded by falling snow. This is a very simple way of gaining attention from the little ones. I'm personally not a fan of the big, black outline that the characters have surrounding them. I suppose this makes them easier to spot and follow on the screen, but if I were to engage a very young audience, I'd want to start with something softer and less harsh on the eyes.
In order to do this, I thought of various ideas. My first was to have a theme that most children would find appealing and yet be educational to an extent as it may something that kids can identify with. That theme was animals. I thought about have a small, green bush in a bright jungle/plain background so not to draw attention from the foreground or make the ident too busy, and make it rustle a little bit. Then, "cut out" looking lions, tigers, bears and other animals would crawl out from behind the bush smiling with large, beady eyes. The logo would then wipe across the top of the screen to resemble a sort of rainbow. The animals would blink sweetly and tilt their heads.
I really like the first idea and more could be achieved from using a theme that has a mutual connection with children. Another I thought of was to use a spaceship/UFO/flying saucer flying across the screen and wobbling from left to right in its path. It would then stop and drop an alien from it's trapdoor onto the floor of which will hold the logo. The background again would be very plain as not to distract attention. I could make a few little stars to scatter across the frame to set the scene. Boys would especially find this interesting as it has the potential to be gross and "gooey" looking. I wanted a more gender-neutral idea though.
The third idea I had was to have a cute little ice skater or dancer spinning across the screen, again in a cutout style to give it the softness that a girl's animation would be associated with. She would spin and dance as the logo fades in as she holds a pose at the end. She would maybe wink or blush to add to add a touch of fun. A pale, pastel coloured background could be used whereas the character would be bright and eye-catching. I still thought a gender-neutral animation would benefit Cbeebies more in terms of audience ratings.
I was very very fond of the animal idea and think it is simple enough and appealing enough to work with all children. I will expand on this more and research into styles, animation techniques and so forth.
Cbeebies, albeit fun and silly (a style that I love) was a difficult one to process ideas for as it took me a while to think of something that would be suitable for young children but also engage them quickly in the ident. Bright colours and a fun story are all fine and dandy, but if you lack appeal it can fall through and possibly mean nothing to the audience. I had to find a way of using the same sort of appeal Cbeebies used for their idents.
Their current mascots if you like, are the jiggly yellow blobs that seem to be able to morph into any shape and mould themselves appropriately into a shape depending on the occasion. At Christmas, I remember that they could transform into trees and candy canes and bounce up and down while being surrounded by falling snow. This is a very simple way of gaining attention from the little ones. I'm personally not a fan of the big, black outline that the characters have surrounding them. I suppose this makes them easier to spot and follow on the screen, but if I were to engage a very young audience, I'd want to start with something softer and less harsh on the eyes.
In order to do this, I thought of various ideas. My first was to have a theme that most children would find appealing and yet be educational to an extent as it may something that kids can identify with. That theme was animals. I thought about have a small, green bush in a bright jungle/plain background so not to draw attention from the foreground or make the ident too busy, and make it rustle a little bit. Then, "cut out" looking lions, tigers, bears and other animals would crawl out from behind the bush smiling with large, beady eyes. The logo would then wipe across the top of the screen to resemble a sort of rainbow. The animals would blink sweetly and tilt their heads.
I really like the first idea and more could be achieved from using a theme that has a mutual connection with children. Another I thought of was to use a spaceship/UFO/flying saucer flying across the screen and wobbling from left to right in its path. It would then stop and drop an alien from it's trapdoor onto the floor of which will hold the logo. The background again would be very plain as not to distract attention. I could make a few little stars to scatter across the frame to set the scene. Boys would especially find this interesting as it has the potential to be gross and "gooey" looking. I wanted a more gender-neutral idea though.
The third idea I had was to have a cute little ice skater or dancer spinning across the screen, again in a cutout style to give it the softness that a girl's animation would be associated with. She would spin and dance as the logo fades in as she holds a pose at the end. She would maybe wink or blush to add to add a touch of fun. A pale, pastel coloured background could be used whereas the character would be bright and eye-catching. I still thought a gender-neutral animation would benefit Cbeebies more in terms of audience ratings.
I was very very fond of the animal idea and think it is simple enough and appealing enough to work with all children. I will expand on this more and research into styles, animation techniques and so forth.
OUAN406 - A Tale in The Sting: E4 Initial Ideas
OUAN5406 - E4 Ideas:
After much thought about how I could create something quirky and entertaining that would easily promote E4 and make them out to be "awesome", I decided on some initial ideas and what could happen in the small amount of time I had. I had ideas such as a man falling in love with a giant E4 and taking it on a romantic meal then at the end, a velvet red curtain would drop down and leave the rest to the imagination. This lacked the "punch" that I wanted; it simply wasn't fun and action-packed enough.
Secondly, I thought of E4 as a monster, ravaging through a city, eating buildings and treading on everything in its path before finally grabbing the camera (the viewer) and swallowing it whole allowing the camera to fade to black showing the logo at the end. Still, action packed and humorous and possibly had the potential to appeal to the audience but still lacked the whole "popular culture" aspect I wanted to welcome to the ident.
Another idea was to feature aspects of social media and networking. Those horrid hashtags from Twitter that everyone keeps using combined with the typical "Wayfarer" glasses, maybe an indie band playing in the background with Tetris blocks and other bits of mumbo-jumbo floating around in the foreground could work, I mean, at least it would appeal to one variant of the audience even if it's not exactly the image I would like to give E4... The drum kit could feature the logo, maybe pop out of the drum at the end and burst through the screen? I wanted almost a mic-take of our youth, our generation of mass media and terrible music.
Then! Huzzah! An idea to end all ideas that could give me the element of humour, popular culture (that the UK and USA would understand) and a slight mic-take of our culture by using over-exaggeration, silly voiceovers and super powers was born. I finally decided on creating an overly-cute Anime character with candy floss hair that immediately defied the laws of gravity, wearing the epitome of superhero fashion disasters, holding what can only be described as the most unthreatening-looking mace/staff ever. I would keep the idea of the E4 logo being a ravaging monster, but instead, my "Super Kawaii E4 Girl" would fight this monster and obliterate it with her mace in a flash of light. Not only would it be super funny and cute, not to mention cheesy, it would give my ident that "punch" that I wanted. I plan on developing this idea further.
I will research some of Kerrang's idents as I remember they did a Power Ranger's styled one that featured a very similar idea of using a beam of light to defend themselves. I may use this not only to see how other channels do their idents but to get animation tips to aid my own.
After much thought about how I could create something quirky and entertaining that would easily promote E4 and make them out to be "awesome", I decided on some initial ideas and what could happen in the small amount of time I had. I had ideas such as a man falling in love with a giant E4 and taking it on a romantic meal then at the end, a velvet red curtain would drop down and leave the rest to the imagination. This lacked the "punch" that I wanted; it simply wasn't fun and action-packed enough.
Secondly, I thought of E4 as a monster, ravaging through a city, eating buildings and treading on everything in its path before finally grabbing the camera (the viewer) and swallowing it whole allowing the camera to fade to black showing the logo at the end. Still, action packed and humorous and possibly had the potential to appeal to the audience but still lacked the whole "popular culture" aspect I wanted to welcome to the ident.
Another idea was to feature aspects of social media and networking. Those horrid hashtags from Twitter that everyone keeps using combined with the typical "Wayfarer" glasses, maybe an indie band playing in the background with Tetris blocks and other bits of mumbo-jumbo floating around in the foreground could work, I mean, at least it would appeal to one variant of the audience even if it's not exactly the image I would like to give E4... The drum kit could feature the logo, maybe pop out of the drum at the end and burst through the screen? I wanted almost a mic-take of our youth, our generation of mass media and terrible music.
Then! Huzzah! An idea to end all ideas that could give me the element of humour, popular culture (that the UK and USA would understand) and a slight mic-take of our culture by using over-exaggeration, silly voiceovers and super powers was born. I finally decided on creating an overly-cute Anime character with candy floss hair that immediately defied the laws of gravity, wearing the epitome of superhero fashion disasters, holding what can only be described as the most unthreatening-looking mace/staff ever. I would keep the idea of the E4 logo being a ravaging monster, but instead, my "Super Kawaii E4 Girl" would fight this monster and obliterate it with her mace in a flash of light. Not only would it be super funny and cute, not to mention cheesy, it would give my ident that "punch" that I wanted. I plan on developing this idea further.
I will research some of Kerrang's idents as I remember they did a Power Ranger's styled one that featured a very similar idea of using a beam of light to defend themselves. I may use this not only to see how other channels do their idents but to get animation tips to aid my own.
OUAN406 - A Tale in The Sting: Researching Idents & Channels
OUAN406 - Research:
After a thorough scouring of E4's, Cbeebies' and Discovery Channel's websites for idents they have previously used and are currently using, I noticed that they catered to their target audiences very well. I also had a look at BBC Four's website and noticed that they are indeed a very refined and sophisticated channel with high-end documentaries and very informative and factual news programmes. Their idents also very much conformed to this image as they feature(d) rather lovely photographs of birds flying, waves lapping a beach, flowers blooming and many other natural idylls that depict beauty and knowledge.
I also spotted one set in a library showing a child reaching for a book as the ladder moves and almost teleports her to another part of the bookshelf. This overall theme of information and nature is pretty much what the BBC is all about and didn't appeal to me half as much as the other three as I felt I was restricted more so than the others in terms of what I could do for the BBC. Cartoons aren't usually associated with the refined and older generations as it is a fairly modern practice. In order to create what I would like for the BBC, I would probably have to turn to such methods as pixilation or a method using photography as this to me seems more plain, simple and can focus on the reality of the world around us more successfully.
Cbeebies' idents were very much child-oriented (which would seem a no-brainer!) with their bright colours, fun sounds effects, happy, smiling faces, and cute characters. Their signature character seems to be (in the past decade anyway) a little yellow blob with about the same consistency of morph (bouncy and fun), sporting a cute, exaggerated face. This would instantly grab children's attention and this is probably done through the use of bright colours and an appealing character in general. Including a face on character aimed a children is a wise move as children can identify with a face, especially if exaggerated motion and facial expressions play a part in the character's makeup, and young children who may not completely understand the concept of expression yet can learn through the character. The soundtracks used for idents on Cbeebies were overall very upbeat, happy and "bouncy". Lots of noise keeps kids interested and if you can keep a child interested during an ident then there's a fair chance they'll want to watch the following programmes thus increasing channels' ratings and viewings which in turn makes them more successful as a company.
Discovery Channel's idents were very simplistic yet interesting at the same time. Their most recent idents feature a spinning "D" (their logo) which happens to be rotating around a spherical globe (another part of the logo) containing an image or short video clip of the following programme. They use very cold, mechanical colours to represent some of their channel's content (machinery, science, vehicles) which wouldn't really bother their audience as they have no purpose in keeping the likes of 2 year olds' attention spans. There's usually lots of slow motion clips shown in the ident with the purpose of making something usual seem incredibly interesting and unusual. The channel's purpose is to show documentaries based around machines, nature, science and all round knowledge. Unlike BBC Four, Discovery takes a rather fun and hands on approach to their programmes which makes their target audience slightly broader in comparison. Teenagers such as myself will find them fascinating as the likes of Bear Grylls' documentaries look at how things are done in first person making them action-packed and vibrant unlike the BBC who simply narrate in a fairly monotonous way to a series of pre-filmed clips.
E4 on the other hand is aimed at a broad range of people. 18-35 year olds are seen to be their audience and the reason for this would be as E4 say: "It provides bite-sized entertainment for the social networking generation" (e4.com) They are very much the modern twin of Channel 4 and allow for multi-platform entertainment (content available on xBox, PS3, PS4, xBox One etc.) which would be sought for by a younger generation. They feature American comedy and dramas heavily on their channel and to me come across as a fairly "indie" channel as they do things a little differently to the likes of most channels. They're not afraid to advertise using abstract methods, showing things from popular culture, retro memorabilia, blasts from the past...
After a thorough scouring of E4's, Cbeebies' and Discovery Channel's websites for idents they have previously used and are currently using, I noticed that they catered to their target audiences very well. I also had a look at BBC Four's website and noticed that they are indeed a very refined and sophisticated channel with high-end documentaries and very informative and factual news programmes. Their idents also very much conformed to this image as they feature(d) rather lovely photographs of birds flying, waves lapping a beach, flowers blooming and many other natural idylls that depict beauty and knowledge.
I also spotted one set in a library showing a child reaching for a book as the ladder moves and almost teleports her to another part of the bookshelf. This overall theme of information and nature is pretty much what the BBC is all about and didn't appeal to me half as much as the other three as I felt I was restricted more so than the others in terms of what I could do for the BBC. Cartoons aren't usually associated with the refined and older generations as it is a fairly modern practice. In order to create what I would like for the BBC, I would probably have to turn to such methods as pixilation or a method using photography as this to me seems more plain, simple and can focus on the reality of the world around us more successfully.
Cbeebies' idents were very much child-oriented (which would seem a no-brainer!) with their bright colours, fun sounds effects, happy, smiling faces, and cute characters. Their signature character seems to be (in the past decade anyway) a little yellow blob with about the same consistency of morph (bouncy and fun), sporting a cute, exaggerated face. This would instantly grab children's attention and this is probably done through the use of bright colours and an appealing character in general. Including a face on character aimed a children is a wise move as children can identify with a face, especially if exaggerated motion and facial expressions play a part in the character's makeup, and young children who may not completely understand the concept of expression yet can learn through the character. The soundtracks used for idents on Cbeebies were overall very upbeat, happy and "bouncy". Lots of noise keeps kids interested and if you can keep a child interested during an ident then there's a fair chance they'll want to watch the following programmes thus increasing channels' ratings and viewings which in turn makes them more successful as a company.
Discovery Channel's idents were very simplistic yet interesting at the same time. Their most recent idents feature a spinning "D" (their logo) which happens to be rotating around a spherical globe (another part of the logo) containing an image or short video clip of the following programme. They use very cold, mechanical colours to represent some of their channel's content (machinery, science, vehicles) which wouldn't really bother their audience as they have no purpose in keeping the likes of 2 year olds' attention spans. There's usually lots of slow motion clips shown in the ident with the purpose of making something usual seem incredibly interesting and unusual. The channel's purpose is to show documentaries based around machines, nature, science and all round knowledge. Unlike BBC Four, Discovery takes a rather fun and hands on approach to their programmes which makes their target audience slightly broader in comparison. Teenagers such as myself will find them fascinating as the likes of Bear Grylls' documentaries look at how things are done in first person making them action-packed and vibrant unlike the BBC who simply narrate in a fairly monotonous way to a series of pre-filmed clips.
E4 on the other hand is aimed at a broad range of people. 18-35 year olds are seen to be their audience and the reason for this would be as E4 say: "It provides bite-sized entertainment for the social networking generation" (e4.com) They are very much the modern twin of Channel 4 and allow for multi-platform entertainment (content available on xBox, PS3, PS4, xBox One etc.) which would be sought for by a younger generation. They feature American comedy and dramas heavily on their channel and to me come across as a fairly "indie" channel as they do things a little differently to the likes of most channels. They're not afraid to advertise using abstract methods, showing things from popular culture, retro memorabilia, blasts from the past...
OUAN406 - A Tale in The Sting: Idents
OUAN406 - Idents:
After receiving the brief and given three out of four potential choices (channels/clients) to create animated idents for, I chose the Discovery Channel, CBeebies and of course E4. I chose this brief over the other two as I did not plan on conveying emotion through deep topics such as child abuse, third world country problems and so forth.
I personally am not a massive fan of campaign ads as I find that you can't really have fun and "let go" with them. You almost have to tackle the subject carefully and pussyfoot around it showing only empathy and sympathy whilst avoiding all giggles and fun whatsoever. The purpose of these ads is to persuade and inflict bucketfuls of emotion onto the audience to the extent that (in our family) some may even have to switch the channel over to avoid the immediate cringe one feels upon watching these ads. However, some are created with the intention of making the audience feel slightly uncomfortable and under said pressure, a specific audience may feel provoked into giving money to the charity/calling the helpline/playing into the ad's hands. I wanted to create something a little more light-hearted and fun, not something that would bog the audience down feeling sad and miserable for the entire day...
The initial reason for avoiding the title sequence brief was that I personally couldn't think of a single interesting book I had read that didn't possess the word count of say, the Magna Carta! I had books such as Dante's Divine Comedy and Homer's Odyssey running through my head yet still posed the same question of: "How on Earth will I portray this narrative in the space of 40 seconds!?" I wasn't entirely thrilled with creating an epic opening either as I prefer short, sweet and to the point. I personally feel that my attention span could not even achieve the likes of a 40 second animation as I would get incredibly bored of going back to one idea all the time. This is why the ident brief was simply perfect for what I wanted to accomplish, for whom I wanted to entertain/inform/persuade, and for the ways in which I could go about creating my animations.
The next step would be to look at idents and stings from all my chosen channels, compare them, what do they have in common? Who are they aimed at? Why are they appealing? Can I work to this level?
After receiving the brief and given three out of four potential choices (channels/clients) to create animated idents for, I chose the Discovery Channel, CBeebies and of course E4. I chose this brief over the other two as I did not plan on conveying emotion through deep topics such as child abuse, third world country problems and so forth.
I personally am not a massive fan of campaign ads as I find that you can't really have fun and "let go" with them. You almost have to tackle the subject carefully and pussyfoot around it showing only empathy and sympathy whilst avoiding all giggles and fun whatsoever. The purpose of these ads is to persuade and inflict bucketfuls of emotion onto the audience to the extent that (in our family) some may even have to switch the channel over to avoid the immediate cringe one feels upon watching these ads. However, some are created with the intention of making the audience feel slightly uncomfortable and under said pressure, a specific audience may feel provoked into giving money to the charity/calling the helpline/playing into the ad's hands. I wanted to create something a little more light-hearted and fun, not something that would bog the audience down feeling sad and miserable for the entire day...
The initial reason for avoiding the title sequence brief was that I personally couldn't think of a single interesting book I had read that didn't possess the word count of say, the Magna Carta! I had books such as Dante's Divine Comedy and Homer's Odyssey running through my head yet still posed the same question of: "How on Earth will I portray this narrative in the space of 40 seconds!?" I wasn't entirely thrilled with creating an epic opening either as I prefer short, sweet and to the point. I personally feel that my attention span could not even achieve the likes of a 40 second animation as I would get incredibly bored of going back to one idea all the time. This is why the ident brief was simply perfect for what I wanted to accomplish, for whom I wanted to entertain/inform/persuade, and for the ways in which I could go about creating my animations.
The next step would be to look at idents and stings from all my chosen channels, compare them, what do they have in common? Who are they aimed at? Why are they appealing? Can I work to this level?
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