Draft 3 Design Features

An ident is a short advert style sequence, which is advertises a channel. The ident is based on the channel and will represent the channels personality. It will also differ depending on who their target audience are. The idea of the ident is to brand and market the channel to the viewers. To brand their channel they represent it through the use of visual image such as a channel logo. To market the channel they promote the channels service to the viewers for the purpose of selling it as a service to the viewers.

ITV2 Ident

This ident is from ITV2 and is currently being shown on their channel in 2013.This ITV2 ident shows two men in an office to be playing around with a balloon and a fan while working. This ident is an example of all of the design features.

One of the design features shown in this ident is that it has a medium level of density of information, for example we hear a woman talking giving us information about the program which is coming up next on the channel. The ident does this to advertise the program and introduce their audience to their TV show. However this is the only information we receive and there are no subtitles to give us any visual information.

Another design feature shown in this ident is that its composition is balanced well; an example of this is how the title of "itv2" is presented on the screen. It has the title placed on the left with the main action taking place more to the right which balances the composition well. This makes it visually pleasing to the audience, especially how the title appears on the screen. As the women walk past the camera the large red title seems to appear from her dress, which is clever and it also leaves the image of the logo in the audience's mind.

The ident has a slow tempo to it; for example the ident has no cuts throughout the whole ident and it looks as though slow motion has been used for the action to make it fit with the slow paced soundtrack. All of these elements work together to create a slow tempo and the ident does this to appeal to its audience. The slow tempo can relate to the target audience which is the ordinary everyday working citizen as it is though they are giving the message to watch and relax after a days work. 

Also the design feature, space and time is used in this ident. For example the ident is set in the present day and in a real world work office. Again the channel has done this to appeal to its target audience of young working ordinary people by showing it in the present day and a familiar environment similar to one that the audience may work in.

Another design feature is too shown in this ident; for example we can tell that the ident is both entertainment and information based. We can tell this as the action taking place of them playing a game with a fan and a balloon is for entertainment but also the information on the next program, shows it may be information based too. This is to show that they are fun and interesting which itv2 try to be with many entertainment shows but also lifestyle documentaries.

Finally we see the interaction of viewers in this ident. For example, the communication is informal as it shows them in a workplace fooling around, also the way in which the information is given is almost conversational. The channel does this to relate to their channels personality of being fun and funny and aiming towards their target audience who can be detected as young popular cool people who live ordinary lives and need that wacky element of humor. We can tell that this is the target audience from this ident as the way it interacts with the viewers suggests that its for the young and popular people from the informal communication and the idea that the actors are young people acting 'cool' while in a formal environment.

BBC One Hippos 

This ident has a relatively high level of density of information, for instance we hear a spokesperson give us information about the 2 upcoming TV programs on the channel so verbally the information is high. However visually there is no information except for the channel's logo.

The composition of the ident is balanced well. It has the logo set out in the center of the screen with the visual image of hippos swimming in a circle around the BBC logo. The circle of the hippos around the logo represents the world and how the BBC tries to target a wide range of audience to show that they are aiming at a mass audience;the circle is a common feature in the composition of BBC idents and this is because the world is round and it tries to use this as BBC try to appeal to a range of people young and old of all cultural backgrounds. Also the low angle of the hippos swimming is shown from underwater which balances it out well and suggests that the BBC can show you something from a different perspective.

The tempo of the BBC one ident is slow paced. The things which contribute to making the ident slow tempo is the Slow paced image of the hippos swimming and that there is only one cut throughout the ident which is a slow cut. Also the man narrating is speaking with a slow pace. The slow tempo shows that they are aiming towards a older, professional target audience.

The space and time is another feature of this ident. We can see that the ident is set in the real world as it involves a real landscape and real hippos, which may have been edited to look like they are swimming in a circle. We assume that the ident is in the present day as there are no indications whether it is in the past or future. Shows they are branding their channel to be more serious and mature as it is no fantasy type set. 

The design feature of information v entertainment led is shown in this ident. This means whether the ident is aiming to be entertaining to the viewers or if it is trying to convey information to the audience. This ident is information led as it is not entertaining as it has slow tempo and mundane atmosphere to it, however it does give us information about the channels programming. BBC have done this to appeal to their target audience and represent the channels personality. The fact that it is information based can show that the BBC show real life factual programs that serve a purpose to an individuals knowledge.

The idents interaction with the viewers in this ident is formal despite it being slightly conversational. However, the manner in which he gives the information is appropriate and not making any jokes, unlike the narrators from channels such as comedy central. This again could relate to its aim to target older mature viewers.

Sky Sports 3

The level of density of information for the sky sports 3 ident is low, for instance visually we see no information apart from the channel logo. Also verbally all we hear the narrator say is "You're watching Sky Sports". This does not give us much information as the viewer would most likely know that he is watching that channel. This could be due to the identity of the channel, information is not necessary as it shows professional football matches and other sport games which are for entertainment.

The composition of the ident is slightly unbalanced as it involves a range of clips of different football matches of players celebrating. However the way in which the Sky sports logo on the screen balances it out slightly as it is as though the visual image builds up to the relevance of the logo; for example the way Drogba breaks through the glass like image which the logo appears from.The way in which the player breaks through the glass may make the audience feel embraced by the action and astonished; this is done to appeal to the target audience as it is a similar feeling which you would get when watching one of Sky sports' fierce, energetic sport matches.

The tempo of the ident is relatively fast as the visual image changes regularly and the soundtrack are quite upbeat. This is likely to represent the channel's identity of being a sports channel as sports would likely to be related to a high tempo as sports are physically demanding on the body. Also, the high tempo is used to interact with their target audience with sporty people as they would live an upbeat style of life.

The space and time of the ident are shown to be relatively recent as the ident is from 2009 and is situated in the real world as it consists of clips of real life moments of football matches. Again this would be to brand their channel and show that their channel is lively and real by showing this space and time as they are likely to show live sport matches and sport documentaries on real world people.

The ident is mainly entertainment based as it shows many different players scoring and celebrating to show the audience the happiness they can get from watching the channel if their team is on it as it shows a variety of different teams in the clip trying to appeal to a range of viewers. Idents from this channel are often entertainment based due to it showing sport which is a form of entertainment, so therefore it represents the channels personality.

Its interaction with the viewers is informal as the images shown are players celebrating and some going wild due to their happiness however this is appropriate to the channel as sports can be competitive and this relates to the identity of the channel. The fast tempo and quick soundtrack interact with viewer as it again creates a lively, sporting atmosphere to ident and represent sky sports' theme of sport in which the audience will be looking for.

E4 ident

This ident has a low level of density of information as we see or hear no information given. This may be due to its target audience of younger adults and teens as they are more likely to ignore the information given. This is similar to other E4 idents, such as, the hotel room ident which also has a low level of density of information due to the its young target audience.

The composition of the ident is unbalanced as there are lots of strange and random things going on within the living room which would not naturally be occurring there, for example the sheep in the room. It is unbalanced as it looks messy and the E4 symbol also looks out of place. This would be to brand its channel to the younger generation to relate to the lively personalities of younger people and how messy the room is can be related to teenagers too. Also the fact that things are coming to life such as mundane objects can appeal to the 'lively' younger generation.

The tempo of the ident is slow as the camera pans from one side of the Living room to the other. Also the cuts are slow and the soundtrack is not fast either. They may have done this to show the personality of the channel and create a sense of originality by using the slow tempo as you can see the strange things going on and the soundtrack sounds wacky which too would represent the personality of the channel.

The location of this ident starts off in a normal looking living room until it converts into a fantasy type world as the room comes to life. This represents their eccentric personality as they are different and random. This can relate to the target audience and the channel programs as many have a sense of humour which is wacky and eccentric which can be seen through the use of the conversion of the ordinary living room into the fantasy one.

The ident is entertaining as everything is a visual image of the room coming to life which looks very surreal to the viewers and can intrigue them. There is no information portrayed to the viewers in this ident.

Its interaction with the viewers is informal as it is showing the channel's identity as many programs are informal with more mature sense of humour such as the "The Inbetweeners" which is informal. The interaction with viewers is strong in this ident as we can determine the quirky, young target audience easily from the ident from each design feature which means the ident appeals to the target audience very well.