I wanted to create an ident that expressed the kind of productions I usually make. After throwing out a few ideas I decided that I wanted to include some real life footage, because I usually make documentaries. I looked into some of my well known idents, such as 'Paramount' and 'A very good production'. I realised whilst researching that most idents have a fan fare or soundtrack that they are recognised by, I then decided to use a short piano piece on my ident to denote that my company was proffesional. I then decided that to finish my piece of I wanted to create something to include, so i started playing around on photoshop. I managed to pick out a tree, and turn it into a silouhette with a sunset behind it. With the company having the word "family" in it, I wanted the tree to resemble a sort of family tree for the audience to connect with. If I was to create the ident again, I think that I would change the name on the ident to 'Raymond Family House Productions" Because having the 'A' to introduce the production company as it is in the clip, only allows the ident to be placed in front of a movie piece, and I wanted my ident to seem much more diverse.
A TV/Film ident usually lasts around 30 seconds, and are considered as short artistic films, used to hook the audience in by appealing to their sight and sound senses. In the 1950's, when the BBC started using idents in between their programs, the ident would be simple, in black and white and last around 5 seconds. However idents have now developed in productions, for example the new channel 4 ident. developed by Rudd Studios in the summer of 2012, is a clever artistic way of keeping the same logo, but looking at it from different angles. The progress of the idents also reflects the way that the channels have grown and developed.
Many of the most memorable and successful logo ident originate from Hollywood, including Warner Brothers - The WB shield, Paramount - Majestic Mountain and 20th Century Fox - The searchlight logo.
A Hollywood logo is always recognisable because it includes a massive landmark or something familiar to the audience. It also sells the idea of stardom and excitement, by including a trademark fanfare and lots of flashing lights and stars. Another factor that differentiates the Hollywood logos from others, is the dominant
camera angles. The main logo is shown from a low point of view, this demonstrates to the audience that the production company are in control, and that viewers should sit back and trust that the film will be good because that prestigious company is involved.
The dreamworks "boy on the moon" is another Hollywood logo, however this one uses different techniques to hook the audience. Using a small child rather than the more well know myth of "man on the moon" alongside a lullaby soundtrack, encourages audiences of all ages to relate to the child-driven movies that are usually produced by DreamWorks. This logo had also been developed for different movies, for example, at the beginning of each of the 'Shrek' movies, the three little pig characters push the fishing boy off of the moon and take his place. This shows how the logo relates to the films that the company produces.
When artist Robert Hunt was asked to create the logo, he was told to make it "reminiscent of Hollywood's golden age" by director Steven Spielberg, I think that Spielberg wanted to keep the old Hollywood glamour theme in with the new simple and clean idea. Hunt acheived this with the bold font and small fanfare in the middle of the lullaby sequence, I feel that this ident is really iconic because of the hollywood factors that it captures.
Aardman Animations
This Aardman film logo was shown at the beginning of each of Aardmans productions including "Wallace and Grommit - the curse of the were-rabbit" and "Project Zoo". It ws also used at the beggining of Aardman sponsored video games such as 'Chicken run'.
This logo/ident id a personal favourite of mine because it includes aspects of the Hollywood logos, whilst still maintaining an independent theme. The ident lasts for only nine seconds, and shows off a variety of comically simple animation, including trees, a running box man, clockworks, cars, fish and a number of other random objects. I think this shows that Aardman Animations is very diverse and therefore this ident speaks volumes about the company.
An aspect of the Hollywood logos that this logo/ident carries, is the iconic fanfare used in successful logos such as Paramounts and Columbia pictures, this fanfare adds to the comic book nature of the ident and increases the impact of the logo. Created in 1998, this logo was the second of the Aardman idents, replacing the original one that was created when the company started in 1972. I think that the second ident shows how the company have developed as an animation studio and found a genre of films they excell in creating. this is also shown in the playfullness of the 1998 logo, compared to the slightly creepy and dark animations featured in the original logo.
Thames Television
This is the Thames Television ident from 1976, it features many iconic landmarks from London, including St Paul's cathedral and London bridge.
Thames television started as a licensee for the ITV and it predominantly covered the area of London and the surrounding counties.
Thames was involved in creating television shows that were broadcasted around the nation but were mainly in charge of the TV that created the local network.
This ident is a re-design of the 1969 Thames ident, adjusted only slightly to remove the rippling water reflection that viewers felt was slightly scary. I think that Thames removed the 'Scary' aspect of their ident because they wanted to be seen as a professional, serious and enjoyable for everyone. The soundtrack to this ident logo is a creation by musician Johnny Dankworth called 'The Thames theme' and is very British sounding, for example it is similar to the soundtrack that was used previously for the BBC news.
The font used matches the professional approach that the visual enforces, using a bold and simple typeface really enhances the overall feeling of the ident. I personally do not like this ident because I feel it is typically dated with the bad qaulity footage.
Dexter Opening Sequence
'Dexter' is a television series that was first aired on the Showtime network on October 1st 2006. Developed by James Manos Jnr, 'Dexter' is now on its sixth season.
The title sequence for "Dexter" was created in part by creative director Eric Anderson. In an interview for Artofthetitle.com, Anderson said "We then started examining normal everyday things that could be seen as horrific...". I think that this quote sums up the basis of the entire title sequence. Throughout the sequence, we watch as Dexter gets ready for day, however the things he does coupled with the splatters of blood, quick cuts, dominant angles and slightly ominous music, makes the whole thing seem a little more threatening. Although there is no directed reference to the actual TV series, apart from including the main character, the aesthetics of the room he is in create the feeling of a crime scene. This crime scene relates to Dexter’s job of a crime scene detective/serial killer.
