Ident Scrapbook

Motion Graphics

What is Motion Graphics?
Motion Graphics are digital footage or animation technology to create the illusion of motion or rotation, and are usually combined with audio for use in multimedia projects.
Companies use motion graphics to present their logos and idents to their audience and it makes idents and logos a lot more exciting.

Uses of Motion Graphics
Ident - Idents are corporate company logos.
Title sequence, opening credits and closing credits - Motion graphics used in title sequences and opening credits give an exciting introduction to the film and build up the excitement before the movie starts.

3D elements - 3D elements in motion graphics is used within a video clip, it makes the clip more real and gives it a more raw effect.
Animated/Imagery designs - Animated designs or captions are used mainly for information. A good example of this would be for a news show, in which they would add an animated design on the screen to show someones name when that person is talking. They are normally used in the lower third of the screen, as they must not take the attention away from the main imagery on the screen.

Stings - Stings are a lot more shorter and concise, these are normally shown when they are too long. For example the CBBC ident; they would have a small and shorter sting in which would just show one of the letters, but you would still know what channel you was watching.

What are the purposes of idents? What do they symbolise?
Idents are used for identification and branding of a certain television channel or film production company. It gives the visual stimulation for the audience to recognise these idents, and therefore can ultimately represent what kind of programs or films they create. Idents are the main representation of the company's image, these idents can be recognised and known for creating certain movies or programs.

Idents are used to identify a certain TV channel or film production company. They represent the channel as a whole and show what kind of programmes they make. People become aware of idents and start to link particular work they have done and what they have made to other projects they've worked on. The Disney ident is a great example for this as everyone knows what kind of films they make due to their ident, and what it represents. When you see the Disney ident at the beginning of the film you would know its most likely going to be a fantasy genre and is possibly an animated film.
If you enjoy a film you can look up the company through their ident to discover other films they have made, which will most likely be a similar sort of genre and film to the one you've enjoyed, therefore you should like the other work they have done.

Production Company's always find ways to adapt or make variations of their idents. Disney always change their idents and adapt them to the particular film they are releasing, Warner Brothers also changed their ident for the Harry Potter films when it was shown before the film started. Idents are the identification of a brand, they need them for the audience to determine what type of genre is being created. 

Technical Consideration
Formats - Formats of an ident, is the way it has been laid out and what it looks like visually.
Frame Rates - Frame Rate is the amount of frames which make up one second of a recording.
Aspect Ratios - Aspect Ratio of an image describes the proportional relationship between its width and its height.
Compression - Types of compression: Lossless (results in no loss of quality), Lossy (Results in lost data and quality)

Marvel Ident

The Marvel Ident begins fading in from black, its quite fast paced as it flicks through colourful comic book pages showing all the different superheroes. The music is fast and tense and it has an adventure feel to it. The camera slowly pans across the letters of the word 'Marvel' also zooming out as the word fades into silver and the background fades to a bright red. A sharp light beam shoots across the screen under the logo as the word 'Studios' appear and then it cuts to black. The ident is 30 seconds long and is all 3 dimension and as soon as it starts you are aware of what kind of genre of film you are going to be watching, the information being communicated tells you its based around comic books, and is going to be a fantasy/sci-fi, adventure genre based film.

Universal Ident

The Universal Ident begins as it fades in and pans across the surface of the Earth also zooming out, the Universal logo slowly appears moving up from behind the visual of Earth. The graphics are very realistic and is all in 3 dimension. As Earth spins and the camera pans away, it becomes night time and lights appear, the sun shines from behind the Universal logo on the other side of the world, the camera comes to a stop and the logo also stops in front of Earth. 'A Comcast Company' appears at the bottom of the screen and the background shows the universe with bright stars and dusty clouds. The music is very strong and adamant, it makes me think of adventure and power. The ident overall is 25 seconds long. Universal is known for its diverse slate of films including Jurassic Park, The Grinch, King Kong, Fast and Furious, Kick-Ass, The Purge, Ted and Despicable Me. They make theatrical and non-theatrical filmed entertainment and diverse content.

Walt Disney Ident

The Walt Disney Ident begins with a dark blue background, a bright light shines at the top of the screen and slowly moves downwards uncovering the silhouette of the Disney Castle. A bigger light expands and shrinks showing the iconic Walt Disney logo. A thin line shoots over the castle, creating a semi circle sitting over the top. There is one still shot, and no camera movement, it is in 2 dimension and is only 20 seconds long. The music is sharp and high pitched, it sounds theatrical and fantasy driven, the music is often the modified version of When You Wish Upon A Star in Disney's Pinocchio.

Disney changed their ident when a newly designed recreation firstly appeared in Pirates Of The Caribbean in 2006. This version begins with a bright light shining in the night sky, it pans down and across a river of what appears to be the Disney theme park. It zooms out and the Disney castle appears with fireworks going off. A firework shoots over the top of the castle to represent the thin line in the previous ident. Its all in 3 dimension and ends with a wide shot of the castle in the middle, with the Disney logo over the top and a landscape of the sky with pink clouds.
I think both Disney idents communicate with the audience showing them its most likely going to be a fantasy/theatrical type of genre of film.
Walt Disney have adapted and changed their ident to fit in with the film they are releasing, here are some examples.

Lilo and Stitch 

Into the Woods

What creative opportunities do idents offer for media practitioners?
When making my ident I will be limited with what I can achieve compared to professionals who make idents for films and TV shows.
What limitations are there?
In comparison to professionals I will not have as much time to create my ident, as idents made for films and TV shows take months to make, also the software I will be using will not have the same standards as software used by professionals. I will be working on my ident design by myself, and will not have a large team to complete all the pre-production and planning whereas professionals do.