Task Four – Focus Group: Choosing the Final Idea

I created 3 ideas for an ident for the channel E4 and to find out which idea the audience preferred I decided to hold a focus group. The focus group consisted of teenagers as I feel that this is the target audience, although the ident is open to all ages. 

Idea 1

This story board shows how the ident will be recorded and then played in reverse to give the illusion that the Rubik's cube will be completed with a blindfold on.

Idea 2

This story board shows how I will record the ident although I will be reversing the footage to seem as though the E4 logo is in fact going from a burnt state into it's original state. 

Idea 3

This storyboard shows a fuse being lit with a close up shot tracking the flame. The frame then zooms out and the E4 logo is seen at the end of the fuse. The fuse gets closer until, inevitably, the E4 logo explodes. 

Question 1) Which idea do you prefer?

Answer a) I prefer idea number 2

Answer b) I prefer idea number 1

Answer c) I prefer idea number 1

Answer d) I prefer idea number 3

Answer e) I prefer idea number 2

Answer f) I prefer idea number 1

Question 2) Why do you prefer this idea?

Answer a) I like the concept of the reversing footage of the logo being burnt

Answer b) I think it will fool the audience and make it look legitimate

Answer c) I like how the colour purple is shown as an E4 logo on the Rubik's cube

Answer d) I like how this idea is simple and tracks the flame down the fuse

Answer e) I think it will look good when the footage is reversed 

Answer f) This idea will keep an audience watching as they won't think it can be done

Question 3) What was the main thing that caught your attention?

Answer a) The way that the burning is going to be reversed 

Answer b) The colourful Rubik's cube caught my attention 

Answer c) How the person will solve the Rubik's cube blindfolded

Answer d) When the E4 logo suddenly blows up at the end of the fuse

Answer e) Watching the flames burn the E4 logo in reverse 

Answer f) The parts where the person drinks and another walks past

Question 4)  Which idea was your least favourite?

Answer a) My least favourite was idea 3

Answer b) My least favourite was idea 3

Answer c) My least favourite was idea 3

Answer d) My least favourite was idea 2

Answer e) My least favourite was idea 1

Answer f) My least favourite was idea 3

Question 5)  Why was that your least favourite?

Answer a) It is more straight forward than the other ideas 

Answer b) This idea is quite boring compared to the rest

Answer c) It isn't suprising as you can tell what's going to happen

Answer d) This ident is quite slow paced so it may end up boring

Answer e) I think this ident will drag on for too long, the others not so much

Answer f) I don't think this idea is bad, I just prefer the other two ideas 

Question 6) If you could improve your favourite ident, how would you do it?

Answer a) I would have more happening in the background so it's not so boring

Answer b) I would add sound effects to make it appealing to young audiences

Answer c) I would make it so that well known music was played over the top

Answer d) I would add an explosion sound effect when the logo blows up

Answer e) I would show a hand setting the E4 logo on fire 

Answer f) I would add sound effects of the Rubik's cube moving around 

To conclude, from the answers given above I have found out the following:

1) Overall, the audience preferred idea 1

2) The main thing the audience liked was the concept of reversing footage

3) The audience also enjoyed the bright colours of the Rubik's cube/flames

4) The audience's least favourite idea was idea 3

5) They thought idea was boring as it was straight forward/simple

6) To improve an ident, they wanted more sound effects to be heard

From the information above, I can see that the audience prefer idea 1 with the reversed footage of the Rubik's cube. The information gathered shows that they prefer idea 1 because of the vivid colours of the Rubik's cube and the way it is reversed. To improve this idea, they wanted to hear more sound effects when the ident is created. The idea below is the one I am going to create. The changes I will make to it will be adding happy music over the top and adding sound effects to certain parts. The places I could add sound effects would be a gulping sound effect when the drink is being drunk, and footsteps when the person is seen walking past.

AS2 Task Three – Ideas Generation Animatic #3

This storyboard shows a fuse being lit with a close up shot tracking the flame. The frame then zooms out and the E4 logo is seen at the end of the fuse. The fuse gets closer until, inevitably, the E4 logo explodes. 

The first shot will be a close up of the fuse being lit.

The flame is then tracked as the fuse gets shorter.

The flame carries on burning the fuse.

The flame carries on burning the fuse.

The frame then zooms out and the E4 logo can be seen.

The fuse gets shorter and closer to the logo as the camera is static.

This is then the last frame before the fuse reaches the logo.

The E4 logo then explodes.

AS2 Task Three – Ideas Generation Animatic #2

This story board shows how I will record the ident although I will be reversing the footage to seem as though the E4 logo is in fact going from a burnt state into it's original state. 

The first shot will show the E4 logo.

The E4 logo will then catch on fire. 

The flames will then grow.

The logo will continue to be engulfed with flames.

The E4 logo then melts.

It continues to melt.

It continues to melt.

It continues to melt.

It continues to melt.

A small fire is then left which will be the beginning of the ident.

AS2 Task Three – Ideas Generation Animatic #1

This story board shows how the ident will be recorded and then played in reverse to give the illusion that the Rubik's cube will be completed with a blindfold on.  

Starts recording with a completed Rubik's cube.

It will then be picked up.

A close up is shown of the hands moving the cube.

A person will walk backwards in the background.

Rubik's cube is placed onto table.

Empty glass is then picked up.

Water is placed into the cup from the person's mouth.

A glass of water is then put down

The Rubik's cube is picked up.

The person then carries on the Rubik's cube. 

It is then placed on the table as they put on their blindfold.

They then walk backwards, away from the table.

AS2 Task Two – Market Research

Ident 1 - BBC Three Ident - Erm 2

Ident 2 - BBC Three Ident - Kick Step Turn

Ident 3 - BBC Three Ident - Discovery

After showing an audience these three idents, I asked them questions on what they thought about them. I wanted to look at what was already on the market and what people thought about existing idents. This was to help determine what I should include/exclude from my ident as I want to create something everyone will enjoy. 

Question 1) Which ident did you prefer? Why?

Answer a) I preferred ident 3 because of the interchanging people.

Answer b) I preferred ident 2 as it was more interesting than the other idents.

Answer c) I preferred ident 2 because there was more to look at onscreen.

Answer d) I preferred ident 1 as it was simple and easy to remember.

Answer e) I preferred ident 1 as it had humour and was different to conventional idents.

Answer  f) I preferred ident 2 because I enjoyed watching the dancing people. 

Question 2) What was the main thing that caught your attention?

Answer a) Bright colours and fast paced
Answer b) The little animated people
Answer c) The colours were vivid
Answer d) Little creature stood out
Answer e) The red blob on blue background
Answer  f) Neon colour, lots happening

Question 3)  Which ident was your least favourite?

Answer a) My least favourite was ident 1

Answer b) My least favourite was ident 1

Answer c) My least favourite was ident 3

Answer d) My least favourite was ident 3

Answer e) My least favourite was ident 2

Answer  f) My least favourite was ident 1

Question 4)  Why was that your least favourite?

Answer a) I thought that it was a boring ident

Answer b) It had no real purpose or meaning behind it

Answer c) I couldn't tell what was supposed to be going on 

Answer d) I don't like the way the images moved around 

Answer e) I didn't dislike it, it just wasn't my favourite

Answer  f) It was plain and simple, not entertaining

Question 5)  Did the sound on the idents match what was happening?

Answer a) I think that the sound went well with all of them

Answer b) I think the sound matched although ident 1 should have had sound

Answer c) The sound in ident 2 matched what was happening

Answer d) I thought that they all sounded good

Answer e) Ident 1 was boring and could have had sound

Answer  f) The sound in ident 3 matched better than the others

Question 6) If you could improve an ident, which one would it be and how would you do it?

Answer a) I would improve ident 1 by using music to make it more entertaining

Answer b) Ident 1 could be improved by using more colour

Answer c) I would brighten up ident 3 with more colour

Answer d) I would change ident 2 by making taking out the dancers 

Answer e) Ident 3 could be improved by taking out the sport element

Answer  f) I would change ident 1 by making the blob tell a joke


To conclude, from the answers given above I have found out the following:
1) Ident number 2 was favoured overall by the audience in the focus group.
2) The main thing that stood out to the audience was the colours within the idents.
3) The results show that people disliked ident 1 the most out of the others 
4) They disliked it because they felt that it was boring as not entertaining
5) The sounds did match what was happening, although ident 1 needed music
6) They wanted more colour and humour to be used to improve the idents

Create your free online surveys with SurveyMonkey , the world's leading questionnaire tool.

AS2 Task One - Target Audience Research

Task One - Target Audience Research

When designing the questions for our audience research, we decided to use both qualitative and quantitative questions. A survey on a website called ''Survey Monkey'' was created so that we could collect feedback from an online audience. This allows for a wide range of viewers giving their opinions, giving us conclusive feedback. This allows us to receive feedback from not only one type of audience (e.g. if we were to only ask fellow pupils/peers in our class) but various people online.

          The questions asked were designed to specifically receive certain results. The reason that we decided to receive both qualitative and quantitative feedback was to broaden our results and give us a better insight into what people like/dislike. Qualitative research was used to gather in-depth answers. Quantitative research was used so that we could gather numerical stats and understand how many people shared the same views. 

          As for the questions we asked, we decided to ask a range so that we could collect the qualitative/quantitative feedback. We achieved this by asking both open/closed questions. The quantitative questions asked were open and allowed the viewer to write their own answer. The qualitative questions were closed as we only wanted a yes/no answer. 

Below are the results of the survey:

The first question was used to find out the age of the people answering the survey. From this result I can see that one person was between the ages 1-8, 1 person was between the ages 9-16, 5 people were between the ages 17-24, and one person was 25+. These are good results as I have a range of ages answering the questions on my survey; the results are not biased and from only one age group.

The next question asked what their favourite style of music was. From the results I can see that the people that answered preferred either Pop or Indie music. This music is very uplifting and happy which would be good for an ident as it will make people remember it. It will be easy for me to chose music as I only have to look at two types of music which is very similar. Pop and Indie are also both in the charts at this current time so I have a lot of songs to chose from that people know.I do not have to think about using rap, classical, or rock music.

This question aimed to find out which genre the audience preferred. From these results, I can see that most people (5) preferred comedy. There was a joint decision with the Horror and Action genre (1 vote each). No one voted Drama as their favourite genre which ruled this one out. As comedy had such a high vote I think I will create an ident that is uplifting and entertaining in a fun way. 

I wanted to find out how I should create the ident and what people preferred watching. Did they prefer computer animation, stop-motion, live action, or hand drawn animation? From this question, I can see that people preferred watching live action media over the others (with 4 votes). Computer animation come in second (2 votes) and stop motion third (1 vote). No one preferred hand drawn animation over the others so I will rule this one out. 

This is an open question and allowed for people to input their favourite hobby. This allows me to see what people like doing so I could create an ident to relate with an audience. I can see that three people said that they enjoy watching the television. I will take this on board and could create something around this idea. Other ideas were singing or social networking, which are good answers that could appeal to a large audience. One person enjoyed writing although this would be hard as not a lot of people do enjoy writing so it may not appeal to a large audience. 

This question allows me to see which colour/s people favour so I can think about which colour scheme I want to use within my ident. People's favourite colour was purple (3 votes). This is good as I wanted to create an ident for the company E4 which has purple as their colour scheme. Pink come in at close second (2 votes), orange third (2 votes) and green fourth (1 vote). No one, surprisingly, voted red, yellow, or blue as their favourite colour. If I had not taken out this research then I may have went with one of these colours. 

This is a closed question and allowed me to see if people did enjoy watching the television. 100% of the people voted that they did indeed enjoy watching the television. This information tells me that all of the people questioned watch the television and enjoy watching it; if they enjoy something they are more likely to take in the information which means that they have been open to watching various media. This means that their results are based on their opinions of previous/current media they see on the TV already. 

From the above survey I have found out that the audience prefer indie music, the comedy genre, live action, watching TV, and the Colour purple. This information will help me when looking at designing my ident and what I should include within it. I know what the audience prefers, so if I create an ident to these specifications then the audience should, theoretically, enjoy it. 

AS1 Task Four - Understanding the Design of Idents

E4 Ident



This ident is from the channel E4 an shows a hotel room with inanimate objects moving around the room. As the objects move around, the whole room changes and suddenly becomes some sort of sci-fi room with lots of random things taking place. Whilst this is taking place, the music is contrasting as it is very calming whereas you would not feel calm in this situation as it looks very unusual. This tells you that the channel is very whacky and funny, which is true as it plays comedy programmes. 

You don't actually find out the channel the ident is for until the end of the ident. The ident does include lots of purple though which is a giveaway as the E4 logo (and other idents) include this colour. Also, the other idents are seen to show inanimate objects moving around with some sort of animation/stop-motion/CGI taking place. The ident lasts 27 seconds which means that it is a long ident and would be used to fill up a large gap before a programme if it is needed. 

Although the music is slow and relaxing, the action on screen is seen to be fast paced as everything is happening at once and it is hard to take it all in. The tone set is an uplifting one and sets out to target an audience that likes being random and that like humour. I say this because of all the elements included into the ident can be seen as comedic e.g. ducks quacking,  purple water spewing, sharks infesting, lasers beaming etc. This means that the ident is entertainment led instead of information led, although I feel that this is still very effective and lets people know about the channel. 

4 Music Ident



This ident is from 4 Music and shows The Script using skipping ropes next to a large 4 Music sign. As they are using the skipping ropes, the footage continuously gets reversed and then played. The reason The Script are on the ident is because 4 Music is a music channel and The Script are a famous band that are easily recognisable. The 4 Music sign is present throughout the ident and is in bright pink (which is the channel's colour) which means that it can easily be seen.  

The ident lasts for 20 seconds which is quite a long duration of time for an ident, which means that it will be used when the channel needs to fill up a long amount of time. The tempo of the actions on screen is fast which reflects on the type of music the channel plays. The channel appeals to the younger audience, so the band featured on the ident is a well known band which many young people listen to. This ident is entertainment led as there is no information within it, just a music band jumping around; the information comes from the voice over which tells the viewers about what will be coming up.

ABC4Kids Ident



The ident shown above is from the channel ABC4Kids which shows a well known character talking about the channel. The character shown is the Cookie Monster from Sesame Street which is appropriate as the channel is appealing to kids. The way the ident has been designed is that it has been made to appeal to it's audience as it is vivid, uses simplistic block colours, stars a recognisable character, and the logo is big and memorable. 

The ident runs for 30 seconds which is a long time and this allows for the Cookie Monster to talk about the channel and then eat the logo. The music on the ident is fast paced which reflects the audience as kids can be very energetic and fast. All different sound effects are used throughout the ident which appeals to kids as it makes it fun and entertaining. This ident is entertainment led as it is both visually and aurally appealing to the audience. It gives the impression that this channel shows fun and entertaining children's programmes. 

ITV Ident

This ident is from the channel ITV and shows a tracking shot of a bowling ball as it is released from the machine. A person is then seen to pick up the bowling ball and bowl it down the alley, returning for the second ball. This is all done in slow motion, and the colours of the balls are vivid. The only information about the channel is the logo which is transparent and on screen throughout the ident. The fact that the ident doesn't give much away about the channel may be because the channel plays a range of programmes. It may have just wanted to show a calming, neutral ident which reflects the programmes. 

The ident is on for a long duration of time and the pace of it is slow paced, which makes the ident seem as though it is on for longer. The actions seen on screen are all in slow motion. Also, there is a shallow depth of field on the camera which blurs out the background and focuses on the foreground. This grabs the attention of the logo as it stands out as it is clear on a blurred background. This ident is entertainment led as it does not contain any information apart from the logo of the channel. 

Channel 4 Ident

Channel 4 produced the above ident which shows the inside of a scrap yard and how the surroundings briefly create a the channel 4 logo out of broken cars/cranes. This ident is very creative and the creation of the channel 4 logo within it is very subtle and can also be comedic in how it is done. This tells the audience that the channel contains light hearted, entertaining programmes. Again, this ident is on for a long duration of time which means it can be used to fill up a large time gap on the channel. 

The tempo of the ident is quite slow paced as it is dealing with heavy machinery, although there are a lot of actions taking place within a small space of time. The music reflects the heavy machinery side to the ident as it has a heavy bass line and thick drums. Sound effects have also been added such as cars being crushed, reversing beep, machinery moving, glass smashing etc. This ident is definitely entertainment led as it does not contain any information apart from the brief channel 4 logo created by the surroundings. 

Research Summary

After looking at five different channels and the idents used, I have noticed that some have certain aspects in common. All of the idents contain their channel's logo although some are in your face and some are very subtle. Within most of the idents I have looked at (E4, ITV, and Channel 4) the logo is not made very clear straight away. With the other idents (4 Music, ABC4Kids) the logo is in your face and noticeable from the start. All of the idents have an appropriate music sound track which can be heard throughout. If a voice over is needed to announce upcoming programmes then this music will be made quieter. 

The key conventions I have noticed throughout these idents is that they all seem very random although they can still be linked to the channel they are for. Also, certain channels have different colours (e.g. 4Music is pink, E4 is purple) and these colours are used within the idents. Apart from one of the idents (4Music ident) the others are not focused around people. Instead they are more focused on objects moving. 

Within my own ident I would need to include some of the features I have seen from existing ones. I will incorporate the colour scheme of the channel vastly within my ident and use the idea of revealing the logo at the end. This makes the audience wonder what it is about and then they keep watching to find it's an ident for the channel. I will search for fitting music that relates to both the onscreen actions and the programmes shown on the channel. I will also focus it on objects although will incorporate a person's hands. 

Suite of Idents

I have decided to analyse the E4 idents and look at more idents within the suite. All of the idents within the suite look the same and are set out this way so that they are easily recognisable which helps with brand identity. The idents are to identify the channel and these E4 idents do this well as they stand out. The key theme for the idents would be random acts of objects flying around and there being a lot of the colour purple. They start off with a normal scene that can be seen by anyone, and then it bursts out into randomness. The pictures below are from the first/last frame of some of the idents in the suite. 

Ident 1: first frame

Ident 1: last frame

Ident 2: first frame

 Ident 2: last frame

Ident 3: first frame

Ident 3: last frame

The ident I chose links with the rest of the idents within the suite as it is set out the same as all of the others; with it's bright purple colours and vivid imagination shining through, it links to the rest of the other idents. I would imagine this ident being shown at any time throughout the day as it is not audience specific. It hasn't been created to appeal to one audience. Any age would watch this ident and would find how random it is quite funny. It would be shown before a comedy programme as it has elements of comedy within it. The sound effects and visual comedy would be ideal for the ident to be placed before comedies on E4.