1. Of all the different types of motion graphics there are I have decided that idents are one of
the most common and most generic of the motion graphics that litter the media. I will
choose 3 different idents and analyse and compare them and explain how they are used in
the media industry today.
Ident 1
The first Ident that I have chosen to analyse is a televised ident that was used for ITV in-
between programmes. The ident can be seen here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oH9IuIKf0TE
The Ident starts with a windy beach scene where a yellow windbreak is placed, the camera
slowly zooms towards it as it blows away from the ground and starts flying into the air. The
camera pans round to watch this, and as it does the ITV logo moves out from behind the
windbreak and moves into the air. The camera pans round all the way until it is looking
directly at the sky while the windbreak spins through the air. The ITV logo is present almost
all of the time.
The animation used on the windbreak is very good because it goes quickly from a real scene
to just a background with animation on top. It looks very realistic and professional and the
movements look smooth. I could create something similar to this by using Adobe after
effects and filming two different shots one of the beach, and one of the sky and animating
over the top. Also the colour of the windbreak matches the logo and allows the theme of
the channel to be seen by glancing at the Ident. A lot of techniques are used such as
sharpening the colours on the windbreaks to make them stand out and also rotating and
flipping them several times to create the natural feeling and make it look real. One main
thing that creates a real feeling is that when the flying windbreaks are high up they go
behind the logo but when they are close to the camera they go in front. This makes the
Ident look both very realistic and natural. All of this would be easy to do on Adobe after
effects using layers and simple tools.
The purpose of this ident was to clearly identify to the audience that they were viewing ITV
so the ident itself promotes the channel in a subtle way making sure the audience are aware
that all the shows that they watch are part of ITV.
Ident 2
The second ident that I have chosen to analyse is another televised ident, similar to the last
except this one is used for channel four. The ident can be seen here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_hSrNMX5Fig
The graphic starts off with the camera flying very fast across a desert looking at the ground
as though it were an aeroplane. The Camera starts to look up and begins to slow down as it
approaches an aeroplane base. There are other planes in the air and hundreds of planes

2. bunched together on the floor. The camera twists 90 degrees and starts moving upwards
and for a couple of seconds the channel 4 logo is visible in the space in-between the planes.
The ident uses a small amount of animation when the 4 logo is visible to clear the space
purely because it would be lots more work and possibly money to organise with the owners
the physical setup that would be required. The movement of the camera was controlled,
smooth and very effective. This helped the channel 4 logo be seen and created a dramatic
effect for the ident. The colour used is all very plain and desert like this creates a continuous
theme and makes the ident look incredibly real. I could create something like this using
various footage and Adobe Premiere or for a more animated look I could use Lightwave. At
the beginning the ident uses the blur effect to really create the image of travelling at a high
speed over the desert even though the camera itself is travelling slowly and the quality
remains at a high level. The ident itself is quite sharp looking especially the logo which I
suspect was sharpened in the editing software to make it clear and visible.
The purpose of this ident was also to identify to the audience that they are watching
channel 4. The ident does this by very subtly putting the channel 4 logo into the ident at
around 30 seconds in. The ident also follows the house style of all the other channel 4
idents, this alone lets the audience sub consciously know that they are watching channel 4.
Ident 3
For the final ident I have chosen I decided to use, again a similar kind of ident however this
time, used for BBC two. The ident can be found here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V1hUhxPHs6w
The Ident Begins with a number 2 that is designed to look like an insect in a forest setting,
the camera slowly zooms out and suddenly the number two is swallowed by a Venus fly trap
in the shape of a larger number two. The camera then stops zooming out and the BBC 2
information appears.
The ident is made using animation and regular camera footage. The forest scene was
probably filmed with a camera and then the number 2 bits were added in afterwards using
some software probably similar to Adobe After effects. The colour of the ident is all very
green to fit in with the theme of what is happening. The graphics of the animation are very
good and it looks quite realistic as though it is really there. Finally the movement of the
camera works perfectly because it is like watching a scene from a thriller film and therefore
looks professional. Because of the ident being so short more effort can be put into little
details for example; at the beginning the plants around the number two are blurred to make
it seem as though the camera is focusing on the number two. This creates a very dramatic
effect and draws all attention to the channels logo. The logo itself and once zoomed out, the
rest of the background is very sharp looking to give it an enhanced, more realistic look.

3. Again the purpose of this ident is to advertise to the audience that they are watching BBC
two and that the programmes they see on that channel all belong to BBC two. This ident
does this in an obvious way and instead of trying to subtly remind the audience of the
channel they are watching it simply states the channel they are watching but does so in an
interesting and memorable way.
Overall each different motion graphic does its job perfectly well; they simply do them in
slightly different ways. The main contrast in style is between the channel four and the BBC
two idents. This is because channel four has a running style of idents all of which subtly
identify the channel by making the channel four logo out of many different things, one being
the example where the logo is made out of spaces between planes. The BBC two idents do
also have a running style however theirs is much less specific and focuses more on how
creative the idents can be and how unique the ideas can be to their channel. The ITV ident is
the most simple one of the three, however this doesn’t by any means indicate that it is the
worst, after all an idents job isn’t to be the most creative or unique motion graphic ever
made, it is simply to identify the channel in the best way possible making use of modern
technology to do so.
Picking a winner would by no means be easy due to how different they all are despite all of
them having the same purpose. The main thing about idents is that they have to be changed
every so often in order to keep in the completion with the other channels and to keep the
creativity fresh and keep the audience entertained.