Task 3B Analysis of Suite of Idents (Film 4)

Suite of Idents (Film 4)

A suite of idents is a collaboration of idents for one channel. Each individual ident has something in common such as Film 4's use of a celluloid transition in each ident and the setting in each one is familiar to films in the 80s or 90s. Through making a suite of idents you can maintain the theme, concept, and brand identity. In this report I will be analysing Film 4's suite of idents.

i. What the theme of the suite is

The theme of the suite of idents is historical throughout each suite of idents. The evidence as to why I think that may be is because of the transition of each individual ident is similar to a celluloid film strip. It is as if the ident itself is a mini film. Each Ident reflects the genre of the films that will be up next for instance, the corridor ident indicates that the next film is a horror film because of how similar it looks to The Shining.     

ii. How/why the theme appeals to the viewers (e.g. creating a particular tone to target a particular audience type)

 As I have mentioned before, the suite of idents are cinematic and they have decided to reinvent the classic celluloid film strip and integrate it with their idents so that it tells a mini story. These idents tease the audience into thinking that they are watching an actual film through a celluloid film strip. The Film 4 Idents appeal to an older audience and the reason why these idents appeal to an older audience is because they will be able to know what each film the suite of idents is referencing, for example, visuals for the corridor ident is referencing the movie The Shining which was made in the 1980's, the burning tyre in the gas station ident was referencing a movie called rubber.

iii. How they have used the same theme in different ways to create Brand Loyalty

A suite of idents is supposed to establish and maintain the continuity and present the brand identity. For example, throughout these idents what they all had in common was the movement which resembled that of a celluloid film strip and that symbolises the history of film making in the 1950s. This creates brand loyalty because the audience would be entertained by the visuals which would encourage them to watch their channel.

iv. Explain whether, how and why the idents are information-led or entertainment led

This ident is information-led because both the visuals are indicating the genre of the film that is coming up next and the name of the film. Though it may be predominantly information-led idents because of the voice over, it is still an entertaining ident to watch. So to conclude these suite of idents are both information and entertainment led.

v. Are the idents intended to be used at a particular time of day?

Only the gas station ident was intended to be used at night to enforce the watershed rule and indicate more adult films would be shown to the mature audience.

vi. Are idents intended to be used at a particular time of year?

These suite of idents aren’t used at a particular time of year given that there was no actual time on when these idents could be used.

vii. What does the suite convey about the channel's Brand Identity – what meaning?  

The suite of idents conveys a nostalgic brand identity through the celluloid film transition which is consistent throughout the suite of idents and through that transition, the red strips move in position to create the number four, which completes the logo. Also, what gives it a brand identity is the locations in each suite is that it is a reference to films that the audience may be familiar with. In other words, the suite is trying to communicate their brand identity across to the audience through the visuals which are similar to the movie that each ident is referring. 

viii. How effective the design of the suite is in communicating Visual information to a non-visual audience, appealing to a target audience; and the audience appreciating of desired tone

These idents aren't very affective in terms of communicating visual ideas to a non-visual audience because throughout these suite of idents I have already mentioned that it is a digital reinvention of a celluloid film strip which I think is the problem in terms of visual communication because the audience won't understand the artistic meaning behind it.  Film 4's idents are abstract because each one specifically the ones paying homage to horror films give off a different tone therefore the tone is inconsistent because they are appealing to both a children and an adult audience.

Ix. Assess - How effective the design of the suite is (Typography, Pace, Density of Information, Brand Identity)

Each ident is 30 seconds and the screen tempo moves very slowly but the pace increases but not fast enough that it is illusory to the audience. The screen tempo is symbolic because that was the moving image for celluloid film in the 1950’s. The four letter word ‘film’ is positioned in the middle and the they don't move until the screen tempo builds up which establishes the concept of stories being told through film strips. The Film 4 uses the colour red to brand their channel which is similar to BBC the colour is just on the boundary which is 255 and under otherwise it will distort the audio and the visuals. There is not much information on screen but instead there is a voice over providing the schedule. Whilst the visuals are there to entertain the audience. Overall, I think the design is effective because all the idents carry a consistent theme and each of them pay homage to classical films.

x. Duration of each Ident

The duration of each Ident is 30 seconds long.