Category: Videos: Idents

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S4/C (Welsh) Videos: Idents

All the new S4/C idents, plus how they did it.

Download the whole H264 bunch in one swoop here (97.4mb *.zip).

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s4cCrane - Twango

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s4cCrane - Twango

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s4cCrane - Twango

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s4cCrane - Twango

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s4cCrane - Twango

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s4cCrane - Twango

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s4cLights - Twango

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s4cMuseum - Twango

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s4cCrane - Twango

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I first gushed all over these ‘audio reactive’ idents back in December last year, and that was when I’d only seen three of them. Now I’m happy to present the whole collection, along with a making-of video. And while my absolute favourite of the bunch remains the “lamp store” spot, some of the new inclusions such as “welding” and “power lines” are just as excellent.

And while the concept for these idents continue to blow me away, I think the more successful spots tend to be the ones that have the voice altering the environment in a more natural and realistic way. For example the “car park” ident doesn’t have the same impact when the visual reaction to the voice is quite so surreal. And as for the “ice cream truck” spot, I’ve been told its used during children’s programming, which makes sense, because compared to the rest its straight out bizarre.

Check out the making of video below, and a big thanks to folks at Proud Creative and Minivegas for the videos.

s4cCrane - Twango

> Quicktime H.264
(72mb)
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(24mb)
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New Zealand TV Videos: Idents

The Elementary Particles of New Zealand’s TV2.

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I’ve previously posted about New Zealand’s TV2 here, but since I’ve got my hands on some more of their stuff I thought it was probably time for one of those big posts were I just dump it all together. All the videos are accompanied by the song Aire of Good Feeling by NZ band The Quincy Conserve.

Above are three idents from TV2, with the first video being a 60 second montage of the “particles” look. And below is a 2008 promo for the new slate of programming.

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– Thanks again to the whole TVNZ team for supplying the videos.

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New Zealand TV Videos: Idents

New Zealand loves the feeling, on TV2.

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My first New Zealand related post! These two idents come from TV2, which is part of the state-owned TVNZ corporation. And while it is a public broadcaster, TVNZ accepts advertising, which along with other commercial activities makes up 90% of the networks revenue.

A look at the channels line up draws immediate parallels to the Seven Network in Australia, except for Scrubs actually being in prime time (which makes it even more embarrassing that JD doesn’t know where New Zealand is), and the anomaly that resulted in NZ somehow broadcasting episodes of Men In Trees before the US.

– Thanks to the whole TVNZ team for supplying the videos.

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Sky (UK) Videos: Idents

Sky’s One Two Three…

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Considering the last seven posts on this blog are all ABC related, its probably time for something different. Thankfully a new look Sky Three went on air last week in the UK.

Sky Three is a free to air digital network available throughout the UK, and is meant to be an accompaniment to the subscription only Sky One and Sky Two channels.

While it seems an odd proposition for a subscription service to launch a free to air channel, presumably its programming and promotion is meant to encourage take up the pay only services, I guess it would be like Australia’s Fox8 launching a free to air Fox9 in a bid to increase subscription television take up?

Check out Sky Three’s old look, and more of the new look here.

– Thanks for the videos Craig.

Categories
ABC2 Videos: Idents

Connecting 2: The new look ABC2 idents.

Download the whole H264 bunch in one swoop here (81mb *.zip).

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ABC2 got its best bit of PR to date on Friday when ABC TV formally became ABC1 and reminded, or alerted people for the first time that there was in fact a whole other channel available from the National Broadcaster.

Like everything the ABC does, the old look of ABC2 had its hits and misses, some of my favourites from the previous set of idents are here, but again they were far outweighed by all the ordinary ones.

Now though we have a whole new on-air look to dissect, and the first thing I thought when I saw these was… hey, its ITV4! Back in 2005 ITV4 used a similar split screen device to create visual puns, ABC2 on the other hand seem to be using the split screen to highlight various juxtapositions, city-nature, young-old, casual-professional etc. Which is fine, although it completely falls apart about half way through and I find myself wondering what two girls drinking a milkshake is meant to represent..

Comments in a previous post have already pointed out the similarities that the first of these ABC2 idents above have to the video clip of “Concrete Boots” by After The Fall, check it out and see what you think. It’s a good song either way.

Then finally, to dislocate the entire series a little more they’ve introduced two other idents (below) that are based on “parkour“, the ‘art of displacement’ which again is a fine concept for a series of idents, but why only throw in two of them.

I guess what I’m saying is that I like consistency and a central theme to my idents, something that can be explored and developed, not just random images linked at times, but then not at others.

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(The idents were produced by zspace, who also did the new look ABC1.)

Categories
ABC1 Videos: Idents

It begins with 1: The new look ABC1 idents.

Download the whole H264 bunch in one swoop here (129mb *.zip).

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idents

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I was desperate for the ABC to do something exciting when they relaunched their on-air brand today, but as yet I’m not sure if they’ve done it. While its a no-brainer that the national broadcaster needed to bring its channels into line with each other through a name change, the actual substance of the new look is where I am slightly less convinced.

From a technical and production standpoint the idents for ABC1 are on par or better than the rest of free to air to Australia, and while conceptually anything is deeper and more meaningful than ‘We Heart TV’, I guess I was expecting something grander and more profound than what I saw when I turned on the television at noon.

Visually the idents share a couple of characteristics with a series Channel Five in the UK ran early last year to celebrate its ten years of existence. In a similar style to what ABC1 has done they mixed live action with animation and in the case of Five contrasted the realities of life working in television against an evolving backdrop of child like imagination. And while the Five series cleverly aligned a networks tenth birthday to that of a child’s birthday through the animation, I’m unclear as to what the ABC is trying to achieve with a similar concept.

With all that said however, any criticism of the collection so far is from a perspective of international comparison, a comparison the average viewer will not be making, and when compared solely to local competition these idents and the new look in general is simply stunning, and will strike a chord as uniquely ABC.

I couldn’t agree more with Kim Dalton’s assertion that the national broadcaster is “embracing true multi-channelling”, and by taking an alternative path to that of other Australian networks is truly building a future and extending the longevity and purpose of the ABC in a landscape where other media organisations are looking downhill towards their own demise and irrelevance.

(The idents were produced by zspace, who have previously worked with the ABC to produce this earlier set of idents as well.)

Categories
ABC1 Videos: Idents

The network that would be ABC1.

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The ABC launched its current “There’s more to..” campaign on December 21st 2005, and with tomorrows impending shake up and name change it seemed the time was right for a short retrospective.

The above videos are just a selection of the many, many variations on the theme that have been broadcast over the past few years, including the original 60 second video that began the rebrand back in 2005.

While there have certainly been varying levels of quality, some of the stand outs from the series include the “genre collection” released early last year, and of course The Chaser’s directors commentary, noting the series obscurity and pretension.

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ABC2 Videos: Idents

But before things change, the old ABC2.

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> Quicktime H.264
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ABC2, the digital sibling of Australia’s national broadcaster launched on March 7th 2005. Although originally restricted in the content it was able to play, those limitations were removed in 2006 allowing the network to expand its programming options and broadcast “comedy, drama, national news, sport and entertainment”.

Tomorrow, ABC2 will turn another page in the history of Australian multichanneling, as it is rebranded and repositioned as a network focusing on Australian arts delivering unique programming and completely different content to that of ABC1.

The quality of ABC2 branding has been mixed, with idents and on-air looks ranging from the subtle, to the bizarre. The basic premise however that the idents of ABC2 are built on has always been solid, and its delivered some of the most entertaining spots on any Australian network.. above are a selection of those.

Categories
ABC1 Videos: Idents

February 8th 2008. Change is Here.

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The ABC continues to tease us, with the latest promo promising that “Change is Here”, and that its all happening on February 8th. For more from the ABC’s rebranding saga check out my previous coverage here and here.

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Foxtel Videos: Idents

Foxtel Friday: W Channel.

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The W Channel (the W once stood for “women” I believe) is taking a step back from its gender specific focus to broaden its appeal. The channels line up still contains a lot of Oprah and The View but is just as heavily reliant on the gender neutral likes of Law and Order and The West Wing.

The new on air look launched last year and was the work of Tactic, also responsible for other subscription television creations including spots for Movie Extra and The Comedy Channel.

– Thanks to Nathan from Tactic for supplying the videos.