Idents Research

In today's lesson I learnt that an ident allows production companies to identify that they have helped create a film or TV show. Alternative idents can also help reinforce the genre of a film and also give viewers an insight into the story line of the film. Additionally, idents can somewhat start a film early and catch audiences attentions at the start of a movie; a 20 second ident can set a films mood and tone before a film has fully begun. Here is a link to a website I've used to research idents

 

Lionsgate

Below are two Lionsgate ident's used in the opening scenes of the films they produce. I've chosen to look at Lionsgate because the company is a leading horror film company. Considering that they are a large horror film company looking at their ident may help me gain ideas when creating my own horror ident for my final project.

Design
The video above is Lionsgate's most recent film ident and it lasts 22 seconds long. At the start of the ident clogs and gears are denoted and they are the main focus of the shot. The camera pans around the gears denoting the gears all moving together and then the camera zooms out. The camera appears to move further away from the gears and continues to zoom out. The clogs are then shown moving through a key hole in a door, the camera continues to reverse zoom and then two majestic doors are thrown open. A flash of light shines through the doors and then the doors fully open denoting the word  'LIONSGATE' above clouds. The word 'LIONSGATE' is in the center of the screen denoted floating above clouds in emboldened capitalized sans serif font.
Intention
The gears and clogs in the ident could connote that Lionsgate ceates films which are complex. The metallic colours used in the gears and the door connote that Lionsgate is prestige company. The use of the gears within a key hole and then the doors opening could be a connotation of 'opening' up viewers imaginations. The clouds-cape could be a connotation of the heavens; heaven is unknown to people and so this suggests that Lionsgate like to imagine and discover the unknown in their films. More so, the light colours clouds could be a symbol of hope and beauty.

Lionsgate Alternative Ident



Design
The is an alternative Lionsgate ident I've found online that is commonly used in Lionsgates horror films. The ident starts off the same as the original Lionsgate ident denoting gears moving on screen with panning and the a reverse zoom with the camera moving backwards. However, the colour shceme in this ident differs from the original unlike the original dark red hue colours are used. The clogs are broze and rusty looking instead of looking metallic and clean like the original.The background colours are also much darker in this ident with orange, brown and red hues. The doors in this opening are also very dark and they don't have the prestigious lavish look which is denoted in the original ident. Unlike the original ident the clouds-cape is coloured red and dark brown and the text in the center of the screen is a dark grey. At the end of this ident the clouds-cape's dark red colours glow to a bright red with the text remaining in the center of the screen.
Intention
The dominant red colour scheme connotes danger, violence and is very eyecatching. More so, the red colour scheme suggests that Lionsgate is creating a film with bloodshed, and so the colours used in this ident reflect the genre of the film. The camera denoting rusty,dark coloured gears also connotes that Lionsgate is creating a dark and mysterious film. Furthermore, the gates opening to a red clouded sky connotes idea's of hell and darkness, which again implies that a film using this ident has an eerie dark story line.

DreamWorks

The second set of idents I've chosen to look at are by DreamWorks entertainment, I've chosen to look at this company as I feel that they are well known for creating alternative idents to relate to story lines and themes explored for each film they create. I could draw inspiration from this and create a unique alternative ident which clearly denotes the themes that my final project will include. I'm looking at two of DreamWorks idents because DreamWorks is a company that creates various alternative indents for each of their films in relation to their story lines. For example the Shrek movies have their own alternative idents under DreamWorks. I think an ident should relate to a films narrative and therefore it could be interesting to look at some of DreamWorks idents, as they can inspire and influence how I create my own ident for my final project.

Design
This ident is DreamWorks Home Entertainment most popular opening ident and it lasts 28 seconds long. The ident denotes a young boy sitting on the moon fishing from the sky. DreamWorks ident starts off with the camera tracking upwards from a reflection of the boys fishing rod in the water to clouds in the sky and then a boy sitting on the moon. The letters in 'DreamWorks' pan onscreen from right to left and then the title 'DreamWorks' appears centered on screen with a reverse zoom. 'DreamWorks' is denoted floating in the clouds.
Intention
The notion of 'DreamWorks' up amongst the clouds could connote that DreamWorks is a company that makes imaginative films making the impossible seem possible. Also, the little boy on the moon could connote that DreamWorks creates films with children in mind, as their target audience, or that their movies aim to remind viewers of their childhood. The blue and white colour scheme relates to the sky and the clouds which again connotes imagination.

The Ring Altervative Ident

(click on the image to view the video)

The second ident I've chosen to look at is DreamWorks alternative ident for the horror film 'The Ring'. I've chose to look at this specific ident and DreamWorks doesn't usually make horror films and looking at a horror films ident will be relevant to my final project as I'm working under the horror genre.
Design
 Like the previous ident, the camera tracks upwards towards the sky and focuses in onto the young boy sitting on the moon fishing. However, instead of the simplistic calm blue and white colour scheme a black sky, grey gloomy clouds and a metallic glowing blue/white moon. The colours are much darker and gloomy than the original. The ident denotes a glitch/white noise in parts of the clip and then the moon is shown with another crescent half, which creates a mysterious full glowing circle on screen.  Also, the sound of dripping water in a well is also used in this ident.
Intention
The water sound effect, creates a tense eerie mood and the noise also foreshadows a dark storyline; sound effects are important in an ident as it makes a film impactful and engaging to viewers from the very start. The white noise in the ident connotes a dark storyline and also implies that the narrative in 'The Ring' could relate to an old movie or cassette. Also the white noise randomly appears onto screen and this could make viewers jump or grab their attention from the start of the film. The overall dark colourscheme connotes that 'The Ring' is a horror film with a dark narrative. From looking at this ident it's clear that editing and sound help reinforce a films genre and so, when creating my ident I should try and make the horror genre clear.


Researching film idents in todays lesson has been a good activity as it's made it clear to my group what the idents in our opening sequence should look like. Also the information found in this research can influence the design of my groups idents. It's important to look at examples of conventional idents like the ones above as it shows my group what we should aim to recreate in our project.